June 11, 2026

The newest way to enjoy a Fernson beer – with pizza and pinball – opens this weekend.

Totally Rad Pizza, the latest concept from Fernson Brewing Co., has taken over the longtime restaurant space in downtown’s Harvester Building at 196 E. Sixth St. With a couple of invite-only days still ahead for experience, the doors open Saturday.

While there’s a focus on quality — from ingredients to service — the opportunity for diners to enjoy a nostalgic, fun gathering space is the mission.

“We take what we do seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. That’s kind of the overall vibe of this place,” said Beau Vondra, Fernson’s director of food and beverage operations.

Hand-picked ingredients stand out for Totally Rad Pizza. That runs the gamut of the tomatoes for the sauce and olive oil to toppings like the cheese, pepperoni and salami.

“It’s kind of an homage to great ingredients,” Vondra said, noting several makers: Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes, Grande cheese, Enzo olive oil, Compart pork and ham, and Ezzo pepperoni, “the best pepperoni in the world.”

On the pizza side of the menu, there are just shy of a dozen specialties and a build-your-own concept.

The crust comes in three types. One is a 12-inch, hand-tossed crust that’s a cross between New York and Neapolitan styles that’s cooked in more of a New York method, Vondra said.

“We’re also introducing like a tavern style, Midwest tavern style. We’re using the same dough, but we’re treating it a different way, and it’s giving us a totally different experience with the pizza.” The crust is “cracker thin,” with a rich sauce.

A gluten-friendly crust is made with rice flour.

The pizzas are cooked in a high-temperature electric Swedish deck oven called PizzaMaster.

“It’s one of the premier pizza ovens you can grab,” Vonda said. “That was like our centerpiece of the build-out and is probably one of our largest line-item expenses.”

Diners also will find a cheesesteak with chopped prime beef, chopped pepperoni, white American cheese and giardiniera instead of pepper and onion, “to give it more of our spin on it.” There’s a burger that Vondra describes as thick compared with a smash patty. Sandwiches on house-baked focaccia include a couple of varieties with pan-fried chicken cutlets, one with meatballs and an Italian.

“We’re going to have a really fun wing concept we’ve got going on here,” Vondra said. “We’re doing smoked wings that then we’re frying. We’re making all of our hot sauces in-house,” spinning off his personal Dagger and Arrow hot sauce brand.

One wing sauce is made with Tang and habanero called the Tang of Death, and another is made with Kool-Aid called Chipotle Sharkleberry Fin. There are spicy garlic and garlic pecorino versions, along with Cajun and Nashville Hot dry rubs.

Appetizers include meatballs, pepperoni queso with tortilla chips and garlic cheese bread.

Salads get some attention too.

“We’re doing this beautiful roasted beet salad. We’re taking that Tang, you know, the astronaut drink. We’re making a vinaigrette out of that, so like an orange profile to it with an herb goat cheese and some pickled fennel. It’s a really fun salad. We’re doing an antipasto shot. We’re bringing over the Caesar that we do it downtown because Caesar fits the concept.”

For dessert, there is soft-serve ice cream, a sea salt brown butter Rice Krispy and a peanut butter s’mores cookie. Eventually, Vondra wants to add tiramisu and a Coca-Cola chocolate cake.

Paul Squyer, Fernson’s director of beverage, is overseeing the cocktail menu. While, of course, there will be plenty of the brewery’s beer on tap, the restaurant will serve Fernson spirits that are distilled in-house. Those have grown to include agave, which is like tequila, gin and vodka. Rum and a dark spirit like whiskey are in the works.

The house margarita is made be made with blue Hawaiian Punch.

A few domestic beers are available too.

The main floor of the restaurant seats about 85 people. Other seating areas will open in phases “to make sure that people’s first experiences here are great,” Vondra said. The patio, which will open next, offers 2,000 square feet. After that, the 3,000-square-foot lower level will be open to diners.

“Hopefully, by the end of summer we’ll all be rocking and rolling,” Vondra said.

The main floor and patio will be full service, while customers in the lower level will order via QR code.

The restaurant is be kid-friendly, and dogs will be welcomed on the patio. While there isn’t a kids menu to start, there are options that can be created using items on the menu, Vondra said.

The pinball machines are in the lower level, which will have a lounge vibe, Vondra said. The 15 to 20 pinball machines are provided by The Pinball Room, including one to start called Devil Rider from 1984 of which Vondra said there are only 10 machines that can be played publicly in the U.S. In addition, there are  arcade games — Golden Tee, Big Buck Hunter and Power Putt — claw machines, dart boards, a photo booth and a couple of TVs.

Squyer is having a flashback to his younger years.

“I worked at Gigglebees for five years,” he said of the popular local pizza restaurant and arcade. “I feel like this is grownups getting to have our crack at everything we loved about working at a pizza joint in the ’90s.”

For entertainment upstairs, there are eight TVs – enough “to offer a viewing of sporting events, but there’s places where you can sit where you’re not in front of a TV,” Vondra said.

Music is offered through a record player hooked up to the sound system for “a touch of fun, touch of nostalgia. … Maybe we’ll do a ‘bring your own vinyl’ night.”

Hours will start at 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, with the kitchen closing earlier, probably at 9 p.m., Vondra said.

Fernson’s other offerings in Sioux Falls will continue to serve customers. That includes the original taproom at the north-side brewery and Fernson Downtown on Phillips Avenue with Totally Rad Eats, which highlights burgers and chicken sandwiches, and Fernson Coffee + Tea, which takes advantage of the empty taproom as a morning coffee shop.

Adding pizza to the lineup was an easy decision for Vondra, who has described himself as “a pizza guy at heart,” and Fernson owners Derek Fernholz and Blake Thompson.

“People in this town like to beat down the doors for pizza, and hopefully, they enjoy the product that we’re presenting to them, and they really want to come after us,” Vondra said.

It all comes down to a simple mission. “We want to serve people good pizza in a fun environment.”