Sept. 20, 2023

Boss’ Pizzeria & Sports Bar is closing its Tea restaurant.

Sunday will be the last day it’s open.

The Sioux Falls-based Boss’ Pizza & Chicken chain bought the Tea Steak House and Tea Event Center in November 2021 from its retiring owners. The bar, restaurant, video lottery casino and event venue reopened in stages in the coming weeks.

Boss’ installed big-screen TVs so customers could watch Tea Area High School games and other local, regional and national sports. It added delivery service for its pizzas, broasted chicken and other menu items.

“We truly do appreciate those of you who supported us with business and with your words as we tried to make this work over the last couple of years,” Boss’ said in a post on social media.

Jeremy Seefeldt, the founder of Boss’ and owner of the Tea location and some of the other sites in the chain, said the business wasn’t able to gain customer support.

“To be honest, the biggest thing in a small town like Tea is it needs a local owner to work it and make sure that service is great and the food is great and to connect with the local people,” he said. “I just don’t have time to do that while working with franchising.”

The chain, which has three locations in Sioux Falls and several others in South Dakota and nearby states, will continue to provide delivery service to Tea customers “for the foreseeable future” using one of the Sioux Falls locations.

Seefeldt owns the property and said he’s “hoping someone who has connections in Tea wants to buy it or lease it.”

The restaurant, bar and casino area is 6,500 square feet, and the event center is 4,500 square feet.