Nov. 1, 2023

It’s official: Cherry Creek Grill isn’t reopening.

The building at 3104 E. 26th St. was listed for sale this week.

The restaurant owned by Charlie and Judy Kneip was being renovated when a fire broke out in September 2022. They considered reopening, “but we weren’t sure,” Charlie Kneip said. While working through the insurance claim, “we had time to think about it. … We just decided we were going to sell the building, the land that it’s on and the liquor license.”

The listing already has drawn multiple showings, said Raquel Blount of Lloyd Cos., the broker for the property.

“Anytime you have a former restaurant location, obviously it has the ventilation, the proper amount of HVAC, electrical, kitchen setup, and with new construction pricing being where it’s at, it’s beneficial to find existing space to not have to do your own build-out,” she said. “Plus, he did new carpet and painted it, new ceiling tile, and he’s putting new HVAC on the roof.”

The property also includes a full liquor license, casino and event space with its own full bar.

It’s a good opportunity to serve the east side, which has has room for new full-service restaurants, Blount said.

“The east side has been growing, growing, growing, with the addition of not only single family but all the new apartments and not a lot of new food and beverage in the area,” she said.

Cherry Creek Grill served diners on the east side of Sioux Falls for three decades. The Kneips bought the restaurant in 1999 from Pete Thompson and his nephew, who had started it in the early 1990s. The Kneips opened TC’s Referee Sports Bar & Grill in 1991 on the west side of Sioux Falls and wanted to start a restaurant on the east side but ended up buying Cherry Creek instead.

“When we first started, we were one of the few neighborhood places,” Kneip said. “We kind of grew up with that neighborhood.”

The two restaurants had similar menus but Cherry Creek could offer a little more because it had a larger kitchen, he said. It also had a banquet space that drew larger gatherings.

“We had such a huge menu,” Kneip said. “We were known for consistently good food.” And with 24 tap lines of beer, which were added during a major remodeling project in 2013, the 32-ounce frosty mugs were popular with customers, he noted.

Now that the restaurant’s fate is certain, he welcomes customers to visit TC’s, where they’ll find nearly all their menu favorites. Diners who have Cherry Creek Grill gift cards can use them at TC’s, 5322 W. 26th St.