Family-friendly sports bar opens in Ramada Waterpark
Aug. 7, 2024
Sioux Falls diners need to know that the new Boston’s Pizza that opens today in the Ramada Waterpark is more than just pizza, its leader says.
That’s why the sign at the entrance says Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar, said Jeff Melnick, president of the U.S. section for the Canadian company Boston Pizza. The Dallas-based executive came to Sioux Falls as the restaurant in the hotel at 1301 W. Russell St. prepared for the opening with several test-run days with invited guests.
“Pizza can be a veto vote for a lot of people,” Melnick said. “When they see the building, they might go ‘I don’t want pizza.’ We have 84 menu items, so we’re labeling our restaurants in the U.S. Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar. When you walk in, everything says Boston’s Pizza on it, but this way you know that it’s got more than just pizza.”
It’s an extensive menu “from steak and salmon to wings and cheese curds and all the other bar food, great salads and also a full selection from the bar, including a lot of local beers,” Melnick said.
And while Boston’s is a sports bar, it’s a family-friendly sports bar, he said.
“Our owner, who started it 60 years ago, is adamant about that, so we are a wholesome place where you can come and bring the kids and the family during the week or on the weekend before or after a game, but then the girls can come in and do Wine Wednesdays, and the guys can come in or the couples can come in and they can watch their favorite sports.”
There are about 50 TVs throughout the main dining room, which seats about 100 customers, and in the “team room,” which seats about 50 people and can be reserved for traveling sports teams or other groups.
Hotel owners Chad Burleson and Tim Johnson are the franchisees for Boston’s, which does not have any corporate-owned locations. The Sioux Falls restaurant is the chain’s fourth to open this year and is the 27th in the U.S. It will be followed by Shreveport, Louisiana, and Beaumont, California, this year and at least three more in 2025, Melnick said.
Boston Pizza has almost 400 restaurants in Canada, where it was founded in 1964 as Boston Pizza and Spaghetti House in Edmonton, Alberta. Mexico has 20 restaurants.
The core menu changes twice a year, Melnick said.
“We’ll update things, take things off that aren’t moving, add things that are new and different. And then we have a limited-time offer three to four times a year, depending on what’s going on. An example is we just had one start because of the Olympics, so it’s our Summer of Gold.”
Some of those features that are popular end up earning a spot on the core menu, he said.
Boston’s is committed to quality for its food and makes almost everything from scratch, Melnick said.
“Our dough, we ship our flour in from Canada,” he said. “We’ve been using the same dough recipe for 60 years. We make all of our sauces in house. We make most of our dressings in house, but everything is put together here. There’s no bags or buckets or anything else like some of the bigger chains. It takes a little more time and effort, but I truly believe you can taste the difference.”
Because the restaurant is in a hotel, it also will serve a full breakfast.
That menu has more than a dozen items, “and there’s some pretty hearty meals on there, and our prices are much better than any other big breakfast places.”
Takeout and delivery will be added “after we’re open for a few weeks and we work through the bugs,” Melnick said. Boston’s also offers a full catering service for businesses and will provide food for the banquet rooms in the hotel.
Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday — and sometimes later with events at the nearby Denny Sanford Premier Center. Breakfast is served until 9:30 a.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. on the weekend, with the full menu available at 11 a.m.
