Dec. 22, 2025

A former restaurant property that has been vacant for years near The Empire Mall has a new owner.

The land at 4301 W. 41st. St. most recently was Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom. It closed in 2018 after 14 years in business. Before that, it was Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurante, which opened in 1983 and closed 20 years later.

But it won’t be a restaurant any longer. Kwik Trip Inc., which operates as Kwik Star in South Dakota, bought the 2.2-acre property for a gas station, convenience store and car wash.

“There’s more than adequate room on the site to get everything done with traffic flow, so it worked out really well,” said Ryan Ammann of NAI Sioux Falls, who had the land listed for years.

“It’s kind of an iconic location right in that ‘golden square,’ if you will, of Sioux Falls.”

Before Kwik Trip’s purchase, a number of retailers looked at the site. The owner ultimately decided to demolish the building because “over time, we ended up realizing that the cost to remodel and retrofit that building just was not going to be commensurate with the deals we were able to attract from a retail standpoint,” Ammann said.

Kwik Star will benefit from interstate access as well as nearby hotels, including in its nonfuel business, and should serve as a draw for the nearby retailers, he added.

“They definitely draw traffic and get people stopped in the area, so they see what else is in the area,” Ammann said.

The vacant land will still be empty for a while though.

Kwik Star plans to start construction in early 2027, opening by summer, according to a spokesman.

Other Kwik Star openings in 2026 include 77th Street and Cliff Avenue in Sioux Falls as well as locations in Brandon, Hartford, Brookings and Tea. Those openings will bring the company to 17 locations in South Dakota.