May 9, 2022

A group of friends has reopened The Brewery in Salem.

The longtime bar and grill closed in August 2021 and operated as FatKid Saloon for six months before going out of business in late March.

The ownership group bought the business and the building from the previous Brewery owners, said member Mitch Rayman.

“Now, we have a very steady investment group behind it with a plan to help serve the community and realize its long-term potential,” he said of the Main Street business.

They wanted to preserve a piece of the community, he said.

“A lot of times, businesses in our small communities get turned over and then the building deteriorates and then you’re left with nothing. We put a lot of hard work into getting this ready.”

It also has served as a gathering place for the friends and others in Salem.

“The best memories we have are the ones around the holidays when all our old classmates come back for ‘mug nights’ and get to reminisce about our high schools days,” Rayman said. “Opening weekend of pheasant hunting is also another weekend that gets a lot of people back to The Brewery that you don’t get to see very often.”

Tanya Roether, who previously worked part time at the brewery, is one of the owners and will manage it.

She and the other four owners, who have been friends for 20-plus years and a couple of whom grew up together, spent a couple of weeks remodeling and updating equipment.

“At the end of the day, it’s a good, clean place,” Rayman said.

Once piece of equipment that wasn’t updated is The Brewery’s 1961 pizza oven.

Pizzas are The Brewery’s signature item.

“We went back to the original pizza sauce and ingredients and the way they made it 30 years ago,” he said.

When it reopened April 25, the owners thought they had enough ingredients to make pizzas for a week. They sold out within three days.

Other menu items include burgers, chicken sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, shrimp, “just good old traditional bar food.” Appetizers range from chislic and onion rings to poppers and fried cheeseballs. “One of the big hits in smoked gouda mac-and-cheese bites.”

The bar is a family-friendly place, Rayman noted, and that includes a kids menu.

The Brewery has a full liquor license for on- and off-sales. The dozen taps include two freezer taps, which dispense ice-cold beer. Right now, those are pouring a lager and IPA that Ben’s Brewing of Yankton brewed in celebration of First Dakota National Bank’s 150th anniversary.

“We’ve also got Fernson Lion’s Paw, and we’ll have other breweries bringing in seasonal offerings,” Rayman said.

Embracing the return of The Brewery, someone in the community donated one of the original Pabst Blue Ribbon mirrors back to the bar, Rayman said. PBR, “which was a big hit in Salem years ago,” is one of the standard domestic beers on tap.

Hours are 4 p.m. to close Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to close Sunday.

“We will be having a lot of promotions throughout the year,” Rayman said. “Look for big promotions during big sporting events.”

A spring dart league has started already, and there will be one in the winter too. Look for a bean bag league in the summer.

“At the grand opening May 21, we’ll have a DJ that night, and we’ll look to have bands as well as karaoke in the future.”