March 18, 2022

Murph’s Burgers & Fries’ first week in its new restaurant space went so well that it had to close for an extra day to make enough signature bacon jam to keep up.

The food truck that has expanded into a storefront is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday in the former Grand Junction Grilled Subs space at 5312 E. Arrowhead Parkway.

Owner Murphy Lundie started with a menu of five burgers — including his signature Famous Murph Burger — loaded fries, a smoked pork loin sandwich and a smoked Philly. He offers a plant-based burger with a Beyond Meat patty and also uses that to make a veggie version of the loaded fries.

The menu will expand, Lundie said, and already included special Reuben sandwiches for St. Patrick’s Day and today.

“We’ve got new menu options that are going to go up,” he said. “We just got to get the other stuff dialed in first.”

Many of the ingredients are handcrafted. Along with making bacon jam and the house sauce that goes on the burgers and comes with the fries for dipping, Lundie makes his own barbecue sauce and aiolis.

His pork loin and Philly sandwiches are filled with custom ingredients, including the pork and beef that he smokes.

“We make everything on it. It’s got grilled pickle, peppers and onions on both of them. The Philly’s got a roasted garlic aioli on it, American cheese and then a house cheese sauce. The pork is an achiote aioli. It’s a paste made from annatto seeds, like a Mexican thing. It’s a super-powerful flavor. I kind of relate it to like paprika, a little more flavorful than that. It’s really good.”

The pork loin also is topped with housemade coleslaw.

He’s sourcing South Dakota wagyu and will add a burger featuring that and Dimock Cheese, another state product.

“We’ll try to do something a little more local,” said Lundie, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who managed a food truck in Portland, Oregon, before returning to South Dakota to start his own food truck.

The restaurant seats about 40 people. Customers order and pay at the counter, and a crew member delivers the food, which is prepared in the open kitchen.

Murph’s plans to add beer eventually.

Hours of operation will be adjusted as needed. The restaurant often is open as late as 8 p.m. already.

“People are still coming in, so I’m going to keep serving them.”

Lundie’s green food truck that he built out last spring and got on the road in July will continue to operate. It’s already booked for lots of festivals and private events, he said.

Lundie envisions doing pop-up lunches on the west side of Sioux Falls, so customers don’t have to drive across town. He’s hiring full- and part-time positions to keep both operations running at full steam.

He’s excited about having the restaurant’s kitchen to prep all the food.

“We couldn’t say yes to hardly any Sundays last summer because we’d sell everything on Saturday,” he said “I didn’t have enough refrigeration or space to prep enough stuff to go do something on Sunday, so we’d have to say no because we’d run everything out.”

To keep track of food truck locations and additions to the restaurant’s menu and hours, follow Murph’s Burgers & Fries on social media.