Dec. 30, 2020

The former owner of a Puerto Rican food truck is opening a restaurant in northeast Sioux Falls.

La India Taina Puerto Rican Restaurant will be in the long-vacant Dairy Queen space at Benson Road and Cliff Street. It’s the same retail center where another ethnic eatery recently opened, Tarquin Argentinian Restaurant.

Owner Johanna Dejesus is remodeling the space with the help of family and subcontractors and is working on her menu. She hopes to open the full-service restaurant in mid-January.

“My dream was always to build a restaurant,” she said. “I guess my dream has come true.”

Dejesus was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in Chicago and started a family there before returning home, where her other children were born. Fourteen years ago, they moved to Sioux Falls, and she spent a few years with her now ex-husband operating the food truck Sabor Boricua that was based on West 12th Street.

“I always sell food for the Puerto Ricans here. A lot of people know me. So that’s how I started saving my money. … And now that I have the opportunity to do it, I am doing it.”

Her restaurant will be a place for families to come and enjoy traditional Puerto Rican food.

“It’s something new in town,” Dejesus said. “A lot of people don’t know about our food. Well, usually, it’s very tasty.”

Meats will be roasted, fried or grilled.

“We’re going to have all type of food,” she said. “Mofongo, that’s one of our precious foods. That’s made with plantains. I make a special sauce for it. And that goes with fried pork, fried chicken, people like it with shrimps. It comes with whatever meat they want on it.”

Other traditional foods will include chuletas, or fried pork chops; alcapurrias, a fried fritter that’s a common street food in Puerto Rico; relleno de papa, which are fried mashed potato balls stuffed with meat; and arroz con dulce, a coconut rice pudding. Many entrees will be served with rice and beans.

The restaurant has a beer and wine license.

“I’m going to try to see if I can get Puerto Rican beers here, also the regular beers, Coors Light, Heineken. One of our traditional ones is Medalla, that’s a Puerto Rican beer.”

She’s planning to serve a malt beverage version of a pina colada and batido de papaya, which is a smoothie made with the tropical fruit.

She’s expecting to fill the dining room with about a dozen tables and decorate with items from Puerto Rico.

Takeout orders will be picked up at the drive-thru window.

“They have to call us at least 45 minutes earlier because our food takes time, from 45 to an hour.”

To start, La India Taina likely will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and that could expand to daily if the demand is there, Dejesus said.