Jan. 6, 2022

A West 12th Street building that held a small diner for more than 50 years is looking for a tenant.

The former Bob’s Cafe at 1312 W. 12th St., once famous for its broasted chicken, now stands empty, but Sioux Metro Real Estate is looking for a tenant on behalf of the building’s owners, TTT Investments of Sioux Falls.

“We’ve been hired to find a tenant,” said Halle Sweets, leasing manager for Sioux Metro. “We did have a person who wanted to run a sandwich shop like a little cafe, but they fell through.”

The building is ideal for a small cafe, Sweets said. Several smaller bakeries also have expressed an interest in it.

The building currently does not have a kitchen. When TTT Investments bought the building, it had been gutted by a previous owner. The exterior also has been remodeled.

Interest in adding a drive-thru window has been expressed in the past, Sweets said.

“Access is so quick and easy on 12th Street,” she said. “It’s a high-traffic place, and such a cozy spot for anybody starting out small or with a new business.”

The broasted chicken that Bob’s Cafe made famous now is available only through catering at Cluckin’ Good Chicken & BBQ. Ben Weiland and his son, Jona, took over Bob’s in 2000 and moved to a retail center at 10th and Bahnson 17 years later with the new name.

They scaled back to catering in early 2021 when Weiland wanted to retire. They’re still trying to find a buyer for the business, but they’re giving up their lease at the end of the March.

Not every order has to be large, Weiland said, noting that if he’s already broasting chicken, he can do additional pieces. For Christmas, he cooked a couple of turkeys for customers while doing another catering job.

“People who want to order in advance can contact me, and I will tell them ‘yes, I can do that, or no, I can’t do that.’ I can’t do everything everybody wants me to, but if they contact me, we’ll see if it works.”

Order chicken or get info on the business by calling 605-951-8555.