Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that the owner of Pilot Mike’s Roadhouse did not buy 38 Roadhouse.

Oct. 26, 2023

The site of a longtime bar west of Sioux Falls has a new venture with a new owner and a name that reflects his career flying 747s into war-torn countries.

Mike Meendering opened Pilot Mike’s Roadhouse at the former site of 38 Roadhouse in late August. Meendering said he had been managing the bar at the corner of Highway 38 and Ellis Road after owner Dan Winklepleck suffered health issues early this year. After the property owner terminated 38 Roadhouse’s lease at the end of June, Meendering took over the location in July.

“This just kind of fell into my lap,” said the soon-to-be 64-year-old. “I wanted to help out Dan; that’s why I took over running it for him.”

Meendering didn’t open his new bar for almost seven weeks while waiting for his beer and video lottery licenses, and he did a little bit of remodeling while keeping the atmosphere the same.

“It’s kind of a dive bar really,” he said. “My clientele varies from retired guys and golfers to farmers and bikers. I do have my regulars here. They’re here daily. … I have many good friends out here.”

Pilot Mike’s has four TVs, and they’re usually showing football, NASCAR or golf. There are six video lottery machines, a pool table, dart machine and jukebox.

There’s a large outdoor patio, so in the summertime, most of the patrons are sitting outside, Meendering said.

The bar serves beer in bottles and cans, and has a few other malt beverage offerings such as White Claw and Smirnoff Ice. For food, it offers Harry’s Pizza and egg rolls, and snacks like chips, peanuts and beef sticks.

Pilot Mike’s at 4901 N. Ellis Road opens at 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon Friday through Sunday. It’s open until at least 10 p.m. most nights and “at least midnight, sometimes 2 a.m.” on Friday and Saturday nights, Meendering said.

To Meendering’s knowledge, 38 Roadhouse had been at the corner for 24 years, with Winklepleck co-owning or owning it most of that time. Before that, other businesses have operated at the corner, including a gas station, used car lot and another bar, he said.

Meendering wants Pilot Mike’s to be known for a friendly atmosphere with friendly staff. Most of the 38 Roadhouse workers – all friends of his — returned when the bar reopened, he said. He works one bartending shift a week but is at the bar “pretty much every day.”

He grew up in Sioux County, Iowa, and lived in several places before settling down in the Sioux Falls area in the 1990s. The retired pilot has interesting stories to share with customers from his 33 years of flying.

“I worked for several different companies but retired from Atlas Air,” he said. “We did heavy-haul international, did stuff for the Department of Defense.”

He estimates he has flown into 105 countries.

“I do miss it a lot,” said Meendering, who retired seven years ago. “But some of it I don’t miss, like flying into Afghanistan and Iraq and getting shot at.”