Sioux Valley Grille opens much-needed expansion

Feb. 7. 2020

A Canton restaurant has tripled in size with an expansion that features an additional dining area with a bar and a private event room.

Sioux Valley Grille, which opened two years ago across from the Lincoln County Courthouse, grew into the former Optimists Club space.

“It’s been picking up big time. This community is reacting really well,” said Peter Cobb, who owns the restaurant with his stepbrother, Ken O’Brien. “Since this side opened, business has nearly doubled almost every day.”

The goal is to get diners into seats quicker on busy nights.

“We were turning away 40 to 50 on Fridays and Saturdays, each day respectively. Not that we were turning them away, they were just like, ‘eh, I don’t want to wait.’ So no one’s walking out now. Even if we are filled up, you still have spaces at the bar and can have a drink and an appetizer.”

The restaurant went from 48 seats to 150. The new dining area serves as the main entrance now. It features booths along both walls, a long high-top table in the middle and seating at the bar along the back wall. Remodeling work included an opening in a side wall to the original seating area.

The private room is on the other side of the new dining area, separated by a large sliding barn door. The space can be reserved for meetings or parties and seats about 60 comfortably, Cobb said. Users can order from the menu or work with the restaurant on a catered meal.

The new space features reclaimed materials just like the original dining room. Wood from O’Brien’s farm, old farmhouses in the area and old crates stored in the building’s basement have been refinished or repainted for the walls.

A few items will change on the menu, Cobb said, but it will keep its focus on “American comfort food.” There are hand-cut steaks, chicken and fish entrees, hamburgers, sandwiches, chislic and specials for lunch and weekend nights that change every week. Cobb envisions putting a fresh spin on some of the entrees that have been on the menu since the restaurant opened.

The biggest menu change to come with the extra space will be turning Sunday’s plated brunch into a buffet. “We’ll have an omelet bar, waffle bar, carving station, chafing dishes filled with all the goodies, a juice bar,” he said. We’ll do unlimited mimosas and a bloody Mary bar.”

Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 4 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, with the bar open until midnight Friday and Saturday. Once staffing is in place, Cobb plans to add a late-night bar menu.

“That will be a little bit more bar food-type things, good wings, spinach dip, sliders, things like that, nachos — that same quality of stuff that we’re putting out.”

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Sioux Valley Grille opens much-needed expansion

A Canton restaurant has tripled in size with an expansion that features an additional dining area with a bar and a private event room.

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