Steel District restaurants announce names, detail concepts as construction begins
Feb. 15, 2024
Three new restaurants from Twin Cities entrepreneurs have started construction at The Steel District.
They’ll be in the nine-story office tower and operated by Josh Thoma and Kevin Fitzgerald, known for creating concepts such as Burger Dive and Smack Shack.
The Sioux Falls concepts will be new ones for the company, beginning with Big Sioux Burger — which is a newer take on Burger Dive.
“It’s hard to say ‘Dive’ in a brand-new construction project,” Thoma said. “Our previous iterations of Burger Dive were in historic dive bars, and now we’ve really changed it to a little bit more polished-up concept, although the price point and menu are very similar.”
The menu will include omelets, pancakes and other classic breakfast entrees, a variety of burgers and sandwiches — including the Burger Dive lobster roll — along with appetizers and salads.
“It’s definitely a breakfast place, and we see a huge amount of breakfast traffic at our location in St. Paul,” Thoma said. “(In Sioux Falls) we’re in an office tower, and there’s plenty of hotel and residential around us as well, so it’ll be an early morning breakfast spot, and on weekends, it’s the spot to go get a seat at the bar and have a bloody mary and watch a football game.”
The restaurant will include seating for 75 inside and 120 on its patio.
While Big Sioux Burger will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a new taco and tequila concept, Bandera Tequila Bar, will focus on lunch, dinner and late night.
“‘Bandera’ in Spanish means flag, and we’ve got our flagship tequila bar,” Thoma said.
The menu will include appetizers, salads and several varieties of fire-roasted meats for tacos, plus additional entrees.
The space is designed to seat more than 200 inside and out, with a layout that will allow private dining areas as needed.
The final restaurant, Ironwood, will deliver a more upscale setting — think white tablecloths — while “still being a Midwest supper club vibe, so it can still be accessible,” Thoma said. “It’s wood-fired chops and steaks, with a seafood element to it, and it differentiates itself from the other concepts in that it’s dinner only with weekend brunch.”
The two-story restaurant will be surrounded on three sides by glass overlooking the Falls and include a riverfront patio.
The plan is to open Big Sioux Burger and Bandera Tequila Bar by late summer, followed by Ironwood later this year.
“It’s great to have local partners who have such a history in development, especially in the area,” Thoma said. “Lloyd has been working on this project long before we joined, and it’s great to see the progress.”
The concepts are tailored to The Steel District’s unique setting, said Jake Quasney, chief operating officer at Lloyd Cos.
“The whole story of what we’re doing at The Steel District is something unique and tied to the neighborhood, and I think Josh and his team really grasped onto that,” he said. “One of the things we wanted was that these concepts are diverse and had offerings that were approachable at all levels. As much as I love Smack Shack, I’m excited to see that we got something really special to this development and to Sioux Falls.”
Several office tenants, including Lloyd, have moved into the office tower, and the space is 80 percent leased, Quasney said.
“We continue to have people move into offices every few months,” he said. “It’s a really great space.”
Brioux Falls, a coffee shop on the second floor, is under construction and expected to open this spring.
The Canopy by Hilton hotel is on track for an October opening, “so you’ll be renting rooms in 2024,” he continued. “We actually have booked a couple events already for 2024, and there’s just a lot of really exciting progress as it all comes together.”
At the same time, the public projects being completed by Lloyd Construction — the adjacent River Greenway and Jacobson Plaza — “are running ahead of schedule,” he said. “It’s cool to imagine next December there will be people ice skating out there.”
The rest of The Steel District includes apartments — The District Lofts — which will open for residents this summer, and condominiums, which are beginning to sell, with a couple more being built out on spec.
Retailers leasing space in that building include the Washington Pavilion for a new museum store, Pasque Boutique and The Commonwealth restaurant and bar.
“The parking ramp is operational,” Quasney added. “And we’ll be starting a couple build-outs for the retail spaces for the ground floor in the next few months. So it’s all coming along.”
