May 4, 2022

The flavors of northern Mexico are coming to downtown Sioux Falls from two California transplants who are opening a taco bar with a “Nacho Libre” vibe.

Flying Santo, with a masked Mexican wrestler theme, is taking over the former Papa Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza space in the Jones421 Building on North Phillips Avenue.

It’s the creation of Abe Castro, who was born in Mexico near the Arizona border and is searching for the flavors he grew up with, and his husband, Doug Sager, a “Norwegian, Lutheran Viking” who makes lefse from scratch.

“The idea is as real and authentic as possible and not in a fast-food setting but a hybrid,” Sager said, describing Flying Santo as fresh, fast and affordable. “You get what you want, and you mingle in the courtyard, you go to Levitt or you go to the Falls.”

The menu will focus on five basics: tacos, burritos, bowls, quesadillas and nachos.

“You’re going to have a handmade fresh tortilla made in front of your eyes to start the taco process,” Sager said.

For bowls, customers can choose rice or greens as the base.

When it comes to protein choices, this is where Castro’s desire for specific flavors will be centered. Carne asada, or steak, is flavored with orange, lime, beer, red onion, laurel leaves and olive oil. Chicken tinga is roasted chicken with consomme, tomato, onion, garlic, chipotle, salt and pepper. Carnitas is slow-roasted pork with carrots, garlic, onion, red pepper, chipotle, cumin and oregano.

Other options will include shrimp and a vegetarian version of chorizo.

“We’ll have two griddles. There’s going to be meat cooked on one, and veggies on the other,” Sager said. “True vegetarians, they can have that option.”

Gluten-free tortillas will be available for the burritos.

Flying Santo will have several salsas – all fresh made – and guacamole made in-house. There will be refried beans and two types of rice: white and traditional Mexican.

Specials like a Sonoran hot dog will make appearances occasionally.

“The bun is softer than a regular hot dog and bigger,” Castro said. “The hot dog is wrapped in bacon, and from there there’s fresh tomato, you put grilled onion on top, and then you close it up with mayo on top. It’s almost like a pastry, and then on top of that, there’s cheese, guacamole, hot sauce or salsa – really the toppings can be all sorts of things. … People in the Midwest are going to love it.”

“My roots are from the Midwest, and I love it,” said Sager, whose maternal grandparents moved from Minnesota to California and started a family there.

While Sager has two decades of experience in the restaurant industry, mostly outside of the kitchen, he has been a Realtor for 13 years and works in the new Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Beyond office in Sioux Falls.

Castro said he has no restaurant experience, but “in general, I love a good taco. Who doesn’t?” He works remotely for a Bay Area pharmaceutical company.

The couple moved to Sioux Falls in the fall of 2020 – sparked by the COVID pandemic to consider finding “the best quality of life” and were drawn here by Midwestern hospitality and a beautiful community where they said they felt safe. As a new resident, that’s when Castro began his search for a Mexican restaurant that reminded him of home.

“I liked the food … but it didn’t have the flavors that I really enjoy,” he said.

Wanting to bring that to Sioux Falls and also become part of the community led the two to decide to open Flying Santo.

“Working remotely, I felt a little isolated from being a part of the community,” Castro said, noting the restaurant will “get me out of the house.”

“So for me, it’s a project that I really treasure because what I want us to do is be rooted in Sioux Falls, bring the food I love and become part of the renaissance of Sioux Falls. … It will help with integrating me into the community that welcomed us with open arms.”

Sager said they feel blessed to be here.

“It feels good to be back where my roots come from with a twist, and that twist is I’m married to a wonderful man who’s going to bring the flavor of his country to the roots of mine,” he said. “We feel so embraced by the community already. It’s such an incredible experience living here that we pinch ourselves all the time, and we want to give back. There are many other ways (to give back), but this is one of them.”

They’ve started the process of turning the original part of Papa Woody’s space in the first-floor marketplace of the Jones421 Building into Flying Santo. The name is a nod to Rodolfo Guzman Huerta, or El Santo, a Mexican masked professional wrestler and actor whose career began in the 1930s and spanned nearly five decades.

Jillian Artistry just finished a professional wrestling-themed mural on one wall. There will be a couple of TVs for watching wrestling matches and soccer games.

The small restaurant will have about a dozen seats, but customers can use several common seating areas that are scattered throughout the marketplace and the courtyard area when the weather is nice.

Castro and Sager hope Flying Santo is ready to open in June, “but we can’t commit to a date right now,” Sager said. “We’re doing the setup from scratch. It really is a labor of love, and we don’t do things halfway – it’s all the way 100 percent and the best, and we’re both a bit perfectionists, sometimes to our detriment. We can’t offer a product that we wouldn’t love ourselves.”

They’ll start with lunch, probably Tuesday through Sunday, and expand slowly into supper hours, Sager said.

“It’s kind of a dream come true for both of us.”