July 1, 2021

A popular Tea restaurant and bar is on the market.

Tea Steak House and O’Toole’s Bar was listed for sale last week for $1.3 million, a sale price that includes both the property and the well-established family business.

The decision to sell was a tough one, owner Jim Ihnen said. He and his wife, Lisa, have been running the restaurant, bar and event space for 45 years.

It’s too much work for two people, though, he said, and as their son looks to take another business opportunity after 20 years with the family business, the couple is preparing for retirement.

Paul O’Toole hands Jim Ihnen the keys to the building.

They hope a new buyer will keep the business going and continue the restaurant’s legacy.

“We’ve got a huge following,” Ihnen said. “We’re hoping that somebody can take advantage of that situation and keep doing what we do here.”

Ihnen has been working in the restaurant since he was 8 years old helping bus tables. His parents, Lloyd and Rickie Ihnen, started the restaurant in 1965.

At the time, it was called the Tea House, and shortly after its opening, there was a fire, and the restaurant shut down for two weeks while it was rebuilt.

Those two weeks gave time for word to spread about the new restaurant, and when it reopened, business was booming.

“They went from serving 50 people a night to serving 500 because of people knowing where it was,” Ihnen said. “It’s pretty much been busy ever since then.”

He and his wife bought the family business in 1986, and at the same time, Paul O’Toole, who owned the bar and the building, said he was ready to sell too.

“We bought it all,” Ihnen said.

In the years since, the property has seen updates, including a recent remodel in the restaurant space. Included in the sale of the restaurant, bar and event space are the volleyball courts, which are home to a local league.

It’s not just the restaurant side that’s busy, either. Weddings are booked two years out in the event space, Ihnen said.

“There’s so much there that the property has to offer,” said listing agent Gregg Brown with NAI Sioux Falls. “I think those various revenue streams for a new owner make it extremely attractive.”

There’s also the community aspect, said Codi Nincehelser, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Sioux Falls and friend of the Ihnen family who is co-listing the property. She said it’s emotional to see this long-established business up for sale, but she hopes someone comes in and keeps it going.

“It’s a staple of the community,” she said. “There’s a lot of history there, and it’s a pretty special business.”

The Tea Steak House’s popularity extends beyond Tea too. In their 45 years of running the business, Jim and Lisa Ihnen said they have been written about in almost every state for their unique process of aging beef for their steaks.

Though they’re looking to sell the business, the Ihnens are not planning on closing the restaurant, bar or event space anytime soon.

“We will be here until it sells,” Ihnen said. “Until you hear from us, it’s not sold.”