March 12, 2025

Watecha Bowl is closing its doors in Sioux Falls and will reopen as Watecha Bowl Grille later this spring in Freeman.

Owner Lawrence West said he will continue to do catering in the city and plans to take bookings for his food truck for July, August and September.

“It did what it was supposed to do. It’s been a great time here,” West said of his restaurant at 2305 W. Madison St.

“My decision has nothing to do with customer flow or the amount of business. It’s simply a mental health thing and getting rid of property I don’t own.”

West started Watecha Bowl as a food truck in 2020 and added the restaurant about a year later. In 2023, it expanded to offer a dining room.

West has owned a building in Freeman for a few years. He operated The Whiskey House there for a few months in 2021 ago while also running Watecha Bowl. When that bar and restaurant closed, he said he had quickly realized it wasn’t feasible to be in that many locations.

Watecha Bowl Grille will feature West’s signature Indian tacos, burgers on fry bread and wojapi, but the menu will expand to include items like street tacos, burgers on regular buns and chicken wings. It will have a full liquor license and a video lottery casino.

“I’m growing,” he said. “I’m going to a bigger location that I own. … It will be a little more upscale. I need a whole new look, and I need something that represents me … my people, nation and South Dakota.”

West, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said he plans to put up a tipi in the restaurant and feature Native American performers and artists.

The plan is to open Watecha Bowl Grille in May.

West said many of Watecha’s customers travel 25 to 40 minutes anyway, so he expects they’ll make the journey to Freeman, which is about 45 miles southwest of Sioux Falls.

The final day on Madison Street is Saturday. It’s open until 7 tonight and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. the other days.

West said he sold the restaurant’s equipment and furnishings to someone but can’t talk about that person’s plans.