From TV Screens To Tables: 10 South Dakota Restaurants In The Spotlight
Food Network Shows That Have Been To South Dakota
Living here in the upper Midwest we don't end up on national TV shows very often. That's probably a good thing in the long run.
But it is pretty cool when something from South Dakota is on TV. Three shows from the Food Network family of shows have showcased South Dakota restaurants.
You may remember when Guy Fieri and Diners Drive-ins and Dives was in Sioux Falls in June of 2020 to visit some of our city's unique establishments.
A few years ago the Travel Channel Show Food Paradise visited Deadwood.
If you remember the 'golden age' of Foot Network, back when Rachel Ray was the queen of the channel, she took her show $40 a Day to Rapid City in 2005.
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Is Sioux Falls Hungry For More Buffet Restaurants? Here Are Some Options.
“Take all you want, but eat all you take.” That’s a rule you had to follow if you were eating the buffet at Walt & Mary’s on East 10th Street next to Eastway Bowl in Sioux Falls. If you didn’t clean your plate, you didn’t get ice cream.
Many will remember the family-owned buffet restaurant as far back as the 1960’s.
They were known for their roast beef, fried chicken, real mashed potatoes and gravy, hot dinner rolls with butter, and maybe even the lemon gelatin dessert.
Walt & Mary’s was one of several restaurants that offered a buffet in Sioux Falls over the years. Today, you can count your options on one hand.
Since the COVID pandemic, many all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants have shuttered.
Royal Fork Buffet was a favorite in Sioux Falls for many years. The restaurant, which was located behind the Empire Mall, closed in August 2020.
Royal Fork offered classic comfort food on their buffet like carved ham and roast beef, fried chicken, incredibly delicious hot cinnamon rolls, make-your-own waffle station with the best syrup I’d ever tasted, homemade tomato soup, and a fully-stocked salad and dessert bar.
Remember these buffet restaurants; Coyote Canyon, Sirloin Stockade, Brenner’s, Pizza Inn, Valentino’s Grand Italian Buffet?
A buffet is a guilty pleasure for many. With so many choices, it's hard to stay focused on your diet. Many restaurants today have salad bars, which sort of satisfies our need for the "all-you-can-eat buffet" in the form of different salads and fixings.
This isn't a local problem. There are just not many all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants in business anymore. Golden Corral is closing stores. Only a handful of Godfather's, KFC's, and Valentino's still have buffets. Bonanza and Ponderosa continue to close stores.
If you want a tasty all-you-can-eat buffet, my suggestion is to travel out of town. Several small town restaurants around South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota offer a buffet. You just have to search them out.
We scoured the Sioux Empire to find restaurants that still serve a buffet, of sorts, although most are not "buffet" restaurants. Here's what we found.
Gallery Credit: Karla Brown / Townsquare Media