Amid uncertain future, Spink Cafe’s ‘Spink Ladies’ keep on selling

Dec. 9, 2019

Owners of the landmark Spink Cafe, which was destroyed in a fire Nov. 10, haven’t decided yet if they’ll rebuild, but they’re selling baked goods and salads at least through the holidays.

Sam and Rhonda Otten learned recently that insurance adjusters have determined that the building – one of only a handful in Spink, which is between Beresford and Elk Point – is a total loss, but they’re still waiting for the claim to be processed.

“They just don’t really know what the next step is,” said Kari Tripp, the cafe’s front-end manager and one of its three waitresses.

In the meantime, the “Spink Ladies” – Otten, Tripp and the other two waitresses – are taking orders for holiday trays of home-baked treats, Otten’s well-known pies and her macaroni salads and other dishes that filled the cafe’s salad bar.

“For now, we’re just doing it for the holidays, and then we’ll decide what to do after that,” Tripp said.

The fire started on that Sunday afternoon because of a cigarette receptacle on the front porch of the wooden two-story building, Tripp said. While the majority of the fire was contained to the dining room, smoke and heat damaged the remainder of the building, she said.

The outpouring of support from customers stretches from neighboring farms to Sioux Falls, Sioux City and states far beyond South Dakota’s borders, she said.

“We received some cards from Texas even. … There’s a lot of nostalgia to it. There are people who have so many memories there.”

The Spink Cafe built its reputation on prime rib, hot beef sandwiches, broasted chicken and Otten’s salads and pies, Tripp said. The prime rib special was so popular it went from one night a week to two earlier this year. The cafe featured an all-you-can-eat buffet on some evenings and Sundays.

“It wasn’t real big, but we made it work,” Tripp said of the cafe, which seated 95.

The Spink Cafe has been in the Otten family for 21 years. The building was constructed in 1925, according to news reports. Over the years, it has been a general store, post office, theater and meat locker. It also had been a cafe but had been closed for a few years when Sam’s parents, John and Diane, bought it, Tripp said.

“Spink was a destination,” Tripp said. “Not because there is a lot to do here. The cafe was it. That’s why you came there.”

Motorcyclists enjoyed it for the drive and the good food, Tripp said. “Some people would read about us on the internet and come in.”

The regulars during lunch were local farmers and people who had to go to Sioux Falls for doctor’s appointments, Tripp said.

“We had regulars who came in every Friday for the hot beef special unless they were at the doctor.”

For dinner, people would come from Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Alcester and Beresford, she said.

“It wasn’t just the cafe. When you were there, we learned about your life, we knew your grandchildren. It literally was family, where you went home, where you had grandma’s recipes.”

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Amid uncertain future, Spink Cafe’s ‘Spink Ladies’ keep on selling

Owners of the landmark Spink Cafe, which was destroyed in a fire Nov. 10, haven’t decided yet if they’ll rebuild, but they’re selling baked goods and salads at least through the holidays.

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