Jan. 15, 2021

Starting sometime next week, you’ll be able to get a pizza with your beer at Monks Ale House.

Owner Justin Henrichsen has finished remodeling the kitchen of the business he bought last year and is ready to start testing out the stone deck pizza ovens in the coming days.

The recipes will be the same as those at Henrichsen’s Rapid City craft beer bar, Independent Ale House, which has built a reputation for its pizzas too.

“Basically, we do a thin-crust pizza, but we don’t have normal ingredients,” he said. “We have a jalapeno popper one. We have a mashed potato pizza with a big dollop of sour cream in the middle, a Thai pizza. We have a few regular ones. We have a pepperoni, and we have a supreme. We have a Cardiac Arrest that’s basically every meat we have on a pizza.” That’s his favorite.

The pizzas come in one size. “They work out to about 9-by-14,” he said. “It’s a big oval.”

Monks is keeping the menu simple, “just pizzas and salads.” But there are 17 pizzas to choose from, and there’s a gluten-free crust.

Customers will be able to get the pizzas, salads and 32-ounce crowlers for takeout.

Henrichsen bought the bar at 420 E. Eighth St. in mid-May, while it was temporarily closed because of the pandemic. He spent time remodeling and opened in August. The craft beer bar features 50 tap lines. In addition to beer, there are hard ciders, seltzers and wine by the bottle or glass.

Business is “not too bad considering we’re in the middle of the pandemic. Life could be worse. We’re weathering the storm.”