Nov. 5, 2020

Fans of a new Native American food truck will be able to enjoy Indian tacos all winter.

Watecha Bowl owner Lawrence West is converting his former urban apparel retail shop at 2305 W. Madison St. into a restaurant.

“Everything will be made the same old-fashioned way it was on the truck,” said West, who makes his fry bread from scratch in small batches. “We’ll have a full menu. To start, there will be about 17 entree items, from Indian tacos to newer things we’ve created.”

Watecha Bowl’s menu ranges from the Big Indian burger, which is served on fry bread instead of a bun, to traditional soups and wojapi, a fruit pudding. The newest offering is The Big Chief: roasted beef and vegetables served on fry bread and drizzled with gravy.

West considered creating a sit-down restaurant but envisions the new space as a “full grab-and-go and delivery hub.”

Delivery will be through the restaurant instead of third-party services, he said.

West said he’s grateful for the community support that is allowing him to expand. He’s planning to open a second location in Sioux Falls and wants to franchise Watecha Bowl across South Dakota by 2022.

Everything started with his decision in the spring to open a food truck. In less than a month, he bought one and got it on the road. Watecha Bowl started as the pandemic reached South Dakota, and West’s plans to travel the powwow circuit in late summer dissipated as events were canceled.

West uses Madison Street in front of his former Studio 1491 as the food truck’s home base and has picked up a following in parking lots at apartment complexes in Sioux Falls and small businesses in towns such as Tea, Harrisburg, Dell Rapids and Canton.

West is still out on the food truck on days when the weather is nice while also working to convert the retail space “from floor to ceiling” into a restaurant.

“The decor will be museum-style pieces from relatives, family heirlooms, star quilts,” said West, who’s  an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. “It will have Native American pieces highlighting different things from our community. There will be plenty of stuff for people to look at, touch, read, learn from.”

He hopes to open in mid-December.