New offering adds barbecue kitchen to archery center

Oct. 16, 2020

A new barbecue kitchen has opened in Lennox.

The owners of the Archery Shak have started the Smoke Shak.

“I have always wanted a restaurant inside an archery center because everywhere I went they never had food. I through it would be nice to have,” said Mark Franklin, who started the indoor range and retail shop in downtown Lennox in 2017 with his wife, Melinda. “We’ve had a couple of different people run it (the kitchen) for us, but it was just too much for them. It’s a lot. We decided to do it ourselves.”

Franklin, who also works full-time at Sioux Steel, does the smoking.

“I have two pellet smokers,” he said. “They work really well. … I don’t have a lot of time to babysit a smoker. I’ll put a brisket on at 7 at night, and when I come up for work in the morning at a quarter to 5, I’ll wrap the brisket and put it back in. By lunchtime, it’s ready.”

Other smoked meats include pulled pork, pulled chicken and pork baby back ribs. The menu also features burgers and hot beef, pork or chicken sandwiches. Sides include baked beans, mac-and-cheese, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, potato salad and pasta salad.

Prices range from $5 for a burger to $25 for a full rack of ribs with two sides.

“I try to keep prices reasonable, so a family can come in and not break the bank,” said Franklin, who acquired his barbecue skills through trial-and-error at home, cooking for himself and his wife.

The Smoke Shak is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. Typically, someone is in the kitchen after lunch doing prep work for dinner, so customers can get food in between mealtimes, Franklin said.

The Franklins have hired a chef  to help, and he also makes the Smoke Shak’s four Doc Grizzly’s BBQ Sauces: The Woods, sweet and mesquite; Doc’s Grizzly Sauce, tangy Memphis; Love Shak, raspberry chipotle; and Slap Your Momma, roasted jalapeno and habanero peach.

The Smoke Shak doesn’t have an alcohol license, and Franklin said that’s because he wants to keep it family-friendly as part of the Archery Shak. He also doesn’t want to compete with nearby bars.

“That’s also why the food is different,” he said. “I want people to have an option. If they don’t want to drive to Sioux Falls for barbecue, they can come here.”

Lennox also is an easy reach for diners in Sioux Falls – it’s 15 miles from the southwest side of town.

The menu makes it easy for people to get a quick lunch, Franklin said. “We have everything hot, ready and prepared to go. We’ll have it out of here in less than five minutes typically.”

The restaurant can seat more than 50, and large gatherings of up to 300 can be accommodated in the archery range area.

“We do a lot of takeout,” Franklin said. “Eventually as things pick up, we’ll look into delivery too, especially on a game day.”

Sunday features an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The price is $12 for adults and $7 for children 12 and younger.

“Typically, we’ll have everything on there that we have (for smoked meats). We add egg bake and pancakes, biscuits and gravy.” Sliced bone-in ham also is available.

On the archery side of the business, traffic is down because of the pandemic, Franklin said. The couple has had to cancel leagues but hopes to resurrect one in the new year, he said.

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New offering adds barbecue kitchen to archery center

Lennox has a new dining option: barbecue.

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