Oct. 8, 2020

A new concept from a well-known Sioux Falls owner will bring a restaurant, bar and potentially a coffee shop to southwest Sioux Falls.

Justin Johnson, who owns several bar-restaurants, is planning his latest at the northwest corner of 85th Street and Louise Avenue.

While he has been in the restaurant and bar business most of his adult life, he has evolved from “the party scene and neighborhood bar” to take more of an interest and focus on food, he said.

For this latest concept, which hasn’t been named, he’s consulting with a family restaurant in Washington state, where he lives part of the time.

He envisions a restaurant centered around brick-oven pizza and with pasta dishes, salads and other family-friendly menu items.

“These guys (in Washington) are really good with their pizza,” he said. “I absolutely love that place, (and) I’m trying my best to get to that level.”

His other properties, which include Alibi Bar & Grill, Tommy Jack’s Pub, Upper Cut Bar & Grill and Woody’s Pub and Grill, offer food but are well known as bars with casinos.

“The bar-restaurant business has been tough for me. You’re either really successful on the bar side, or you’re really successful on the food side, and it’s been hard for me to tie all those things in,” Johnson said. “What I’m trying is different than my other locations. I’m going to build the spaces out to be three different types of businesses although a license will run in a couple of them.”

The bar side will be run like a traditional bar and, if approved by the city, can include up to 20 video lottery machines, which Johnson said are necessary to the business model.

After space for the bar and the restaurant, the balance of the 11,000-square-foot building will be leased, and the vision is to bring in a coffee shop.

“We would be totally interested in that,” Johnson said. “Right now, we’re just focusing on ours though and seeing how much space we’ll have. The plans are really in the early stage.”

He is hoping to start construction yet this fall, though.

“I don’t want to waste time. (We’ll start) as soon as we have some solid plans and (if) the weather holds out, I’m telling myself. I’m hoping by next fall it’s up and opening.”