With new restaurant opening, Wyoming owner becomes Sioux Falls resident

The plan was to open a restaurant in Sioux Falls — not to move his family here.

But Sam Clikeman officially has done both.

Big Lost Meadery, which he founded almost a decade ago in Wyoming, opened this week at Lake Lorraine, along with restaurant Ranch & Roost, which Clikeman founded with Aaron Cannon in early 2020.

Sioux Falls rose to the top as an expansion market following extensive research, Clikeman said.

“Essentially, we had looked at five locations,” he said. “Dallas was No. 1, Tampa was No. 2, Nashville, Des Moines and Sioux Falls was No. 5, and as we started digging deeper in, Sioux Falls started rising on the list.”

They considered the market size, the “vibrancy of the hospitality industry,” the cost of real estate and entry, the effect on their distribution — which includes international sales — and the recession-resistance of the community, including income levels.

Still, he didn’t see himself becoming part of the community — until he did.

“Once again, we started looking into it,” he said. “It’s a good place to raise kids. It’s a good place to work, so we bought a house, and we live here completely.”

He moved here early this year; his wife, Erin, and two kids followed a couple of weeks ago. She already has found a job in the health care industry.

“We’ve fully implanted ourselves into the community,” Clikeman said, adding that he thinks present local ownership is necessary to engage in the community at the level he wants.

Big Lost Meadery will make beers on-site, while the mead will continue to be made in Wyoming and shipped here.

Mead varieties vary greatly, but all involved fermented honey, with flavors that involve fruitiness or spiciness. Think of it as halfway between a wine and liquor, Clikeman said.

“There are only a few places in the world that make a style of mead like we do,” he said. “And then you’ve got … really easy-drinking malty beers, a lot of simple drinkable beers. It’s mostly an experience. There’s no TV, the music isn’t real loud, and it’s all about the atmosphere.”

At Ranch & Roost, the specialty is burgers and chicken. Burgers are made from fresh-ground raw steak each morning, “so it’s very well-sourced beef that comes from just a couple ranches, and a lot of it comes from here in South Dakota,” he said.

“Even chicken sandwiches are sourced from one farm, and it takes a day and a half to make the fries. It’s all made in beef tallow, so it’s real food.”

The patio will open once weather allows, unless someone wants to brave it sooner.

Most of the hiring is done, but applicants can still stop in for openings on the restaurant side or look on Indeed.com.

As Clikeman worked through construction and opening, “it’s gone very well,” he said. “Working with the city was surprisingly easy — everything from getting licensed and inspection, and the construction side of things went a lot better than I thought it was going to go. We had good partners on the construction and banking side, which is huge. We had First Bank & Trust and Van Buskirk (Construction) doing the project.”

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation reached out “to say ‘Come do business in Sioux Falls; it’s great.’ And that marketing plan actually is not inaccurate,” he said. “It was surprisingly easy and a welcoming area. The brewing community here has been extremely helpful. There were times we had equipment break down, and WoodGrain said, ‘Come borrow this; I’ve got you.’ We feel like we’ve been very heavily accepted in the community very quickly in a way we didn’t anticipate. It really confirms our choice of why we came here.”

Hours for Big Lost Meadery and Ranch & Roost at 2215 S. Lorraine Place are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

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