Fernson Brewing to open pizza-focused restaurant downtown

The team at Fernson Brewing Co. is making a new move in the food scene with a pizza-focused restaurant planned for a historic downtown building.

Totally Rad Pizza by Fernson Brewing Co. will fill the first-floor space at the Harvester Building at 196 E. Sixth St. that was vacated recently by Harvester Kitchen by Bryan and Nunzio’s Food Hall.

The restaurant is the next step in evolving Fernson’s food scene — a move that was envisioned when the brewery hired Beau Vondra last year as director of food and beverage operations.

“One of our goals was in the next six months to a year to open another spot, and we really didn’t think it was going to be downtown,” co-owner Blake Thompson said. “But we also had a hard time finding a spot that felt like us anywhere else, and then this came out of the blue.”

People are still looking for experiences even as overall alcohol consumption trends down, he added.

“We’ve seen success at our Fernson Downtown, and now that we control the food, it’s been even more successful, and it’s obviously been very helpful to have Beau on tap to spearhead that.”

Vondra’s Totally Rad Eats concept inside Fernson’s Phillips Avenue location offers breakfast, lunch and dinner options with an emphasis on burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and snacks.

Totally Rad Pizza was always a vision in joining Fernson, Vondra said.

“One of the first things we talked about was doing pizza,” he said. “It’s a passion of his (Blake’s) and a passion of mine. I’m a pizza guy at heart.”

Fernson’s north-side brewery hosted a couple of Totally Rad Pizza pop-ups in the fall.

Vondra loves “the culture and craft of pizza making,” he added. “There’s such a uniqueness to it, so many different styles and variations and nuances you can do with it.”

He envisions offering a cross between a New York- and Neopolitan-style pizza at Totally Rad as well as “a more Midwest tavern bar thin” with “high-quality ingredients, fun toppings.”

The rest of the menu will include sandwiches — with one burger — small plates, salads and a couple of entrees, likely a steak and a seafood option.

“We’re going to be full service,” Vondra said. “So we’re trying to capture people who want to order pizzas and have a good time or groups of friends who want to have a cocktail and share a bowl of mussels and some finger foods.”

Fernson also now is a licensed distillery and is developing spirits under Paul Squyer, head of sales and cocktail development.

“We started to bring a cocktail program with our brunch, and we’re going to expand upon that here at this new location,” Vondra said. “The tap beer will be Fernson — we’re actually working on a root beer right now — and we’ll bring in some domestics in cans. We should have a fun cocktail experience and a couple wines on tap, but an extensive bottle list more so than we do downtown that will be a little more fun.”

Fernson has made its own vodka and “just hammered out an agave spirit, and we’re going to be working on gin,” he continued. “Our plans are to make rum as well and work on a brown liquor. It’s been a fun start.”

The interior of the space will be renovated into a “different take on an urban pub, with TVs,” Vondra said. “We have a big bar we’re building with 15 to 20 bar seats.”

Totally Rad Pizza also will benefit from a 2,000-square-foot patio at the Harvester Building that’s an easy walk from Levitt at the Falls.

“We’re kind of in a fun spot between The Steel District and Cherapa, which puts us in a unique location where we’re very walkable, and we have (on-site) parking and parking not far from us.”

The plan for the lower level at the Harvester Building is to turn the 3,000-square-foot space into “a ’70s, ’80s basement-bar vibe,” Vondra said. “With a  bunch of pinball machines, pool table, dart board, tall tables … more of a lounge place you can rent out for events.”

If it’s not rented, the plan is to open it for public seating with QR codes for ordering from upstairs.

The hope is to open the restaurant this spring.

“We couldn’t do this if I didn’t have such an unbelievable team downtown,” Vondra added. “I am very, very fortunate to be able to have found this many awesome people, and they’re just excited about what we’re doing.”

“It’s a super-fun concept, and we think they’re a great fit to the feel of the building and the neighborhood,” said Paul Gourley of building owner Gourley Properties.

“We love them as operators. They’re doing great things on Phillips Avenue, and now we get more Fernson this way.”

The vacant space drew “a ton of interest,” he added. “I can’t think of another (kitchen) hood available in Sioux Falls. It’s so cost-prohibitive to operators or landlords. And it’s just exciting downtown. With the Burger Battle, there’s a ton of activity, and they will open in time for the Levitt, which is fun.”

The lease leaves only one office space remaining: a 2,600-square-foot suite being vacated by marketing firm Mend Join Make, which is moving into the former Gameday Social Apparel Co. space at 101 N. Minnesota Ave.

“It’s really cool,” Gourley said. “There’s four offices plus a conference room and kitchenette. The entire building otherwise is full.”

That includes 24 loft apartments on the upper floors and the newly filled first-floor retail space for Wild Peach & Co., a maker-focused store that filled the former JuLiana’s Boutique La Femme space.

“It’s so great to have such a Sioux Falls staple next door,” owner Bobbi Clayton said of her new restaurant neighbors.

“I think our vibes will mesh well, and I’m excited to see how we can bounce off each other. Those guys are so talented and nice;, I’m very excited to have them in the Harvester. So much is changing — it’s like a whole new crew, and I think that’s really exciting for this little corner of downtown. We’ve been so busy, and things have been so great since the move. I’m really happy with it.”

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