Bars in Sioux Falls: the license behind the bar
Part of Bars in Sioux Falls.
Two bars a block apart can be operating on completely different licenses, and the license shapes what is on the back bar, how late the door stays open,.
Two bars a block apart can be operating on completely different licenses, and the license shapes what is on the back bar, how late the door stays open, and whether there is a room full of machines off the main floor.
Full bar or beer and wine is a licensing fact
State law caps how many full on-sale liquor licenses a city can hold: three for the first thousand residents, then one more for every additional fifteen hundred. New ones appear only when census figures move, which is why the city goes years between batches. Sioux Falls now awards them by sealed bid. In the first round, in 2023, all seven on-sale licenses sold for at least $350,000 and the high bid was $400,111. The 2025 round put four on the block at a state-set minimum bid of $240,646.
At those numbers, plenty of rooms run on beer and wine licenses instead, which are not capped by population. Full bar versus beer and wine is a licensing outcome here more often than a style choice.
The casino room is a licensing artifact
South Dakota attaches video lottery to alcohol. Machines are allowed only in an establishment licensed to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises, and state law limits them to ten per licensed establishment. That cap is the reason a single building sometimes holds several separately licensed rooms. The machines may be played only during the hours the premises is allowed to serve.
Last call is statewide, and so is the smoking rule
No on-sale licensee may sell, serve, or allow alcohol to be consumed on the premises between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. Municipalities and counties may restrict Sundays, Christmas, and Memorial Day further. Indoor smoking has been out in South Dakota bars, restaurants, and video lottery establishments since November 10, 2010, when a statewide vote upheld the ban 64 percent to 36.
The kitchen has a public record
Many of the places below serve food, and the city inspects retail food establishments inside city limits. Those results are public: the city's food service lookup carries the last score and the last two inspection reports for each address, taverns included.
About this guide
Written and published by Zvario LLC, a South Dakota company. Nobody paid to be in it and there is no way to buy a place. If something here is out of date, or a business named would rather not be, tell us and we will change it.