When we entered the new restaurant in uptown Sioux Falls, we were excited. “You’ve got to try that new sandwich place,” we had heard since the day they opened late May in the former Taste of the Big Apple location.

Along with hearing they had delicious food, we learned of the owners’ longtime bromance. Co-owner and chef Jordan Taylor and co-owner and manager Barry Putzke grew up together and graduated from Roosevelt High School. After they parted ways for college, they reunited in the Pacific Northwest and moved to Portland, where Putzke pursued a career in finance and Taylor attended culinary school.

Nearly 15 year later, they planned to return home to “share what they love about Portland.” Passionate for west coast farm-to-table cooking, Taylor wanted to only use local, quality ingredients when the casual restaurant can.

The entrance was welcoming right away, with much more picnic table seating on the patio. As we opened the door, Taylor and Putzke were right there to greet us. We were obsessed with the subway tile (you can never go wrong with subway tile) and the wooden bar. Putzke explained the bar, the custom shelves, and the cleaver (shaped like South Dakota) were created by Hackberry Hollow Woodworks out of Renner.

The menu was adorably written on the chalkboard behind the counter, and the daily specials were on a clipboard.

“Since we like to keep things fresh and use local producers as much as we can, we plan to switch [the menu] up every so often,” explained Taylor. “Otherwise I get antsy, too, and need to experiment with new menu items.”

Our eyes bugged out when we saw there was homemade ice cream. Taylor said he typically makes small batches of the dessert, and there are at least two flavors a day.

Our choices? Strawberry and chocolate mint. Mint is my jam, so chocolate mint it was. The mint-infused dessert was to die for.

Since we started with dessert first (like everyone should), we moved on to the Naughty Fries. They are fries topped with pork chile verde, taqueria pickles, queso fresco, cilantro, and radish. For being “naughty,” it didn’t feel wrong. Everything looked so fresh. I will probably say “fresh” 80 times in this article, because it just needs to be repeated. The fries weren’t overwhelmed with toppings, and they were easy to eat. Because of this, the fries were crispy, not soggy. I was happily surprised by the radish, which I wouldn’t normally think to pair with fries.

To wash down the “naughty” starter, my co-worker enjoyed a glass of Ballast Point Sculpin, and I tried a glass of Elysian Brewing Blood Orange Pale Super Fuzz. The restaurant has eight craft beers on tap.

Next up, the Falafel.  This being my first falafel, it had chaat spiced raita, cherry tomato, Dagger and Arrow hot sauce, romaine, and pita. The tomatoes were the most red I’ve seen all summer. Since I had never eaten it before, I probably failed at eating it correctly and used silverware. It was very flavorful, and the deep, fried balls were packed with new flavors for me.

The Vietnamese Fried Chicken ended up on our table, and is a “must-try” at Bread & Circus Sandwich Kitchen. The nuoc cham, bahn mi pickles, cilantro aioli, and potato roll were juicy and packed with different tastes. The pickled vegetables were a cool addition, though the carrot was sneakily spicy.

When we thought we were going to roll down into the street from being bloated, we received the Porkstrami – pork belly, beer braised kraut, fontina, grainaise, on rye. These types of sandwiches typically scare me, but I needed to try this one. It was tame on flavor and had the perfect amount of [house-made] sour krout. They cure their bacon in house, which makes bacon even better.

Yes, there’s one more. We tried the Moroccan Chicken salad. This included arugula, grapes, feta, harissa marinated cucumber, crispy lentils, and preserved lemon vinaigrette. The taste of honey garlic and in-house vinaigrette were a light treat. I would actually order this, and if you ask on a normal day if I’ll choose salad over anything else, the answer is no.

BOTTOM LINE:

This is a great stop for fresh (I said it again), farm-to-table small plates (which most come with a side of chips). You’ll leave extremely satisfied and ready to come back for the next round. It’s also very exciting to see the patio utilized more, since it’s such a new, fun area of town.

Rating Scale: Ambiance ++++ | Average Price Per Meal: $—$10 & under;  $$—$20 & under; $$$—$30 & under; $$$$—over $30 | Taste ++++