SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Four months after the north Sioux Falls Mexican restaurant closed its doors, Casa Del Rey will officially reopen on Monday. As for what guests can expect? A familiar experience.
That’s because much of the interior has remained intact, with some changes made to décor items, color tones and fixtures.
Kibbi Eining-McCormick is one of the new owners of Casa Del Rey. If that name sounds familiar, that because this is not her first restaurant, they also own Josiah’s Coffeehouse and The Original Pancake House.
Casa Del Rey will open its doors at 11 a.m. Monday, and will initially feature a shortened menu, said Eining-McCormick.
“There will be a few new items on there and all the favorites — the big items that people were ordering,” said Eining-McCormick. “We just want to get some feedback from the public on things that they really liked, maybe things that needed to be tweaked a little bit.”
Once that input has been received, Eining-McCormick says a large normal menu will be put out.
Tate Eining, Kibbi’s brother and fellow Casa Del Rey owner, also confirmed there will be a kids menu.
Eining-McCormick has a dish she herself is hoping to get added to the menu if the public has interest. “I like arroz con pollo,” she said.
Some might question how well the operators of a coffehouse and pancake restaurant will be able to churn out Mexican food, but Eining-McCormick revealed they aren’t going in blind.
“Well a good thing for people to know is Don Smith, the original owner, he’s got wonderful recipes and we did get all his recipes,” said Eining-McCormick. “So that was a big thing to make sure that we had his original recipes — he has been phenomenal between him and Cory — the guy he bought it from — between their help, we know how to make those items.”
Casa Del Rey will also have an executive chef, said Eining-McCormick, who will help rotate in hot trending dishes like street tacos and birria tacos.
Eining-McCormick says they are also keeping one of the former kitchen staffers as a kitchen manager.
As mentioned, much of what guests see inside will look familiar, with much of the cosmetic features left unchanged.
“I think (guests are) going to be really happy that we didn’t change it, said Eining-McCormick. “So it’s still the iconic Casa Del Rey. But the big thing is it’s refreshed. It’s clean, it’s fresh, it’s a little more modern. The colors might be toned down a little bit. I just feel like it’s still the old Casa Del Rey that I went to when I was young.”
For the new owners, this commitment to keeping the restaurant intact meant things like cleaning and restoring the terracotta tile floor, keeping the log structures inside and the faux rock seating dividers, but reupholstering booths, replacing tables and chairs, and adding TVs to the bar side.
All in, Eining-McCormick said that the cost of these upgrade was significant. “I will say — we’re probably pushing into the $350-400,000 range,” she said of the investments they’ve made beyond the initial purchase of the property.
Casa Del Rey plans to have regular working hours throughout the week; Sunday-Thursday, 11a.m.-9 p.m., and Friday/Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
They also plan to have a happy hour Monday-Friday from 4-6 p.m., and hope to eventually bring back a Sunday brunch.
