Ironwood — Attraction in Sioux Falls Township

Ironwood delights and inspires with a beautifully balanced menu which offers something for everyone, carnivores and veggie lovers alike, and all at an indisputably reasonable price point for meal quality and exceptional service. My husband and I visited on a Tuesday evening in July and without a reservation – no problem, there was ample seating on the spacious, quiet, and gorgeously landscaped patio. Ironwood’s interior seating and bathrooms are well appointed and clean while the entire restaurant points toward the massive cooking space – complete with (controlled) flames for an incredibly sensory journey. (I look forward to a quiet, blustery, winter weeknight dinner at Ironwood in the future – oh, the ambiance will be amazing!) The hosts were kind and informative about Ironwood, never appearing overwhelmed despite a steady stream of upstairs event, reservation, and walk-in guests. I fully expect to make a reservation in the future, I feel like we got a bit lucky. Our dining experience began and ended with exceptional service and attention to detail. Ailin, our Server, took us through the mouthwatering menu with such a classy and enthusiastic delivery that making choices seemed nearly impossible! Ironwood is a steakhouse, yes, but every offering is new and exciting and wholly deserving of its price point and inclusion. After much deliberation we ordered (and shared) mushroom perogies, a caprese salad, the pan seared scallop entrée, the grilled octopus entrée, and a side of grilled asparagus with béarnaise, plus a carrot cake to go. Goodness, it was a lot of (really good) food! Those. Mushroom. Perogies. Seriously. The chefs and kitchen staff at Ironwood are top notch, true artists! Further, Ailin told us Ironwood’s potions are generous and that sharing is encouraged to try everything… really, she tried to warn us, but I’m so pleased to have some leftovers to get after today! We wanted for nothing and at no point was Ailin hurried or absent throughout our time with her, what a rarity in modern restaurant dining! Accompanying Ironwood’s well-considered food listing is an extensive drinks menu, but as we don’t drink alcohol, I can only say the ginger beer and lime twists were fresh, cold, and plentiful! Of additional special note was Emilea’s (Front of House Manager) rounds to welcome guests and check in as dinner progressed. She was so genuine in her approach and perfectly balanced the nuance of interacting with guests to ensure quality, but not interrupting the ambiance of what ended up being an unexpectedly special dining experience. She indulged my questions about sourcing, menu creation and maintenance, and conversed positively about the ever-evolving landscape of restaurant dining in Sioux Falls. Emilea appears to be a natural conversationalist and as skilled as she is passionate about her industry, what a treat to meet her! Anyone who has such positive things to say about their team, from the business, creative, and service aspects at Ironwood must be in the company of stellar individuals! And it shows, the place seemed to run so smoothly. I fervently hope Ironwood, still relatively new to Sioux Falls, can sustain this pace and maintain quality over the coming years. Disenchanted with subpar service, mediocre offerings, price gouging, and the typical post-opening complacency slump so many promising restaurants allow for, we have lost interest in dining out over the years. Ironwood challenges the status quo and reminds us what the restaurant experience can,...

First time at this establishment. Restaurant has been open for 7 weeks now. First thoughts on environment...beautiful location looking out onto the Falls. Has both upstairs (more intimate) and downstairs (main bar area with open kitchen) seating. Love the smell of open fire kitchen when you first enter.

First courses were chilled oysters and steak tartare. Oysters were east coast from MA. Small to medium in size. Nice balance of sweet and briny. Not overpowering and surprisingly fresh (being in the Midwest). Mignonette and cocktail were standard. Calabrian chili sauce was a nice twist on the standard "Tabasco" flavor.

Steak tartare had nice presentation. Well grilled points. First run was incredibly salty, the General Manager swiftly came over after he had seen me push the dish aside. He immediately tasted the dish and had it remade to his liking. Ended up being my favorite dish, nice balance of richness from the oil, TOUCH of salt and sour and acid from the cornichons. Cured egg provided a little more salt and dab of richness. It is a nice play on the classic French dish.

French onion was unique and delicious. It was deconstructed as opposed to the run of the mill types. Onions were tender, not soggy, and retained their sweetness. The single crouton was just enough and had a nice touch of truffle flavor. The broth was epic. Deep in beefy flavor, had more body which may be from either a roux or starch. Not your typical runny and watery soup. Highly recommend

Main was the wagyu zabuton. Ordered black and blue. Could have been a bit more charred and ultimately ended up being a rare cook. Nice finish w maldon and seasoned well. Nice intermuscular fat. I also indulged on a half order of the gnocchi, squash, sage. Sauce was broken and little oily. Squash was cooked nicely w a little char. Gnocchi were super soft and fluffy pillows. I personally like a little more chew but good either way. Lastly, got a side of the mushrooms. Nothing to write home about. Oil, garlic, light seasoning. Nice to NOT be super salty, in order to taste the umami from the fungus.

All of the staff were very welcoming and many attended to every one of my needs. Refills before drinks were empty. Also nice to have light social talk w both the waiting staff and GM.

Overall, very nice experience. There were a few small items that could have been better but in the end a huge success. Goes head to head w Morries and if you want a newer twist from the ordinary menu and presentation, you should certainly try. Little on the pricey side so get ready to donate some greenbacks. I feel the experience is priced into the menu offerings. IW gives off more energy than the other SF steakhouse. Highly recommend and...

Service here was amazing. We were greeted immediately after coming in and we had one person cancel in our reservation so they went and rearranged our table for 2 instead of 3. Atmosphere was also amazing. Lots of beautiful fixtures and fancy tables and chairs and a nice view of the river.(There's some construction going on nearby, but that's not their fault, of course). I went for my birthday with my mom and they immediately wished me a happy birthday as eell. The came out with some bread to start and we ordered drinks. The server made her a custom drink based on her taste, which she loved and it was awesome that he did this. I got a Paper Plane and then later a smoked old fashioned, which had a great table side preparation. The we started with some bread and we got the steak Tartare as an appetizer, which I'd never had before and was pretty good, though ultimately not really my taste. For the sides, we got an AMAZING lobster Mac and cheese. It was a good size and I ended up taking some home. We also got the potatoes pave, which were delicious-like thin scalloped potatoes in a stack and then crisped up on top. As a side to the steak, we got some garlic butter shrimp, which were delicious, and huge. Unfortunately, what should've been the star of the show, the steak, was pretty disappointing. It started off bad when we wanted to get the ribeye, but they were out already at 5:30. So we had to get the new york strip. I had also wanted to get a side of scallops, but those were out so we went with the shrimp which as I stated before we're very good. The steak, however, was ordered medium rare and came out medium in most spots and closer to medium well on the ends. The medium parts were still pretty good, but the medium well parts were fairly tough. The worst part, though, was the hard fat that ran along the edge of the steak that had not been rendered in the leather bit as well as a sizeable piece of gristle on one end. The marrow butter helped save it a little bit, but at $6 for a scoop of butter, I don't think it would be worth it for next time, and would not have been needed if we got the ribeye, I'd hope. Once done with our dinner, the server boxed up our leftover Mac and cheese and brought out a delicious chocolate mousse cheesecake for dessert on the house for my birthday, which was very decadent and I enjoyed it very much. Overall, I enjoyed my experience, but the quality of the cook on the steak brought what would've a 5 star experience down to 3. I may give them a try another time and try something other than the steak, but for somewhere that calls itself a steakhouse and charges a premium, I really expected that...