La Minestra — Restaurant in Pierre

We were in town to watch my daughter sing at the Capital. I was with my mom and my two younger kiddos. When we came in at lunch time there was a sign to seat yourself. We chose a table away from the other guests because I know sometime small children can be noisy and we were trying to be respectful of other guests. One of the wait staff came over and very aggressively asked if anyone else would be joining us. When we said no it would be the four of us. She told us we had to move because we didn’t have enough people in our party to occupy one of these corner tables and she just walked away. We moved to a different table for four… it was very embarrassing the tone in which she talked to us especially infront of other guests. If you have certain requirements for seating why do you have a sign to seat yourself? We were never offered a high chair or booster seat for my younger kids. I happen to come across them when I went to the bathroom and brought a high chair to our table myself. We ordered a half salad, bowl of soup, and a kids pizza. We waited almost 40 minutes for our food and there were only three other tables at that time two of which had their meals already and lots of staff. The food was good and the restaurant atmosphere was nice. But the service was honestly horrible. We will not be back and as a travel agent I will not recommend this establishment...

Nearly immediately after being seated, my parents, wife, and I were greeted by the owner's wife who served us that evening. It would be an understatement to say that the service was incredible. The food exceeded all expectations of a city such as Pierre, SD. This was an extremely high quality dining experience. I think Gordon Ramsay would have a hard time bashing this place. I ordered the tortellini with chicken, prosciutto, and asparagus in a cream sauce. Everything was cooked perfectly. The asparagus burst with flavor, the chicken fell apart, the prosciutto was bacon-like in flavor and was amazing. The tortellini were immaculate in texture and the cheese blend complemented the sauce perfectly. I also ordered a prickly pear margarita. Being an amateur bartender myself, I was blown away at the use of prickly pear puree in the margarita. I must say those flavors were meant for each other. I barely spent a tad over $100 on three meals, two cocktails, and an artisanal beer. for four people. My parents split a ribeye and still brought home leftovers. Needless to say, the portions are large. For some that's a drawback. For me personally, I see it as receiving my money's worth. All in all, an unforgettable meal in a forgettable place. If you're in Pierre for any...

The older lady working was extremely rude and unpleasant. We didnt dress in a suit because we were there to hunt, but she took one look at us and turned her back on us. The kitchen staff were all drinking which was usual to me, maybe it better that the cooks are drunk in SD. I really enjoyed the flat bread, it was great. Thats about it. Do not venture outside of the Italian dishes because it was straight waste of appetite and money. I had the ribeye and I know theres a fat cap...fine but it was far from "marbled" and more fat than actual meat outside of the fat cap. Plus the thin muscle on top (which is the best part) was cut off. Also had the mushroom demi glaze, it was brown gravy, I doubt that a veal bone every touched the stock used to make it. Our waitress was friendly but she only had our table, it seemed that the old lady had all the rest. I've eaten at Del Posto and I wasnt expecting that, but I was expecting a bit better quality in food and especially in customer engagement. Developing interpersonal skills doesnt cost the business anything and easy to work on in slow times. Especially with the pandemic. I hope the best for this place but be warned stick to the italian dishes and avoid the old lady....unless...