Spearfish, South Dakota
Date Night in Spearfish, SD
A cocktail at the bar, a steak or a piece of halibut, something sweet, and a walk downtown after. Open until 11 PM on Friday and Saturday.
Open since 2012 · Two barrel-aged cocktails · 1,143 Google reviews · #3 of 49 Spearfish restaurants on TripAdvisor
Where do you actually go for dinner in a town this size?
That's the real question. Spearfish is not short on places to grab food. It is short on places where you can sit down at a bar, order a drink somebody actually built, eat something you couldn't make at home, and not feel rushed out at 8:15.
That's what this place is for. It's a scratch kitchen, the bitters, the grenadine and the michelada mix are made here, two cocktails are aged in a barrel behind the bar, and Chef Nick Caton changes the menu often enough that a regular still gets surprised. It's also not a stiff room. You can come in from a hike in Spearfish Canyon in a fleece and nobody blinks.
How the evening goes
- 1
Get here around 6 and start at the bar.
Even if your table is ready. Twenty minutes with a drink before you sit down changes the whole night.
- 2
Order one thing to share.
The sashimi nachos, marinated ahi, wasabi goat cheese and sriracha on fried wonton chips, or the brussels sprouts pan-fried with bacon and goat cheese. Crab stuffed mushrooms if you want something warm and quiet.
- 3
Move to the table and take your time.
Every steak comes with a house salad, a cup of soup or a cup of chili, so the front half of dinner is handled.
- 4
Finish with a coffee cocktail and walk it off downtown.
You're a few blocks from Main Street.
The two cocktails nobody else in town has
Two drinks go into a barrel behind the bar and come out weeks later, softer and rounder than the day they went in. Nobody else in Spearfish is doing this.
Barrelled-in-Bond Old Fashioned
Benchmark Bonded Bourbon, demerara syrup, house-made bitters, aged in the barrel. If one of you drinks brown liquor, order this first and don't overthink it.
Verde Y Reposado
Cazadores Reposado, Cap Corse Blanc, verde chile liqueur and Benedictine, barrel-aged and served up. Herbal, a little warm on the finish, and unlike anything else on a menu around here.
Xpresso Martini, cold brew, Wheatley Vodka and Grind Espresso Liqueur. This is the end-of-dinner drink, and it's the reason people stay for another hour instead of asking for the check.
If those aren't your speed: the Japanese Garden (Roku Gin, ginger liqueur, cherry, fresh lime, shaken and served up) is the prettiest thing on the list, the Limoncello Drop is the easiest yes at the table, and The Handlebar is gin with local honey syrup topped with a draft IPA. Not drinking? The Bowl Cut and the Scratch Shirley are built with the same house syrups, and there's a real non-alcoholic beer list: Guinness N/A, Athletic Upside Dawn, Deschutes Black Butte Porter N/A. The full drink menu has the rest, including 30-plus whiskeys and a 15-plus red wine list.
What to order, start to finish
Start (share one)
Sashimi nachos if you want the kitchen to show off. Brussels sprouts with bacon and goat cheese if you want something you'll fight over. Eggplant dip with sweet potato chips if one of you is eating gluten free. Red chili calamari if you want to keep it simple.
The main
The espresso-rubbed New York strip with crimini mushroom cream is the best-looking plate on the menu, and the Moroccan spiced lamb chops with Bordeaux cherry chutney are the most interesting. On the seafood side, the halibut kedgeree, butter-steamed halibut on curried rice with a fried egg and crispy pickled onions, is the dish people describe to their friends afterward, and Funk's 2.0 (blackened wild Alaskan salmon with spinach, tomato, onion and balsamic glaze) is the lighter one. If you want the two of you eating differently: duck ravioli on one side of the table, a petite filet on the other.
To finish
A good pairing helps: steak and a red from the list, the Kokomo Cabernet or the Orin Swift Abstract. Halibut or salmon with a white or the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc sangria. Lamb chops with the Verde Y Reposado, which sounds odd and works. An Xpresso Martini finishes the meal properly.
Anniversary dinner
If it's your anniversary, tell us when you call. We can't promise a specific table, but we'd rather know than find out from the card on the table.
The practical advice: come earlier than you think. A 5:30 or 6 PM reservation on a Friday means a quieter room, a bartender with time to talk you through the barrel-aged list, and no pressure on the table behind you. By 7:30 on a weekend it's a livelier room, great if that's what you want, less great if you came to hear each other.
Bringing family along to make it a bigger night? Parties of eight or more work fine in the dining room, see celebration dinners, and if you want a space of your own, that's private events.
Valentine's Day in Spearfish
Book early. This is the one night of the year where waiting to decide means eating somewhere you didn't choose.
Spearfish has a limited number of sit-down dinner tables and every one of them is spoken for on February 14. Call (605) 717-1255 as soon as you know you want to come, weeks ahead, not days.
What we can tell you: we're open until 10 PM Monday through Thursday and 11 PM Friday and Saturday, the full bar program runs all night, and if February 14 lands midweek, the night before or after is a genuinely better dinner, same food, same drinks, a room you can talk in.
Live music, and the nights it's quiet
Some nights there's a band. That's a completely different kind of date, louder, later, more fun if you're in the mood for it. Check who's playing before you pick your night so you get the version of the evening you actually want. Sunday through Thursday the room is calmer, and that's the night to come if you want a long, slow dinner.
After dinner
You're steps from downtown Spearfish, so the night doesn't have to end at the table. Walk Main Street. In summer, the light lasts long enough to drive the first few miles of Spearfish Canyon after dinner, the byway starts at the south edge of town and it's the best twenty minutes of scenery in the northern Black Hills. Deadwood is 20 to 25 minutes south if you want a second act.
Frequently asked questions
Does Killian's take reservations?
Call (605) 717-1255 and we'll get you handled. For weekend evenings, holidays and Valentine's Day, call as far ahead as you can, those nights fill.
Is Killian's a good date night restaurant?
Yes, it's built for it. A real cocktail program including two barrel-aged drinks, a scratch kitchen doing steaks, lamb chops, halibut and duck ravioli, and a room that's comfortable without being formal. You're also a short walk from downtown Spearfish for after.
What should we wear?
Whatever you want. This is a casual dining room. People come in from a hike in the canyon and people come in dressed up for an anniversary, often on the same night, and neither looks out of place.
What time should we come for a quiet dinner?
Earlier. A 5:30 or 6 PM table on a weekend is a much calmer room than 7:30, and Sunday through Thursday is quieter than Friday or Saturday. If there's a band playing, the room gets louder later, check the live music schedule first.
Do you have an espresso martini?
Yes. The Xpresso Martini is cold brew, Wheatley Vodka and Grind Espresso Liqueur. It's the dessert-course drink here and it's the one people come back for.
Do you do anything special for Valentine's Day?
We're open regular hours and the full bar runs all night. Book well ahead, February 14 is the hardest reservation in Spearfish, and if it falls midweek, the night before or after is a better dinner.
Can we just sit at the bar?
Yes, and it's a good date. The bar is where the barrel-aged cocktails, the michelada mix and the house bitters live, and the full food menu is available there. If it's your first time, sitting at the bar and asking the bartender what's new is the best way in.
Is there anything for someone who isn't drinking?
A real list, not an afterthought. Guinness N/A, Athletic Upside Dawn, Lagunitas Hop Refresher, Deschutes Fresh Squeezed N/A and more on tap or in bottles, plus two mocktails, the Bowl Cut and the Scratch Shirley, made with the same house-made grenadine as the cocktails.
Pick a night, call, and let us handle the rest of it.
Killian's Food & Drink · 539 W Jackson Blvd, Spearfish, SD 57783 · (605) 717-1255
Mon-Thu 11 AM-10 PM · Fri-Sat 11 AM-11 PM · Sun 11 AM-10 PM