Out to eat in Sioux Falls: Grille 26 delights

Less than a five-minute drive from campus, Grille 26 sits on the corner of 26th Street and Western Avenue. 

We made a reservation online and arrived promptly. The hostess was kind enough and sat us down right at our reserved time, even though people were waiting in the entrance for their tables too. 

The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice, with low lighting and a candle on our high-top table. It wasn’t too stuffy, with plenty of room to get comfortable. We noticed a large proportion of the customers already seated were senior citizens, which seemed interesting considering it was 6 p.m. on a Friday evening.

Our waiter, Jason, promptly arrived to greet us and take our drink orders. Ordering two glasses of moscato, which were $6 each, Jason returned shortly thereafter with our drinks and to take our appetizer order: cheesy Italian breadsticks for $12.

Though neither of us are wine connoisseurs, the moscato tasted nice. It tasted like a $10 moscato from a run-of-the-mill liquor store — sweet, pleasant, but hardly life changing.

The breadsticks came out in a timely fashion shortly after our wine, and they were some of the best we have ever had and we are not exaggerating. 

Typically, breadsticks are coated with cheese and maybe a little garlic seasoning unproportionately spread on the bread. But these breadsticks had a gooey three-cheese blend, garlic seasoning and cracked pepper evenly spread throughout with cilantro to give it a pop of flavor and pizzazz. The bread itself was also soft and fluffy with a crispy, crunchy crust. 

Now, onto the entrees.

Steak and Gorgonzola Penne

Upon first bite, the flavors of the gorgonzola cream sauce were delicious. After a few bites, though, the flavor became overwhelmingly intense. I couldn’t help but think that the meal was over salted, especially since gorgonzola cheese is naturally salty. The sourdough bread on the side, though, tasted amazing when dipped in the cream sauce.

The penne pasta was cooked a bit past al dente, which is what I prefer. Trying the steak alone, it was tough and lacked flavor. It seemed that the cream sauce was supposed to be enough seasoning for the steak, but I disagree. Any seasoning could’ve brought the steak’s flavor out, yet I couldn’t help but feel its taste compared to unseasoned ground beef.

The asparagus, mushrooms and balsamic onions were the best part of the meal. Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables, and when it is cooked or seasoned wrong, it pains me. But the flavors of the fresh vegetables popped out, and they were sautéed and seasoned perfectly. I will definitely go back to try a meal more vegetable-heavy next time.

The steak and gorgonzola penne cost $18, which I thought was a reasonable price when ordering. The meal proportion was definitely worth it. After the cheesy bread and half my entree, I kindly requested a box from our waiter. 

Would I say the quality of the meal was worth $18? No, maybe $16 at best. But just because one meal wasn’t up to my standards doesn’t mean another entree at Grille 26 wouldn’t fit my palette better.

Teriyaki Stir Fry with Chicken

Grille 26 partners with many local businesses, such as Breadsmith and Cherry Rock Farms, to provide fresh meals, and the vegetables in my stir fry tasted like they came straight from the farm. I usually do not like snap peas and peppers because of the texture, but the seasoning and fresh flavors made them difficult to ignore.

The chicken was tender and seasoned well with pepper, and the rice was cooked just right — not too hard but not chewy. The cashews added a nice crunchiness to the mixture of softer foods. The teriyaki sauce, which was a little too salty, was unnecessary because of how tasty the stir fry itself was. 

The teriyaki stir fry with chicken is $17, and for the amount of food and the quality, it is well worth it. The other menu options range from $15 to $22, which is a nice range for the average college student. 

After finishing our wine and having nice conversations about life beyond school, we still had so much food left over. The proportions are large enough for two people to split a meal. 

We kindly asked for boxes and our waiter, to our surprise, packed up our meals for us. 

After we gave Jason a well-deserved tip, we happily took our meals home and looked forward to eating our leftovers the next day.