Burger Battle champs prepare to defend title while working on expanded new location

Eleven months ago, when Steve Blumke and Lisa Esser served a burger to a first-time customer, they had no idea it would change their lives.

The customer: Scott Blount, senior broker associate with Lloyd Cos. He had stopped by Papa Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza to try the eatery’s entry in the annual Downtown Burger Battle competition, which is sponsored by Downtown Sioux Falls Inc.

“It was huge, great, stellar,” Blount said of the half-pound hamburger. “Then two days later, I heard it won the burger competition.”

That’s right — a small restaurant known for its wood-fired pizzas and flatbreads had taken home the prize over 23 other competitors. Blount, still impressed with his meal, knew the couple who owned Papa Woody’s were people who knew and appreciated food. Blount had, in fact, asked to speak with Blumke when he finished his meal and complimented him on the burger.

When he heard Papa Woody’s had won, Blount called the restaurant and asked to speak to the owner. “I’m a commercial broker in town, I think you do a really nice job, and I think I have a great opportunity for you,” he told Esser.

That opportunity was a spot in The Cascade at Falls Park, a loft community on North Phillips Avenue that features retail businesses on its main floor. Blount had been looking for the right fit for the as-yet unoccupied restaurant, and in Papa Woody’s, he said, he had found it.

Esser and Blumke, who have been a couple almost since the day they first met 16 years ago, weren’t looking to move Papa Woody’s from The Jones421 Building, which is on Phillips between Fifth and Sixth streets. They had opened their first brick-and-mortar location there in 2019 and had focused almost from the beginning on weathering the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was our first venture ourselves,” Esser said. “We’ve both been in the restaurant business most of our lives but always worked for somebody else. It’s been pretty great to do something for ourselves.”

In 2016, Blumke was a stay-at-home dad in charge of six children, and Esser was working 80 hours a week. He never left the house, and she was never home, Esser said. Something had to change. That’s when they decided to open a food truck. They wanted to offer something different. When her father saw a food truck that offered wood-fired pizza in Florida and suggested it, they made it work for colder weather by designing an enclosed trailer.

When they started, the couple expected 80 percent of their business to come from streetside service and the remainder from catering. They quickly learned it was almost exactly the reverse. And when people who had tried their food at catered events found following the food truck’s schedule more work than they wanted, the couple knew something had to change.

That’s when they turned to the Jones421 Building, in response to persistent contacts from building manager Sheila Hazard. Esser, who grew up in Sioux Falls, hadn’t realized how much that area had changed and what an attraction nearby Falls Park had become.

“Around Christmastime in 2018, we came down and checked it out, and I was shocked at all the stuff that has transpired. I thought this was something special, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Esser said.

Blumke and Esser learned early on that to be successful in the food industry, they needed to be willing to pivot. When Blount contacted them about moving, they decided it was time to pivot again.

The Jones421 Building is set up with multiple communal eating spaces on its first floor, but about a year after opening, Papa Woody’s rented a vacant retail space directly across the hall. That provides space for 25 diners and houses a bar that serves beer and wine.

In its new location, Papa Woody’s will offer a fully stocked bar. Lloyd Cos. purchased a liquor license when it opened The Cascade and has made it available to Blumke and Esser. That was an incentive, along with Lloyd offering a graduated rent for its first year.

“We spelled out really good terms to get them set up specifically in their first year of operation,” Blount said. “Their success is very, very important … and they’ve had years and years in the restaurant industry.”

Originally, Blumke and Esser had expected to be in their new location before this year’s Downtown Burger Battle, which starts next month. It took more than three months to obtain a building permit, however, and necessary equipment for refrigeration and ventilation was delayed. Now, opening day will be Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day.

“It would have been rushed to be in the new space before the Burger Battle, and it wasn’t worth it,” Esser said. “We’re moving in our new grill from the new place in here temporarily, so we have a bigger space to cook burgers. Then, they’re coming in to build the new oven right after the Burger Battle.”

The full-service restaurant will have the same feel as the current space, Esser said. Mitch Bonestroo of FTB Sawmill in Steen, Minnesota, built the new bar and created beautiful woodwork for the new restaurant, she said.

Carryout and delivery services will continue to be important to Papa Woody’s success, Esser said. Some people have established a tradition of ordering four or five pizzas to go on nights the Levitt at the Falls amphitheater offers its free concerts. They sit on the grass, eat pizza and listen to the performers. Papa Woody’s also plans to expand its delivery service with its own drivers.

But one thing won’t change. “Don’t think for a minute you can’t still come in and grab a pizza and go,” Esser said.

After opening the restaurant, they continued to use the food truck for catering and a few public events. Now, they’re considering keeping it but just for private events.

Last year’s winning entry in the Downtown Burger Battle was a ground chuck and brisket patty with a cream cheese mixed with diced jalapenos, banana peppers and shredded cheese on a pretzel bun. The burger was topped with two more cheeses, pineapple tidbits and smoked bacon drizzled with sweet chili sauce.

At first, Blumke and Esser didn’t know if they could take part because Papa Woody’s features pizza. Esser called the Downtown Sioux Falls office to ask what they needed to do to enter.

“We were watching the other places have so much fun, and we asked how we could be part,” Esser said. “She said, ‘make a burger, and submit it.’ We weren’t set up to do a burger, and we had no grill. So we planned for a few months. It’s so fun and such a friendly competition.”

This year’s entry, one of 27 in the January competition, again uses the half-pound ground chuck and brisket base. It is topped with grilled potatoes and vegetables such as onion, celery and carrot. Gravy for dunking is served on the side along with onion rings and cheese curds.

“The concept we went with this year is think cowboy on the trail all day and the sun’s starting to set, so he pulls over and starts a fire and is cooking dinner over the campfire,” Esser said.

Blumke and Esser are looking ahead to the new location but leaving the Jones421 Building will be bittersweet.

“We’re very excited to be growing and have new experiences and possibilities,” Esser said. “We’d never have the room to do what we’re doing in The Cascade, but it’s also sad to be leaving here. We love downtown, and downtown loves us. We love the location, and the people we’ve met and the people who live upstairs.”

Downtown Burger Battle

To learn more about the Downtown Burger Battle, visit dtsf.com.

Previous winners are:

• 2014: JL Beers
• 2015: Skelly’s Pub
• 2016: The Market
• 2017: The Market
• 2018: The Market
• 2019: The Market
• 2020: Parker’s Bistro
• 2021: Papa Woody’s