If a new restaurant opens in Sioux Falls, I'm going to try it. Eating out is one of our favorite things to do in this city. We consider it "entertainment."

Over the past three weeks, three new restaurants have opened in Sioux Falls; Slim Chickens, Fazoli's and Cody's Smokehouse. Cody's Smokehouse's location on south Louise Avenue has seen its fair share of trials and tribulations.

Four years ago, it was announced that national chain Quaker Steak and Lube was coming to Sioux Falls and a building that resembled the restaurant was partially constructed. When that fell through, the building went on the market. Eventually, new owners started remodeling and even hiring employees for what would be The Draft. Again, that fell through and The Draft never opened. Earlier this year, it was announced that a BBQ restaurant would be occupying the space at 6401 S. Louise. After a few months of remodeling, Cody's Smokehouse is now open.

Cody's is a fast-casual restaurant. You order at the counter and a server brings the food to your table. The restaurant came with a liquor license so they have a full bar in a separate area from the order counter. The menu has a wide variety of smoked meats, sides and even desserts. They're slogan is "Darn Good BBQ." That is definitely an accurate statement.

My cousin, David and I checked it out. David has a smoker at his house and can make some pretty tasty smoked brisket and ribs, so Cody's needed to be impressive. It definitely gave David's Traeger a run for its money.

I tried the 2 meat dinner platter with chopped pork and pit ham. You get two sides, so I tried the mac & cheese and cottage cheese.  I know, I know - cottage cheese?  If cottage cheese is anywhere on a menu, I get it. I love cottage cheese. I was happy the pork wasn't over saturated with smoke flavor. It was "kissed" with smoke and was still moist. The pit ham had a light smoke flavor as well, although I like my ham to be a bit sweeter. The mac & cheese was cheesy and creamy with perfectly firm noodles. I hate it when macaroni noodles are overcooked and mushy. There are four sauces on the table to choose from - mild, sassy, fiery and X fiery. My poison was the mild sauce. I tried the sassy too. It was good, but had a kick at the end and my palate prefers a little less heat.

David had the 2 meat dinner platter with burnt ends and smoked sausage. His choice of sides were mac & cheese and potato salad. I tried one of his burnt ends and it rocked my face off! I'm going back for those. You don't even need to put sauce on them. The sausage had nice smoke flavor and the portions were filling. The potato salad is more mayo based with a slight mustard flavor. It may not taste like the traditional potato salad your mom makes, but David said it was good. I won't touch anything with mayo in it, so I didn't try it.

There are several things on the menu I still need to try - the cornbread muffin top, spud sticks (fries with BBQ seasoning), potato casserole, baked beans, the desserts, sliced turkey, ribs, and of course the burnt ends.

Cody's Smokehouse is open Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM and Friday and Saturday from 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM.


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