Our Story

The idea for The Prairie Dog Taproom started over bourbons with a buddy in Spearfish. He asked, “You’ve got land. What are you going to do for retirement income?” The first thing we joked about was a hot dog stand. The more we talked, the less it felt like a joke. It turned into a bigger question: what if we could build a spot where people actually enjoyed the whole experience—no long lines, no waiting saga, no stress—just good food, good beer, and time well spent?

We’ve stood in enough lines and sat through enough slow nights at bars and breweries to know what drives people crazy. Waiting for a table. Waiting to order. Waiting for drinks. Waiting for the check. We call it the “8 waits,” and we wanted to kill as many of them as possible—for locals and tourists alike. Your time in the Black Hills is worth more than standing around with a buzzer in your hand.

Then there was the other piece: after Covid, people forgot how good it feels to really gather. To sit close, to talk to strangers, to let kids run around while adults actually relax. We didn’t just want to serve great food and beer; we wanted to rebuild the hangout—a family‑friendly, high‑energy taproom where people commune in a way they didn’t think was possible anymore.

So we built Prairie Dog Taproom around three big ideas:

• Kill the lines and the waiting. Self‑pour taps and QR ordering mean you move at your own pace. No chasing servers, no staring at an empty glass.

• Create a family‑friendly, inviting space. A place where kids, grandparents, locals, and road‑trippers all feel like they belong—right on the creek, with room to breathe.

• Make it a place to truly gather, savor, and celebrate. The environment, the pace, the tech, the music, the staff—every piece is intentional. It’s bigger than hot dogs and beer. It’s about people reconnecting.

Today, The Prairie Dog Taproom is Hill City’s first self‑pour taproom, serving artisan hot dogs, bison burgers, hoagies, and hand‑crafted Tipo 00 pizzas alongside 28 taps of craft and domestic beer. Guests pour their own, order from their phones, and settle in by the water or inside the Prairie Dog living room without feeling rushed or ignored. We get a lot of compliments on the food and the tap variety—but what really matters to us is when people say, “It just feels good in here.”

We’re not trying to be a polished “concept.” We’re trying to be the place where families and friends truly gather again—where you can slow down, laugh loud, meet people, and leave feeling better than when you walked in.

Timeline of How We Got Here (Pop‑Up to Creekside Taproom)

2021 – A pop‑up tent and a crazy idea
We started under a pop‑up tent with a griddle and a handful of hot dog ideas. No taproom, no creekside views—just us testing whether anyone in the Black Hills actually wanted what we were cooking. They did. Folks came back with friends, told us we were their new favorite stop, and let us know we were onto something.

2022 – The food truck chapter
Next came a food truck in Custer. That’s where we really leaned into tech—QR code ordering and “we’ll text you when it’s ready.” Instead of waiting in a crowd listening for their name, people ordered from their phone, grabbed a drink, and relaxed. It sounds simple, but it changed the whole pace of the experience and pointed us toward what The Prairie Dog could become.

2023 – Brewing up a bigger dream
Then we took our food to Miner Brewing for 2 seasons. On busy days their line seemed endless, but the energy was incredible. And for us, locals and visitors kept coming back for our Black Hills‑inspired dogs and bar food. We watched strangers share tables, kids make friends, and groups turn into regulars. That’s when we knew this needed a permanent home, not just a truck or a seasonal gig.

2024 – Naming the problem: the 8 waits
When Miner sold, the easy move would’ve been to say “that was fun” and walk away. Instead, we got honest about what we wanted to fix: the “8 waits” of going out. We didn’t want The Prairie Dog to be another place where you spend more time waiting than eating, drinking, and talking. We wanted to build a taproom where the tech, the flow, and the layout all serve one goal—more time together, less time waiting.

Winter 2024 – Finding home on the creek
The plan clicked: self‑pour taps so you control your own beer, QR ordering so you’re not flagging anyone down, and a space that feels like the Black Hills, not a strip mall. That’s when we found the historic Firehouse Smokejumper Station on 1.6 creekside acres in Hill City. From the first walk, we could picture families by the water, we spied a natural cove for a big outdoor stage for live music, friends getting together after a hike, and people actually talking to each other again.

Spring 2025 – The doors open
We reimagined the space in a matter of months and opened The Prairie Dog Taproom as a family‑friendly, self‑pour taproom on the creek. We built in the tech to keep things smooth, hired musicians who match the vibe, and put together a menu that can hold its own against the beer. The food, the environment, the pace, the music—they’re all designed for one thing: to give you a place to gather, savor, and celebrate © being together in the Black Hills.

And honestly? This is still just the beginning. We’re learning from every one of you, tweaking, adding new taps, new songs, and new reasons to stay a little longer—one perfect creekside night at a time.

You’ll usually find us right here—Jimmy and Michael—out front pouring pints, slinging dogs on the griddle, stretching dough, or sneaking an extra slice of pizza with whoever’s sitting at the community table. We’re almost always on the floor, high-fiving kids, swapping stories with bikers, helping first-timers with their "freedom" wristbands, and making memories with every single guest who walks through the door.

Because this isn’t just a business to us; it’s our home, and you’re the people we’ve been waiting to share it with.

So come as you are—muddy boots, Harley leather, hiking gear, or flip-flops. Grab a wristband, find a spot by the creek or the fireplace, and let’s make some new Black Hills stories together.

We can’t wait to meet you, pour you something cold, eat something savory, and watch the happy unfold.

See you soon—right here on the creek.

Michael & Jimmy Chidiac

Your hosts (and biggest fans)

The Prairie Dog Taproom

Hill City, South Dakota

Plan Your Visit:

• 2.5 mi north of downtown Hill City SD on Hwy 385, 18 miles south of Rapid City, 7 miles west of Keystone

• 28 Freedom Taps | Artisan Hot Dogs and Hoagies | Neapolitan/NY - Style Pizza | Games | Live Music

  Events | View Menu and Start an Order Online | Why We Give 90-Second Welcomes

The Prairie Dog Taproom – Our Story

We’re Michael and Jimmy Chidiac—Texas transplants with New Jersey roots who fell hard for the Black Hills. We didn’t just drift into Hill City; we chose to “get lost” here on purpose and build the kind of place we wished existed when we went out with family and friends.