"We chose the east side based on how we knew Veterans Parkway would connect here, and there's not much out here currently for food," Angie Yahne told SiouxFalls.Business in September. She's explaining why the first Sioux Falls Tropical Smoothie Cafe is going up at 4417 E. 57th St., in a retail center near Bahnson Avenue.
The cafe is set to open in late November. That's the same month a new stretch of South Veterans Parkway is expected to open to traffic. The segment opening this fall ends at Sycamore Avenue, though. The link from Sycamore up to 57th Street, the one that ties this corner into the full loop, doesn't start construction until 2027. If you live near 57th and Bahnson, November gives you a first new lunch stop and some new pavement. The bigger change to how traffic moves through your corner comes later.
What is scheduled for November, and how firm each date is
Some of these dates are set and some are hopes. Here they are, from most firm to least.
| What | Where | Expected | How firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Veterans Parkway, new segment | Cliff Avenue east to Sycamore Avenue | November | On schedule, no exact day yet |
| Cliff Avenue and I-229 interchange | Cliff at I-229 | All lanes open in November | Final restoration may wait for spring |
| Arrowhead Parkway | Highline Avenue to Veterans Parkway | Mid- to late November | Fully closed until then |
| Tropical Smoothie Cafe | 4417 E. 57th St., near Bahnson | Late November | Building framed, hiring underway |
| Rudy's Tex-Mex Express | 3700 E. Vandevel St., 57th and Bahnson | "Before it snows" | Owner's hope as of August |
| 7 Brew Coffee | 5100 E. Arrowhead Pkwy. | "Later this year" | Building in place |
Sioux Falls Live reported on Oct. 2 that the South Dakota Department of Transportation and the City of Sioux Falls say the Cliff-to-Sycamore segment is on track to open this fall. No exact date has been announced. The paving alone took enough cement to fill the Midco Aquatics Center pool 17 times, according to officials quoted in that story. Pigeon605's Oct. 12 road report listed the remaining work: barrier walls, drainage, shared-use path connections, street lighting, sealing, seeding, landscaping and striping. The shared-use path connections matter if you walk or bike. When the road opens, the new path links open with it.
The piece that stops at Sycamore
South Veterans Parkway is being built in pieces, and each piece has changed a different part of the south side. The segment from Western Avenue to Cliff Avenue opened in November 2024. This past summer, Southeastern Avenue between Bison Trail and 85th Street reopened on Aug. 6, after crews finished that road's share of the project, according to the City of Sioux Falls. Cliff to Sycamore is next, expected in November.
The pieces still missing are the ones that make it a loop. The project site lists construction from Sycamore Avenue to 57th Street for 2027 through 2029. Sioux Falls Live reported that work to connect the Western Avenue end to the Interstate 29 interchange begins in 2028, and that the full parkway should be drivable end to end in 2029. When it's done, Veterans Parkway will circle the edge of the city and connect I-29 and I-90. North Veterans Parkway already runs north from 57th Street. It opened to traffic in 2020, according to the project's construction details page. KELOLAND reported this spring on improvements to North Veterans between Maple Street and 57th, with work expected to wrap up in October 2026.
So for now, 57th Street is where the finished north half of the loop ends. Coming from the south side, the new segment gets you as far as Sycamore. The stretch between Sycamore and 57th is the last southeast gap, and it's a 2027 job at the earliest.
Why a smoothie chain picked 57th and Bahnson now
Yahne and her partner Ann Park are betting this corner is worth being on before that gap closes. Yahne opened a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Watertown in 2023, and Park opened one in Brookings in 2021. Yahne said a Fargo franchisee told them at a brand convention that "it's crazy nobody has bought the Sioux Falls territory." The pair could open up to three stores in Sioux Falls, and they picked 57th Street first.
The reasons Yahne gave are about the neighborhood as much as the road. In her words to SiouxFalls.Business, the site is "surrounded by a ton of houses." She said her main customers are students and healthcare workers, and that the retail center already had a gym and a nail salon. The menu is made to order: wraps, salads, sandwiches, acai bowls, flatbreads, smoothies and breakfast all day, plus a drive-thru. Yahne called it "basically a healthy grab-and-go option."
By mid-September the building was framed. Yahne said, "we haven't had any hiccups yet." She had hired a store manager and a regional manager, and crew and shift-lead jobs were posted. Two weeks later, SiouxFalls.Business's Comings & Goings column listed the opening as late November.
The rest of the corner is on a looser clock
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is the only new spot at 57th and Bahnson with a firm month. The others have been more careful about dates.
Rudy's Tex-Mex Express broke ground on Aug. 11 at the southeast corner of 57th and Bahnson, at 3700 E. Vandevel St. Owner Rudy Navarrete knows the south side. He opened Rudy M. Navarrete's Tex-Mexican Restaurant near 57th Street and Western Avenue in 2018. He later ran a converted school bus, the Taco Bus, which shows up at Levitt at the Falls concerts. The new building is a drive-up, laid out like a coffee kiosk, and he plans to add a colorful taco mural outside. On construction timing, he told SiouxFalls.Business, "I hope I can be open before it snows." Once it opens, here's what to expect:
- Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday
- Menu: ground beef or chicken tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos and taco salad
- The one to order first: the Rudy Special, with meat, beans, rice, cheese, chili gravy and onion between two crispy flour tortillas
- Later: daily specials and limited-time items, and eventually third-party delivery
Navarrete also holds an annual taco fundraiser that buys new name-brand sneakers for kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Empire. This year's was the ninth.
West along the same street, CNC Food Factory is planning a second cafe at 5028 S. Cliff Ave. Owners Andy and Stephanie Brown told SiouxFalls.Business that opening by the end of 2026 is possible, but early 2027 is more likely. The cafe serves gluten-free and regular baked goods, breakfast, sandwiches and pizza. The new location will add a house coffee line, espresso drinks, smoothies and energy drinks. If that 2027 estimate holds, CNC's second cafe could open in the same year crews start building Veterans Parkway from Sycamore to 57th.
Planning around the November openings
Until each project finishes, here's how to get around and where to eat.
Arrowhead Parkway stays fully closed between Highline Avenue and Veterans Parkway until it reopens in mid- to late November. Pigeon605 lists Madison, Sixth, 18th, 26th and 41st streets as detours. The new 7 Brew Coffee is also on Arrowhead Parkway, at 5100 E. Arrowhead Pkwy. Its building is already in place, and the Oberg family, who franchise both Sioux Falls locations, plan to open "later this year," according to SiouxFalls.Business. The company said the site will need about 50 employees.
At Cliff Avenue and I-229, the northbound off-ramp to Cliff reopened Sept. 24, though only right turns onto Cliff are allowed for now. All lanes are expected to open in November.
For a sit-down breakfast before the new places open, Over Easy has been open at 5722 E. 18th St. in Dawley Farm Village since early June. The Attic Restaurant Group brought the Arizona brunch chain to Sioux Falls, and operating partner Cade Terveer told SiouxFalls.Business when it opened, "It turned out great."
Later in November, check one more thing. Once the Cliff-to-Sycamore segment opens, you can see what the new path connections actually link up. That will show how the south side's newest stretch of road works for walkers and riders, years before the 57th Street link is finished.
Thinking about what the Veterans Parkway timeline means for a home near 57th and Bahnson, or anywhere along the 2027 to 2029 route? Merchant Home Group follows these road and business openings block by block, so we can tell you how a street works today and what's scheduled to change it. Put us to work.
