Wind Street Liquor open, new restaurant leased

Also...New Mexican restaurant doing business on Wind

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New Mexican restaurant doing business on Wind    

A long-closed liquor store opened in time for the holidays after new owners started renovating the building to take it back to its original look.
Wind Street Liquor opened Friday, selling beer, wine and a variety of liquor.
“We’ll have the biggest inventory in Flandreau of beer and liquor, and we’ll have the absolute lowest prices,” owner Kyle Haug said.
Beer selections will include imports, domestics and some area breweries, he said. Most of the vintage alcohol that came with the property has already been sold, he said.
Store hours are noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The business is closed on Sunday.
Haug also has a lease signed for a bar and grill to go in the other half of the building. Those owners plan to open in April, he said.

The building, which is in a trust for Haug’s children, is operated by Haug and his wife, Wendi, who both graduated from Flandreau and live in Brookings.  They have worked to remove a false front on the historic building dating back to 1901, returning it more to its original appearance. Inside, the store has that historic look, as well.
In addition to the liquor store and restaurant on the ground floor, the upstairs will be turned into apartments, and the basement will be used for retail. Behind the building, an area has been exposed that can be used as a patio in the future.
Haug said they will begin working on the apartments in January, which should be ready for occupancy in the summer.
“We’re excited about it,” he said. He has focused on making the store comfortable and welcoming, he said. In addition, because Haug has other businesses, his income does not come from the building but money earned from the building will be used to invest back into the property and into other properties locally, he said.
When the Haug family bought the business and its contents from Greg Corcoran early this year, it had been closed for more than five years, only open periodically to sell alcohol. At one point during that time period, the city had looked at whether it could condemn the property because of its poor condition, but improvements were done to bring it up to code.

New restaurant
A new Mexican restaurant opened Dec. 16 across the street from the new liquor store. Enpaisano, which means friends, is in the former Kiko’s location. Kiko’s closed earlier this year.
Enpaisano has a full Mexican menu and is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Takeout is available, said owner Itzel Graham. She, her sister Claudia Soto and mother Esperanza Guerrero will operate the restaurant. Guerrero, who is from Sioux Falls, is the cook.
“We always wanted to open a restaurant,” Graham said. “It’s been really good so far.”
She has been in the restaurant business as a waitress and most recently as a manager of a Pizza Ranch in Luverne, Minn., for five years.
“Everything’s made fresh,” she said of the food they will serve. They make their own salsa. “Our spices are different. A lot of people like my mom’s spice.”
Customers can order their food mild or spicy.
Next door to the south of the new restaurant, other business owners still plan to open a Hispanic mini market and taco shop in the former Pizza Ranch location.
“We’re still in the process of getting equipment,” said Isaias Randel, who is helping with the businesses, Los Laureles Authentic Hispanic Food. Owners hope to open in January, he said.