STURGIS, S.D. (KOTA) – The Knuckle Saloon, in Sturgis has been around for 25 years.
“I’ve seen it for sale for several years, and I thought, ‘Well maybe we’ll buy it.’ And I was just sitting down drinking a beer and next thing I know, I bought it,” Curtis Venable, owner of The Knuckle Saloon, said.
Although only owning it for two years, Venable is not new to Sturgis.
“I’ve been coming to Sturgis for 23 years now,” Venable said.
Once under his ownership, the saloon has made some upgrades.
“We repainted the building, we redone the parking lot, we put a lot of new equipment in,” Venable said.
The saloon takes up the entire city block on Lazelle Street and offers food, entertainment, and a retail side.
“The retail side has been here for about 14 years. Behind here used to be called The Knuckle Brewing Company. We’ll, we don’t brew beer here, so now it’s called Brews and BBQ. We specialize in southern Carolina-style barbecue. It’s been pretty fun. A lot of work, a lot of work, but we’ve been trying to improve things every single day,” Venable said.
The saloon has anywhere from 750 to 800 seats located in the restaurant, bar, and outside pavilion.
“We have more seating than any bar in town,” Venable said.
With the bar big in size and a prime location during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Venable says planning for the rally takes time.
“On August 11, we start preparing for next year,” Venable said.
However, The Knuckle Saloon isn’t just open for the rally, it’s open year-round.
“Every week, we’re trying to do something new to improve the business and experience for people and customers. We extended our bull riding series and offer a lot more money for bull riding so we can get a lot more locals involved,” Venable said.
For more information on The Knuckle Saloon click here, here, and here.
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