South Dakota
South Dakota bar snack chislic, rooted in pioneer tradition, enjoys modern American makeover
Chislic — skewered cubes of deep-fried lamb or beef — is a rugged regional culinary tradition tracing its roots to South Dakota’s pioneer days.
“For decades a mainstay at cafés, bars, fairs and celebrations, it historically has been enhanced only by salt or garlic salt and served with saltines and, if you are so inclined, washed down with a cold beer,” South Dakota Magazine wrote in a classic treatise on chislic, first in 2005 and updated since then.
The popular bar snack, often served on wooden skewers or stabbed by toothpicks, enjoys a modern revival today at places like Urban Chislic in Sioux Falls.
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Co-owner Hong Phrommany was born in Laos but raised in Sioux Falls. He’s as proudly South Dakotan as Sitting Bull and has become an oracle of chislic history and tradition.
“Russian-German immigrants migrated from Europe and landed in Hutchinson County, South Dakota, in 1870,” Phrommany told Fox News Digital by phone a few days ago, between bites of chislic at lunch with his daughter.
Beef chislic from Urban Chislic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Chislic is a South Dakota tradition that traces its roots to the arrival of Russian-German immigrant pioneers in the 1870s. (Christian Holman/Urban Chislic)
“So to celebrate the harvest they would slaughter the oldest sheep, which is mutton, and they would cube it and fry it and skewer it.”
Mutton meat is tougher than that of younger sheep. Small cubes, deep-frying and salting made mutton tastier and easier to chew.
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Beef is now common, too. Few eateries have deviated, until recently, from the tradition of salting the meat and serving it with saltines — a modern interpretation of dry, long-lasting breads such as hard tack common in the 19th century.
People around the world know chislic as shishkebab.
“It’s been done that way for years and served at all the little bars around South Dakota,” said Phrommany.
He even created a YouTube video tracing the history of chislic to one Russian-German immigrant in particular, John Hoellwarth, who brought the dish with him from the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea.
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The word chislic traces its roots to shashlik, the Russian word for a common dish of cubed, skewered meat from nearby Turkey on the other side of the Black Sea. People around the world know it as shishkebab.
Chislic is most common in the southeastern corner of the state, an area that South Dakota Magazine dubbed “The Chislic Circle.”
The Regret Burger from Urban Chislic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The hot double smash lamb burger was featured on the show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri and generated national acclaim for the restaurant’s modern take on chislic, a South Dakota culinary tradition. (Christian Holman/Urban Chislic)
Sioux Falls, easily South Dakota’s largest city, is the heart of The Chislic Circle.
Top spots in town to experience the South Dakota delicacy include the Barrel House, Attic Bar & Grill, Gateway Lounge, Ode to Food & Drinks and Tinner’s Public House, according to the website of the Sioux Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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Urban Chislic tops its list. Phrommany opened the eatery in 2018 with partners Erik Christensen and Chad Knudtson.
Their concept gives traditional chislic a mix-and-match makeover you might find in an overseas or big-city ramen bar.
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The menu comes with a choice of both proteins and sauces. In addition to lamb or beef, guests can select cubes of fish, pork, chicken or bison and pair it with any of a dozen different dips.
Chislic nachos with house-fried tortilla chips from Urban Chislic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Chislic traces its roots to the arrival of Russian-German immigrants in the 1870s. (Christian Holman/Urban Chislic)
Among them: creamy white barbecue, spicy-sweet maple and honey mustard sauces.
One sauce, jaew bong, is a tribute to Phrommany’s birthplace and ethnic heritage.
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The traditional Laotian condiment is a sweet-hot sauce made with Southeast Asian chili spice.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.
Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.
She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.
“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”
Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.
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South Dakota
USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.
“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.
“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.
For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen unveil a plaque for retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams in the Hall of Honor at the Capitol in Pierre on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.
One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.
“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”
President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.
“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.
The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.
Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.
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