In downtown Spearfish is Antunez, a restaurant and wine bar.
Jared Degraaf, the owner, spoke with Anya Mueller about the establishment.
“We originally started out as a restaurant, and a year and a half ago, we expanded into the space next to us and opened up our wine bar and small grocery store that offers a lot of in-house made products that we make here and offer. You can take home and cook them or enjoy them at home.”
Jared then talked about how the restaurant got started and gave a little backstory.
“We never planned on opening a restaurant at all. We always shied away from that concept, actually, an idea. A friend of ours owns False Bottom Bar here in town, and he bugged us to serve tacos at his bar one year for Rally Week, and we said no. And then he asked again. So then we finally said yes. And just in that week, we gained this local following that didn’t want us to leave. And so with much prompting from the community and from Luke, who owns the bar, we ended up serving tacos one day a week. And then it all just kind of snowballed from there. And it turned into a whole restaurant that my mom and wife and I conceptualized and designed and I built,” said Jared. “My mom and I own and operate the place together. Her name is Sabrina. She’s a level two sommelier. So we have a gorgeous wine list here, one of the best in the Hills. We both created this fusion cuisine here, which is Latin, Spanish and Mexican, all fused together. Flavors from those three regions of the world.”
Antunez also has some food that some folks have never had before.
“It is not at all Mexican food or the typical American Mexican food that you might think of, people every once in a while, we get a customer in here and they’re, ‘Where’s the ground beef tacos?’ Well, we don’t have those, but we do have a really nice shredded beef chili Colorado taco.”
On top of the unique food, the restaurant provides a great environment.
“Well, like I said, my wife and I love designing spaces and we love the old world vibe and feel. So that’s where we usually draw inspiration from.”
There are also some crowd favorites on the menu.
“One, that that put us on the map and says so on the menu, the pork carnitas tacos. That’s what we started out with. And it’s still the number one seller to this day. And then we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into with putting the guacamole on the menu. It’s fresh made all day long. It’s not at all like that stuff you get at the store. It’s it’s very good, very fresh and delicious.”
The restaurant has quite the following and some high ratings on TripAdvisor.
“We just recently reached five stars on TripAdvisor, which was pretty cool. I think we’re at like 4.7 or 4.8 on Google as well.”
Anyone is welcome to stop by and give them a try.
“It’s [the food] made fresh every day. It is a unique menu you will not find anywhere else, I promise you that. Nothing on the menu you’ve had before. We make everything.”
They also make delicious wine based cocktails using fresh fruits and juices.