FOOD + DRINK
Black Hills Burger & Pizza Co. a crowd favorite
With a million burgers under his belt, Claude Smith was ready to hang up the towel and try something new.
The popular Custer restaurant, Black Hills Burger & Bun Co. , had been the place to grab gourmet burgers on Mt. Rushmore Road ever since the 1885 building was up for sale in 2012. “Custer didn’t have a restaurant that specialized in burgers at the time, so that was what we settled on,” said co-owner Christie Smith . The pair had recently gotten out of the grocery business and had experience grinding their own beef and baking their own buns. For 11 years, locals and visitors would line up around the block for their twist on the traditional burger. Christie attributes the success to consistency and quality. “The fact that we grind and hand-patty all of our meat and bake our own buns in-house keeps the quality high,” she said. “Also the fact that every one of those burgers has been cooked by Claude alone has kept it consistent.”
WRITTEN BY ALANA SNYDER + PHOTOS BY JOHN SNYDER
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