Watecha Bowl: The South Dakota Restaurant Highlighting Native American Cuisine

America is called the melting pot due to its diversity of cultures — and thanks to this, we also have access to a wide diversity of incredible foods to choose from. Aromatic Ethiopian food or Michelin-starred Korean dining — whatever craving you have, you can find it in this country. If you think you've tried it all, think again; have you tried Lakota food? If not, a stop at Watecha Bowl, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, may be needed.

Opened initially as a food truck in 2020, owner Lawerence West wanted an outlet to share the Native American food and culture he grew up with — watecha is slang for food in the Lakota language, if you were wondering. Now operating as a standalone restaurant, Watecha Bowl serves up traditional Lakota foods with a carnival food-style twist. One of the restaurant's menu highlights is an Indian taco, which is a piece of fry bread (fried flatbread) topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, salsa, black olives, and a choice of beef or bison for the protein — the way it is served resembles a tostada.

Some familiar fast food items can be spotted on the menu — like french fries, hot dog, and burgers — but culturally important ingredients like blue corn, bison, frybread, and wojapi (a thick berry sauce) keep the cuisine connected to its Lakota roots. Bison burgers, stuffed frybread, ribs, bison pieces, and fried sweet corn are some of the offerings that are highly recommended at this Native American eatery.

The Sioux nation, which includes the Lakota tribe, previously encompassed the entire length of the Great Plains region, and their diet reflected the environment around them. Seeds, nuts, berries, roots, and greens were gathered, and some crops like corn, beans, and squash were either grown or traded. Bison, a key ingredient on Watecha Bowl's menu, was, and still is today, an important protein source for Native Americans. In the past, bison was hunted in the wild, but now due to over-hunting, bison are raised by farmers for food; most are still allowed to roam and graze freely. 

Another important menu item at Watecha Bowl is frybread, which has more modern-day origins. Considered a survival food, it was created in the 1860s when the Navajo were forced to relocate from Arizona to New Mexico. The meager food rations provided by the U.S. government for the relocation included flour, sugar, and lard; with these ingredients, frybread was created by the Navajo people. This food is still eaten by many tribes today and serves as a symbol of resilience, with recipes passed down through families. 

If you spot a Native American eatery, you're in luck — not many operate in the United States today. Some take what is called a "decolonized diet" approach — like Owamni in Minneapolis, Minnesota — where the menu emphasizes using ingredients that existed before the arrival of Europeans. Others, like Watecha Bowl, highlight native ingredients while incorporating mainstream ingredients or creating fusions with other cuisines.