The Scouting Report: A weekly digest

Downtown pork, fire ants, Noem campaign gaffe

Downtown restaurants sold 5,130 pork dishes in last month’s Downtown Pork Showdown, Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. reports. The dishes were prepared by 19 restaurants competing to prepare the best pork dishes. The event was sponsored by Smithfield Foods.

The 19 restaurants featured diverse uses of pork. There was pulled pork, Cubano pork sandwiches, pizza festooned with pork, Korean pork, Italian pork, slow-cooked pork, fried pork and more.

The 5,130 pork dishes sold during the month had a total value of $85,064. Overall, the event created about $156,465 in economic impact on downtown.

“This truly is a community event,” DTSF’s Tenley Schwartz said. “The chefs and staff at each restaurant aren’t just great at what they do – they’re our friends and neighbors! Sioux Falls supports its own, and the turnout for this year’s Downtown Pork Showdown is a great example of that.”