Scouting Sioux Metro: Acclaimed ‘Butter Burger’ chain makes $3.5M bet in Tea

Northern Lincoln County growth, metro traffic draws new Culver's restaurant

CORRECTION: Dacotah Bank was misspelled in an earlier version of this article. The Dakota Scout strives for accuracy and fairness and regrets the error.

Culver’s Scoopie mascot and franchisee Kyle Henning participated in a groundbreaking in Tea where butter burgers and custard will be offered next year. (Todd Epp / for The Dakota Scout)

An iconic American fast-casual restaurant chain’s arrival in Tea marks the smallest community to land a new Culver’s in years.

But the forecast for success is bullish with ongoing development and population growth there and in southwest Sioux Falls — not to mention the custard, butter burgers and cheese curds the Wisconsin-based franchise is known for.

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Franchisee Kyle Henning broke ground Thursday on the butter burger restaurant in Bakker Landing, a fast-growing development along 271st Street near Casey’s. The project tests whether Tea’s roughly 8,500 residents can sustain the investment without cannibalizing traffic at five other locations he and a group of partners own together in the Sioux Falls metro area.

Henning said getting the store built and opened is estimated to cost about $3.5 million, noting that Dacotah Bank is financing the project.

“Tea is one of the smallest communities that we’ve gone in in a long time,” Henning said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “This is our first Culver’s in a surrounding area that’s other than Sioux Falls.”

Henning and his partnership is part of a six-person team that acquired the five Sioux Falls Culver’s locations from former franchisee Nick Magera last year. Henning, who started flipping burgers at Culver’s at age 15, climbed from crew member to partner in the Sioux Falls restaurant group over two decades.

He promised to deliver 60 to 70 jobs — including positions for workers as young as 14 — to the community he’s called home for six years. Henning said he loves teaching young employees basic work skills like mopping and operating a cash register.

“We want your kids to work at Culver’s,” Henning told the crowd gathered Thursday. “We want to support the community as much as possible.”

The restaurant aims to open by June 2026, ahead of Tea’s annual Teapot Days celebration. It will become the sixth Culver’s in the Sioux Falls metro region.

While Culver’s is expanding in the area, Starbucks has retrenched. The coffee chain closed multiple Sioux Falls-area locations in September 2025 after less than three years of operation, and a newly built Harrisburg store never opened.

The project represents more than fast food for Tea residents. Ruby Zuraff, a Tea city councilor, said her son has celiac disease. Culver’s deep-fries french fries separately, preventing gluten traces from onion rings or mozzarella sticks — making it one of the few fast-food chains where he can safely eat.

“My kids can’t wait for custard,” Zuraff said during the ceremony. “The momentum is great.”

Tyler Tordsen, representing the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance, noted the restaurant arrives as 85th Street development accelerates in the area. Shelbi Backhaus, speaking for the Tea Chamber for Development’s nearly 140 members, welcomed the addition.

Henning isn’t worried about drawing customers away from his Sioux Falls stores. Interstate traffic and Tea’s growth will sustain the new location, he said.

The franchisee has already partnered with Tea’s food pantry and plans to participate in Teapot Days, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Tea Parade of Lights.

“We’re excited for the growth opportunities,” Henning said. “I’m ecstatic to really get Culver’s in Tea and to prove that we can do it.”

The project received backing from VanderWaal Architects, Lloyd Companies and Dakota Bank.

Magera, who sold his Sioux Falls franchises to Henning’s group last year, attended the groundbreaking and said the Sioux Falls restaurant group has long eyed the Tea market.

“We believe that we’re in the right place at the right time,” Magera said. “Economically, Tea is ready for this.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Scouting Sioux Metro is a feature of The Dakota Scout highlighting people, projects and progress shaping South Dakota’s small towns. A partnership with Sioux Metro Growth Alliance — of which The Dakota Scout is a member, alongside dozens of towns, counties, businesses and nonprofits in the region — this article meets the same journalistic standards as all other content produced by The Dakota Scout.