Drifters Owner Emily Steber Is Looking Forward to Marina Opening Soon –

Drifters Bar & Restaurant Is Being Featured as Fort Pierre Development’s June Business of the Month

Last night during a Facebook Live interview at Drifters Bar & Grille, Owner Emily Steber was more than a little excited that the first set of docks have arrived that will be for Drifters customers. The docks will be the first ones inserted after the marina is breached.  That means it will be open to the river for boats to enter the marina.

For Steber that means her customers can actually boat to dine at the restaurant.  This has been a long anticipated event and one which was relevant to the initial opening of the restaurant in 2016.  Who would have thought it would take seven years for that to happen.  There were setbacks related to water depths which prevented the breaching and supply shortages due to and following covid.

Drifters Bar & Grille has become a popular restaurant destination since it opened in spite of the challenges. With a background in restaurant service, Steber capitalized on her experience to make Drifters one of the premier dining places in South Dakota if not in the upper Midwest. According to Steber, they feature homegrown beef and Walleye from Canada because they are not able to get South Dakota Walleye. But we all know we have a lot of Walleye in the Missouri River.  Drifters uses local vendors as much as possible for their produce and baked goods.

Last night at Drifters Tristen Schofield from the Phillip area was playing for Drifter’s Summer Patio Series.  Every Thursday night from Memorial Day to Labor Day, a different singer/musician plays on Drifter’s patio.  Steber thinks she started her patio series in 2019 and it has been a popular draw for her. She brings in musicians from all over South Dakota to play and entertain her guests. The patio was crowded last night due to not only her usual guests but an engineering convention that was being held in the conference center.

Steber said a lot of meetings and weddings are held there year round.  A variety of events are held through the year including Tap Takeover where they invite a South Dakota brewery in to showcase their beers. When they have open dates, they like to schedule these once a month and do their own beer festival in April.

“We are the best staffed we have possibly ever been,” Steber stated.  “We have a pretty amazing team; I am so fortunate for that. I could not do this without the number we have and how hard they work for us.” She said as their business continues to grow with the opening of the marina, “We are looking to staff up as much as we can so we can continue the great experience our customers are used to.”

The long awaited event of the marina opening is cause for celebration. “As soon as the marina is breached,” concluded Steber, “We will have a breech party.”