Smiley's House Of Pizza   

510 Saint Joseph St
Rapid City, SD 57701
605-343-4783

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Smileys storefront is deceptive. Its cheery sign and whitewashed wooden entry is reminiscent of a restaurant youd find along a boardwalk at the beach. Youll be attracted to it, pulled in by the magic-marker board advertising a lunch and dinner buffet of pizza, spaghetti and jo-jos. You may even step inside just to find out what jo- jos are (fried potato wedges). But for all the fun Smileys promises on the outside, you'll be momentarily thrown off when you walk in the door. Its very dark in here; in fact, the red glow coming from the buffet is pretty much the only light in the place, except for the glimmer of sun that comes in through the front window. Youll barely be able to make out your fellow patrons scattered among the booths and tables, as well as the salad and pizza bar.The buffet leans more toward meat pizza -- usually sausage and pepperoni -- than veggie, but the staff is happy to whip up a cheese, taco or vegetable pie on the fly. And the salad bar is more iceberg lettuce than spinach, but its not really the salad youre going for at a pizza bar, is it? If you have an ounce or two of restraint and want to skip the pizza buffet, you can also choose from a number of dinner entrees, including barbecued ribs, fried shrimp, Smileys famous Indian taco (fried bread with refried beans, meat and the fixins), or a Gaucho sandwich (fried bread with ham or salami, cheese, lettuce and tomato). -- Laura Loftus