Donnie’s Breakfast Diner & Pizzeria

Visitors can enjoy a diner-style breakfast at a great price!

Donnie Maher is a man of many talents. Donnie was born and raised in Chicago, IL where he developed a taste for true Chicago style pizza. He spent his childhood going to school, playing music and learning how to cook from his family and peers. He graduated from Antioch High school and soon after, left his hometown to pursue his passion for music. “I graduated from high school in 1975,” he said, “After high school, I left home and started playing music on the road.” He has been a bass player for 50 years and has been in many bands throughout the years, traveling all over the country to do shows. He ended up in South Dakota in 1980 where he would grow accustomed to the small towns, river life, and friends he had made along the way. “As a musician, I traveled a lot,” he said “We would play in Aberdeen and when we traveled more west we started playing here in town at the Silver Dollar Saloon and I just thought that this is a place I want to be.”

He enjoys cooking outdoors as well. He finds that the grill is the best way to cook his favorite home meals. “I’m a meat lover, I love making BBQ ribs, chicken on the grill and burgers.” He said, “I also enjoy making Italian food, like spaghetti, lasagna, and of course, pizza.”
Like a lot of people, Donnie learned his cooking from his mother. “I come from a family of 6 kids, so she was always cooking big.” He said, “So I always cook big so a person can have a good meal and take some home.”

Everyone who opens a restaurant has to go through ups and downs of starting out and figuring out how to best serve people. “When I first started, I had some mishaps,” he said, “I was still figuring out how to serve lots of people at once and there were a few times that I burned a pizza because I wasn’t paying attention. It was just trial and error stuff. Hopefully, that’ll change with the new setup.” Donnie sticks to his roots. His pizza recipes are all from Chicago and he plans on keeping it authentic to show the community what kind of pizza he has to offer.