Yankton Store and Restaurant

05/10/2026

Yes!! We have an open kitchen for Mothers Day. And we do have Mimosas!
Come treat mom, or just come feel like mom’s getting you your pancakes this morning.
We are here for you either way.

05/05/2026

Good morning, Yankton neighbors.
Our kitchen is closed today — one of our cooks is dealing with an injury that kept them up all night, and we’re not going to ask someone to stand on their feet for six hours in that condition.
That’s not how we do things here.
What we DO have today: the store is open, the coffee is hot, and we’ll have chili, and biscuits & gravy, and simple grab-and-go options as long as Brandy holds the fort (she usually does).
Running a small rural business means some days you just figure it out with what you’ve got. Today is one of those days.

And here’s the honest ask:
If you — or someone you know — is a line cook or short-order cook who could pick up relief shifts when life happens, we’d love to have you in our back pocket. We’re not looking to replace anyone. We’re looking for that dependable human who answers the phone when we need them. We are open 7 days a week, morning and nights.
DM us or drop by the store.

04/20/2026

I want to take a moment to say thank you.
We posted a job opening at the Yankton Store last week and were genuinely overwhelmed by the response — over 30 applications in just a few days, from people who took the time to read what we were looking for, share their stories, and tell us why they wanted to be part of what we’re building out here.
That doesn’t happen everywhere. It happens here because this community shows up for each other, and for this little store on Pittsburg Road.
We’re interviewing this week and are excited about who’s coming through the door. More soon.
Thank you, Yankton & Columbia County. You never stop surprising me. 🥧
Erin

04/14/2026

UPDATE 4/20/26: We are no longer accepting applications for this position — we had an extraordinary response and are actively interviewing this week. Thank you to everyone who applied. If you applied through Indeed, we communicated with you through that platform.
We’ll post again when we’re hiring any other positions.

I have an immediate opening for an afternoon/evening cashier/server at the Yankton Store outside of St. Helens.
Shifts run roughly 2-10pm. You need to be available 3 or 4 or 5 days a week likely including weekends, and you need to actually want a consistent schedule — not be allergic to one.
Standards are still high when it comes to communication, integrity, emotional warmth, and tolerance for other humans. Boss is still either super cool or a total pain in the ass. Jury’s still out.
What’s changed: I’m specifically looking for someone who’s also comfortable in a kitchen. Food cart experience? Move to the front of the line. We’re a small team and everyone does more than one thing.
Pie matters here. If you love pie, can talk about pie with genuine enthusiasm, and understand that pie is a legitimate life philosophy — the owner will notice. This is not a joke.
Attitude and reliability over experience. Paid training. Mature workers with varied lived experience encouraged to apply.
Link to apply:

Yankton Store Co LLC

04/13/2026

Due to an employee illness we will have to close this evening at 3pm (Monday). We will reopen regular hours tomorrow Tuesday at 6am, kitchen will open at 11:30-8pm.

03/17/2026

Kitchen closed tonight—cook called out.
Still open for your store & cooler purchases.

03/17/2026

From all of us at the Yankton Store — thank you.
We don’t have words big enough for what happened this weekend, so we’re going to use small ones instead.
You came. You bought pies and burgers and beer and gift cards and candy and things off the shelf. You were kind to our staff on busy days when we ran out of things and the wait was longer than we wanted. You said things that made our owner cry in the walk-in cooler where nobody could see.
We ran out of weekend pies before 3:14 on 3/14. On Pi Day. We’re choosing to believe that was not a coincidence.
And then Monday happened. Full tables at lunch. People walked in and had to leave because there were no tables. We called Jack in on his day off and he walked over from home like he always does, no complaint, just showed up and got to work.
We are back at it this Tuesday morning. Hands in dough, coffee on, door open. That’s what your support made possible — not a miracle, just a full house on a Monday and proof that this place matters.
We know we can’t ask you to rescue us every time. We’re not planning to. What you gave us this weekend is runway and resolve, and we intend to use both wisely. There are some changes coming — hours, maybe prices, some operational shifts — and we’ll talk about those honestly when the time is right, the same way we talked about this.
For now: thank you. From Erin, from our bakers, from our kitchen and our counter. From Jack, who walked to work again on his day off because that’s just who he is.
We’re still here, together.
— The Yankton Store family

03/13/2026

A note from Erin — owner of the Yankton Store

I want to talk to you honestly for a minute, the way neighbors do.
If you’ve been in lately, you may have noticed some things. Shelves that aren’t as full as they should be. We’re out of ci******es. Some slow days where the parking lot has more staff cars than customers. Maybe you wondered. I’d rather you hear it from me than fill in the silence with a story that isn’t true.
Here’s what’s true.
I bought the Yankton Store in the summer of 2024 because I couldn’t watch it close. It had been here longer than most of us can remember, and I knew what it would mean to this community if the doors shut for good. So I scraped together financing from multiple sources — not because I had a perfect plan, but because some things are worth fighting for.
I’m genuinely proud of how far this place has come in 18 months. Equipment fixed, vendor relationships stabilized, new products on the shelves, our pies leaving the pie case about as fast as we can get them in. We’ve handled staff changes, food supplier pricing swings, all the normal turbulence of running a rural store. The team I have right now is a team I want to keep.
What I didn’t fully account for was walking into the slowest months of the year this time, while the whole economy quietly tightened around us. I see it in what people order — more split plates, fewer extras, parents treating kids but skipping the thing they used to get for themselves. Nobody’s announcing it. It’s just happening, in small choices, all across the community. Every small business that depends on people spending a little freely is feeling some version of this right now. We are all more cautious. And cautious spending in a small rural community has a compounding effect that’s hard to explain until you’re living it from this side of the counter.
I’m not exactly in total crisis, yet…. But I am in a tight spot, and I think you deserve to hear that from me directly.
I also think you deserve to know that I am not alone in this. Right now, across Columbia County and everywhere like it, small business owners are sitting with versions of this same story. They’re quietly wondering if they can make it to spring, or the summer season that will pay back the bills. They’re not saying anything because saying something feels like weakness, or like bad news that scares customers away. I understand that instinct. I’ve felt it too.
But I’ve decided to say something instead. Because the other thing I know — the thing COVID taught a lot of us — is that communities can show up when they know what showing up looks like.
So here’s what it looks like for the Yankton Store right now.
Come in. Buy something from our retail shelf or our cooler. Those sales cost us less to produce and they help us more than you might realize. Be patient with our staff — they’re working hard and they’re human. If prices tick up a little or hours shift in the coming weeks, that’s us adjusting to stay viable, not a sign that something is wrong.
And if you’re in a position to do something a little more — buy a gift card. Use it slowly. Spend maybe 10% of its value each month and let the rest sit. That’s not charity. That’s how we helped restaurants survive COVID, and it works. To put it plainly: it would take $5,000 to fully restock our cigarette case, $1000 to restock all the candy, and another $2,000 to fill the other gaps you’ve been noticing. That’s it. That’s the immediate ask. Gift card purchases can do that work.
You can do the same thing for any place you love in this community. Your favorite coffee shop, your local record store or pet shop, the little restaurant you’ve been meaning to get back to. They may not be saying what I’m saying out loud. But I promise you, most of them feel some version of it right now.
The Yankton Store is going to be here. I intend to make sure of that, one way or another. But I also know that no community institution survives without its community. That’s not a guilt trip — it’s just the truth, and I think we are people who can handle the truth.
Come see us. We’re still here, together.
— Erin

02/19/2026

Good morning from Yankton Store. ☕❄️ Woke up to our first snow of the season — and evidence that we had a visitor last night. Those are cougar tracks through the parking lot and across the porch. Coffee’s on. Come say hi. (We’re pretty sure the cougar won’t be back for morning rush. Probably.)

01/24/2026

Well, the pie case actually almost full on this Saturday morning… so is it a weekend where you need pie?
Available:
Apple
Cherry
Blackberry
Banana Cream
Coconut cream
Chocolate cream
Peanut butter & Choc cream

9” full pies: $26
6” small pies: $13
All butter crusts, made in house.

11/27/2025

Happy 🦃 Day!
We will close today at 2pm.
Open Fri: 6am-10pm