I've driven past the old Zip Feed Mill a hundred times — it's that brick building on Phillips where the railroad tracks cut through downtown — and every time I think about how they turned industrial grit into something people actually want to visit. Mary's Mountain Cookies is tucked inside on the first floor, and honestly, the location does half the work before you even taste anything.
The cookies are massive. Not "oh, this is a nice generous portion" massive — more like "I need to plan my afternoon around eating this" massive. I tried the chocolate chip on a Thursday lunch break, thinking I'd finish it at my desk. I made it halfway before I had to admit defeat and save the rest for later. The edges have that crisp-chewy thing going on, the center stays soft, and there's enough salt in the dough that it doesn't just taste like sugar shaped into a circle.
They do other flavors — snickerdoodle, peanut butter, some rotating specials — but I keep coming back to chocolate chip because why mess with what works. The space itself is small, just a counter and some cases, nothing fancy. You're not lingering here with a laptop. You're grabbing a cookie, maybe two if you're feeling optimistic about your self-control, and you're leaving.
The thing nobody mentions is the timing can be weird. I've shown up at 2 p.m. on a weekday and they've been out of half the menu. I get it — they sell out because people buy them — but it's annoying when you're craving something specific and it's just gone. Call ahead if you have your heart set on anything particular.
But here's what I think about when I'm walking back to my car with that brown paper bag: this is the kind of place that makes downtown Sioux Falls feel less like a grid of offices and more like a neighborhood. Not because it's trying to be something it's not — just because it showed up and made good cookies.
— Grace
Not "oh, this is a nice generous portion" massive — more like "I need to plan my afternoon around eating this" massive.