Formerly: Buffalo Bar
Deadwood, South Dakota · Founded 1877
A working Deadwood casino and saloon complex with a claimed Buffalo Bar lineage to June 1877 and enduring Buffalo Bill folklore.
Buffalo Bodega traces its story to the Buffalo Bar, which Deadwood tourism material says Mike Russell established in June 1877 during the Black Hills gold rush. The business says Russell named the bar for his friend and hunting partner Buffalo Bill Cody, and that one of its full-sized buffalo displays was a Cody gift. Those claims preserve a vivid Deadwood tradition, but the reviewed record does not establish their underlying provenance or a complete unbroken business chronology.
Deadwood tourism material says Mike Russell established the Buffalo Bar after arriving in Deadwood by stagecoach on March 6, 1877. The source says he named it for friend and hunting partner Buffalo Bill Cody.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Bodega Bar & Brew," updated December 30, 2024
Deadwood tourism material says at least 17 saloons operated in the mining camp when Mike Russell arrived and presents Buffalo Bodega as one of the few original-era establishments still operating.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Bodega Bar & Brew," updated December 30, 2024
Deadwood's tourism directory listed Buffalo Bodega Saloon/Lounge as an active Main Street bar and entertainment venue with DJ and karaoke events.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Buffalo Bodega Saloon/Lounge," updated December 30, 2024
The Buffalo Bodega website described the complex as a full-service casino offering gaming, dining, beverages, DJs, and karaoke.
Source: Buffalo Bodega official website, accessed August 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Deadwood tourism and the Buffalo Bodega's own materials consistently trace the venue to a Buffalo Bar founded by Mike Russell in June 1877. The review did not locate primary business licenses, contemporary advertisements, city directories, or ownership records confirming the entire lineage, so the date is credible but not fully documented here.
Deadwood tourism markets Buffalo Bodega as Deadwood's oldest saloon, and its claimed Buffalo Bar lineage begins in 1877. But the reviewed record does not establish uninterrupted business operation, continuity of name or legal entity, continuity at a single address/building, or a full comparison with other viable Deadwood claimants. The title remains unresolved.
Deadwood tourism material repeats that the venue contains a full-sized stuffed buffalo gifted by Buffalo Bill Cody. The reviewed record did not include a gift letter, inventory, taxidermy record, photograph, purchase documentation, or chain of custody to establish that Cody gave the particular mount now displayed.
Deadwood tourism material describes Mike Russell as Buffalo Bill Cody's friend and hunting partner. The reviewed sources did not include correspondence, diaries, press coverage, biographical evidence, or Buffalo Bill Center records that independently establish the relationship.
The venue's official website describes a full-service casino with gaming, dining, beverages, DJs, and karaoke, and Deadwood's tourism directory lists active entertainment at the Buffalo Bodega Saloon/Lounge. The exact legal operating entity and component-by-component street addresses remain unresolved.
Buffalo Bodega was founded in 1877 by Mike Heffron as The Bodega.
The reviewed Deadwood tourism account instead identifies the predecessor as Buffalo Bar, reportedly founded in June 1877 by Mike Russell. It does not support Mike Heffron or a 1877 name of The Bodega.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Bodega Bar & Brew," updated December 30, 2024
The present Buffalo Bodega building dates from an 1890 reconstruction after the 1879 Deadwood fire.
This review found no specific historic-building, property, insurance-map, or preservation record establishing a Buffalo Bodega fire loss, temporary reconstruction sequence, or circa-1890 construction date for the current structure.
Source: Research review, August 31, 2026
Buffalo Bodega is conclusively Deadwood's oldest continuously operating saloon.
Deadwood tourism promotes Buffalo Bodega as Deadwood's oldest saloon and traces it to a claimed 1877 Buffalo Bar origin. The reviewed record does not yet document uninterrupted operation or resolve the claim against all historic Deadwood competitors.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Buffalo Bodega Saloon/Lounge," updated December 30, 2024; Deadwood.com, "Bodega Bar & Brew," updated December 30, 2024
The stuffed buffalo at Buffalo Bodega was proven to be a personal gift from Buffalo Bill Cody.
The Buffalo Bill gift story is repeated in Deadwood tourism material, but no provenance, correspondence, artifact inventory, taxidermy record, or chain of ownership was located in this review.
Source: Deadwood.com, "Bodega Bar & Brew," updated December 30, 2024
Buffalo Bodega remains part of Deadwood because it adapted the older saloon story to the city’s modern gaming-and-entertainment economy. Its current operation combines casino gaming, drinks, dining, DJs, and karaoke in the center of Main Street activity. The historic appeal lies in the venue’s asserted 1877 Buffalo Bar lineage and frontier imagery, while the factual record still needs to distinguish old-business claims from current-building and current-operator continuity.
Buffalo Bodega traces its stated history to the Buffalo Bar, which Deadwood tourism material says Mike Russell founded in June 1877 during the Black Hills gold rush. The same account says Russell named the business for Buffalo Bill Cody and that the venue was one of Deadwood's original-era saloons. The 1877 lineage is a well-promoted local history claim, but this review did not find the full business, building, and licensing record needed to prove uninterrupted operation to the present day.
Buffalo Bodega should not be presented as South Dakota's verified oldest saloon. Deadwood tourism calls it Deadwood's oldest saloon and traces a predecessor Buffalo Bar to June 1877, but this review did not complete a statewide comparison or document uninterrupted saloon operation under a continuous business identity. Its statewide rank remains unresolved.
Buffalo Bodega is marketed by Deadwood tourism as the city's oldest saloon, with a claimed Buffalo Bar origin in June 1877. That title has not been conclusively established in this review because the evidence does not yet trace every period of operation, address/building change, ownership transition, and competitor history. Old Style Saloon No. 10 has an earlier circa-1876 predecessor story, but its original building was destroyed in the 1879 fire; that fact alone does not resolve the Buffalo Bodega claim.
Deadwood tourism material says Buffalo Bodega contains a full-sized stuffed buffalo and repeats a local story that Buffalo Bill Cody gave it to the original Buffalo Bar. This review found no provenance documents verifying the mount's date, source, taxidermist, ownership chain, or Buffalo Bill connection. Visitors can treat it as a prominent piece of venue folklore rather than a verified Buffalo Bill artifact.
Yes. Buffalo Bodega's website describes an operating casino, dining, beverage, and entertainment complex, and Deadwood's tourism directory lists Buffalo Bodega Saloon/Lounge as an active Main Street venue. The broader complex has multiple closely related Main Street addresses, so visitors should confirm the exact entrance, hours, gaming availability, and dining service before visiting.
658 Main St, Deadwood, SD 57732
(605) 578-1162
Buffalo Bodega is part of a Main Street casino, bar, dining, and entertainment complex. Deadwood sources use several nearby addresses for related components, so confirm the correct entrance, hours, food service, gaming, and entertainment schedule before visiting.