Restaurants set to re-open, new menus, meals and deals

Utah restaurants looking to re-open

It was already the topic on everyone’s lips – when would Utah restaurants be able to open again? Should they even open if they could? Yesterday, Governor Herbert answered that question – Friday May 1st – albeit with a range of caveats such as:

• Groups larger than ten to be prohibited
• Staff to wear face masks
• Restaurants much maintain a space of six feet between tables
• Restaurants must remove or demarcate unused tables
• Waiting areas should ensure a six foot distance between waiting parties
• Hand sanitizer must be available on entrance
• Card payments should be emphasized over cash
• Self service and buffet restaurants are still prohibited from operating unless goods are pre-packaged
• Delivery and curbside options are still strongly encouraged
• Kids play areas are to remain shuttered

If you’re reading that list and imaging the impracticality for your local mom and pop’s limited space, you’re not wrong. This is a pseudo-opening if anything, prudent considering Mayor Jenny Wilson stated the trend in coronavirus cases is flattening but certainly not declining. Thankfully many restaurants look set to offer delivery and curbside for a while yet. Speaking of which there’s the latest.

Curbside and delivery

Bartolo’s – Up in Summit County you can get your pasta fix once more from this relatively new restaurant. More info.

Beltex – the award winning butcher shop will not be re-opening after the May 1st date, but will be continuing their impeccable “Butcher Box” deliveries right to your door. More info.

Bill White Farms – the Park City restaurant group’s farm stand outlet opened up for the season on April 24th. The curbside option has initially started offering farm fresh eggs this week, with more items set to follow quickly. Orders are only available via online site in advance and picked up contactless curbside at our farm location. Hours are Wednesdays 12-2pm, Thursdays 12-2pm and Fridays 12-2pm.

Caffe Molise – one of SLC’s most iconic eateries is now back in businesses offering curbside pickup. Molise are offering a limited dinner menu for pickup, including many customer favorites. This Friday (May 1st) from around 6 to 8ish p.m., John Flanders will be playing live music on the front porch for tips too!

Fresh Fin Poke – the recent newcomer to Regent Street in downtown SLC is once more back in the swing of things offering curbside pickup and delivery. More info.

Green Pig Pub – bars don’t have the green light to open for drinking just yet, but this downtown SLC favorite will be offering curbside food options as of May 4th. More info.

Handle Bar – likewise, Dave Morris’ North Salt Lake bar are also now offering curbside food options – as well as growler refills by the looks of things too. More info.

Laziz Kitchen – after a brief closure, the Lebanese restaurant is now back open for curbside. Menu.

Mandarin – likewise, Bountiful’s best Chinese restaurant is offering their full menu curbside. Ever struggled with the lines and wait time here? Now’s the perfect chance to try their the multi-award winning cuisine.

Oquirrh – a new menu at Angelena and Drew Fuller’s New American restaurant has rolled out, it looks delicious as ever – with a spot on family meal option. Menu.

Trestle Tavern – burgers, sandwiches, pierogies and more are back on the menu as the 15th and 15th business is now back open for curbside. More info.

Tsunami – all locations of this sushi shop are now offering extended hours. The restaurants are now opening for lunch orders with phone lines open at 11:00 am and pickup begins at noon.

Specials and deals

Diversion – a couple of new family meal deals including:

• $25 for a 16″Pizza, big green salad, 10 wings
• $25 for 8 tacos, chips and guacamole
• $18 for 20 wings, two sauces, two dips, carrots and celery

Franck’s – this fine dining spot’s weekly burger night remains unaffected by the current lockdown. This weeks special (curbside mind you) is a decadent wagyu brisket burger on a caramelized egg yolk bun. The $20 special comes topped with chipotle BBQ glaze, dill pickle slaw, fermented garlic mayo, grilled onion, American cheese, frisée and comes with sea salt potato chips.

Spitz – the local group of Mediterranean restaurants are still offering 20% off a first delivery order if you install their app: iOS, Android.

Z’s Hot Sauce – this local chili-fueled business are not only offering some stellar savings on their product line right now; but through May 2nd they’re also offering free delivery on orders over $15. Doubly bargainous. I can vouch first hand for many of their products, the pictured spicy Bloody Mary mix is guaranteed to get your glass tingling during lockdown. Check out their shop online here.

Mother’s Day 2020

Mother’s Day is ordinarily the busiest dining day of the year. It sadly looks like 2020 won’t live up to the regular razzmatazz of years gone by. I’d recommend checking out our curbside pickup lists to grab something special for mom; but a few restaurants are also looking to provide some of the familiar fun and celebration. Stay tuned as more of these are likely to pop up following the guv’s May 1st decision. Here’s what we know so far:

Log Haven – offering both limited in house dining as well as curbside to go options starting at $45 per person. More info.

Franck’s – available noon through six a four course meal via curbside pickup, cost is $50 per person. Menu and info.

Toscano – looking to offer a limited dine in option. More info.

The Store now delivering

Local grocery store, um, The Store – are now offering delivery across the valley. This means you can grab a range of staples and Utah made goods from the comfort of your home. Pro tip: their caramel corn is transcendent. Here’s the full info via press releasee:

The Gateway, Utah’s premier place for working, living, dining and entertainment, is excited to announce new services to help the community while social distancing measure are in place. The Store at 90 South Rio Grande Street now offers seamless online ordering, touchless transaction curbside pickup and delivery. Parking on Rio Grande Street and 100 South are designated for curbside pickup and additional 15-minute parking was added on 100 South for shopping convenience.

Grocery and meal delivery within a 5-mile radius through Mercato is now available. It’s free to those signing up for a Mercato Green membership and a small fee will apply to those without the membership. They are offering $10 off the first order with the code: STOCKUP. This applies to orders with a minimum of $35 and registration in their green membership. Online ordering LINK. New TheStore brand and local items are being added daily.

Customers without access to online ordering can call 385-213-7900 ext. 5 with a list and can choose to pick up or have delivered. When picking up, customers just call from the parking area and The Store will bring out the groceries and place them in your trunk.

This locally owned independent chain of specialty grocery stores has been doing business in Utah since 1968. The Store’s newest market fills a large void in grocery options in downtown Salt Lake. Hours of operation are Monday – Saturday from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

The Store fills a niche for high-quality locally sourced food that’s fresh, flavorful and healthy. The downtown market provides a convenient option for residents, employees working in the offices at The Gateway and visitors wanting quick chef-driven, grab-and-go options.

“We are happy to announce these new touchless grocery pickup and delivery options at The Store,” says Jacklyn Briggs, Marketing Director for The Gateway. “We’re want to help our community any way we can as we all move through this difficult period and look forward to recovery and return to a new normal.”

With an emphasis on a customer service, a top-notch chef-driven culinary program and vast array of locally sourced specialty items, they offer hundreds of local products, in addition to the daily essentials. Rotisserie chickens, smoked meats, extensive deli offerings, and ready-to-eat options with two hot bars, pre-made sandwiches and salads all join a wide variety of “staple” items like milk, bread eggs, all of the highest quality. Beverage options include kombucha, cold brew coffee and the popular Pepsi all natural “Stubborn” soda offerings.

Local fan favorites carried by The Store include: house made cilantro lime dressing, packaged candies, house Tri‐tip which will be offered along with other high-quality Hereford beef offerings, local Clifford Family Farm eggs, house-made salsa (a decades old classic recipe by the owner), homemade fried chips and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Going online

Gastronomic SLC – yours truly will be hitting the online airwaves this Sunday. If you don’t already follow along with us on Instagram – you should. This Sunday, roughly around lunchtime I’ll be judging Chefpanzee’s latest Kitchen Klash; a contest that pits one of their roster of chefs against a home cook.

The upcoming contest is centered around fish tacos. Chef Donovan of Jamaica’s Kitchen will go head to head against local Danny Kourianos (winner of the first challenge: larb). I’ll be over on IG live judging the results; aka ridiculously oohing and ahhing as I talk with food in my mouth. Bonus points for me if I can avoid “ohhh it’s so good”, “hmmm it’s delicious”, “it tastes like fish”.

Park City Culinary – local cooking school PCC have taken the whole shebang online via Zoom, not least some killer deals too! Their next class features Indian cooking and costs just $15. Join them on April 30th, 5-7 p.m and “learn the technique of balancing flavors was well as making naan bread from scratch.  These recipes will not disappoint: Butter Chicken, Naan, Aromatic Yellow Rice”. More info.

Hearth And Hill celebrates Cinco De Mayo

Hearth and Hill looks set to try and bring the sights and sounds of May 5th – right to your doorstep this year to bring classic dishes and the spirit of Cinco de Mayo right to your door. The Park City restaurant will be delivery ten lucky diners a meal with a twist; each drop off will include a festive song played by a Mariachi band. Meals include:

• Snacks: shrimp ceviche, pazole, elotes, chips and guacamole/salsa
• Mains and sides: mole braised short rib, black bean salad, cilantro rice
• Dessert: individual flan

House-made margarita mix is also available. The dinner for 6 is $75 and can be pre-ordered by calling 435-200-8840. 

Wasatch Community Garden plant sale and delivery

I’m pretty excited for this one, I’m certain some of you out there will be too. On Thursday 30th, WCG will run their yearly plant sale fundraiser online. Moreover, they’ll also deliver your bounty direct to your door: herbs, plants, tomatoes, you name it. Here’s the full press release.

With Salt Lake City residents staying close to home as the country weathers a pandemic, Wasatch Community Gardens (“WCG”) is rising to meet the community’s increasing demand for home gardening resources and local food production. In addition to keeping its 17 community gardens across the Wasatch Front operational and in compliance with CDC coronavirus safety guidelines – and bringing many of its educational resources online – the small nonprofit is transitioning its popular Spring Plant Sale Fundraiser to an online format with staggered product pick-ups and delivery options.

WCG has organized the plant sale annually for the past 30 years, and the event has become a spring staple for local gardeners with aspirations of bountiful vegetable and herb harvests. Dubbed “the best little plant sale in Utah,” the event has been reimagined this year with the health and safety of the community in mind. “While we’ll miss connecting in person with our community at our signature event this May, we understand now more than ever how important it is for community members to be able to grow their own food,” notes Executive Director Ashley Patterson. “We couldn’t be more excited to offer these seedlings to Utah gardeners through this new format that helps maintain the health and safety of the community.”

Starting April 30th, nearly 30,000 annual vegetable and herb starts will be available for online order at www.wcgplantsale.org. Cultivated at WCG’s Green Phoenix Farm (the location of WCG’s Job Training Program for women living in poverty), as well as 42nd Street Greenhouse and Sunshine Greenhouses, the vast selection of young plants will include numerous heirloom varieties – many of which can be purchased nowhere else in the Salt Lake Valley. The sale’s tomato selection is especially popular year after year, with nearly 80 varieties (including dwarf varieties) available for purchase. James Loomis, Director of WCG’s Green Phoenix Farm, has been working with the plants from the very beginning. “Whether you’re looking for a reliable canning tomato, the tastiest brandywine, or some freaky purpose striped eye candy, we have you covered,” says James. “It’s exciting to grow and offer such a diversity of plants, each one unique and with its own personality – just like each of the many gardeners who will take them home.”

No-contact order pick-ups will take place May 5-10 at WCG’s Green Phoenix Farm (622 W. 100 S., Salt Lake City; formerly called the Green Team Farm). Doorstep delivery options will also be available for an additional charge, and SNAP EBT benefits (food stamps) will be accepted for all purchases.

The plant sale is the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year, and proceeds from the event will support WCG’s community garden and educational programs. For full details about the fundraiser – and to submit orders starting April 30th – visit www.wcgplantsale.org.

Nicholas And Company helping heroes

Local food purveyor Nicholas and Company have started a new initiative to help feed frontline workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Starting this Wednesday (April 29th) their “Helping Heroes” program will begin providing fresh meals to frontline workers from some of the best local restaurants in Utah!

Here’s where you come in – for every meal purchased from the week’s participating restaurant, Helping Heroes will provide one fresh meal from the same participating restaurant through a “Buy One, Give One” promotion. Donatiosn are also accepted. Kicking things off this week, Cafe Trio. More info.

Curry Up Now rolls it forward

In further philanthropic news, national chain Curry Up Now (recently landed here in Utah) are starting up their own program to give back. Here’s the presser with full details:

Curry Up Now, the nation’s largest and fastest growing Indian fast casual concept best known for its Tikka Masala Burritos and other innovative Indian eats, has launched its ‘Roll it Forward’ campaign in an effort to show gratitude for healthcare workers across the country and help those whose lives and jobs have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The initiative, which will be offered at all 11 of Curry Up Now’s restaurants from coast-to-coast, invites guests to purchase $12 Donation Meals that Curry Up Now will match meal-for-meal. Guests can add any denomination of Donation Meals to their ‘cart’ – from one up to 100  or more – when ordering via the Curry Up Now app or website. Beginning on May 6, Nurses Appreciation Day, Curry Up Now will match the number of Donation Meals collected and deliver them to local hospitals to feed healthcare workers on the front lines. Curry Up Now will continue to match and deliver Donation Meals on a regular basis to hospitals, recently unemployed or furloughed hospitality workers, those in homeless shelters, and others who have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

“We are so grateful for the support we’ve received from our loyal guests during this time, but we also want to show our appreciation for the hardworking healthcare professionals and help others who have been impacted by COVID-19,” says Akash Kapoor, Founder & CEO of Curry Up Now. “We have established the Roll It Forward campaign so that we, together with our guests, can ‘pay it forward’ to the deserving health heroes and hospitality workers in our communities.” 

Curry Up Now began as a food truck in San Francisco, Calif. in 2009 and was founded by husband and wife duo, Akash and Rana Kapoor, and ably supported by co-founder and Senior VP of Operations, Amir Hosseini. Since day one, Curry Up Now has been on a mission to serve Indian flavors and ingredients in a way that is approachable for the everyday American consumer, utilizing formats that are more recognizable to the mainstream. Their signature dishes include Tikka Masala Burritos, bowls, tacos, Naughty Naan, and more, as well as a wide variety of Indian street food snacks and traditional dishes like Thali Platters, Kathi Rolls, and Bhel Puri. Ingredients are clean and sourced from local vendors whenever possible, and the menu is designed to support vegan, gluten-free, and Halal diets in an effort to accommodate all guests, no matter their dietary preferences. Curry Up Now also limits their disposal waste by using real plates, silverware and cloth napkins in-house and packaging all to-go orders in recyclable and compostable containers. 

Curry Up Now currently operates 11 locations nationwide in California, Utah, New Jersey, and Georgia, with more than 40 franchised and corporate units in varying stages of development in the existing states, Colorado, and Indiana. For more information about Curry Up Now, visit www.curryupnow.com and follow @CurryUpNow on social media.

Other links

• Alain Ducasse claims restaurant dining safer
• Gateway assists tenants
• Gandolfo’s feeds healthcare workers
• Local meat company talks supply chain
• Logistics of opening back up
• Select Summit County restaurants now delivering
• Utah restaurants prepare to re-open
• Utah restaurants looking at options to open
• Utah restaurants after opening

Bookmark these links!

• Curbside delivery
• Dine in options during Coronavirus
• Delivery from restaurants
• Drive thru restaurants operating as usual
• Family meal deals
• Resources for hospitality workers
• Ongoing corona food coverage
• Contact me with any info I’m missing

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.