January’s DABS meeting a quiet one

After the storied DABS voyage that was 2022, and a particularly choppy end of the year, January’s DABS meeting offered calmer waters; surely a portent of upcoming storms and overly worked metaphors.

The headline news right now is the incoming legislative session and what the yearly omnibus liquor bill might hold for business owners in Utah. Everyone – including the DABS – are praying for more bar and restaurant licenses to be included therein. The former supply is exhausted, the latter will be soon too. News on this most crucial of points has been sparse.

Some headline legislative items out there so far are this proposed law which has caused a stir amongst bar owners. I’ve also got my eye on H.B 100 too. Anyway, here’s a quick update on those minted restaurant liquor licenses this month:

Full service restaurant license (beer, wine, liquor)

• La Fonda Grill, Hurricane
• The Logan Golf and Country Club, Logan
• La Casa Del Tamal, Salt Lake City
• Delipan, Provo
• Proper Brewing Moab Taphouse, Moab
• Wildfin American Grill, South Jordan

…coming soon…

With restaurant licenses set to be entirely depleted sometime between Spring and Summer this year – commissioners are now applying the same logic to granting their approval as bars. Which to quote from this months get together means, “all construction completed and ready to roll, business license in hand, ready to open”. Several new restaurants were held over as follows:

• Stack 571 Burger & Whiskey Bar, South Jordan, projected March 15th
• Biscuit & Hogs, Ogden, projected March 10th
• Root’d Cafe, Riverton, projected April 27th

Limited service restaurant license (beer, wine)

• Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Hurricane
• Silverlake Ramen, Riverton
• Nonna Ina, St George
• One Noodle Bar, West Jordan

Beer only restaurant license

• Zimbu, Sandy

Bar licenses

No new licenses were available, one is expected to come due in February though. One notable appears to be Mayor Voss which sought a change of ownership of license. I believe this relates to the following business, which appears to be the former site of Brick And Mortar on Edison Street. I’ve reached out for more information.

As a reminder here’s some more info on the wait list for bar licenses and their projected ready dates:

• Fisher Brewing Company, Salt Lake City
• Bout Time Pub & Grub, Bluffdale, projected opening February
• Marquis, Park City, projected March
• Aker Restaurant and Lounge, Salt Lake City, projected April
• Yuki, Salt Lake City, projected July
• Bout Time Pub & Grub, Saratoga Springs, projected August

The Utah DABS price report for February 2023

Here’s the monthly update from the Drink In Utah folks:

The DABS hasn’t published their price book yet, but that won’t stop us! We’ve crunched the numbers as best we can. Check out our report to see what has gone up/down in price, what’s new, and what’s discontinued. Inflation strikes pretty hard this month–the list of price increases is quite extensive. On the flip side, there are some decent sales.

Did you get your rare drawing entry submitted for Russell’s Reserve in? Best of luck! Winners haven’t been posted, so I hope that means we’re still in the running. Should be more rare drawings coming soon. Don’t forget DABS stores will be closed on Monday, February 20 for President’s day. Stock up early!

Other useful links

• Free newsletter – signup and receive our weekly newsletter for free
• Food talk group – chew the fat with other like-minded Utah foodies over on Facebook.
• Best of SLC 2024 – what you can’t miss in the Beehive right now.

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.