Three surprise bar licenses granted In March DABS meeting

Bookending the March DABS meeting, some fairly surprising news with DABS staff confirming three rare as tantalum, bar licenses would be up for the taking . You can catch the full meeting here. But here’s a quick recap of the meeting and notables.

Bar licenses

With the room nearly fainting en masse, five businesses pitched their case for the three prized papers:

• Squatter’s and Wasatch (formerly known as West Side Tavern), Salt Lake City
• Fisher Brewing Company, Salt Lake City
• HK Brewing Collective, Salt Lake City
• Pete’s Place Bar & Grill, Ogden
• Kennedy’s

Fisher, HK and Squatters/Wasatch taproom secured the trio, each leaving with the ability to operate as a bar. Fisher was all but nailed on, given their eight month wait for a license; the craft brewer is now able to serve their high point brews direct to guests on site. The license is also the final piece of the puzzle for the costly expansion space the brewery is working to imminently finalize; this space is intended as both overflow for the main bar, and also as a special events venue.

HK Brewing Collective – the kombucha-cocktail bar in the Ballpark neighborhood snagged – joined Squatters/Wasatch taproom (former West Side Tavern) in taking home the other two bar licenses. Kennedy’s, a new bar planned for the Marmalade area and located in the former Toasted Barrel location, failed to garner support from commissioners for their application.

The meeting yielded no insight into what April might look like, but per legislative updates, May 3rd will see fifteen bar licenses added to the pool. The current waitlist of bars meanwhile, with their respective projected opening dates is as follows:

• Kennedy’s Cabaret, Salt Lake City
• Level Crossing Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, May 1
• Second Summit Hard Cider, Salt Lake City, May 1
• Aker Restaurant and Lounge, Salt Lake City, June 2023
• Neptune’s Palace, Salt Lake City, June 2023
• Yuki, Salt Lake City, July 2023
• Bout Time Pub & Grub, Saratoga Springs, August 2023
• Marquis, Park City, November 2023

Full service restaurant licenses (beer, wine, liquor)

Twenty one full service restaurant licenses were available coming into the March meeting. The following ten restaurants were awarded licenses, leaving the state with eleven licenses until May:

• Gustavo’s Mexican Restaurant, Monticello
• Mariscos Ensenada, St George
• Tacos El Guero, Salt Lake City
• Stack 571 Burger & Whiskey Bar, South Jordan
• Helper Beer, Helper
• The Lodge @ Bryce Canyon, Bryce
• K-Pot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, Salt Lake City
• Ulum @ Under Canvas, Moab
• Vintage Restaurant Bar & Grill, Kamas
• Horizon View Restaurant, Moab

When May does roll around the state is expected to add 33 more full service restaurant licenses to the total pool. The list of upcoming full service restaurants with their projected opening dates are as follows:

• Casa Salvaje, Salt Lake City
• Cupla Coffee, Salt Lake City, April 1
• P. F. Chang’s China Bistro, Murray, April 5
• Level Crossing Brewing, Salt Lake City, May 1
• Autocamp Zion Restaurant, Virgin, April 17
• Kaiseki Sushi, St George, opening April 17
• Under Canvas, Bryce, May 11
• Root’d Cafe, Riverton, June 15

With restaurant licenses also verging on exhaustion – commissioners again underscored they would treat applicants with the same level of scrutiny as bars; be ready to open or prepare to wait is the message. Ready to open? Commissioner Orton confirmed that at a minimum that means businesses need to have their occupancy licenses in hand, and have all necessary inspections completed, adding “if you’re already open for business, even the better”.

Also, changing ownership in terms of the license were Ogden Beer Company (Ogden) and Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Cuisine (West Jordan)

Limited service restaurant applicants (beer, wine)

• Ninja Japanese Steakhouse, Cedar City.
• Thai Time, Murray
• Thai Spice, Midvale
• Field Station Moab, Moab
• Yakuza Ramen, Salt Lake City
• Nami Lily Sushi & Ramen, South Jordan

Bombay House (Provo) was approved for a change of liquor license ownership,

Manufacture winery licenses

• Zion Vineyards, Leeds
• McClary Innovation, Salt Lake City

Manufacture brewery licenses

• Helper Beer, Helper
• McClary Innovation, Salt Lake City
• Proper Brewing Moab Taphouse, Moab

Package agency licenses

Lastly, always keep your eyes on places with Type 5s – these particularly license types allow the businesses to retail direct to consumers, even on Sundays and holidays.

• Helper Beer, Helper. (Type 5)
• Ogden Beer Company, Ogden (Type 5)
• Proper Brewing Co. Moab Taphouse, Moab. (Type 5)
• Field Station Moab, Moab. (Type 1)

_{Featured image, Midjourney V5, the bar area of a fancy restaurant. A diagonal look down the bar, with golden rays of sun shining in illuminatnig the counter top and the liquor bottles. No one is sat at the bar, very modern, fine detail –ar 3:2 –v 5}

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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.