Update November 11th: After a huge response from locals, the restaurant has decided to continue their efforts at Woodbine. Here’s the scoop.
They say bad things come in threes. Well, whoever they are, they need to keep their idioms to themselves thank you very much. In recent months we’ve had the loss of one of Utah’s best Italian restaurants with Celeste’s departure from the dining scene; then just a couple of weeks ago, one of the best Philly cheesesteaks in town also followed along. This week sees a trio of sad farewells now complete – Deadpan Sandwich announcing their imminent shuttering.
Taking to Instagram this week the business wrote, “With a heavy but grateful heart, we want to announce that Deadpan Sandwich will be closing and that our last day of business will be Saturday, November 11th. We want to thank all of our customers and the community for the love and support you’ve shown us over the last year and a half. We hope to see you soon.”
The sandwich spot located in the Woodbine Food Hall was criminally under the radar in my opinion. Those that did try it, almost universally loved it, including yours truly. Go check out those glowing reviews across a number of sites as proof positive.
Deadpan was one of the launch vendors for the Granary District food hall, celebrating their first birthday in the building a few months back in August. It’s handily my favorite dining spot at Woodbine with both Alex Springer in the Weekly and Ted Scheffler in Utah Stories echoing similar sentiments in their respective reviews.
More than that though, Deadpan was/is one of the very best sandwich spots in Utah. Unquestionably so. The ever evolving menu riffed on classic compositions, often lending them a gentle tweak. Here’s a snap of the menu I took back in January this year.
If you do decide to grab one last impeccably crafted sandwich before the 11th – let me recount a few favorites from the past year. The Italian beef is a relatively recent addition to the menu appearing earlier this Summer, and it’s a fine rendition of the popular hoagie. Deadpan’s IB uses whey braised beef, giardiniera, mustard greens, and of course, Duke’s mayo.
Two others not to be missed are the pickled green tomato powered B.L.O.T. and the Oh Schnitzel, a clever sandwichization of the German dish. Both also happen to neatly exemplify Deadpan at its finest moment; whip smart and creative constructions, obvious quality ingredients and a high level of execution.
Here’s hoping they manage to make a comeback.
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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.
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Who cares what they have if they’re closing?
I always recap the latest closures Johnny, as both part historical record, and also if there’s a chance – for the restaurant’s fans to check out their menu one last time. In this case, folks have until the 11th, eight more days, to enjoy their food.
I tried the BLOT and was pretty disappointed with the chewy bacon and size of the $15 sandwich. The tomatoes were great though. Central 9 is a much better sandwich spot.
Central 9th is a good place for sure, and I believe also good friends and supporters of Deadpan (or at least some of the folks there, given the comments on their social media). For what it’s worth I had the BLOT and couldn’t eat a bite more, the richness of the thing was huge. As I mentioned to Griffin in a comment earlier, I think the $20 lunch is going to be a vastly common reality, very soon.
Please disregard my first attempted post. This is what I meant to say.
Could it be that they closing, because they are charging prices like $12 for a cheese sandwich? I am all for supporting local spots. And off the radar eateries and new food. But these prices for food are getting absurd.
I have not eaten there. But the handful of reviews I have seen are a mixed bag honestly. Their flavor may be off the charts delicious. But based on your pictures here, the portion sizes look small for the cost…
I think this is just a modern pricing reality Griffin. I don’t know what rent is at Woodbine, but generally speaking prices here in SLC are high, I don’t seem the going down anytime soon. I’ve seen units in Sugar House go for $10-$20K per month. Couple that with three years of high inflation, increase food costs and wages that need to start at >$20 hour (to realistically staff capable and reliable employees) – the net result is prices need to rise. I often do back of the napkin calculations to estimate how many units a business needs to move daily to just make rent in some of the better areas – and it’s staggering.
As an aside and for comparison I’ve seen a fast food chicken sandwich with fries and drink clock in close to $20. I honestly think we’ve got some way to go price increase wise yet before we stabilize. I genuinely believe the $20 lunch is going to be standard very, very soon.
I don’t personally have a problem with the pricing at Deadpan, but I never do if the quality is there. I realize not everyone has the privilege to be as price insensitive as I am; but I’m just here writing about what’s good out there.
Earlier this year I wrote a piece on places where you could get in and out for under $10, it was a surprisingly difficult article to create, while maintaining quality eateries. It will be significantly more difficult in a years time to write that again.
Edit. Here’s that story https://gastronomicslc.com/2023/06/18/grab-a-dining-deal-more-than-10-dining-options-under-10/
Haha ‘I havent eaten there but let me tell you me opinion’. Your metrics are on portion size? What is wrong with this backwater city sometimes. Making the housemade kimchi, scallion oil is pennies and buzywork? Top quality japanese milk bread is something you can get down at Maverik. I hope you and the rest of you haters enjoy your EQUALY priced jimmy johns sub.
If landlords don’t become sensible with their rent, more places like this will go out of business. Pretty soon the only places that can afford rent will be national chains & franchises.
Regarding your comment on restaurant pricing and lunch costs, you are spot on. The inflationary impacts are so high in every facet of the restaurant industry in most locations. It isn’t quite universal though across the country. We had a small town midwest visitor in the midst of a road trip join us for lunch at Redrock Brewery in Park City. He thought we were in one of Park City’s high end restaurants based on the menu prices. We had to explain that we were far from that. The impact these inflationary pressures will have less dining out and that means restaurants are going to have to be on their game more than ever to survive.