Latest Utah restaurants closures, updates and news

Two-Bit Street Cafe set for temp closure

Val Phillip’s Chew And Chat blog reported on this hopefully temporary closure a few days ago. Phillips’ writes that “Two-Bit Street Café, named for Ogden 25^th Street’s notorious history, is closing as of Christmas Eve”, with the restaurant citing leasing issues as their reason for closure.

The restaurant hopes to make a comeback with Two-Bit employee Andrew Shorts creating the following GoFundMe in response to the situation. A segment of the fund raising post explains how proceeds will be used to help reboot the business in 2024:

“As we tackle the massive effort of emptying our current location, we are simultaneously trying to gather all the resources needed to safely secure our ideal new location. Aside from our ‘mom and pop’ budget not being sufficient in the current market, we have what is needed to make this a reality. All contributions from this crowdfund would be used to secure a lease agreement, moving costs, and the initial costs of launch. If our community can pull enough resources together, Two-Bit can not only stay alive in Ogden, but hopefully grow to something even more successful and renowned.”

Crumb Brothers (retail) closes

Posting to Instagram last week, Logan’s Crumb Brothers look set to close the doors on their dine in spot; looking to instead focus on their delivery and event business. The post reads:

“Dear valued patrons and friends, It is with a heavy heart that we share bittersweet news with our cherished Crumb Brothers community. After much reflection and consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors permanently as far as our daily retail establishment.

We are moving our focus to our growing artisan bread and pastry delivery business that will deliver our product directly to your door with free delivery at as much as a 25% discount to our members. We are still able to host beautiful events like weddings, family gatherings, and corporate events, all of which will still allow the community to use our wonderful facilities. Visit our website at crumbbrothersbakery.com for more information.

Crumb Brothers has been more than just a place to dine; it’s been a home for shared moments, laughter, and unforgettable culinary experiences. We are immensely grateful for the support you’ve shown us over the years.
We want to express our gratitude to our incredible staff, who have been the heart and soul. Your passion and dedication have made every meal memorable, and we couldn’t be more thankful for the time we’ve spent together.
To our loyal patrons, thank you for your unwavering support and for making Crumb Brothers a part of your lives. We hope our paths cross again in the future, and until then, we carry your warmth and friendship in our hearts.”

Acapulco Restaurant closes

This Kearns based Mexican restaurant also took to social media to announce their closure. After more than three decades in business, the owners have decided to retire. The posting reads:

“Thank you for your gracious support these past 32 years! It is with a heavy, but excited heart that we are announcing that we will be closing indefinitely on December 30th, 2023. We look forward to the life of retirement and will remain in endless debt to YOU for your unwavering support and love. Thank you, Juan & Grace.”

ROCTACO / Flake Pie Co / Turmeric Indian Grill close

The St. George News has this story on several recent St. George restaurant closures.

Purgatory Bar closes for remodel

Sunday December 17th was the last for downtown Salt Lake City’s Purgatory Bar – at least in the current format. A note posted at the watering hole (62 E 700 S) reads:

“Dear Guests, After 8 wonderful years, Purgatory will be closing December 17 at 4 pm. We love and apprecate all that you’ve done for us. Your Purgatory Team”. A subsequent post seen on social media indicated the closure would be temporary, and for the purposes of a remodel.

The 21+ only bar has always been well regarded for their Asian and Pacific influenced pub grub. The core of the menu were a variety of loaded fries (pictured top are the ‘morning fries’ courtesy of Salt Plate City) The bar was opened back in 2017 by Hiro Tagai & Diamond Dang, as part of the Sapa Investment Group. As you might guess from the name, the group also run Sapa, the popular Japanese restaurant just around the corner from Purgatory. Other well known names in their stable include the likes of Fat Fish and Bucket Of Crawfish.

The bar’s opening was reviewed favorably in the SL Trib and even after all these years, maintains excellent reviews across online platforms. This piece from the City Weekly offers some interesting background notes too – apparently the location was once slated as the would be home for Mountain West Cider.

I contacted the business for more info who confirmed what will come next for the location, telling me, “It will be a breakfast, lunch and dinner. Open earlier, closed earlier. Still 21+”. According to posts on Purgatory’s social media, expect more official news on the remodel to come in February 2024.

Nostalgia Coffee presently closed for remodel

After my last roundup of closures, a reader reached out to let me know that this downtown cafe and coffee shop has been closed for a while. I can’t see mention of this on the businesses official website nor social media but both Google and Yelp do note a temporary closure. A couple of photos here and here on the latter show the business shuttered in August for remodeling. If and when word comes about a re-opening, you’ll read about it here first.

Noemi’s needs your help

Not a closure, but certainly a restaurant that needs some love and attention. The Chilean restaurant took to Facebook a few days back writing:

“Hello everyone I hope everyone’s having a good day. here at Noemi‘s Café, we hit a financial wall. We’re trying our best to get over it, but we’re having a hard time. We love our community and we need your help. We don’t know what else to do so we’re reaching out to you all, come and support and will do our best to keep going. Thank you all.”

If you’ve never been, let me encourage you to put this on your to do list over the coming weeks. You know, when you need to break out of that turkey and ham rut. The cute cafe is one of the very best in Midvale, and home to excellent South American cooking. Noemi’s empanada are excellent, as are the duo of dessert cases straddling the checkout counter. Swing by and grab an alfajore and thank me later.

Downtown Winter Farmer’s Market returns

The Winter edition of this market is now back in action. The Saturday morning get together returns again to The Gateway, albeit with a new location, bigger footprint and bigger vendor list. If you’ve never attend the market, check out this story I wrote on what to expect at the Winter market last year. Here’s the full press release on the 2023/2024 run from the Downtown Alliance’s :

. . .

The Downtown Farmers Market Winter Season moves into its new home in the center of The Gateway, giving it a larger space and allowing for better access and parking. The Market continues through April 20, every Saturday.

The proliferation of green houses and temporary “hoop houses,” means there will be twice as many farmers and growers bringing fresh vegetables this season.

The Market also features local vendors selling produce, meat, eggs, cheese, baked goods, sauces, condiments, chocolate, and much more. The weekly event also showcases art and craft vendors, perfect for shopping local for the holidays.

The Pearl begins lunch service

Since I waxed lyrical about Central 9th’s The Pearl back in 2022 the 21+ bar and restaurant has gone from strength to strength – bagging all the acclaim and awards along the way. The latest update for The Pearl sees the business end 2023 by offering lunch time hours.

You can now explore Tommy Nguyen’s excellent Vietnamese cooking, Tuesday – Friday, 11.00 a.m. through 4.00 p.m. While I can’t find a precise menu the launch offering looks set to include banh mi and rice bowls.

Keep the conversation going

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• 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.