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Keep an eye on these restaurant openings set for 2025

Sugar House Station in Sugar House Spring 2024 (Gastronomic SLC)

Last year we tracked more than 150 new food and drink openings around the state. I’m expecting the same again this year, if not even more. The following names are all at the top of my list to keep tabs on, you might want to do the same.

Sugar House Station

The completion of this Sugar House food hall will offer a completely new concept for Utah; a food hall that brings together not only restaurants – but bars too. SHS is the next outing for restaurateur Scott Evans, and it might just be his most ambitious project to date.

Created with an eye on the booming residential growth in the core of Sugar House, the hall will shortly unfurl into the sizeable space left vacant by the departure of Kimi’s Chop & Oyster House (2155 South Highland Drive, pictured top). The ground floor of the central neighborhood space clocks in at 10,000 square feet alone, plenty of space for a hefty lineup.

Evans is notably proud of the lineup, and rightly so, tempting more than one well-known name back onto the dining scene. “Our lineup is very intentional. We didn’t openly solicit vendors, instead, we chose to carefully curate”, Evans tells me. “We reached out purposefully to everyone involved in the project, and invited them to come on board – because we love what they do.” That list then:

  • Aristo’s
  • Birdhouse Chicken
  • Bitters Amaro Bar
  • Canella’s
  • Casot Wine Bar
  • Kimi’s
  • Pizza Nono
  • Proper Burger / Brewing
  • Publik
  • Santo Tacos

Veterans of the food scene will no doubt be excited to get their hands on cuisine from Aristo’s and Canella’s once again; while Birdhouse Chicken is also set for a reprisal of sorts – Evans’s short-lived restaurant in the 9th and 9th neighborhood coming back with renewed vigor. The piri piri chicken sandwich concept opened 3 months prior to the pandemic in 2020 and never reopened. “I don’t think we executed as well as we could have in that first iteration and the timing was about as bad as it gets,” Evans notes.  “Phelix (Gardner, exec chef in the Pago empire) is partnering on the 2.0 iteration, and plans to deliver something very special this time around.” 

In total the space will offer four unique bar programs, though every vendor in the space will offer libations of some description. Crucially though – Sugar House Station will be licensed as a 21+ only bar, which ultimately means patrons can wend their way from bar to bar, vendor to vendor – and yes – carry that drink along as they go. If they even choose to of course; it’s worth noting that each name on that list will offer discrete seating, as well as a larger communal central seating area. This will be in turn used to host live programming or big game watch-alongs. Again, with a smart eye on the rapidly developing neighborhood, expect the space to play host to a variety of drink and dining needs. Expect this one sooner than later from what I’ve heard from Evans and Gardner.

Hearth And Hill

Just over the road from Evans’ food hall and a similarly anticipated opening in Q1 of 2025. The Sugar House arrival of Brooks Kirchheimer’s (Urban Hill, Hill’s Catering) first restaurant should be here any day now; indeed it might have already arrived if it weren’t for the huge fire that caused the Sugar Alley building project to strip back down to the podium level in 2022. I walked by the other day and the finishing touches to the rebuild are clearly evident.

H&H Sugar House will be based on the same plan as the Park City Original. The location will encompass a 6,000-square-foot restaurant as well as a second location for sister operation Hill’s Kitchen; a 3,000-square-foot cafe with plenty of grab-and-go options.

With construction along Highland / 1100 E. seemingly done and dusted – 2025 is finally starting to look like Sugar House’s year.

Cosmica

It’s been a solid year in the making but co-operator Ryan Lowder tells me this one is all done bar the shouting. Expect the doors to open any day now. Pinky swear. If you’ve been keeping track, there’s plenty to be excited about here. Several talented toques are involved, not least local restaurateur Lowder (Copper Onion, Copper Common). While chewing the fat with Lowder last year about Cosmica (945 S 300 W), he was keen to underplay his own involvement, instead preferring to giddily gab about the skills of the project’s partners.

Zak Pelaccio is a key figure behind Cosmica, notably a James Beard Best Chef winner (2016) for the much-lauded Fish & Game in Hudson, NY. The restaurant eventually went on to be named one of the most influential restaurants of the decade by Esquire in 2020. Pelaccio’s CV is stacked with hits, not least the Malaysian-fueled Fatty Crab that wowed New Yorkers for years.

The chef on site at Cosmica will be Zach Wade, who has previous tenure alongside Pelaccio back in New York – most recently at Lola. Expect a restaurant resplendent in 70’s mustards and greens, one that pays homage to SLC history while flashing with Italian flair. “I miss the feel of the iconic American diner”, teases Lowder as we wrap.

Mensho

Coming to the Post District this year, sooner than later now they have their liquor license hopefully. Mensho is the famous name that was kickstarted in Japan by Tomaharu Shono. Growing operations across the globe saw the first U.S. outpost land in San Francisco which in turn has been Michelin-rated since 2017. The company touts a “farm to bowl” approach to its ramen, leaning on local farms and seasonal updates.

Wisteria - chef Ben Steigers blow torching tuna
Wisteria – chef Ben Steigers blow torching tuna

Wisteria

Back in April, I enjoyed a remarkable popup (within Bar Nohm) by chef Ben Steigers. For those lucky enough to snag seats, the Edomae-style omakase experience was a stunning tour de force. Impeccable ingredients treated with minimal fuss and exacting precision.

The meal ends with a decadent tuna handroll, Steigers rendering fat in real-time from a tuna carcass (pictured top of the page). The whole evening was a testbed for what Steigers hopes to bring to SLC as a permanent installation this year. I’m tremendously excited about this one, and so should you – read about it here.

Hoppers

Ever since the closure of the famed Midvale brewpub location, locals have lamented the loss of this one. I believe work continues at the Central 9th location – and there’s a Daybreak location still in the pipeline too. Here’s hoping that 2025 is the year we see the name return and raise a glass with them. The Central 9th location directly faces the likes of Scion, Laziz, and Central 9th Market – it would make for an even buzzier strip of food and drink. One that could arguably compete with sections of downtown and Sugar House.

Repeal

Repeal should be what rises from the ashes of the now-departed Bourbon House. Kelly Howard – the chap who brought Prohibition to Murray – took over the lease for the Walker Center basement space in 2023 and began to completely remodel the underground bar.

During a 2023 DABS meeting, Howard noted the renovation will be exhaustive, completely tearing the venue apart, right down to the bare concrete. Repeal should feature a whole new bar built from scratch; the kitchen size will effectively double too.

Star Of India - keema and biryani
Star Of India – keema and biryani

Star Of India

A personal favorite of mine, and one that announced a huge setback to their business last year – thieves causing over $125K worth of damage to the business’s premises. The theft caused the business to temporarily shutter last year, to begin the hunt for a new location.

Subsequent updates have indicated that a return is imminent, this time at 1000 S. Main Street in SLC. I’ll keep you posted on the actual return as it happens. Star Of India holds a very special place in my belly, being the very first restaurant I dined at in Utah, and one that instantly has me head over heels. Back then the restaurant was located downtown around the 2nd and 2nd corner before their host building was ultimately remodeled. From there the restaurant has moved around the greater downtown area a few times. Here’s hoping the next location comes sooner rather than later. The cooking at Star Of India is first class.

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