An especially quiet DABS meeting today, with a very light agenda. Here, then, a quick recap of the bars and restaurants issued with new liquor licenses this month:
Bars
Going into the meeting, thirteen full-year bar licenses were available to new businesses. The following four bars were approved:
- Perhaps, Park City
- Boiler Room, Salt Lake City
- Zion Canyon Hot Springs, La Verkin
- Spanish Valley Vineyards & Winery, Grand County
Next month, the yearly tweak to the state’s population quotas will come into effect, meaning an additional seventeen new bar licenses will be added to the pool. A further three are anticipated from license non-renewals, which, by my math, means Utah will have a dizzying 29 licenses come the July meeting.
As a reminder, last year’s liquor law changes sought to end the state’s continual liquor license droughts by ratcheting up the number of bar and full-service licenses over a seven-year period. Over that timeframe, the number of bar licenses is set to change from one license per 10,200 residents to one per 7,264 people. Similarly full-service licenses will be tweaked from one per 4,467 residents to one per 3,167. Onto full-service, then.
Full-service restaurant licenses (beer, wine, liquor)
Forty-six licenses were available in the inventory this month, with three restaurants being awarded a full-service license:
- Braza Grill, Murray
- Galbi Grill, St. George
- Positano Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar, St. George
Per next month’s population quota changes, another thirty-eight licenses will be added to the pool in July.
Limited-service restaurant licenses (beer, wine)
Four businesses secured this more limited license type this month:
- Le Boeuf, Salt Lake City
- Heaya Ramen & Rice Bowl, South Salt Lake
- Strada by Matteo, Salt Lake City
- Little Bone, Boulder
Other items
Lastly, Roosters B Street Brewing Co (Ogden) received a Type 5 Package Agency license, allowing them to retail their products directly to the public, seven days a week.
DABS launches new training for servers and bartenders to prevent alcohol over-service
Via press release:
Today, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services teamed up with restaurant industry partners and Utah’s Department of Public Safety to launch a new training video for the thousands of alcohol servers and bartenders throughout the state. The message is clear: servers and bartenders play an important role in preventing the dangers that can come from customers’ drinking too much.
“Even one Utahn getting injured or killed due to impaired driving is one too many. Those working in Utah’s service industry play an important role by being alert and aware of when to cut someone off from ordering another drink,” said Tiffany Clason, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services Executive Director. “That smart thinking can both save lives and prevent fines and penalties for businesses and employees.”
Clason says all owners, managers, and workers who serve alcohol are encouraged to watch the free, optional training video on preventing alcohol over-service. It can be found on the DABS website at abs.utah.gov/licenses-permits/training (direct YouTube link here). The video reviews behaviors that servers and bartenders can watch for, tips for navigating the tricky moments with customers, and the legal consequences for businesses and servers when alcohol over-service is proven.
The DABS has legal obligations to regulate those licensed to serve alcohol and ensure they are doing so safely and legally, says Clason. It is illegal to sell alcohol to an intoxicated customer, with penalties ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 and suspension or revocation of the business’s alcohol license. Additionally, penalties to the employee can add up with a $300 fine and suspension from work. In some cases, employers choose to terminate a staff member responsible for over-service. Since December 2024, the DABS has issued 10 overservice violations to businesses and employees who are licensed to sell alcohol.
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) monitors alcohol over-service at bars and restaurants and investigates whether drivers responsible for alcohol related car crashes were served while intoxicated at an alcohol-licensed establishment. Since 2024, SBI officers conducted 124 investigations specifically related to alcohol over-service.
“As of 2025, preliminary data indicates over 200 car crashes due to impaired driving. Behind each incident are many individuals whose lives were disrupted, and some who lost their lives altogether,” said Captain Chamberlin Neff, Utah Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). “Our SBI team works methodically to prevent alcohol related crashes before they happen by finding instances of alcohol over-service and stopping future occurrences.”
Clason says industry partners largely support efforts to prevent alcohol over-service because of the dangerous impacts that can result from serving customers that are already showing signs of alcohol impairment.
“I have long been impressed by the commitment from responsible restaurant and bar owners and workers to be a part of the solution; to educate and inform servers and establish safe alcohol service practices,” said Clason. “My hope is for every single server and bartender throughout the state to watch the training video with a learning mindset so we can continue working together to create safer communities.”
The free, optional training video was developed at no cost to the DABS thanks to grant funding provided by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA), says Clason. The DABS applied for the grant to reduce the number of alcohol sales to intoxicated customers and to inform and educate about the harmful impacts of alcohol over-service incidents on the public.
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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.
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”.
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