“Grove Market re-opening Feb 14th. Soft launch coming soon, your favorite sandwiches” – so goes the perfectly timed Valentine for fans, posted to the window at Grove Market and Deli in recent days. Several readers have excitedly reached out to me with the news (and social media posts have been popping up); after all, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one closely watching the property ever since the business closed up shop during November last year.
The business first started life on Main Street back in 1947, opened by Pete Savas. Initially opening as a neighborhood grocery store, the deli component wouldn’t be added until the 70s. Son James ‘Jim’ Savas took the reins at the tender age of 19 and operated the restaurant for a staggering 61 years. The excellent Salt Lake Sideways has this piece on the formative early days of the business. Sadly, Savas passed away earlier this year.
The business continued for several months, but ultimately closed in the Fall, leaving the fate of one of SLC’s most iconic names unknown. Iconic? You’d be hard-pressed to find a long-term SLC resident who wasn’t aware of Grove and its loaded sandwiches, notable for the low prices. The star of the show, eye-opening ambassador rolls, mammoth torpedoes of bread – as big as your arm – easily enough for several meals.
By December 2025, it appears as though the business had changed hands. The brief note posted at the business doesn’t say much (and I’ve not yet been able to reach the new owners), but your favorite sandwiches alone should give long-time fans a huge filip of hope. There’s not much other info out there as far as I can tell, though the Google profile listing for the businesses has now dropped the “temporarily closed” notice in the past few days – another promising sign.
If you haven’t yet made plans for the 14th, I can think of no better proposition for your serious other, “want to share a sandwich, my love?”
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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”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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