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Welcome back aboard the good ship new and notable, and frankly, what’s been a relative calm sea. The pace of openings over the past month has been more sedate than that prior,; though looking ahead, it still seems like we’re in for a buoyant year. So, hoist the mainsail and allow me to stop torturing … Read more
With all the headlines decrying a departing NBA’s labeling of Utah as boring – today’s DABS meeting left one feeling a better phrase might have been, dysfunctional. At least inasmuch in describing the current state of Utah’s stalled liquor policy. Highlighting the enormity of challenges businesses can expect to face this year, today’s DABS meeting … Read more
After the storied DABS voyage that was 2022, and a particularly choppy end of the year, January’s DABS meeting offered calmer waters; surely a portent of upcoming storms and overly worked metaphors. The headline news right now is the incoming legislative session and what the yearly omnibus liquor bill might hold for business owners in … Read more
Well that was a head scratcher. Maybe someone was passing around the egg nog, but the final DABS meetup of 2022 left this curious onlooker a smidge confused. Lets start with the main item therein… Bar licenses After some jiggery pokery with the population numbers I believe an extra bar license was conjured up from … Read more
After last month’s DABS meeting you might recall I posed this not entirely rhetorical conundrum. When tasked with managing Utah’s most precious of resources – that’s bar licenses not water duh – how exactly should a kingmaker act? This month saw one possible course of action come to pass, which is to say, inaction. Demurring … Read more
If recent DABS meetings weren’t worrying enough for would be bar owners, the August meeting writ large the reality of a distressing future. Entering the eighth edition of this year’s disbelief fest, fourteen Utah bars turned up hoping for the best. Five business were ready to roll, three bar licenses up for grabs. But wait, … Read more
The headline news – at least according to out of state onlookers and column inches – is the return of mini bottles in the Beehive. Last seen on shelves here in the 1980s, a vote at the July DABS meetup saw their re-instatement approved. Ho hum huh. Miniature liquor bottles of 50ml and wine of … Read more
As the clock ticks down to the June DABC meeting (sorry it’s DABS now folks) so the interest escalates around who exactly will snaffle up all those delicious bar licenses set to unfurl. Just like an exotic flora that blooms once every 17 years, this is a practically unheard of event, something to witness and … Read more
Well there you have it. Two months into the year and bar licenses are pretty much toast. Want to open a bar in Utah? Come back in May, because that’s when a single license will be up for grabs next. And after that, who knows… With various news outlets reporting on a state legislature unconvinced … Read more
While food prices might be soaring – 12% in some categories according to the Des News – at least there isn’t an industry wing shortage this year. With that in mind then, here are the local restaurants and bars offering Super Bowl specials this year. Flanker Kitchen + Sporting Club This newly opened venue in … Read more
It sounds like the premise of a bad joke: fifteen bars walk into a… but no, this was the reality of January’s DABC meeting. One singular bar license, fifteen business jostling for position and five ready to go today. Welcome to Utah. To remind you then, the state currently has a complete dearth of available … Read more
Get ready for a fraught 2022 folks. Following this months DABC meeting, Ben Winslow confirmed via this story that the Utah legislature seems unmoved by the perilous state of Utah’s liquor license inventory. Indeed, things might actually get worse yet still – if that’s even possible. As part of the FOX13 story, Winslow highlighted the … Read more
Welcome back to our monthly roundup of all things perfectly potable. While ordinarily I’d start with a raised eyebrow and nod to the state’s bar license crunch (there are presently ZERO available) there’s truthfully not much to talk about. So instead lets start with another looming area of concern… Full service restaurant licenses (beer, wine, … Read more
Lets cut to the chase and dive right into the section of this month’s DABC meeting that everyone wants know about – bar licenses. Continuing from the previous August meetup, a trio of bar licenses were held over for the September event. Eight hopeful newcomers joined a roster of existing contenders, making for a grand … Read more
As is increasingly common at DABC meetings, wrangles over Utah’s exceptionally limited inventory of bar licenses dominated proceedings during the August meetup. For those following along with this years main liquor story, a solitary bar license was punted over from July’s meeting; and on the docket for the August event – eleven different businesses hoping … Read more
In his first meeting taking the reigns from former chairman John T. Nielsen, commissioner Thomas Jacobson ran a briskly paced meeting that sped through the docket at an enjoyable pace. A few notable items that came up: The list of businesses requiring extended closures has slowly been whittled down to just a small handful. Publik … Read more
A jumbo sized June DABC meeting topped the three hour mark with plenty of noteworthy action. During the first in person meetup in over a year, chairman John T. Nielsen (Feb 2013) and commissioner Bateman (dec 2014) said their farewells, stepping down from their roles after significant stints; the duo signing onto the roles in … Read more
Every year my advice is the same: if you really want to treat that special someone in you life, skip the 14th of February. Seriously, go a week before, go a week later, just avoid one of the busiest dining days on the regular calendar. If you have your mind set though, there are plenty … Read more
Oquirrh fans start fundraiser Times are undoubtedly tough for everyone right now. In the maelstrom that is the hospitality sector (oh hai there Rubio’s bankruptcy filing), of particularly tumult – fine dining. While I’m a vocal advocate for changing times demanding a changing business plan, it’s admittedly simpler for fast casual to pivot than it … Read more
The headline news out of the October DABC meeting was the increasing pressure on the state’s current inventory of bar licenses. Before the meeting only one license was available for the entire state; though a second did become available during the course of proceedings with Button Down Bar forced to forfeit their license due to … Read more