Three surprise bar licenses granted In March DABS meeting

Bookending the March DABS meeting, some fairly surprising news with DABS staff confirming three rare as tantalum, bar licenses would be up for the taking . You can catch the full meeting here. But here's a quick recap of the meeting and notables.

With the room nearly fainting en masse, five businesses pitched their case for the three prized papers:

Fisher, HK and Squatters/Wasatch taproom secured the trio, each leaving with the ability to operate as a bar. Fisher was all but nailed on, given their eight month wait for a license; the craft brewer is now able to serve their high point brews direct to guests on site. The license is also the final piece of the puzzle for the costly expansion space the brewery is working to imminently finalize; this space is intended as both overflow for the main bar, and also as a special events venue.

HK Brewing Collective – the kombucha-cocktail bar in the Ballpark neighborhood snagged – joined Squatters/Wasatch taproom (former West Side Tavern) in taking home the other two bar licenses. Kennedy's, a new bar planned for the Marmalade area and located in the former Toasted Barrel location, failed to garner support from commissioners for their application.

The meeting yielded no insight into what April might look like, but per legislative updates, May 3rd will see fifteen bar licenses added to the pool. The current waitlist of bars meanwhile, with their respective projected opening dates is as follows:

Twenty one full service restaurant licenses were available coming into the March meeting. The following ten restaurants were awarded licenses, leaving the state with eleven licenses until May:

When May does roll around the state is expected to add 33 more full service restaurant licenses to the total pool. The list of upcoming full service restaurants with their projected opening dates are as follows:

With restaurant licenses also verging on exhaustion – commissioners again underscored they would treat applicants with the same level of scrutiny as bars; be ready to open or prepare to wait is the message. Ready to open? Commissioner Orton confirmed that at a minimum that means businesses need to have their occupancy licenses in hand, and have all necessary inspections completed, adding "if you’re already open for business, even the better".

Also, changing ownership in terms of the license were Ogden Beer Company (Ogden) and Sakana Sushi Bar & Japanese Cuisine (West Jordan)

Bombay House (Provo) was approved for a change of liquor license ownership,

Lastly, always keep your eyes on places with Type 5s – these particularly license types allow the businesses to retail direct to consumers, even on Sundays and holidays.

Featured image, Midjourney V5, the bar area of a fancy restaurant. A diagonal look down the bar, with golden rays of sun shining in illuminatnig the counter top and the liquor bottles. No one is sat at the bar, very modern, fine detail –ar 3:2 –v 5

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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC; I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV shows.

I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have covered the Utah dining scene for the better part of fifteen years. 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.