We’ve all seen the sad news, peppered throughout our social media feeds. A rumor about a favorite Utah restaurant suddenly closing its doors or an official announcement from a local eatery shutting down after years in business. Restaurants are hard. And if you think it’s hard to watch your favorite spot close its doors, it’s that much harder for the owners, managers and staff.
To combat the bad news, we wanted to take a moment and share the stories of several Utah restaurants that have adapted, moved, transformed or doubled down on staying the same to stay in business.
Tea Rose Diner—A New Move and a New Flavor of History
When Anny Sooksri quit her job with the post office in 2007, she decided to take over a little burger bar tucked in Murray. Anny did what she has always done.“I jumped right in,” she says. “I didn’t know what I was doing.” Tea Rose Diner was named because when she opened, she carried 82 varieties of tea and had a rose house next door. “It’s hilarious that I never had a sign,” she says. “Not until I had been open for 10 years.” Anny built her customer base the old-fashioned way, over 18 years—by serving delicious Thai food with her unique, spicy twist.
Anny could never find food that was spicy enough for her taste buds in the U.S. “I eat super spicy, but I couldn’t make food as spicy as I want because of the risk factor. So we started giving customers a choice of zero to 10 for spice,” she says. To be clear, going from a “one” to a “two” is doubling the spice. “We add a spoon of chili on each level,” she says. Tea Rose Diner guests were also shocked at the quality (and quantity) of food coming out of the tiny kitchen. Anny even managed to impress her future husband when he came in for lunch with friends.
I think every success comes with hard work. And we are a ‘hard-work’ people, you know? For us to fail, it’s not an option. I was the first generation and I’m here by myself and I came here with nothing. I wish I could be an example to a lot of people. If I can do it,
why can’t you?”
Tea Rose Diner has lived and thrived for nearly two decades. Anny went on to open four other restaurants: Chabaar Beyond Thai, Fav Bistro, Tea Rose Thai Express and Uncle Jeffi’s Place. Tea Rose will always be her figurative firstborn, but it’s starting to show its age. The kitchen is so small that you can’t have two people in there without feeling cramped. The building is grandfathered in for code, so, “I could never sell it,” Anny says. “The permit would not transfer.”
“We were keeping an eye out for a new location,” she says, but they didn’t want to go far. When the option to bid on the city-owned, historic Murray Chapel (kitty corner from the original) came up, Anny jumped. She won the bid in late fall 2024 and has big plans to renovate the space. The new Tea Rose Diner will be a full-service restaurant with a tea/coffee shop and a small event space on the lower level.
Anny won the bid because of her dedication to keeping history alive in the building. “I come from a country that has a lot of history,” she says. “And to keep something historical is something to feel honored about. We lose our history and then we don’t have anything to look forward to as a new generation.”
The Murray Chapel will take at least a year and $900,000 to bring it up to code and build it out. She can’t alter the historical facade but wants to extend the back of the building with an all-glass structure and upper deck. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but it is going to be so cool,” she says, getting animated.
Tea Rose Diner (The Original)
65 E. 5th Ave., Murray
bestthaifoodinutah.com
Kimi’s Chop & Oyster House—A New Location for a Local Institution
After 10 years, Kimi Eklund decamped her namesake restaurant, Kimi’s Chop & Oyster House, from the historic Sugar House post office to the former site of Primo’s Restaurant in Holladay. The new location is a good fit for Kimi’s brand of service, but before the move, her Chop & Oyster House came within inches of closing forever. Constant construction in Sugar House had severely impacted the business. “When Jan. 2 came and they closed the road [1100 East], our sales dropped 85% overnight,” she says. “Sugar House was a ghost town.” But Kimi hoped that when construction ended, things would improve. So, she prepared to renew her lease for another 10 years.
Then, the universe intervened one evening in July. “I seem to always have these fateful things happen,” Kimi laughs. “That night, one of my guests told me ‘It’s such a pity that we can’t sit out on your patio [due to construction]. It’s too bad you don’t have Primo’s patio. It’s one of the best patios in town, and they’re closed.’”
That same night, she learned about a new Sugar House development that would bring even more long-term construction to her block. One of the servers had waited on a developer. “The server told me that he [the developer] was talking about plans to put a 26-story building in the area behind us.” Oh and, to top it off, “there will be a high-end restaurant at the top overlooking the whole valley.”
The development might be a few years out, but it would definitely mean more chaos, more construction. Kimi knew she either had to close or move. She drove over to Primo’s location and peeked in the windows. Then she started dreaming.
Kimi and the owners of the Primo building came to an agreement. They wanted Kimi’s in the space and were willing to hold out for almost a year until Kimi was ready to move. “I got cold feet,” Kimi admits. “I didn’t want to start over again.” But the fact that her potential landlords were willing to work with her was heartening. She says, “It was telling me that I should trust my instincts.”
To make the old Primo building move-in ready, Kimi brought in some trusted advisors and fellow restaurant owners. The pad was segmented, with some walls blocking the energy and flow in the center of the restaurant. “We Tauruses are sensitive people,” Kimi says. “We are in tune and very sensory. Once I got those walls down, I knew it was going to be a success.”
The new decor is just so “Kimi.” Lush, vibrant, Scandinavian-cozy, with bright art and dramatic lighting, “a combination of white sherpa and velvet, illuminated with tear-drop chandeliers.” Each room and each nook is different, with private dining options and a beautiful lounge area, stone fireplaces and views of Mt. Olympus.
The kitchen is more spacious and modern, which means there are more options for the classic menu, more specials and more small-plate dishes, as per Kimi’s customer requests. “We’re turning into a neighborhood restaurant. People are sharing plates, doing a lot of tapas and trying everything on the menu.”
Kimi’s Chop & Oyster House
4699 S. Highland Dr., Holladay
kimishouse.com
Open seven days a week, with private dining for groups of 10–58 guests, live music and seasonal cocktails.
Log Haven’s Lasting Legacy—Declious value and a great team behind every meal
Log Haven is a Utah institution. For nearly 30 years, it is the quintessential place for proposals, weddings and family gatherings. Couples who got married there have watched their kids get married there.
As the name suggests, it is both rustic and a retreat, romantic and renowned. But at one point, it was more ramshackle than anything. That is when Margo Provost came to own the property in Millcreek Canyon. At first, she planned to remodel it as a private residence, but soon it became clear it needed to be more. “I was attempting to sort through the detritus. It was really in terrible shape.” As Margo recalls, she struck up a friendship with Jean Rains, whose father had built it as an anniversary present for her mother. Jean had photos from when she was a child, and her family would come out from Philadelphia every summer. “As we talked and I learned more about its history, I decided to restore it, add on to it and make it into a restaurant,” says Margo.
The idea of Log Haven was born. But, “It was a much bigger project than I expected,” says Margo. “We encountered problems. We had to jack the building up to meet earthquake code, remove asbestos and remove an underground heating oil tank. But eventually, we got up and running.”
On top of all the challenges, Margo was not native to the restaurant business. “I was a Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Operations for a multi-billion dollar healthcare company,” she says. “I found that things weren’t really right in line with my passions. So I took a leap to retire and was looking for a project that would fulfill what I wanted to offer to the universe.” Log Haven fit the bill. “And so when we opened, my intention was nature, nurture and nourish.”
That is one of the reasons Log Haven has stayed close to their mountain sanctuary. “You can’t be ‘nature, nurture, nourish’ if all you’re trying to do is build a brand and spread it out everywhere,” Margo says. “You put your stamp on something special, show where your values are and hope that others respond to it. We’ve been fortunate to pull that off at Log Haven.”
“Nature, nurture and nourish” have been the guiding values for Log Haven’s team, which has been there almost since the beginning. All are co-owners: Ian Campbell, the General Manager; Faith Scheffler, the Sales and Event Manager, and David Jones, the Executive Chef. “When big things occur, like recessions, significant legislative changes, or, heaven forbid, COVID, we tend to take a longer view,” she says. “We’ve been through these things.” And so, Log Haven, like with any true haven, stays the course and is known for its team, values and amazing food. Chef Jones was a James Beard semi-finalist for the best chef in the mountain region this past year and Log Haven has consistently been lauded by this very magazine’s Dining Awards. But Margo sees a bigger mission. “We’re so darnn lucky,” she says. “We have so many people who’ve gotten engaged, celebrated promotions, recruited people to move to Salt Lake. We give them a place, a beautiful, almost sacred space to celebrate the desire for connection.”
The general manager, Ian, always says, “We have a soul.” And Margo sees that as what really sets Log Haven up as the special place it is. “We see it as more than just a business. I believe we do have soul, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Log Haven
6451 Mill Creek Canyon Rd., SLC
log-haven.com
