This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter. To get the full newsletter every Wednesday, subscribe at sltrib.com/newsletters.
Hello, Eaters! Utahns are always up for a new pizza place, and one opened on Feb. 2 in Salt Lake City’s Marmalade District — Taverna Pizza, at 427 N. 300 West.
Pizza is having “kind of a heyday” in Utah right now, owner Nate Silverstein-Tree told me. The growth of artisan pizza experiences, like “Secret Pizza Club” and other pop-up places, have been a part of that interest — but having Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who does his “One Bite Pizza Reviews” on YouTube, visit the state last fall has really put Utah on every pizza lover’s radar, he said.
“All of a sudden, the conversation’s changed, and people are, like, ‘Oh, what is the best slice?’” Silverstein-Tree said. Taverna is likely to join that conversation.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Taverna on 300 West in the Marmalade District, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.
The origin story: Silverstein-Tree has been in the bar business in the Salt Lake City area for the last 15 years — including a spell at the Twilite Lounge, and currently running the International Bar on State Street. He and his wife, Andrea, live in Marmalade, so they were looking at spots in the neighborhood. Zoning limitations prevented them from opening a bar at this address, so they decided to open a restaurant. “My dad’s from New York, so we grew up always going after the best pizza, trying to get the coveted crispy slice,” he said.
The vibe: Taverna feels like a neighborhood joint, simple and uncluttered, with the Pabst neon out front and a big-screen TV near the bar along one side of the interior. (When I went, the TV was playing the Winter Olympics — appropriate for Silverstein-Tree, who in a previous career spent time in Milan.) During the restaurant’s first week, he said, “I got to meet more of my neighbors than I’ve probably met in the last 10 years — all the people that I see walking their dogs and, maybe, giving a friendly wave.” (A word about the decor: The walls of the dining area are lined with wood planks recovered from the building’s previous incarnations, as a BMW motorcycle garage and a saw sharpening shop. You can even see the circular marks from the saw blades.)
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Prosciutto and Burrata Slice at Taverna on 300 West in the Marmalade District, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.
The menu: New York-style, which means big slices with a thin, crispy crust. Silverstein-Tree did his research, scoping out which kind of oven to buy (he opted for electric over wood-fired) and training with expert pizzaiolos. (That’s my new vocabulary word for the week.) The restaurant’s menu ranges from the traditional pepperoni to a prosciutto-with-burrata pizza — most of them costing between $4 and $6 a slice, or $24 to $29 for a whole pie. To read about my order, scroll down to “Dish of the Week.”
The hours: Taverna Pizza is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
Cheers,
Sean
P.S. The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter, Kolbie Peterson, will be back in this space next week.
Food News
• Picnic Cafe and Sisters are teaming up for a pop-up event Sunday to mark the Lunar New Year (which is Tuesday), with Vietnamese food and coffee. The event — at Picnic Cafe, 1329 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City — starts at 11 a.m., and runs until the food is sold out.
Openings:
• Eight Settlers Distillery has opened a second location, Eight Settlers Lounge, at 44 Exchange Place in downtown Salt Lake City. The lounge had a soft opening last week, and its grand opening on Monday. The new location — following up on Eight Settlers’ restaurant in Cottonwood Heights — boasts craft cocktails, and a small-plates menu crafted by executive chef Angelique Pereat.
• Sushi by Scratch, which bills itself as “an omakase-inspired tasting menu concept,” is opening this month at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Park City, in the ski resort’s East Village. Part of a restaurant group founded by Austin-based Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee (he’s executive chef, she’s executive pastry chef), Sushi by Scratch boasts a 17-course omakase tasting menu for 10 seated guests. Seatings are Wednesday through Sunday, at 5, 7:15 and 9 p.m. Admission is $245 per person.
• Crispy Cones, a dessert chain that serves warm pastry cones filled with soft-serve ice cream, opened a new location last week, at 2885 S. 5600 West in West Valley City. It’s a fast-growing chain — having opened a Draper location and reopened its Provo store last November, in addition to locations already established in Layton and Logan.
• A new Chick-fil-A outlet has opened in Draper, at 13673 S. 100 East, near where Bangerter Highway meets Interstate 15.
Closings:
• Left Fork Grill, a classic diner at 68 W. 3900 South in South Salt Lake, will close after 19 years in business, the owners announced Monday on Instagram. The restaurant is the brainchild of chef Jeff Masten, who opened it in September 2006. Masten’s daughter, Melissa Masten, took over in 2023. The diner’s closing date will be April 5, the Instagram post said.
• La Brioche Argentine Bakery, a family-owned business in Orem, closed on Feb. 1, KSL reported. The bakery was the dream of owner Leticia Silva, according to her daughter, Yamila Hernandez, the store manager. However, years of financial obstacles — including an order from the Utah County Health Department to install a customer bathroom — forced the family to close for good.
• Has a restaurant opened or closed in your neighborhood? Let us know at food@sltrib.com.
Booze (and Drink!) News
• Two Salt Lake County bars received their liquor licenses at the Jan. 29 meeting of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services’ commission: Wolfdog Brewing, a craft brewery at 9680 S. State St. in Sandy; and Burger Lab Bar in Salt Lake City — which, according to our friend Stuart Melling at Gastronomic SLC, is in the space formerly occupied by Under Current, at 270 S. 300 East.
Dish of the Week
As a soccer fan, I had to try what the Taverna Pizza menu calls “The Maradona.” It’s named for the Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, who famously played for Napoli and was, as Silverstein-Tree put it, “a spicy individual.”
The pizza features pepperoni — cut into those little slices that form into cups, to hold all the yummy grease — and jalapeño slices, topped with a drizzle of hot honey. Yes, it’s spicy, with the jalepeños’ heat and the pepperoni’s sharp bite duking it out in your mouth. Then the sweetness of the honey adds a satisfying finish.
The fig-and-bacon is also a treat. The fig jelly replaces the traditional tomato sauce. Instead of American-style bacon, Taverna uses speck, a European cured pork that’s diced rather than cut into strips. The combination of the two title ingredients provides a sweet, smoky flavor, if you’re looking for something different with your pizza.