Editor’s note • This article is part of an occasional series, the Redwood Road Challenge.
Ogie’s Cafe has stood at the corner of 3500 South and Redwood Road in West Valley City since 1983, the year “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” was released and historic flooding turned State Street into a river.
Today, the large red-and-yellow sign above the front door advertises Ogie’s $6.99 breakfast, but back in 1983 and until 1989, that same breakfast deal cost only 99 cents.
And that’s not the only change that has come to Ogie’s Cafe. Founded by George Marinos and his wife, Karee Marinos, Ogie’s (pronounced “oh-gheez”) used to be smaller, until the couple acquired the vacuum shop next door and expanded their diner into the space.
Another change: In 1995, Utah banned smoking in restaurants, and Ogie’s customers could no longer light up at their tables.
The people who come in have changed, too, George Marinos said. After all, a lot of the regulars from the restaurant’s early days have died as time has passed. When asked if some members of the younger generation might become regulars, Marinos replied, “Yeah, well, they do, but it’s just different, I think.”
“... Years ago, I bet you 75% of our customers were regular customers, probably not as much now, but still a lot,” Marinos continued.
‘A mom-and-pop place’
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign hangs on the wall at Ogie's Cafe in West Valley City on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
George Marinos said he’s been working in restaurants since he was 15. He started as a dishwasher.
Eventually, he decided to open his own place. “That’s all I really knew was the restaurant business,” Marinos said.
His original vision for the restaurant was a “mom-and-pop place, a greasy spoon place, just open 6 to 3, just breakfast and lunch,” he said.
He named the place using a nickname his five older brothers created to tease him on a family trip to Yellowstone in 1963, when Marinos was 7. He said he got the “last laugh,” though. Years later, the teasing had stopped, and he was able to name his restaurant Ogie’s. The name has a way of sticking in people’s minds, too, Marinos said.
Cami Marinos, the general manager and one of George Marinos’ daughters, said that when Ogie’s Cafe first opened, only her dad and mom worked there. “He cooked and she served. And I just think that’s really cool,” she said. “They’re just hard-working and really generous, honest, trustworthy people. They’re just amazing.”
‘Nice people and good food’
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hot sauces line a shelf at Ogie's Cafe in West Valley City on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
Today, Ogie’s Cafe is best known for “nice people and good food and reasonable prices,” George Marinos said.
On a recent Wednesday at about 10:30 a.m., the scents of coffee and browning potatoes filled the air at Ogie’s. In front of the photos of cowboys on the wall, diners chatted in English and Spanish as they dug into classics like buttermilk pancakes, omelets and Ogie’s Special — made with two eggs, sausage, ham and bacon plus Swiss and American cheese, piled on hashbrowns and served with toast.
Servers crisscrossed the restaurant, filling mugs and taking orders, passing below a long shelf filled with bottles of hot sauce.
Cami Marinos seemed to be everywhere that Wednesday as she served plates heaped with food and visited with regulars she knew by name.
She said she started working at Ogie’s as a busser alongside her two sisters, and worked at the restaurant through high school. “If we wanted a pair of shoes, or if there was something we wanted, we had to come work for it,” she said.
George Marinos said that in the old days, Ogie’s customers would band together if one of them needed help. Once, a woman was about to get fined from the city because she had gotten older and wasn’t able to take care of her front yard, Marinos said. So a group of customers went and cleaned it up for her.
Ogie’s Cafe may have changed since 1983, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that “everybody here is family,” Cami Marinos said. “We have a lot of employees that have been here, too, 15 to 20 years, and we’re all a big family. And even a lot of the customers are part of our families.”
And Ogie’s Cafe remains a place “where a lot of people still meet,” George Marinos said. “We’ve been here 41 years. I think it’s just a friendly place. A lot of people know each other in here. Not as much as they used to, but still, it’s a friendly place.”
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• You need to try these 5 hidden gem restaurants on Redwood Road.
• Four dynamite Asian restaurants to visit along Redwood Road.
