A sleek new charcoal gray building on 2100 South in Sugar House will be the new home of a Cubby’s — which, the local restaurant chain promises, will have a drive-up window to serve the hungry in a hurry.
“Hey, Sugarhouse patrons! We’re moving locations to make dining with us easier — get ready for a drive-through and better parking later this month!” the Utah chain recently announced on its Instagram and Facebook accounts.
The news may feel surprising to those who are aware that Salt Lake City banned new drive-thrus in the Sugar House area last year — part of an effort to keep the surging east-side neighborhood more walkable.
But the restaurant lists the address of its new site as 759 E. 2100 South — which is a little over a block on the right side of that recent reform. The ordinance passed last fall covers two business districts in Sugar House, which means the ban on new drive-thrus ends at 900 East on the north side of 2100 South.
A representative with Cubby’s corporate did not immediately return a request for more information Wednesday about the new location.
(Screenshot | Salt Lake City Planning Division) A map by Salt Lake City planners shows the project area covered by a 2023 ordinance banning new drive-thrus in the Sugar House business district.
The site was once home to a Pizza Hut restaurant and a Dee’s Drive-In, according to a Feb. 28 update from the Sugar House Community Council, which lists the development at 735 E. 2100 South. The former Pizza Hut building stood vacant before it was replaced, so a drive-thru had not been operating there in recent times. The pizza business moved to a space in a building to the west.
Still, the council update shows the new Cubby’s drive-thru is considered “pre-existing” — which also would allow it under the new ordinance.
The community council update notes there are two buildings in the development, with one having a drive-thru. “Both structures are fully framed and nearing full height,” it said. “Utility connections remain to be completed; occasional lane closures will occur on the outside [westbound] traffic lane.”
(Sheila R. McCann | The Salt Lake Tribune) A new Cubby's location is expected to open later this month in Sugar House, with a drive-thru on its west side.
The drive-thru window is on the west side of the building, near the entrance of the drive-thru for the nearby Beans & Brews.
Further east, the line of cars headed for the popular Chick-fil-A drive-thru once had cars regularly backed up along 2100 South. The restaurant has since reconfigured the entry point and the path that cars take to the window.
[Read more: Readers told us about a drive-thru worse than the Sugar House Chick-fil-A]
Cubby’s existing space in Sugar House is just around the corner, at 2130 S. Highland Drive — tucked into a line of street-level shops across from the Sprague Branch Library. “I avoid this location [because] parking is terrible,” one Instagram patron wrote, celebrating the news of Cubby’s move.
On its Instagram account, Cubby’s more recently said that “due to some minor delays, the new Sugarhouse location is opening in March,” adding that grand opening details would be announced later.
The first Cubby’s Chicago Beef restaurant opened in Provo in 2012, according to the website for the small chain, which now boasts 13 locations in Utah. Its menus combine the “complementary opposites” of hearty burgers and sandwiches with salads and soups, its origin story says, an approach designed to provide “a little something for everyone” at an affordable price.
[Read more: Salt Lake City is redesigning part of 2100 South. Here’s how it could look.]
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Construction of a new Cubby's location nears completion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
