Iconic Salt Lake City gay bar gets new liquor license

A historic Salt Lake City gay bar has a bar license once again, after surrendering its liquor license in March.

The Sun Trapp was granted a bar license Thursday at the Utah liquor commission’s monthly meeting, along with Blues Katz Rock n Roll Grill, a restaurant in St. George that features live bands.

The commission had two bar licenses available Thursday, and four bars were vying for the license, including The Sun Trapp, Blues Katz Rock n Roll Grill, Riverhorse on Main and Manor F&B.

The Sun Trapp is projected to open again soon after reportedly being closed since January. Before January, the bar at 102 S. 600 West — known for its mirrored cowboy boot in the place of a disco ball — was seemingly on the brink of closure for two years.

In March, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) spokesperson Michelle Schmitt told The Salt Lake Tribune that the department had been “beginning the process of looking into whether The Sun Trapp was operating under their statutory obligations,” including whether the bar had been closed for too long to keep its liquor license.

While the department was beginning that process, The Sun Trapp surrendered its license, rendering the investigation moot, Schmitt said.

A phone call placed to the bar for more information Thursday went unanswered. At Thursday’s meeting, no one from The Sun Trapp’s management spoke, and DABS commissioners didn’t discuss the bar’s application for a new license.

In his reasoning for giving a license to Blues Katz Rock n Roll Grill, commissioner Tom Jacobson said the restaurant has been trying to get a liquor license for months, and there is a scarcity of bars in St. George. A consultant who spoke on behalf of Blues Katz owner Borden Smeltzer said Smeltzer has been dipping into his own savings to keep the business going.

Blues Katz has a history of two violations. In July 2023, the restaurant was cited for having more than two alcoholic beverages in front of a patron at one time and for allowing patrons to consume alcohol away from the table. In December 2023, the restaurant was cited for serving alcohol to patrons who weren’t seated and didn’t have an intent to dine.

The commission’s next meeting will be June 27.

An update on new liquor store

Cade Meier, deputy director of the DABS, said Thursday that the new downtown liquor store at 300 South and Edison Street will open Monday at 11 a.m. The old downtown liquor store, at 205 W. 400 South, will close permanently Saturday night at 10 p.m.

Meier described the store as “bright,” with good flow. “We listened to a lot of information on what customers would like to see, and we’ve been able to implement those,” he said.

The new store will feature a Proudly Utah section, Meier said, filled with items made in Utah. Parking is available on 300 South as well as behind the liquor store on Edison Street.

Findings of an audit of DABS

Also at Thursday’s meeting, The Office of the State Auditor presented its review of the DABS for the year ending June 30, 2024. The report for the audit, which began in March, outlined two key findings: DABS operations are not recorded in the state’s accounting system in a timely manner, and DABS is not actively monitoring the duration for licensees to utilize awarded high-demand licenses.

The DABS is obligated to record its financial activities in the state’s accounting general ledger system, called FINET, “to facilitate financial reporting and proper oversight,” the report read. Most of the DABS’ finances are first recorded in its own accounting system, called D365, but the two systems can’t currently share information automatically, the report stated.

The DABS is supposed to manually transfer information into the state’s system, and then double-check (or “reconcile”) all the data in the two systems to make sure both have the correct information.

However, when the audit started, DABS had recorded, but not double-checked, one month of data (July 2023) in the state’s system. By the time the audit concluded at the end of April, the DABS had “recorded data for all of fiscal year 2024 to date, but it had only completely reconciled the July 2023 data,” the report read.Information should be entered and double-checked “in a timely manner,” the report stated, typically monthly.

The audit also found that the DABS wasn’t following up when licensees received a liquor license but didn’t start actually selling alcohol for a “significant time,” the report read.”DABS should actively monitor when licensees begin to sell liquor and follow up on delays” whenever there is a scarcity of licenses, the report stated.

State auditor John Dougall said in a statement, “It is critical that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services perform its financial reconciliations in a timely manner and that it promptly resolve its ongoing interface issues with the state’s accounting system.”

”We recognize the challenges with deploying complex data systems, but DABS has had sufficient time to correct these issues. We are grateful to see other improvements in DABS’s operations,” he continued.

In response to the audit’s findings, DABS director Tiffany Clason said at Thursday’s meeting, “Anything that is more automated, it reduces error. It reduces any liability or errors that could be seen as a result of that human intervention and that manual intervention.”

”We are really excited and appreciative of last year’s audit and the continued work this year,” she continued. “Again, we regret that we’re not in a better place, in full disclosure. But we’re also very committed to doing what we need to do to make sure that our accounting is correct, is timely and is consistent.”

Other licenses awarded

When Utah’s fiscal year 2025 begins on July 1, the calculation that the state uses to issue new liquor licenses according to the population is increasing to one bar license per 9,778 people, and one full-service restaurant license per 4,281 people.

DABS expects this change will result in 15 new bar licenses becoming available, as well as 35 full-service restaurant licenses.

The liquor commission plans to call a special public commission meeting around the beginning of July to issue these licenses, since it normally wouldn’t meet until the end of the month.

On Thursday, DABS also awarded full-service restaurant licenses to:

— Cowboy Ranch House Restaurant, at 13500 E. UT-12, Bryce Canyon City.

— Mexican Hat Lodge, 2265 US-163, Mexican Hat.

— La Frontera, 764 Fort Union Blvd., Midvale.

— The Pub Spirits and Craft Kitchen, 86 W. Center St., Cedar City (conditional).

— Mariscos El Camaron Pelao, 1500 W. 3500 South, West Valley City (conditional).

— Tacos El Robert, 473 Main St., Logan (conditional).

— Two Bit Street Cafe, 126 25th St., Ogden (conditional, projected opening June 14).

— The Cheesecake Factory, 575 E. University Parkway, Orem (conditional, projected opening July 2).

— HandoSake, 232 S. Main St., Salt Lake City (conditional, projected opening July).