Utah’s liquor commission approved liquor licenses for 10 restaurants Thursday, and also announced early success with its statewide program to support homeless services.
Starting Tuesday, state liquor stores began offering customers the option to “round up” their purchase to the nearest dollar and donate that money to the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Account.
In Thursday’s meeting, Tiffany Clason, director of the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS), announced that in the two days the program had been active, liquor stores had already raised $12,631.
“We’re obviously very excited to play a small role in what is a really big and really significant effort to provide services to our unhomed population,” Clason said.
Utahns can also donate to the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Account via QR codes in liquor stores, and by visiting jobs.utah.gov/htf/.
The Utah Legislature created the initiative earlier this year, under House Bill 548. The funds are distributed to homeless services providers across Utah to provide unhoused individuals with temporary shelters, case management, meal services and housing, a news release stated.
The only bar license awarded Thursday was to the Salt Lake City LGBTQ bar Club Try-Angles, which is surrendering its current bar license. The new license will replace the old license, as the bar goes through a change in ownership.
Campfire Lounge — which has been closed since April as the owners remodel it into a tiki bar called Remora — had requested an extended closure until the commission meeting on March 31, 2025. All of the commission members voted to approve the closure, except for commissioner Tara Thue, who said, “I feel like we’re getting to a point where we’re going to run out of licenses again, and we need to be judicious in how we are granting extended closures.”
“It’s nothing against the business,” Thue continued. “It’s nothing about the management or progress that has been made or not made. I just think that we are being put in a position where we’re dealing with scarcity, and we need to start considering our options yet again until the quota issue is truly fixed by our legislature.”
Snowmobile Pizza, which has been closed since August for a remodel, also requested an extended closure, until the commission’s meeting in January. The commission also approved that closure.
After Thursday’s meeting, the commission has four bar licenses available to award (that number will go up to five in December), and 67 full-service restaurant licenses.
Restaurants that received liquor licenses
• Yoko Taco, 285 W. 800 South, Salt Lake City. This restaurant, which serves Mexican food with an Asian twist, originally got its liquor license in October 2023. But this year, ownership missed the annual renewal period, so they reapplied for a new license, which was approved at Thursday’s meeting, said DABS spokesperson Michelle Schmitt.
• Yoko Ramen, 473 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City.
• Main Street Grill, 9027 W. Main St., Magna.
• Nacho House, 15 US-89, North Salt Lake (conditional).
• The Social, 65 N. University Ave., downstairs Suite 2, Provo (conditional).
• Ganesh Indian Cuisine, 1811 Sidewinder Drive, Park City (conditional).
• Le Depot, 660 Main St., Park City (conditional) (projected opening Dec. 1).
• Squatters Corner Pub, 3555 Constitution Blvd., West Valley City (conditional) (projected opening date Dec. 27).
• Hearth and Hill, 2188 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City (conditional) (projected opening date Jan. 14, 2025).
• Purple Sky Winery, 2809 N. 1600 West, Pleasant View (conditional) (projected opening date Jan. 15, 2025).
