The long-awaited food and bar hall Sugar House Station opened to the public for lunch Tuesday. But it’s still in “soft opening” mode, as just four of the 11 concepts are operating so far.
The hall’s plan is to feature seven restaurants (one with coffee) and four bars, in the historic Sugar House post office at 2155 S. Highland Drive, next door to the Sprague Branch of the City Library. (Sugar House Station was the post office’s original name.)
The plan, said Scott Evans, founder and president of Pago Restaurant Group, is to have all of the 11 “stations” in the hall open in about three weeks, around the beginning of April.
“We’re going to just keep rolling out new spaces each week, and if it goes faster, because we’re happy with what we’re doing, then we’ll open up earlier,” Evans said.
Sugar House Station will be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday this week. Currently, Proper Burger & Brewing, the Italian restaurant Cannella’s, and the fried-chicken eatery Birdhouse are up and running, along with Sugar House Station Bar, the hall’s house bar.
Next week, Sugar House Station will be open Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eventually, the food and bar hall will be open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner, and Sundays for brunch and dinner.
Guests will have three options to pay and order: at each individual station; from a QR code on each table; or at several kiosks throughout the hall.
At the moment, the entire food and bar hall is 21+, but eventually the coffee area will be open for all ages.
The food and drink concepts that will be featured in Sugar House Station are:
• Cannella’s.
• Greek Tyrant by Aristo.
• Santo Taco.
• Casot.
• Birdhouse.
• Sugar House Station Bar.
• Pizza Bar, a partnership between Pago Restaurant Group and pizza expert Brandon Price. Pizza Nono, previously on the lineup, won’t be opening in Sugar House Station.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sugar House Station, on Wednesday, Mar 5, 2025.
Bringing back three former concepts
Sugar House Station will be the home of three restaurant concepts that Salt Lakers had once said goodbye to.
Cannella’s, Birdhouse, and a concept called Greek Tyrant from the owner of Aristo’s will all be part of the food and bar hall.
Greek restaurant Aristo’s closed in 2019 after 16 years in business. Cannella’s, an Italian restaurant, closed its dining room in 2020 and closed for good in 2022 after 42 years in business. Birdhouse, whose menu focused on chicken in multiple forms, was opened by Scott Evans in December 2019 but closed a few months later in February 2020.
About a year and a half ago, Evans and chef Phelix Gardner had actually been working with Cannella’s owner Joey Cannella on potentially relaunching the restaurant in its original location at 200 East and 500 South, Evans said. They ended up not coming to a deal and decided not to reopen in that spot, Evans said, “but we felt like, ‘Hey, let’s do this down the road, and let’s turn this into another project, and then potentially turn it into another physical location.’”
For the incarnation of Cannella’s at Sugar House Station, “I think we’ve got the right menu and the current version of Cannella’s that celebrates the historical items and brings in a couple new things, and then gives us a chance to share it with [the] community,” Evans said.
Since Aristo’s closed, owner Aristo Boutsikakis has been staging Greek food pop-ups and catering under the business name Greek Tyrant. At Sugar House Station, Greek Tyrant will be more about gyros than the fine dining that Aristo’s was known for, Evans said.
Evans said bringing in Cannella’s and Greek Tyrant is part of a “romantic” idea of resurrecting and introducing businesses that have deep roots in the community.
