This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter. To get the full newsletter every Wednesday, subscribe at sltrib.com/utah-eats.

Hello, Eaters!

The new location of Bricks Corner, at 2508 S. 5600 West in West Valley City, is a one-stop shop for pizza, entertainment and good vibes, and a place where your dollar will go a long way.

I recently ate at Bricks Corner for lunch, and had a nice chat with owner/chef Josh Poticha (pictured above), who said he saw a need for an independent pizzeria in an area dominated by chain restaurants.

The origin story: Poticha grew up in downtown Chicago, “just immersed in culture, food and the food scene,” he said. He worked in restaurants throughout high school, went to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, and worked for Wolfgang Puck for a time. He opened his first restaurant, called Bricks, in South Carolina in 2008, but ended up in Utah because he’s an avid skier and outdoorsman.

When Poticha discovered Sugar House, he said it reminded him of Chicago. He wanted to build a pizzeria that people in the neighborhood could walk to, he said, so he bought a piece of land at 1465 S. 700 East in Salt Lake City and opened the first Bricks Corner there in December 2020 in an old service station that he added onto.

Poticha built Bricks Corner in West Valley City up from a dirt lot and designed the whole thing, and that spot opened at the end of June.

The vibe: The new location is bigger than the first, with a private dining area, full bar, and a separate entrance for takeout, so you don’t have to tangle with people waiting to be seated when you’re picking up your order. Poticha said many of the pizzerias he frequented growing up had arcade games, so there’s Pac-Man, Galaga and pinball at Bricks Corner. He said he’s also a big music fan, so there’s artwork of famous musicians on the walls, along with a mural of a guitar and an alcove covered in vintage records.

Add in warm, inviting lighting and cozy booths, and you have a place that feels like a neighborhood spot that’s been around for decades.

The menu: Bricks Corner specializes in award-winning steel pan pizza, where the cheese and toppings go all the way to the edges and the ingredients are made from scratch. Poticha said his pizza has become a hybrid of Detroit- and Chicago-style pizza, where the rectangular crust (thick, crispy, airy, buttery) is Detroit and the sauce and toppings (loaded on generously) are Chicago. “Our pizzas are not light,” Poticha said. “They’re filling.” He said it’s important to him that customers get their money’s worth when they come to Bricks Corner. In other words, the portions are big.

Poticha is detail-oriented when it comes to his pizza. He even called in the help of a water filtration company to design him a system that would make his water identical in formula to Lake Michigan, in order to achieve that perfect crust.

Bricks Corner pizza can look intimidating, Poticha said, but don’t worry: The crust makes it easy to eat. There’s also tavern thin-crust pizza, which is becoming popular in Chicago. To read about my order, scroll down to “Meal of the Week.”

Note: Parents can bring their kids to Bricks Corner. The only 21+ area is right around the bar.

The hours: Sunday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

• As an update, the owners of Korean baking operation Kyookie have signed a lease for their new storefront after a successful Kickstarter campaign and months of planning. The new bakery, which is billed as the first Korean dessert cafe in Utah, will be located in the Maven District, at 165 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City, according to an Instagram post. If you want to read more about Korean baked goods and Kyookie mastermind Klara Han (pictured above), check out this story I wrote about the origins of her business.

• Local Mediterranean restaurant Laziz Kitchen now has a booth inside Sugar House Station, at 2155 S. Highland Drive in Salt Lake City, according to an Instagram post. That means when you sit down at a table and order, Laziz Kitchen is one of a slew of local food makers that you can pick from, including Cannella’s, Pizza Bar, Proper Burger & Brewing and more.

• City Cast Salt Lake is hosting its annual 801 Day on Saturday at the Wasatch Food Co-op, at 416 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City, according to an Instagram post. The event will feature a good handful of local food and drink vendors, including Mamachari, Salsa Del Diablo, Publik, Raw Eddy’s and more, plus there will be a beer garden and live music.

Openings:

• The Smoked Taco has opened another location, at 11396 S. State St. in Sandy, by Scheels, according to an Instagram post. The Utah chain is known for its tacos made with meats smoked in-house.

• Has a restaurant opened or closed in your neighborhood? Let us know at food@sltrib.com.

Booze (and Drink!) News

• On Saturday, Aug. 8, Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter is partnering with Vine Lore Wine & Spirits to present the fifth annual Wine Among the Willows, where attendees will get to sample sustainable, biodynamic and innovative wines, according to a news release. The event will run from 3-6 p.m., with guided group tasting tours in the EcoCenter starting at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $65 for Swaner members, and $85 for nonmembers, and available on Eventbrite.

Meal of the Week

For lunch at Bricks Corner in West Valley City, I ordered off the lunch special menu, and got a personal-size steel pan pizza and a generous salad for only $15.90.

I got a pizza called The Brick House, which comes with red sauce, pepperoni, housemade mild Italian sausage, roasted peppers, red onions, mushrooms, marinated tomatoes and spicy housemade giardiniera on the side. All of the toppings were delicious, but the crust was my favorite part; it was so nice to sink my teeth into. The pizza came in four palm-size slices, and I was only able to finish two.

The salad was solid, and I don’t say that about salad a lot (two ingredients does not a salad make, OK?). It came with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions, cheese, crunchy house-made croutons and a vinaigrette dressing, which is a lot of stuff for a salad that’s just hanging out on the side.

I couldn’t resist Bricks Corner’s “brick-size” desserts ($7.99), so I got The Legend! Banana Cream Pie, which was more like banana pudding in pie form, with a graham cracker crust piled with bananas foster custard, Nilla wafers, cookie butter and caramel sauce. It was the perfect thing for about three bites, then the sweetness got overwhelming for me. I wished for ice cream instead of whipped cream, to give me a little break.

— Newsletter written by Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter. The Tribune pays for all of the food written about in this newsletter.