Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — One of the oldest restaurants located in the heart of Sugar House is closing its doors.
The SugarHouse Barbeque Company announced this week it will shut its doors in mid-August after nearly three decades in the Salt Lake neighborhood.
"It's been a pleasure serving this community," restaurant owners posted on social media Tuesday. "You helped form and create who we are, and we couldn't have done it without you."
The restaurant — which focuses on Memphis-style barbecue — first opened as Redbones in 1996 and relocated from 2207 S. 700 East to its current location at 880 E. 2100 South.
The social media post didn't explain why the restaurant owners decided to close; however, general manager Jeff Berg told KSL.com several factors influenced the decision. It started with the COVID-19 pandemic and ended with new construction on 2100 South serving as the final nail in the coffin.
"The writing's been on the wall for a while," he said. "Honestly, since COVID, you'd start to see a lot of food prices really fluctuate in a negative way that maybe weren't before."
Restaurants all over the country have had to deal with rising operational costs. Emarketer reported in April that rising costs are creating an "uphill battle for restaurants" because supply chain disruptions and labor shortages are making it more expensive to run a business without raising the prices, while consumers report they're willing to skip eating at restaurants because of the rising prices.
SugarHouse Barbeque was no exception to this, especially when it came to food prices.
"I tried to adjust our menu to accommodate (the rising food prices); however, the second I changed it, they just kept going up," Berg said. "I adjusted a handful of times, but we could never really catch up with it."
He saw newer customers balk at prices, but the general theme he noticed the most was a shift in customer preferences.
Once the pandemic hit, customers preferred eating at home. This led to more delivery purchases taking a big chunk of the restaurant's bottom line, because delivery apps take about a quarter of all sales. Traffic into the store never really recovered to what it was like before the pandemic.
Then came the construction.
Salt Lake City began a project in March to overhaul 2100 South from 700 East to 1300 East and repair the infrastructure that runs underneath it. It's one of the last remaining projects from the "Funding Our Future" bond residents passed in 2018 to repair some of the city's biggest road issues.
But it has also led to all sorts of traffic headaches, including the intersection where SugarHouse Barbeque is located. Berg said it took another bite into the traffic flowing into the store.
With the understanding the project would linger into most of 2025, owners looked at relocating again, but it became clear that wouldn't make much of a difference. The decision to close was made a few months ago, but only formally announced this week.
"We knew we couldn't sustain it," Berg said of the construction. "We made a hard decision, but we wanted to close on our terms."
Its last day is tentatively slated for Aug. 10, but it could be extended a few additional days depending on staff and remaining inventory.
Employees were notified about the decision during an emotional meeting Monday. Berg said they delivered the news a month early so they could look for work while still having a job. He said the restaurant is also looking to piece together a "small severance package."
Owners went public with the news on Tuesday. Fans were saddened by the news, posting many heartfelt messages in response.
"I used to save up to buy myself a treat meal from there, and employees used to give me extra food because they knew I was struggling. Still my favorite barbeque place in the valley," one person wrote on social media.
"So sad to see this," another person wrote. "The food and the crew there was outstanding, and working there was some of the best years of my life. Thanks for the good times!"
Berg said he appreciates the messages from customers and past employees.
He said SugarHouse Barbeque Company is looking to find a way to remain alive in a new form, which could be commercializing its famous sauces to be sold in bottles at grocery stores.
"(That) would keep the name alive," he said. "We're currently talking about that, but that would probably be the only venture beyond this."
