Jack in the Box opens in Salt Lake City, and is causing a traffic mess

The first Jack in the Box in northern Utah in decades is open — and neighbors and motorists are noticing.

The California-based fast-food chain opened the new location Wednesday, after remodeling a former Burger King at 61 E. 2100 South in Salt Lake City. Business has been booming the first couple of days, with long lines of customers, both on foot and at the drive-thru.

On Thursday, the line of people on foot went out the door in the early afternoon, and the wait was at least an hour. By 3:30 p.m., everyone was inside, but the line coiled around the entire perimeter of the restaurant.

Outside, in the drive-thru line, at least 15 cars were queued up, spilling out from the restaurant’s parking area onto State Street — clogging the southbound right-turn lane onto 2100 South, forcing motorists to drive around it to make the turn.

Amanda Steele, a Salt Lake City writer, posted a video Wednesday evening on Twitter, which showed more than 60 cars lined up on State Street waiting for the drive-thru. The line stretched up to the O.C. Tanner headquarters, two blocks to the north.

Two employees from the Subway sandwich place next door stood in their parking lot Thursday afternoon, protecting Subway’s two remaining open parking spots from would-be Jack in the Box customers. Robert Anderson, one of the Subway employees, said several people parked in the Subway lot and walked over to the Jack in the Box.

“It’s just a novelty thing,” Anderson said about the popularity of the new Jack in the Box.

On the other side of the new franchise, someone from the Del Taco restaurant had taken a Sharpie and made a handwritten sign: “No Jack in the Box parking.”

The new Jack in the Box is scheduled to be open from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

Jack in the Box operates more than 2,000 restaurants in 21 states, mostly on the West coast. News outlets have reported that the chain has more locations in the works in Layton, Ogden and Logan — and is scouting for spots in Saratoga Springs and South Jordan. The chain currently has three locations in southern Utah, in Cedar City, St. George and Washington.

The chain is known mostly for its burgers, though its chicken and “tiny tacos” are also popular — and it’s known for selling breakfast items all day. It has a late-night menu that now features something called “Snoop’s Munchie Meal,” under an endorsement partnership with the rapper Snoop Dogg. The meal includes a spicy and “loaded” chicken sandwich, a taco, curly fries, a brownie and a drink.

This isn’t the first time a Salt Lake City fast-food outlet has snarled traffic. One infamous example was the Chick-fil-A in Sugar House, whose drive-thru regularly spilled out onto 2100 South. Eventually, Chick-fil-A reconfigured the drive-thru route in the restaurant’s parking lot, to alleviate the jams on the street.