In recent weeks, a raft of national food makers have opened franchises in Utah, including Bobby’s Burgers, Flower Child, and Slice House in Foothill Village, Pepper Lunch in Riverton, Pita Pit in Ogden and Provo, Bubbakoo’s Burritos in Orem.
Other companies apparently are seeing Utah as a growth opportunity for food franchises. Here are six that have said they, too, are looking to open locations here:
• First Watch, a nationwide brunch cafe, has its first Wasatch Front location listed as “coming soon” on its website. It’s at 678 S. Pleasant Grove Blvd. in Pleasant Grove. (There is also a First Watch in St. George.)
• Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee, which boasts it has the “world’s freshest doughnuts,” put up signs at a location at 701 E. 2100 South, in Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood, The Salt Lake Tribune’s Kolbie Peterson reported in May. It’s the company’s first location outside of California. The signs say “coming 2025.” There’s no indication on the company’s website of when that will be.
• Fazoli’s, the fast-casual Italian restaurant chain, announced last year that it would be returning to Utah in 2025 — first in Saratoga Springs, then in locations in Salt Lake and Utah counties. Eight months into the year, however, those locations have not yet opened, according to the company’s website.
• Magnolia Bakery, the New York bakery whose cupcakes have been immortalized in “Sex and the City” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” announced this summer that it was opening up franchise possibilities — and Utah was one of the first states where it’s looking to open a location in 2026.
• Starbird, which bills itself as a “premium” chicken restaurant, announced last October that it was expanding its franchises outside California into nine states, including Utah. In April, the trade publication Franchising Magazine USA reported that Starbird planned to open 10 franchises in Salt Lake City and Chicago, in late 2025 and early 2026.
• Vicious Biscuit, a fast-casual chain that’s popular in the Southeast, announced in 2024 that it signed a five-location franchise development deal in Utah. No word yet on where those restaurants will be and when they might open.
Correction, 11:56 a.m., Sept. 1 • An earlier version of this article failed to note that there is a First Watch in St. George.
Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.