Owners of three downtown Salt Lake City bars that were heavily damaged in an August fire gave the state’s liquor commissioners an update on when their businesses will be open again — and the news was better for one bar than the other two.
“White Horse is coming along,” Jason LeCates, managing partner of Bourbon Group, the bar’s owner, told the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Service’s commission at the board’s monthly meeting Thursday.
LeCates repeated to liquor commissioners what he recently told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter, that White Horse was not hit as hard by the fire that tore through four of its neighboring businesses, but that water damage from fighting the fire collapsed the front third of the bar.
“The important part of the building survives,” LeCates told the commission, adding that he hopes to get White Horse open again by late January.
Another Bourbon Group bar, Whiskey Street, “is a different story,” he said. “We don’t know when it’s going to be back.”
The historic facade of Whiskey Street survived, as did the north and south walls, he said. But for the rest, he added, ‘we have to take it down to the dirt.”
LeCates said his architects and engineers estimate Whiskey Street wouldn’t be open again until 2027, though he’s more optimistic and hopes the bar will be open by this time next year.
Frank Paulraj, one of the partners at London Belle, which sits between Whiskey Street and White Horse, told commissioners, “We have a pretty much total loss on our building.”
“We plan to rebuild,” Paulraj told the board, with a likely opening in 2027. He said his team has only recently been allowed to get into the building following the fire department’s investigation, but “will hit the ground running.”
The commission voted unanimously to extend the three bars’ closures, meaning they can hold on to their liquor licenses. White Horse’s extension will run through February, Whiskey Street’s will go through April, and Bourbon Street’s license will be extended for renewal in July. Commissioners told LeCates and Paulraj that their bars could return to the commission for further extensions if needed.
Pennies at the liquor store
(Sean P. Means | The Salt Lake Tribune) Stores in Utah are posting notices that they will no longer give pennies for change on cash purchases, but will round to the nearest nickel. The move comes after the U.S. Treasury, on orders from President Donald Trump, stopped producing the one-cent coins.
In other commission business, and as retailers deal with a national penny shortage, DABS’ Executive Director Ericka Evans said the state’s liquor stores should have enough pennies on hand to handle cash purchases through the end of the year.
“We’re not making any immediate changes to state liquor stores,” Evans told the commission.
Next year, though, Evans said Utah’s liquor stores likely will start rounding up or down to the nearest nickel when giving back change on cash purchases — much as other Utah retailers have done as the supply of pennies runs out.
In February, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of the Treasury to stop making pennies, as each one-cent piece costs more than 3 cents to make. After 232 years of production, the last penny was minted in Philadelphia on Nov. 12.
Evans said Utah liquor stores eventually would follow the guidance given by the Utah Division of Consumer Protection earlier this month. That guidance suggested businesses that give back change in cash purchases round to the nearest nickel — either up or down — and post clear messaging in stores telling customers how rounding works.
Steve Handy, the commission’s chair, said cash purchases cover only 12% of all transactions at Utah liquor stores.
New liquor licenses
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Central by Saffron Valley in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
The commission approved bar licenses for three Utah businesses:
• AC Hotel Park City, 6609 N. Landmark Dr., Park City.
• Coal Creek Taproom & Eatery, 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City.
• Engine Room Pub & Bistro, 1388 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City.
With those approvals, the commission has 27 bar licenses available to give out to new applicants.
The commission also approved full-service restaurant liquor licenses for 11 locations:
• The Capitol Reef Kitchen, 2600 State Road 24, Torrey.
• Central by Saffron Valley, 454 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City.
• Cosmopolitan Grill, 1091 S. Bluff St., St. George.
• Engine Room Pub & Bistro, 1388 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City.
• Las Flores Family Mexican Restaurant, 126 N. Main St., Cedar City.
• Lotus of St. George, near 1501 S. River Road, St. George.
• Mi Lindo Jalisco, 2571 W. 500 North, Vernal.
• Pig Pen Saloon, 1415 Lowell Ave., Park City.
• Redemption Steakhouse, 1684 U.S. 40, Vernal.
• Saffron Valley, 1098 S. Jordan Parkway, South Jordan.
• Slot Canyon Eatery, Hurricane.