It’s a high-end Mexican restaurant. It’s a tiny cafe. In SLC’s Post District, it’s both.

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Hello, Eaters! New restaurants keep popping up in the Post District at 500 South and 300 West in Salt Lake City, and the newest is La Casa Del Tamal, with the attached Azucar Cafecito Bar.

Housed in the same building, the high-end Mexican restaurant and tiny coffee bar are technically the same business, owned by one family. Last week, I talked with CEO Andres Sanchez and his wife, Frida Olvera — who is usually inventing new drinks for the restaurant and coffee bar — and her mom, head chef Cristina Olvera.

The origin story: In 2019, Cristina Olvera took her home-based tamale venture to a local swap meet and named it La Casa Del Tamal. A couple of years later, the first location of La Casa Del Tamal opened in West Valley City, followed by the first location of Azucar Cafe (“sugar” in Spanish), two doors down, in 2023. In November, La Casa del Tamal and a mini version of Azucar opened in the Post District.

The vibe: Frida Olvera said they were inspired by restaurants in Guadalajara, Mexico, that also have coffee bars, and called La Casa Del Tamal a “perfect one-stop shop.” Her husband said they wanted to bring “a more elevated Mexican experience” to the Post District, and that’s apparent in the beauty of the restaurant, with its dark woods, tall windows and vibey lighting. Unlike the West Valley location, the Post District location can seat groups and families easily, and is well-suited for date nights.

The menu: You’ll find specials specific to the Post District, like fire-grilled octopus and a whole bone-in snook fish, as well as tacos, “platillos” (plates), enchiladas and more, plus Cristina Olvera’s famous tamales. The food is heavily inspired by the cuisine in Pachuca, the capital of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, where people love their salsa verde, Frida Olvera said. The seafood is influenced by coastal Michoacan, where Olvera’s dad is from. Diners can order drinks from the coffee bar to their table. To read about my order, scroll down to “Dish of the Week.”

The hours: La Casa del Tamal and Azucar Cafecito Bar are open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and closed Sunday.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

• Sundance Mountain Resort, up Provo Canyon, reopened the legendary Tree Room last weekend and introduced its Library Lounge, according to a news release. “We focused on adding warmth and energy without changing what people already love about the Tree Room,” said Manny Rozehnal, the resort’s senior director of food and beverage. The Library Lounge used to be a private dining room, and is described in the release as “a cozy spot for cocktails and small plates in an elevated alpine setting.”

Openings:

• Sal y Limon Taqueria has reopened at 1076 E. Fort Union Blvd. in Midvale, after parting ways with the franchise group the owners partnered with when the restaurant first opened, according to an Instagram post. When I visited Sal y Limon last spring, I enjoyed the fish taco and the churro bites.

• Killa is a new high-end restaurant that was scheduled to open Friday in the former Current space, at 279 E. 300 South in Salt Lake City, according to an Instagram post. Killa’s menu will blend Japanese and Peruvian cuisine — a fusion called “nikkei” — and be centered around seafood.

• All Purpose Bakehouse is a new bakery and coffee shop that’s in its soft-opening phase in the pink and green Maven building at 779 S. 200 East in Salt Lake City. Follow the business on Instagram (@allpurposebakehouse) as it solidifies its hours.

• Coffee & Chai is a new coffee shop open late in West Jordan at 1286 W. 9000 South. An Instagram post said the cafe is progressing out of the soft-opening phase and has nailed down its hours: 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Sunday.

• Aubergine Kitchen, which focuses on healthy food without seed oils or added sugar, is moving its Sugar House location from Highland Drive to 1010 E. 2100 South, Suite 1, an Instagram post said. The new space, which the post said offers a “more convenient experience” and a new design, was scheduled to open Friday.

• A new pizza spot and bar called Taverna is opening in Salt Lake City’s Marmalade District at 427 N. 300 West on Monday, according to its somewhat mysterious website. Its Instagram account says, “New York (to start) then Detroit & Sicilian slices & whole pie.”

• I spied a sign in front of the former Matteo spot at 439 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City that said a new restaurant called Mina is opening in the space in the spring. The sign said the restaurant would offer “a taste of Sicily in Salt Lake City.”

• Sweetgreen, a fast-casual restaurant chain that specializes in salads, is opening its first Utah location — at 2188 S. Highland Drive in Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood. The restaurant’s website doesn’t say when the location will open. There are nearly 300 Sweetgreen locations in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

Closings:

• Taste of Red Iguana, in the City Creek Center food court, closed last week, a customer service rep confirmed. But Red Iguana co-owner Lucy Cardenas said she and her husband plan to open a full-service Taste of Red Iguana in Daybreak, across from The Ballpark At America First Square in South Jordan.

Booze (and Drink!) News

• The owners of RoHa Brewing Project have sold the brewery after 10 years in the Ballpark neighborhood, according to a news release. The new owners, who are from Utah, plan to keep the brewery open at 30 E. Kensington Ave, the release said. “We’re excited to honor the foundation that’s been built while injecting new momentum, creativity and focus,” the new owners said in an Instagram post.

• Folks in Moab will mark Groundhog Day, Monday, with a new state liquor store. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services will open the store at 963 Main St., Moab, at 11 a.m. Monday, with a small ceremony with local officials an hour before that, according to a news release. It’s nearly triple the size of Moab’s old liquor store, at 55 W. 200 South, which will have its last day on Saturday.

Dish of the Week

For my lunch at La Casa Del Tamal, I ordered the mole poblano, which was a chicken thigh and drumstick smothered in a dark red-brown mole made from peanuts, ancho chilis, chocolate and spices. The chicken was so tender, and the mole was rich and deeply flavored, slightly sweet and smoky. The meal was completed with rice, beans and tortillas, which all also had a lot of great flavor.

To cool my mouth while I tried a verdes de pollo tamale, I sipped on a goblet of fresh lemonade that had a bottle of mineral water inverted into it, and it was so refreshing. For dessert, I couldn’t pass up a banana pudding latte from the coffee bar, topped with housemade banana pudding and crumbled Nilla wafers. Unreal.

Note to readers • Tribune deputy enterprise editor Sean P. Means contributed to this week’s newsletter.