A longtime South Salt Lake diner is closing soon. Its owner wants the last days to be a ‘happy time.’

After 19 years of serving homemade pie, tuna melts and other classic American comfort food to its devoted regulars, Left Fork Grill is closing for good.

In an Instagram post announcing the closure, Left Fork Grill, at 68 W. 3900 South, said, “We are deeply grateful for your loyalty and for the opportunity to have served you. Thank you for being part of our journey.”

More than 100 people commented on the post, expressing their dismay at the news. One person said she and her dad would eat at Left Fork Grill every Friday, and that when he died, the family held a celebration of life for him in the restaurant’s back room.

Owner Melissa Masten said it’s “heartbreaking” that the diner is closing. “If I could keep it running forever, I would, but that’s not the reality,” she said.

She said Left Fork Grill is “not making what it needs to make to keep us afloat and out of deep water,” and mentioned rising food costs as one area where they’re feeling the pinch.

Vertical Diner owner Ian Brandt commented on Left Fork Diner’s post, saying, “We are sending off big hugs your way. As a fellow diner business, we understand how hard it is now.”

Deciding to close “wasn’t an easy decision for us to make,” Masten said. “But, you know, all good things come to an end.”

The South Salt Lake diner’s last day of business will be April 5, which happens to be Easter Sunday.

A restaurant ‘for the community’

Jeff Masten, Melissa Masten’s dad, founded Left Fork Grill in 2006, according to the diner’s website. He drew from his experiences working as the chef at The Roof restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City, and as executive chef at Market Street Grill and Red Rock Brewing, the website said.

“Chain restaurants and big corporations — that’s never been his thing," Melissa Masten said.

He wanted to create a restaurant “that was for the community,” she said, “where ... everybody knew each other” and could sit down over a hot cup of coffee.

And now, almost two decades later, Masten said Left Fork Grill “still runs exactly that way,” with a homey feel created by colorful artwork on the walls and comfortable green leather booths.

The majority of the recipes on the menu came from her grandma, her dad’s mom, Audrey, who died a few years ago. “Everything is made from scratch, everything is fresh ingredients,” Melissa Masten said.

She was 16 when Left Fork Grill opened, and at the time, she would work there on the weekends, bussing tables and working behind the counter.

Masten said her favorite memories from working at the diner back then stem from an employee known simply as “Mama,” a woman in her 70s who worked at Left Fork Grill for about 10 years before her death in 2018.

“She was like my second grandma,” Masten said. “... She taught me a lot.”

Today, Mama’s framed obituary and a photo sit above the shelves where the staff keeps pies.

“She absolutely loved her customers and looked forward to seeing them every day at the Left Fork Grill,” the obituary reads.

Masten said, “Even the customers that come in today, we still talk about her.”

The 2019 fire

Masten remembers an especially hard time in Left Fork Grill’s history, when a massive kitchen fire shut them down for more than three months.

The fire happened around the Fourth of July in 2019, in the middle of the night, she said.

“Thank goodness the kitchen is facing towards 3900 South,” Masten said. “So some patron saw the smoke and called 911.”

In the aftermath, soot and ash covered the restaurant, she said. They had to put in new carpet and new ceilings, and replace most of the kitchen.

As they got ready to reopen after the fire, Masten and the rest of the staff were waiting anxiously for the go-ahead from the city, she said. Once they finally got the green light on Oct. 19, 2019, they unlocked the doors, and their regulars came pouring in.

“We were so busy,” she said.

But Masten said Left Fork Grill didn’t have much time to get back on its feet. Six months later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all restaurants. “We were pretty much out of business for almost two years,” she said.

When Masten’s dad retired in 2023 and sold the building, she was there to take the reins.

The regulars are ‘like family’

Masten said 85% of the people who eat at Left Fork Grill are regulars, and have been coming into the restaurant for 10 years or more. She said they’re all “like family.”

“It’s funny,” she said, “because the regulars that have been coming in, pretty much all these people never knew each other before.”

But ”they started coming in to the restaurant, and now all my regulars are friends with each other," Masten continued.

Masten said that even though its sad that Left Fork Grill is closing, she doesn’t want to focus on that during its last month or so of business.

“I want everybody to come in, enjoy the food, enjoy the pie, enjoy each other’s company,” she said. “... I want it to be a happy time, even though it’s obviously very sad.”

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