One of Utah’s oldest restaurants reopens after being shuttered for years

Ogden • As David Neal prepared to reopen one of Utah’s oldest restaurants, he felt the pressure of the community’s anticipation.

For months, he said, anytime there were cars in the Ogden Canyon building’s parking lot, people would stop by to ask if the restaurant was open despite the “closed” sign outside that told them otherwise.

Meanwhile, he said, people familiar with the place shared memories of milestones that occurred within the eatery’s nearly century-old walls.

Friday afternoon — less than 24 hours before he was set to open the iconic restaurant’s doors — he said his excitement to reintroduce the establishment was paired with a collection of concerns: What if too many people came? What if customers had to wait three hours for a table? What if his patrons left upset?

“Stressed is probably the calmest word I could use,” he said. “I’m excited — and petrified.”

On Saturday morning, the moment finally came: Neal welcomed people back into The Oaks.

By about 10:30 a.m., around 25-30 people were seated over plates of eggs and toast, stacks of pancakes and other typical breakfast dishes as busy waitstaff bustled around the joint.

Neal’s wife, Cora, stood behind a display freezer of Ogden-based Farr Better Ice Cream near the door, giving smiling welcomes to people as they came in and bidding grateful goodbyes as they left.

By her measure, the morning had gone pretty well for a newly reopened restaurant, even if she had hoped for a slightly larger turnout.

“No one is crying,” she said.

“And nobody’s thrown their plates in the air and said, ‘this is crap,’” David Neal added jokingly. “So, you know, so far, so good.”

A storied past

The Oaks was originally built in the early 1900s as a mountain resort, according to the restaurant’s website. It initially sat about a mile west from where it is currently located, but was moved in 1933 after facing several floods, according to a 2019 story from The Salt Lake Tribune. Throughout its life, the establishment has been a grocery store, a Prohibition-era source for moonshine and a seasonal hamburger and milkshake joint. In 1981, its owners at the time turned it into a year-round restaurant.

Mandie Wood Harris, who worked at The Oaks as a 15-year-old in the early ‘90s, said the restaurant’s closure in 2021 caught her by surprise.

Still, she expected a new owner would come along and reopen the place. When she learned that it was set to happen on her son’s birthday, she figured they could get “two birds with one stone,” and have breakfast at the eatery Saturday morning.

Laurie Sorensen, who also checked out the restaurant’s first day of service, said she felt like Neal’s menu offered food similar to what was served by Keith and Belinda Rounkles, who owned and ran the establishment from 1981 until 2019.

“This is getting back to the food that you like to have for breakfast,” Sorensen said. “I can’t wait ‘til summer when we can sit outside. That’s a big draw.”

The patio seating was also a big draw to Neal, whose favorite table sits only yards from the Ogden River, looking out over browning leaves and barren tree branches.

Bringing back an icon

Neal said his first foray into the restaurant game began in San Francisco just over a decade ago, when he worked with his brother to open a grab-and-go style teriyaki chicken joint. At the time, he said, he also started taking culinary classes, all while maintaining a full-time corporate job.

Though he said his first crack at the restaurant business didn’t pan out, the Clinton native never lost his love for cooking — or feeding people. After moving back to Utah and leaving his corporate job behind, he said he finished culinary classes at Ogden-Weber Technical College in 2023. Less than a month after he finished, he started teaching those classes at the school, he said.

About a year ago, Neal said he was looking to potentially reopen a different restaurant in the area when his real estate agent asked him about The Oaks. After seeing the restaurant, it did not take him long to fall in love with the place.

Saturday’s reopening had a few hiccups, but it wasn’t anything more serious than ensuring orders came to everyone at a table at the same time.

Standing on The Oaks’ patio, listening to the river below as his former culinary school students worked to serve patrons inside, Neal sounded different than he did Friday — more at ease.

“I just want people to know that we’re here,” he said. “We want to make it work, and we want to bring back memories.”