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The shortage of liquor permits that is hanging over the state's hospitality industry and some of Salt Lake City's revitalization efforts has delayed the reopening of one of the city's most venerable bars.
The new operators of the Bar X were among four applicants who lost out on a club license earlier this week as six owners vied for only two available permits.
Jeff Barnard, co-owner of the new Bar X, said he'll apply again next month. And if he can't land one then, he'll return in January, when an expected state population increase is tabulated and might add a license or two to the quota of permits in the state-controlled liquor system.
Although lawmakers will consider shifting some liquor licenses to create more in January, the bill calls for 25 additional alcohol permits for restaurants — not for full-service bars. The hospitality industry has complained that a lack of licenses is hurting economic development at time when establishments are poised to open, including in the next year or so at downtown's new City Creek Center.
Barnard said rather than open as a beer bar until a full-service club license becomes available, the owners have decided to wait. Without a club permit, they couldn't sell the upscale, homemade cocktails they hope will distinguish the new Bar X in downtown Salt Lake City at 155 E. 200 South.
"It's expensive to wait, but not having cocktails wouldn't make sense," he said. "When we open, we want to put our best foot forward."
The Bar X, which opened in downtown Salt Lake City shortly after Prohibition ended, closed in July. Longtime customers bemoaned the loss of the crusty, no-frills tavern that had served only 3.2 beer, peanuts and food from a vending machine.
Building owner Gary Tedesco, whose grandfather had started the bar, wanted to go in a new direction. He did not renew the lease with Charmayne Clingman, whose family had run it for the past 30 years.
After nearly two years of talks, Tedesco awarded the lease to Barnard. And so far, the former is not worried about the new cocktail concept or the bottleneck in liquor licenses.
"These are patient people," said Tedesco of the new owners.
"They're doing a first-rate job, and they have an excellent plan that is more 21st century. The bar will have the same rustic feel but it will be up to date and clean."
The eight principal owners are friends and relatives, including a father, son, brothers, cousin and brothers-in-law. "It's a tangled web," investor Ty Burrell, a star in the ABC-TV comedy "Modern Family," said of the ties.
Burrell's brother, Duncan, will tend bar, as will Richard Noel, Barnard's brother-in-law. All have pitched in with the remodeling, which has centered on new plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning.
That and cleaning off decades of smoke, grease and spilled beer. Slowly, wood paneling and intricate details have emerged from the grime.
Longtime patrons need not worry about the bar losing some of its old-time look. The 35-foot-long bar and stained glass cabinets are intact, as are the wagon-wheel ceiling lights — now ablaze with working bulbs.
"We've worked hard to keep the dive-bar atmosphere," Barnard said.
Barnard, owner of clothing stores JMR Chalk Garden in The Gateway and Lola Bella Boutique at Fashion Place mall, said his trips to both coasts gave him the idea of opening a trendy cocktail bar.
The drinks, called craft cocktails, will be made from scratch and served with slow-melting ice to keep them cold without watering them down.
Bar X
The no-frills tavern at 155 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City, is set to reopen as a cocktail bar.
Opened in 1933 by the grandfather of current building owner Gary Tedesco, it later was run by Tedesco's father.
For the past 30 years or so, the bar had been operated by Charmayne Clingman and her late father.
New owners are Jeff Barnard, Richard Barnard, Jack Barnard, Ty Burrell, Duncan Burrell, Richard Noel, Dave Hunt and Bill Archer.