Cache Valley attracts Olive Garden and new steakhouse
On Monday, the wait will end for Cache Valley restaurant connoisseurs looking for a fresh place to dine.
Olive Garden will be opening its doors to the public on Monday at 4 p.m., after weeks of employee training and three years of development planning.
Logan City director of economic development Nevin Limburg said the Olive Garden is “the most anticipated restaurant in the history of our valley.”
Limburg stressed the importance of getting restaurants such as Olive Garden to come to Cache Valley. Limburg said too often people from the valley travel to Layton or Riverdale just to eat at an Olive Garden, and that has a negative impact on the economy in Cache Valley.
The Logan Olive Garden has a unique rock-wall exterior, and according to Limburg, is the, “best-looking Olive Garden in their whole chain.”
Limburg said Olive Garden has a great appeal to college students, and will be a great place for families to gather.
“It’s going to be a tremendous success here,” Limburg said. “[It will be] a catalyst for attraction of other restaurants.”
Rachel Schwab, a junior majoring in public relations, said she was excited for Olive Garden to come to Logan, and that she often travels to Layton to eat at the Olive Garden there.
“Logan is in need of a good quality, fun restaurant,” Schwab said. “I think it’s perfect for Logan.”
Justin Hamilton, co-owner of the often-crowded Caf Sabor, is opening a steak and seafood restaurant that bears his name.
Hamilton’s Steak and Seafood will be opening sometime in April, across the street from Movies 5 in North Logan.
Hamilton, a former Utah State University student who graduated May in 2003 in economics and political science, offers a discounted meal to USU students every Wednesday night at Caf Sabor, and expects to offer a deal to students at Hamilton’s as well.
Hamilton said his new restaurant will be a fine/casual steak and seafood restaurant that will “reach out to all groups of people.” Hamilton also said the restaurant will have a unique ambiance with an open-display kitchen and a fireplace.
Hamilton’s will offer eight to 10 different cuts of steak, and will feature many types of seafood including salmon, shrimp, halibut and occasionally more rare types of seafood such as mahi-mahi and albacore tuna.
The restaurant will also offer a sports bar area where Aggie sports and other events such as Monday Night Football will be broadcast on 41-inch televisions. A banquet room will be available for weddings, business meetings and parties and will feature audio and video equipment.
Hamilton said an extensive dessert menu will be offered also, serving only large-sized portions. For example, instead of a piece of pie, patrons will be given their own mini pie.
Limburg said people have been wanting both a steakhouse and a seafood restaurant in Cache Valley for some time now, and Hamilton’s is a great combination of the two.
“We’ve had people crying for both,” Limburg said. “I’m really excited about it.”
Limburg said Hamilton has done a “bang-up job” at Caf Sabor, and expects Hamilton’s new restaurant to be very successful also.
The appearance of new restaurants such as Olive Garden and Hamilton’s actually has a positive effect on already existing restaurants, Limburg said. He knows people who make the rounds of Logan’s restaurants and won’t eat at the same restaurant twice in a row, he said.
“It will help other restaurants,” Limburg said.
Limburg was excited about the new restaurants opening in Cache Valley, and the possibility of even more restaurants coming. Limburg said he expects one day Logan will have an Applebees and possibly a TGI Fridays.
“People here do like to eat out,” Limburg said.
Diana Loosle, a sophomore from Smithfield, said she is excited to eat at the new Olive Garden, but knows it will be packed for the first few weeks. When asked if she would be at Olive Garden opening night, Loosle said, “definitely not.”
The opening of new restaurants helps fill a “retail gap,” Limburg said. Dining has been seen as a sales leakage for years, and adding restaurants such as Olive Garden and Hamilton’s helps fill that gap.
-scottsj@cc.usu.edu