A look at the local grill scene
The waitresses won’t be wearing poodle skirts and roller blades, but patrons of the Center Street Grill are sure to get a taste of the past when eating at the ’50s-style café.
Center Street Grill has been open for just more than a year.
Brent and Stephanie Miller opened the grill because they wanted to try out the restaurant business.
They are also building another one in Brigham City, Brandon Bennett, a manager at the restaurant, said. This one will be a truck stop as well as a grill.
Bennett said, “We try to do everything a little different than everyone else in the valley. Everything is freshly cooked as you order it. None of it is precooked.”
Jason Judd, a junior in civil engineering, said, “The first time I went, we ate outside, and that was a lot of fun. It was the beginning of the school year and we ate out there. The outside was a fun atmosphere. I liked it.”
Bennett said not many people know about the patio that faces Main Street. It is completely covered and heated in the winter and open in the summer.
“Most people don’t realize they can still eat out there in the winter,” Bennett said. “People look at me like I’m crazy, but it’s really warm out there.”
They serve everything from hamburgers and hot sandwiches to cold sandwiches, salads and wraps.
There is an artichoke pesto sauce on all hot and most cold sandwiches, Bennett said.
Some of Bennett’s favorites are the Hawaiian chicken sandwich, which combines chicken, pineapple, teriyaki sauce and Swiss cheese. Or the focaccia turkey, made with focaccia bread, he said.
Bennett said they mostly sell burgers, and they are all a half pound with a lot of toppings.
“All of our pastrami sandwiches are awesome,” Bennett said, “and I don’t know many places you can get a reuben.”
But if something on the menu doesn’t peak interest, there is always the daily special, which is usually a combination of two things on the menu.
Bennett said one of the favorite daily specials is a spicy cordon bleu sandwich. It doesn’t normally appear on the menu, but every once in a while it is a popular special item.
They also serve breakfast, Bennett said, and they just added 10 new items to the breakfast menu.
Plus they have coffee, lattés, hot chocolate, doughnuts and cinnamon rolls, as well as breakfast burritos.
“We serve platters with hash browns, eggs and meat,” Bennett said, “We do all sorts of hot drinks in the morning.”
Dane Peterson, a junior in accounting and economics, said he went there for breakfast.
“I had a breakfast burrito. It was delectable,” Peterson said. “I think it was the guacamole breakfast burrito. It was really good.”
The restaurant’s atmosphere is a unique aspect. Bright red booths, photos, tall stools and items to bring back the past all create the ’50s-style environment.
“I like the feeling about it. I think of it as somewhere comfortable to go sit down and eat. It’s not your typical restaurant. It’s leaning towards a café.”
“It’s something different,” Judd said. “It’s the only place like it in Cache Valley.”
Peterson said he liked the televisions on the walls.
“They have the TVs there. I was watching ESPN in the morning. It was great,” Peterson said. “I got caught up on all of the sports on Sports Center. That was cool.”
“It was good. I would eat there again,” Peterson said.
Bennett said they can accommodate any group, noting one experience with a group who needed 70 breakfast burritos before 8 a.m.
The Center Street Grill is open Monday – Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 9 a.m.-10 p.m. They are closed on Sunday. It is located at 18 E. Center Street.
“It’s just good food,” Judd said, “I would go back.”
-hollyadams@cc.usu.edu
The Center Street Grill in Logan has a 1950s grill theme and outdoor seating available year-round.