A city can never have enough breakfast and brunch spots. At least in my opinion they can’t!  Hub & Spoke Diner just opened in a cosy Salt Lake City neighborhood, and their menu is just as cosy as their food. Chef Phelix Gardner brings a modern spin on Southern Diner foods like Shrimp and Grits, Kentucky Brown and Sweet Potato Pancakes (or flapjacks if your from the South).

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stray from their breakfast menu (and lucky for me it’s served all day) but if you’re not the breakfast type, there are lots of other great options.  Try their Fried Chicken Salad made with house-made buttermilk ranch, or the Patty Melt with Russian Dressing.  Also, you don’t have to eat like a Southerner here, they also offer plenty of lighter options like their Kale Tabbouleh Salad or the Tuna Melt.

While I’ve already given many reasons to make a visit to Hub & Spoke I’ll leave you with just a few more… pie, boozy milk shakes, and great coffee!  Pastry Chef Courtney McDowell has mastered the Southern classic pies like Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, French Silk, and Banana Cream Pie. Also, who does’t want to try a boozy milk shake, especially when they have flavors like Grasshopper and Irish Coffee.  Speaking of coffee, they serve our very biased favorite La Barba. No need to say more

Hub & Spoke Diner
MONDAY — SUNDAY:  7AM — 9PM
1291 South 1100 East

Full disclosure, we are co-owners of Charming Beard Coffee and Josh is the CEO.  We are big fans of the place, but we’re extremely biased.

Charming Beard Coffee’s concept of co-habitating with Finca (and calling it La Barba) was conceived long before Scott Evans owned the first floor of 327 West 200 South.  When Finca was across the street from Liberty Heights Fresh, Josh and Scott we’re going to rearrange Finca’s dining room and make a place for Charming Beard to have a shop.  Scott put the project on hold and brought it back up after the purchase of the new location was final.Opening a coffee shop in SLC is a fairly unsettling endeavor with the lack of per capita coffee drinkers and presence of other great local shops (we’re looking at you No Brow, D’Bolla and the Rose Establishment).  From the beginning Charming Beard had designs on opening retail space in the heart of downtown but they knew for it to work, a strong synergy was necessary to create buzz and get coffee drinkers in the door.

Along with serving Charming Beard Coffee, they serve pastries and churros from Finca, Mezzo Drinking Chocolate and Tikal Chocolate Teas, The Queens’ Tea, and custom ceramics from Basin Goods.  The place was designed by architect Jared Wright (one of Charming Beard’s 9 investors) and the equipment is serviced by the one and only Gabe Jessop of Keep it Brewing.  Iron work was done by Blackridge Metal with furniture from CG Sparks, flowers from Native Flowers and a few accoutrements from European Treasures.

Charming Beard is always looking for ways to collaborate with other local businesses.  La Barba embodies elements of the ideals, but much more is to come.

327 West 200 South / M – F : 7a – midnight, Sa – Su 8a – midnight / inside Finca