This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The shuttering of the monumental night club Port O'Call in February of 2009 marked the end of a legacy in Salt Lake City.
The massive, three-story building on 400 South and West Temple essentially housed three bars: a basement for watching sports, a main floor to chill at the bar with friends, and a top floor to dance the night away.
Former employees of Port O'Call and from Trolley Square's large night spot Green Street, which closed this summer, have opened their own drinkeries.
"Port O'Call can't be duplicated, its magic can't be," said Bridget Gordon, owner of The Green Pig Pub and manager of Port O'Call for 12 years. "But all of us have opened up a part of Port O'Call in different locations around the city."
(And they aren't the only watering holes. A look at 50 hot spots for drinks is available at http://tinyurl.com/6ydawub)
Green Pig probably has the most visible ties to Gordon's old stomping ground — everything from the tables to the glasses to the bar are relics from Port O'Call, the basement of which Gordon decided to bring further east on 400 South. About a dozen flat-screen televisions play sports all day, with a particular love of all things University of Utah. She even has the original, wooden Rice Stadium sign that hung in the school's old stadium.
Gordon was heartbroken about the closing of Port O'Call, but her husband encouraged her to open her own place. She scouted for locations, and kept coming back to where the Green Pig now stands at 31 E. 400 South. It's a building built in the early 1900s, and its previous iteration, the Cabana Club, had been gutted by a fire. She loved the feel and location. She sold her BMW and her Harley, emptied her retirement fund and took a second mortgage to open the bar.
She completely rebuilt it in three months, opening in August 2009.
In addition to the Green Pig, Bar Deluxe, Dick N' Dixies and Gracie's have been started by former employees of Port O'Call. Then there's Bourbon House, opened by a former Green Street manager.
Gracie's is probably the most different from Port O'Call, where co-owners Deno Dakis and Shawn Frehner worked for more than 15 years. Dakis worked as a busser at Green Street for a year when he turned 20, but moved to Port O'Call when he was legally able to enter a bar. Frehner applied on his 21st birthday and started two days later.
When they heard that Port O'Call was closing, they opted to start their own place. They decided on the building at 326 S. West Temple, and opened a self-styled "gastropub" in June 2009. Their menu tends toward gourmet items, and in addition to a full beer and mixed-drink menu, they offer a restaurant-style wine list, instead of just a house red and white.
The crowd at Gracie's, with it's daylight-filled rooms and natural wood paneling, is often filled with young professionals and a more mature crowd, who drop in for business lunches, romantic dinners or to join friends on the patio.
"We had both worked at super high-volume places, and we wanted a slower pace of clientele," Dakis said. "We wanted to start a place where we would want to come to drink."
Frehner added: "And we were tired of babysitting."
That same sentiment was shared by Jason LeCates, owner of Bourbon House, in the basement of the Walker Building at 19 E. 200 South. The Bourbon House opened in June. The space has been a bar of one ilk or another for 40 years, from D.B. Coopers to Monk's House of Jazz. LeCates and his co-owner Trace Hegeman have completely rebuilt the place, with a dark-wood bar serving as the centerpiece.
"I didn't want a DJ nightclub kind of place," LeCates said. "I wanted a nice crowd, not the hip-hop crowd. And I wanted a place where you get a great experience and don't fall off your barstool when you get your tab."
He's had to adjust to the slower pace, saying Green Street would do as much business in an hour as Bourbon House does in a day. But he's happy, saying the volume is more manageable.
Another bar that arose from Port O'call staff, Dick N' Dixie's, on the corner of 300 South and 500 East, is small with a laid-back atmosphere. Flat-screen televisions broadcast football, soccer or baseball any time of day, while the background music actually stays in the background. There's nothing fancy about the bar, but its high ceilings and clean appearance have a welcoming feel for small groups and or people who want to grab a beer after work. "It's a place where you just want to belly up to the bar," said Gordon, of Green Pig.
Bar Deluxe, at 666 S. Main St., chose to emulate the top floor of Port O'Call, bringing in live music four times a week, and owner Kaci Tokumoto considers it more of a music venue than a bar. She sells beers, whiskey shots, vodka and Red Bulls and a few other cocktails, but the draw of the place is its bevy of bands, focusing on indie rock, with occasional appearances by reggae and hip-hop groups, too. Touring bands are featured, but also local groups.
Tokumoto played several roles during her 7 1/2 years at Port O'Call, but the woman with an undergraduate degree in architecture never thought she'd open her own place, let alone a concert venue. "I never thought I'd love this job as much as I do," she said.
Her bar — with a capacity of 285 — draws the youngest crowd, from barely-legal drinkers to concertgoers in their early 30s.
She calls it "crazy" how Port O'Call seems to have spread across the city at different venues, but it doesn't surprise her that each one has its own, unique vibe.
"There were a lot of different personalities that worked there, so it makes sense," she said.
While the closing of Port O'Call and Green Street temporarily left gaping holes in the heart of downtown nightlife, these five bars have worked to fill them. And judging by the crowds at each — they have succeeded.
"Port O'Call's closing had the good and the bad," Green Pig's Gordon said. "You have to take the good, which we all did."
Twitter: @sheena5427 —
Bar Deluxe
666 S. State St.
Live music • Wednesday through Saturday, by local or touring bands
Bourbon House
19 E. 200 South
Karaoke on Thursdays
Live bands • on Saturdays, funk and soul with live DJ on Sunday nights
Watch parties • for "Breaking Bad" and "Sons of Anarchy"
Sports games • throughout the week, Sunday mornings
Dick N' Dixie's
479 E. Broadway (300 South)
Live sports • throughout the week
Gracie's
326 S. West Temple
Live music • The Red Rock Hot Club plays Gypsy jazz on Tuesdays, Daniel Day Trio plays jazz on Thursdays, DJ Gawel on Friday nights/
Bluegrass band • Goodgrass plays on the patio on Sunday, weather permitting
Other • touring bands throughout the week
Green Pig Pub
31 E. 400 South
Open mic • Blues Jam hosted by the West Temple Tail Draggers on Mondays
Free Texas Hold 'Em • on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Live music • on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Any University of Utah football game and other sports throughout the week. —
Look online
Check Friday's Mix section for The Tribune's drink guide, listing 50 of our favorite bars and clubs, and visit our new daily entertainment website, nowsaltlake.com.