Staying alive: Stories from Utah County’s oldest restaurants that show no signs of stopping
The Daley Freez in Payson has been serving Utah County customers since 1954.
The Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove has been shelling out delicious food since January of 1968.
The purple turtle restaurant is in a landmark building located at 85 E. State St. in Pleasant Grove. It has been open since 1968.
One of the Purple Turtle’s signature entrees is the Fish & Chips with onion rings, pictured here with a blueberry milkshake in 2003.
Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant in Santaquin, shown in this 2013 file photo, has been scaring up business since it opened in 1984.
In recent years, Utah County has seen an explosion of dining options, with new restaurants popping up — in every culinary variety — faster than one can visit them all.
But not every new pizza, ramen or sushi shop stays open for long. Competition over the empty stomachs (and full wallets) of Utah County residents can be stiff, and plenty of places close within months of being open.
And then, in the background of all that commotion of cutting ribbons and closing doors, are the staples. The restaurants that have been around for years — decades — and don’t show signs of shutting off the burners any time soon.
We counted more than 20 restaurants that have been running since the early 1990s or before, and reached out to a few of them to see what has kept them in business all these years.
Tartar sauce by the cup
The Daley Freeze in Payson was built in 1954. Ashlee and Jared Harrington own the restaurant.
“We’ve owned it for two and a half years, but my husband and I used to eat here when we were 5,” Ashlee Harrington said. “People used to eat here when they were little and it’s just that memory. The memory and the old-school part of it.”
She said that the fresh, made-to-order food has kept the place in business, with popular items like hand-dipped halibut and onion rings.
“Our tartar sauce, people come and buy it by the cup,” she said.
A dream spot for a diner
The Purple Turtle in Pleasant Grove has been around since January 1968, and one of the current owners, Steve Cobbley, has been around in some capacity at the place just about that whole time.
“I started working here in 1976, in high school,” Cobbley said. “And then I worked for a number of years and left to go on a mission and came back and worked while I went to BYU, and then I left for a few years and came back and worked and was able to purchase part of it.”
As for what has kept the doors open until now, Cobbley points to a few different things.
“I think taking care of customers is a good thing, I think quality is a good thing, I also think a name like Purple Turtle doesn’t hurt us,” he said. “That’s kind of a hard one to forget. It captures your attention and draws people in — especially kids. You drive by and your kids see the turtle, and, ‘Hey! Purple Turtle!’ “
If the name of the restaurant sounds particularly imaginative, that may be because of its origins.
“The original owner, his name was Lloyd Ash,” Cobbley said. “He had a dream about a very successful restaurant on this corner. And he didn’t think anything of it, and the next night he went to bed and had the exact same dream, so he figured he probably ought to start this restaurant. And all he remembered was it was named Purple Turtle. That’s the story I’ve been told anyway.”
A naan starter in Provo
Bombay House founder Daniel Shanthakumar earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU-Hawaii and was ready to stay there to start a restaurant when his plans changed during a visit to Utah in 1992.
“I was about to sign the lease, (and) I came to visit my sister in Utah, who was going to graduate school at BYU-Provo,” Shanthakumar said. “The one in Hawaii, we were waiting for a Japanese company to fund the project. In Utah, we said, ‘Why don’t we do it in Provo? With our own money, with a couple of the guys?’ It was not meant to happen, and then in December we found the place, and the following year in February we opened it.”
Now, Bombay House has other locations in Salt Lake and West Jordan — and Utah County has a number of Indian restaurants. (India Palace in Provo and Kohinoor in Orem both were founded by people who previously worked with Shanthakumar at Bombay House.) But in 1993, Bombay House was the first.
“We kind of pretty much educated Indian food to Utah,” Shanthakumar said. “When we put the sign (out), people said, like, ‘Indian restaurant in Provo?’ For a while we thought, ‘Oh man, we’re in trouble.’ “
On the opening night, Shanthakumar invited about 50 friends, but ran out of food when 250 people showed up.
“We didn’t expect that,” he said. “The response was overwhelming.”
An old ghost of Santaquin
Leslie Broadhead has owned Leslie’s Family Tree in Santaquin since 2000, but she has worked there since the day it opened in 1984. She bought it from her mother.
“It’s all the same history, same recipes, same restaurant,” she said. “We built it for our mother when my father passed away. My mom and brother went into the business together, and all of our family worked here, (so we said), ‘Let’s just call it the Family Tree,’ so we did.”
Broadhead boils down the secret of the restaurant’s success to one thing.
“I mainly think it’s because of our scones,” she said. “They’re literally the size of your arm. They’re big.”
The building the restaurant is in is one of the oldest in town, Broadhead said.
“Oh heck, that building’s been here — it’s one of the first buildings that was built in Santaquin, so it’s been a whole bunch of different things,” she said. “And then our kitchen here is actually the old post office and the Greyhound bus stop that was here years and years ago.”
All that history gives the place another claim to fame — aside from the scones.
“We’re known for having ghosts up here, too,” Broadhead said. “We’re one of Utah’s most haunted (places). So I thought maybe that’s what you were calling about.”
But Leslie’s Family Tree — like lots of Utah County restaurant staples — shows no signs of becoming a ghost itself anytime soon.