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Clare Moon, owner of Grove Station inside the Grove Station soda shop is shown on Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Ashtyn Asay, Daily Herald

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The exterior of Grove Station is shown on Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Ashtyn Asay, Daily Herald

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The venue at Grove Station is shown on Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Ashtyn Asay, Daily Herald

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The ticket window where guests can order specialty soda drinks at Grove Station is shown on Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Ashtyn Asay, Daily Herald

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With its vaulted ceiling, old-fashioned light fixtures adorning the walls and the vintage ticket booth that serves as a soda shop, the venue at Grove Station is just a whistle short of a mid-century train station.

Grove Station is a dual-function venue and food truck park, located at 273 S. 2000 W. in Pleasant Grove that just celebrated its grand opening on Saturday.

Local food trucks park in the venue’s courtyard every day to serve lunch and dinner, Monday through Wednesday. The venue space functions as an indoor dining area while not rented out for weddings or parties.

“I really like to eat and I wanted more food options,” Clare Moon, the owner of Grove Station, said. “Traveling you can see food truck parks in other cities and I thought, ‘I want to make one that works for Utah County.'”

Moon wanted to bring something new to the city, while embracing an old-fashioned design.

“I’m always drawn to all things old, I like nostalgia, I like the past, so when we were looking for a venue we wanted something that was a little different, so this more industrial kind of vintage feel appealed to us,” Moon said. “We looked at old train terminals for that big open feeling, they did that really well. So we took that and mimicked it here.”

Even though Grove Station is only in its first week, Moon said that the venue is already seeing interest from engaged couples undertaking the wedding planning process — particularly grooms.

“The thing I find the most fun is at wedding expos, the groom is always more excited than the bride about our venue,” Moon said. “So I think we’re appealing to a different crowd.”

Grove Station’s grand opening drew a crowd last weekend, but there was a time during COVID-19 when the Moon wasn’t sure the space would open at all.

Venues across the country were shut down indefinitely, and with supply chain issues and the volatile nature of the pandemic, the project that Moon and her husband had been working on for years seemed like it may never come to fruition.

Still, Moon was committed to bringing Grove Station to her hometown.

“I’m from Pleasant Grove so I knew I wanted it near me, I wanted to bring something to Pleasant Grove like this,” Moon said. “Kind of the feeling of community that Pleasant Grove does really well.”

When COVID-19 restrictions relaxed, Grove Station opened its doors in a moment that felt truly surreal, not only for Moon, but for all those who worked together to make her dream space a reality.

“To keep thinking that the city could be excited about this and that this area would want to support it, but seeing it like that, seeing it just packed and people excited and happy and enjoying themselves here in the space that we designed for people to enjoy themselves was really fulfilling,” Moon said.