Refugee food entrepreneurs will benefit from opening of SLC's 'Food Alley'

Salt Lake City-based Sapa Investment Group, with help from the Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development, has announced plans to build a restaurant-oriented “Food Alley.” The development will go on redevelopment property with frontage on both 800 South and State Street. Plans call for an opening early in 2019.

The 48,000-square-foot project is planned to house 17 restaurants on the ground level and space for businesses owned by refugee entrepreneurs as part of the Spice Kitchen project. The projected $10 million investment will go in one of Salt Lake City’s Main Street-designated commercial districts and is expected to bring 700 jobs. Plans also call for 21 artist lofts on the second level. Spice Kitchen is a city-sponsored business incubator focused on helping refugees and disadvantaged individuals start their own food businesses and share their culinary traditions and talents with the Salt Lake community. 

“Not only is there a need, but a want for a place like Food Alley,” said Mai Nguyen, CEO of Sapa Investment Group, in a press release. “People need diverse places to eat, a community where they can gather and interact, and Food Alley will be an ideal destination to gather, socialize and enjoy food and arts that people in Utah may not have access to elsewhere. Food Alley will serve the youthful, diverse population that’s booming in the capital city. It is just two blocks from City Hall and it’s evident that downtown is spreading farther south.”

An Italian restaurant, sushi bar, ramen shop, beer bar and others are already committed to Food Alley, Nguyen said. Food Alley will also provide space for traveling chefs from around the country to showcase their work for several weeks at a time.

The Nguyen family will take advantage of its Salt Lake area restaurant experience for the operation of Food Alley. The family opened the first pho restaurant in Salt Lake City and now owns five businesses in the Salt Lake City area.

“The Nguyen family and Sapa Investment Group are true visionaries in Salt Lake City,” said Lara Fritts, Salt Lake City’s economic development director. “They have been champions of the city for decades and their vision and dedication with Food Alley will provide opportunities for thousands of people in Utah — from employment for the city’s refugee population, affordable space for dozens of creatives, to training programs for women at the new homeless resource center nearby.”

The Department of Economic Development has been working with Sapa Investment Group on Food Alley for more than a year, Fritts said.