Tables were full Friday during the lunchtime rush at the Hub, one of Heber City’s most beloved restaurants.
This weekend marked its grand reopening and ribbon-cutting, and the mood was festive. In one dining room, a fire crackled, the hearth draped in pine garlands. In another corner, a Christmas tree stood, adorned with Heber-themed decorations.
Bustling waitstaff, cooks calling out orders, the clatter of forks and knives, and the clamor of conversation filled the restaurant, while new owners Devin Johnson and Mohamed Mohamed kept the show running smoothly.
Mohamed said his owning the gas station next door and seeing the restaurant falter made him want to ensure the destination lasted for decades to come.
“Being next door, I saw an opportunity to preserve it – to keep this corner from becoming another corporation and losing this iconic place,” he said.
The restaurant first opened 90 years ago, and now it has a new look and a refreshed menu.
Hub classics, like ham steaks and Utah scones, remain on the menu too. And the renovations worked to preserve the character that has made the spot a community favorite for decades. Deer heads are mounted throughout the restaurant, and the wall at the entrance proudly displays dozens of local farmers’ brands.
Mohamed said a lot of the remodel, from the restaurant’s foundations to the leather bench cushions in the booths, used local contractors.
“A lot of people just pitched in, and it’s been a community effort,” he said. “I think they enjoy knowing that this place can be around for another 80, 90 years.”
The Hub has long been many Heberites’ go-to choice for breakfast with family or a hearty meal after a day of hunting and fishing.
Now, with the doors reopened, many longtime customers are glad to be back, like Sharla and Dana Cracroft, who stopped in for brunch Friday.
“Night and day,” Dana Cracroft said. “The layout’s real close to the same as far as spacing, but boy, it’s like a brand new restaurant. It’s gorgeous. I’m really impressed.”
Sharla Cracroft said most people in the community have fond memories of stopping by the Hub.
“It’s been here forever and ever,” she said. “It was one of the first restaurants, one of the first gas stations, and it just has always stuck.”
Mohamed said he’s thankful to the community for supporting him and Johnson in the process of revitalizing the restaurant.
“It’s involving the community, making them feel it’s their own, that it’s their restaurant, giving it back to them,” he said. “And everybody’s welcome.”
The restaurant is located at the intersection of Main Street and U.S. 189 in Heber City. It’s open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
