Gateway restaurant says All-Star weekend broke business record

SALT LAKE CITY — As expected, Downtown Salt Lake City has been busy during All-Star weekend, and one restaurant said they had the most business they’ve ever seen in one day.

“Hello, hello! How are you doing?” Reed Slobusky asked customers in line in front of HallPass in the Gateway Saturday night.

Usually, door duty isn’t part of Slobusky’s job description, considering he’s the owner. But it’s the first time HallPass has ever had a line.

“It’s been pretty constant. We’ve had a line for about six hours to get in,” he said.

All-Star weekend brought in all the customers, and Slobusky explained that they needed to ensure the kitchen could keep up and there would be enough seats inside.

“Because we are open seating, you get to the point where there’s just too many people in there, and they can’t move around, can’t find seats, food’s taking a little longer than we want,” he said. “So, just have to give the kitchen a little bit of pacing throughout the day.”

They’ve spent months preparing for this weekend, Slobusky said. HallPass extended their hours during All-Star weekend and brought in employees from their SkinnyFATS location in Nevada.

“We have some of our Vegas team is up here as well, supporting this weekend. So, it’s been pretty nonstop since Thursday evening,” he said.

In fact, so nonstop that he said Saturday ended up being their busiest day ever since HallPass opened before the pandemic.

They’ve ensured everything runs smoothly, from food service down to door duty.

And when the weekend is over, Slobusky said they’re closing down on Monday to give their staff a rest.

“We were prepared for it,” he said. “Just been staying on top of it and trying to get through it.”