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Steiny’s is a hidden gem for fans and food

By Valerie Phillips - Special to the Standard-Examiner | Mar 9, 2022

Valerie Phillips, Special to the Standard-Examiner

Chef Gabriel Perez, left, and John Stein of Steiny’s South.

Unless you’re looking for it, you probably won’t just stumble onto Steiny’s Family Sports Grill’s south location. It’s on the ground floor of 1104 Country Hills Drive, in a tall brick building with a Wex sign on it. But there are no Steiny’s signs; you’ll need to walk into the lobby and look around to find it.

“It’s part of our charm,” said John Stein, adding that the original Steiny’s, amid the buildings of Business Depot Ogden, isn’t easy to find either. “We’ve got customers who love the fact that it’s not just out on the street in a strip mall. When people find it and like it, they teach other people about us. I tell them, ‘Do us a favor and tell 10 other friends.'”

The two Steiny’s sports grills are like north and south bookends of Ogden. In 2010, brothers John and Joey Stein opened their first Steiny’s in the BDO park at 119 N. 600 West. The name came easy, as both were nicknamed “Steiny” during their many years in sports. John Stein, a former vice president of the Ogden Raptors, remains one of the owners, and Joey Stein was the team’s general manager.

“Whenever you play sports and you get in a huddle, everybody has a nickname,” John Stein said. “You’re never just Jones or Smith or Stein, it’s Jonesy, or Smitty or Steiny. From our days at the ballpark, we had a lot of personal and business contacts who we hoped would recognize our name and want to support us.”

In 2015, they opened the Country Hills Drive location (across Harrison Boulevard from Weber State University) and added a Logan spot in 2017. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they closed the Logan store. Due to labor shortages, the south location currently doesn’t open until 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The BDO location is open for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday. Both are closed Sundays, except during the NFL season.

Photo supplied, Steiny's

Chef Jeremy Curran and Joey Stein of Steiny’s at Business Depot Ogden.

“When football kicks off, we’re open seven day a week,” John Stein said.

Sports grills offer a place to watch a game for those who can’t get in-person tickets or don’t have a particular cable/satellite sports package to watch at home. They can cheer with (or against) other fans while someone else does the cooking and dishes. John Stein said that as a “sports grill,” it’s more of a family-friendly environment than a “sports bar.”

“In the state of Utah, we are considered a restaurant with a liquor license,” he said.

Whether it’s NFL, a Jazz game, college sports, soccer, baseball or just about any other event, Steiny’s has you covered. The Ogden Business Depot site has 11 50-inch TV screens surrounding the dining area.

The south location has 16 70-inch screens stationed around the room and behind the bar, “which allows us to put everything on just about every time,” John Stein said. “Right now, people are watching the Jazz, but we can also put on a college basketball game for someone next to their table.”

Photo supplied, Steiny's

Wings are one of the best-selling items at both Steiny’s locations, especially on Wing Wednesdays when they are discounted.

Being near the Weber State campus, “We get pre-game fans stopping for a beer and burger before the game, then we get the post-game fans, especially if we win,” he said.

Since it’s close to the Ice Sheet, they also get fans of the Ogden Mustangs Junior A hockey team. The restaurant has become the venue for the Mustangs’ “coach’s corner,” where the coach talks hockey with the fans.

Since it’s a sports grill, it’s no surprise that wings are one of the best-sellers on the menu.

“Between the two restaurants, we did 30 tons of wings in 2021,” John Stein said. “And that was an up-and-down year due to the pandemic. We have created some sauces and dry rubs to give them a different flavor profile that you can’t get elsewhere. All I know is we do tons of them — literally.”

Steiny’s managed to weather the national wing shortage that happened due to pandemic-related issues.

Photo supplied, Steiny's

A recent Taco Tuesday at Steiny's featured carnitas tacos with homemade pinto beans and Spanish rice.

“They were scarce and costly, especially for mom and pop stores like ours,” John Stein said. “The big guys had buying power and contracts in place. But my brother and I are too stubborn to let something like that get in the way. We went to every supplier and got what we could from them.”

Other menu mainstays are the Philly steak sandwich, with both beef and chicken options, and gourmet-style burgers. One quirky detail: On some nights, nearly all the customers seem to order the same thing.

“There’s some wavelength that happens and for a whole shift, it will be all quesadillas. Then another night, it’s all burgers or all Phillys,” he said. “You can’t explain it, you just roll with it.”

Taco Tuesdays are popular, since chef Gabriel Perez at the south location will create a different version each week, such as pork carnitas with cabbage, pickled onions, cilantro and salsa verde; or ahi tuna tacos with red cabbage, pico de gallo and honey sriracha sauce.

“They’re not the standard ground-beef-and-a-packet-of-seasoning type of taco,” John Stein said.

Valerie Phillips, Special to the Standard-Examiner

During the summer, fresh salsas are made with tomatoes and chiles growing along the patio of Steiny’s South.

Perez also comes up with weekend dinner specials that aren’t typical sports grill fare — chicken fusilli pasta in a creamy Florentino sauce; shrimp boil with jumbo shrimp, clams and mussels; curry salmon rice bowls; lump crab enchiladas; princess chicken in mushroom artichoke cream sauce; grilled lamb chops; chicken parmigiana ravioli; and jumbo prawn mac ‘n’ cheese.

Likewise, the Steiny’s at BDO offers creative specials, cooked by Jeremy Curran and Joey Stein. The specials are usually posted on the restaurants’ Facebook pages.

“My brother Joey is a great chef and I’ve learned most of what I know by watching him,” John Stein said, adding that Steiny’s is not “fast food.”

“You need longer than a half-hour lunch, because we cook to order,” he said. “You get fresh off-the-grill food that’s worth the 15-20 minute wait. You won’t find already prepared food that’s just been warmed up.”

In summer, Steiny’s South opens up its outdoor patio. With a waterfall and lush foliage, it feels like a welcoming oasis despite being just steps away from the busy traffic of Harrison Boulevard.

The flower beds were turned into gardens for tomatoes and chiles for the restaurant’s fresh-made salsa, and herbs to flavor and garnish dishes.

“It’s our version of farm-to-table,” John Stein said. “And they make the patio look better.”


IF YOU GO

Locations: 119 N. 600 West (north location); 1104 Country Hills Drive (south location) in Ogden

Contact: 801-781-3663, https://www.facebook.com/steinys.familysportsgrill (north); 801-675-5568, https://www.facebook.com/SteinysSouth (south)

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday (north); 4-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday (south); both closed Sundays except during NFL season.

Price range: $10-$15

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