When Mario Trejo, the owner of the Logan-based Greek Streak Taverna, traveled to Midvale last year to meet some friends, it inspired him to make a change in his life. And the Midvale Redevelopment Agency gave him some options.

Greek Streak Taverna will be located in the Corner and 6th Apartments complex. (Giovanni Radtke/City Journals)

“I was like, this would be a cool spot to try something different,” he said at an RDA board meeting in November. “I've been doing the same thing for nine years now, and I'm like, I need something to be excited for again. And I think this would be a great opportunity.”

On Dec. 2, the Midvale RDA approved loan terms to Greek Streak Taverna. The $80,000 loan will help fund tenant improvements at the restaurant’s planned location in Midvale’s historic Main Street.

“We are excited and eager to be a part of the revitalization of the Midvale Main Arts and Culture District,” Greek Streak Taverna wrote in its proposal to the RDA. “We feel that our food and our customer base fits well within the culture of that area.”

Greek Streak Taverna’s new location will be on the bottom floor of the Corner and 6th Apartments at 7487 S. Main Street. With its home location in Logan, the Midvale location will be Greek Streak’s first foray into Salt Lake County.

Mayor Dustin Gettel said blending Greek Streak with the apartment complex “shows other people that this is possible and you can have a ground-floor retail restaurant space and make a decent living out of it.”

Trejo told city lawmakers in November that he plans to gear the Midvale location to late-night dining, which lies in stark contrast to his restaurant in Logan.

Sign outside Corner and 6th Apartments. (Giovanni Radtke/City Journals)

“We're like the lunch spot in [Logan], and we hit like the marks for the place that all the chiropractors and doctors and the university brings everyone for lunch,” he said. “So, like I want to kind of flip-flop that and kind of have like a place that groups of friends can come to late in the evening and stay open later hours.”

Greek Streak plans to run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays once it opens, either in May or June. And to help make the Greek Streak Taverna more suitable for the Midvale nightlife, the Mediterranean restaurant plans to get a liquor license, Aubrey Ruiz, Midvale’s RDA program manager, said in November.

Currently, Trejo is working with architects to develop a layout for the Midvale location, and he told the board that a lot of the loan funds will be used to assemble the blueprint.

The restaurant is “just under 2,000 square feet, but it's a blank shell,” Trejo said. “So, it gives us a lot of opportunity to move things around and kind of utilize that space really well.” 

According to the loan term sheet, the funds will also go toward buying kitchen appliances and furnishings for the lobby and outdoor patio. Midvale’s RDA granted the loan at a 2% interest rate and with a seven-year maturity.

“There's not a lot of RDA programs that allow businesses to have opportunities like this,” Trejo said to the board in November. “I talked to a lot of my friends, and they're like, ‘Well, how do you get money?’ I'm like it's not easy, but things like this gives us opportunities. So I'm really grateful for it.”

After approving the loan for Greek Streak Taverna, the RDA has $670,000 left in its revolving loan budget to allocate to other businesses looking to open in Midvale. The agency has approved term sheets for SaltFire Brewing Company and Honeysuckle Coffee earlier in the fiscal year.

Mural located inside Midvale’s Main Arts and Culture District. (Giovanni Radtke/City Journals)