SALT LAKE CITY — Based on the number of votes throughout the life of the bracket challenge, it was a foregone conclusion about who the winner would be this year.
After several rounds of voting, the Training Table was named Utah's favorite restaurant that's no longer around. But with so many fond memories made and it being so popular, could it ever make a comeback?
That question remains unanswered despite an active website that claims "the taste you've been craving is back." The hope was that on the restaurant's 45th anniversary in 2022, they'd start "the next chapter" and open up a food truck.
To our knowledge, that has not happened ... and we're still waiting four years later. Could the results of this poll convince a comeback?
We'll just have to see. As of this writing, a request for comment from the Training Table has not been fulfilled (assuming there's someone still monitoring media requests).
Founded in 1977, the Training Table was a unique restaurant that catered to all with its order by phone system. Guests could order from a collection of specialty burgers and sandwiches, as well as their famous cheese fries. Pair that with the "ultimate dipping sauce," a BBQ-based fry sauce, and you were set for a classic American meal.
Once decided upon, the phone served as the main fixture to get you the meal instead of a server coming to your table to take an order. For years it was a novel concept and fun for all alike — maybe even a rush for some.
With the advent and proliferation of the cell phone, the novelty wore off a bit as using a phone for everything became mainstream — even before the restaurant shuttered its business on Nov. 30, 2016.
Today, ordering from the phone is commonplace, with apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats offering delivery access to nearly every restaurant in America. Was the Training Table the original thinker here for an idea that has spread like wildfire?
It makes you think a little bit.
Though having just six locations throughout the Wasatch Front, the Training Table clearly was a fan favorite. And though not planned as part of our publishing of this bracket challenge, it's fitting the Training Table was named the winner on its 10-year anniversary (in about seven months, but who's counting) of its closing.
Maybe it's time to rethink the comeback ... or is it better just left as a fond memory for all who got to experience the Training Table? The ball is now in the Training Table's court.
If you can't see the completed bracket below, click here.
