BRIGHAM CITY – The long-time, family-owned restaurant Idle Isle located in Brigham City closed recently and was put up for sale. The iconic eatery was an anchor downtown for over 100 years and passed down to family members from generation-to-generation until it was sold to the current owner who was not related to the original owners in 2022.
The Idle Isle has been part of the nostalgia of the historic Main Street for generations.
The Idle Isle Cafe was started by P.C. Knudson and his wife Verabel as an ice cream and candy store in 1921. Then Verabel’s brother David H. Call and his wife LaRita became partners, and Idle Isle became a full-service café and candy shop.
In 2004, the candy store part of the business moved across the street to another historic building on the east side of Main Street. Travis Porter took over ownership of the café in 2015. His wife is a direct descendant of the original owners.
In 2021 the city applied for money to revitalize downtown. Idle Isle got a part of the money to remodel the store front; Porter tore the front part of the building to its bare bones and tried to make it look as much like a photograph he had of the building in 1920. He did most of the work himself and when he was finished the building resembles the photograph. He also tried to preserve the inside of the building to what it was like in the early days.
It was sold in 2022 to someone outside of the family bloodline and, although the name was the same, the magic left. The hours and menu items changed, and business began to fall off and finally it closed a few months ago.
Brigham City Mayor D.J. Bott said Idle Isle is an interesting topic. The new owners changed the business hours and closed earlier.
“There was the constant struggle with business hours,” he said. “They were open form 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and that is when Main Street shuts down.”
The café was an anchor for downtown Brigham City through the years, and it brought people into the shops around it.
“It would be amazing to have another anchor restaurant move in that would bring people into the historic downtown,” Bott said. “I understand the historical value of a name.”
He said having someone else open a café on Main Street where people could go have a good time and a good meal would be a good thing.
“It’s good to have a sit-down restaurant here,” he said. “For decades the Idle Isle had homemade meals like roast beef, rolls and other comfort foods.”
The property is listed for $650,000 on MLS.
There have been reports that the owners want to take the name of the restaurant and open other eateries using the name in other places. Attempts to reach the current owner of the Idle Isle were unsuccessful.