A single front door now leads diners in Murray to two restaurants at once. The newly opened combination of Outback Steakhouse and Bonefish Grill at 5177 S. State St. shares one entrance, one kitchen, one bar and one menu — and it marks the first time Bonefish Grill has set up shop in Utah at all.
The restaurant, located at The Point @ 53rd, opened Oct. 21, according to the Murray Journal. It replaces the Outback Steakhouse that had operated in Sandy since the mid-1990s, when it opened as Utah's very first Outback location. Per the Journal's reporting, the Murray restaurant is also the first new Outback built in the state in more than a decade.
Evergreen Restaurant Group, which operates the franchise, describes the Murray build as the first fully unified Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse location anywhere, a claim echoed on the chain's own Bonefish Grill location page, which identifies the Murray restaurant as the first fully unified Bonefish Grill and Outback Steakhouse location.
Why Sandy Couldn't Hold Both Brands
Jeff Jones, owner of Evergreen Restaurant Group, told the Murray Journal that adding Bonefish Grill required more space and substantially more parking than the Sandy site could offer. The Murray building solves that with two distinct dining rooms, two patios and a fireplace lobby, the Journal reported. Each private dining room can accommodate groups of 30 or more, and customers can order from either brand's menu no matter where they're seated — meaning a Bloomin' Onion and Bang Bang Shrimp really can land on the same table, as the Bonefish Grill location page puts it.
Jones said the Murray location gives Evergreen access to existing customers as well as potential diners elsewhere in Salt Lake County, though he declined to disclose project costs. He did tell the Journal that the combined investment exceeds what a typical single-brand restaurant opening would cost. Jones added that he expects regular Sandy customers to follow the restaurant to its new home, though he offered no estimate of how many would actually make the move.
Staffing the Dual Concept
According to Drew Faddis, regional director of operations and general manager of the Murray restaurant, a majority of the Sandy staff is transferring to the new location. The Murray restaurant is opening with roughly 125 to 130 team members who share staffing and facilities across both brands — a shared kitchen, the Big City Bar and a cross-trained team allow both concepts to run without operating as two side-by-side restaurants, per the Journal. On the combined menu, seafood and steak dishes appear together, with brand symbols and colors distinguishing which items belong to Outback and which belong to Bonefish Grill.
The project came together with support from the landlord and Murray planners and officials, the Journal reported. Opening plans included a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting, and the rollout was preceded by a charity preview on Oct. 19 benefiting the Ron McBride Foundation. Per the company's announcement, the preview's per-person fee supports the foundation's after-school programs for at-risk students in Utah Title I schools.
Earlier NorthTown Plans
In 2016, Outback and Bonefish Grill restaurants were planned for Spokane's NorthTown Mall. At the time, Evergreen already operated 15 Outback Steakhouse restaurants across Washington, and a Bonefish Grill was set to open at NorthTown.
Utah has seen its own version of the idea take shape more recently. A proposed dual-concept Outback and Bonefish Grill at 1114 South State Street in Sandy received preliminary site plan approval from the Sandy Planning Commission on June 17, per Citizen Portal. That design calls for an 11,195-square-foot, single-story building on a 2.4-acre lot, featuring two dining rooms, a shared kitchen and restrooms, a 6% increase in parking, and eight designated takeaway spaces.
Jones kept his focus narrow when discussing what comes next, telling the Murray Journal that the immediate priority is opening strong on Oct. 21 and taking care of guests and staff. He did not identify specific performance benchmarks, additional locations or an expansion timetable, though he said Murray's response will offer a read on the concept's prospects. Evergreen Restaurant Group has identified the Murray format as a model for future Wasatch Front expansion and says further expansion announcements will follow.
Part of a Bigger Steak Push
The Murray debut lands as Outback's parent company pursues a much larger overhaul of its core menu. Outback is reworking nearly every detail of its steak program after roughly two years of work on sourcing, preparation and staff training, according to FSR magazine. The chain announced a $75 million investment over three years, including $25 million earmarked for steak excellence and a menu redesign, and its “Best Steaks Ever” initiative has introduced two new cuts, the Down Under Delmonico Ribeye and New York Strip. FSR reports Outback wants its restaurant teams to become “steak obsessed,” training staff to walk customers through cuts and match them to preferences.
That push comes against a backdrop of contraction elsewhere in the chain. Bloomin' Brands, Outback's parent company, closed 41 restaurants in February 2024, with Outback locations making up the majority of those closures, according to USA Today. The company attributed the closures to a periodic review of sales, traffic, trade areas and potential investments to improve performance. Bloomin' Brands' U.S. portfolio still counts more than 160 Bonefish Grill locations nationwide, per the same report — none of them, until now, in Utah.
Those interested in the new Murray restaurant can reach it by phone at 801-207-2106, according to the Murray Journal.
