Annie’s Diner (formerly Granny Annie’s) Is Getting A Menu Makeover

Changes are afoot at Annie’s Diner, the Kaysville institution that many still refer to as Granny Annie’s. Customers can expect some tweaks to the existing menu, and the addition of bakery items such as raspberry and orange rolls.

Owner Jason Sanders shared some of the upcoming changes a few weeks ago when I interviewed him for a Gastronomicslc.com article. My story told how many restaurants — both chains and local independents — are simplifying their menus due to rising costs, labor shortages, and hard-to-get ingredients.

By coincidence, that same day I walked in to Dirty Bird Fried Chxx in Ogden (working on a different story for the Standard-Examiner) and was surprised to see Braden Bijold behind the counter. I met Braden last summer when he and his wife Mo Bijold were managing Annie’s.

Braden told me he was now training to become manager of Dirty Bird’s soon-to-open Clearfield location. He expressed some sadness about leaving Annie’s, but the hours were long, especially given staffing shortages from the current labor market. Braden thought the position at Dirty Bird would give him more time with his family.

I thought of Annie’s large, complex menu, with everything — hash, gravies, soups, chicken-fried steak, hash browns, baked goods, you name it — all made from scratch. It definitely takes a lot more cooking prowess than Dirty Bird’s simple menu of fried chicken sandwiches.

Since the Bijolds stepped away, management changes are still in flux, Sanders said.

When Sanders, a Kaysville attorney, bought Granny Annie’s and renamed it Annie’s Diner last year, he already knew the loyal regulars of the 19-year-old restaurant were adamant to keep things as is. For instance, soon after he took ownership, the the kitchen mistakenly got a shipment of thin-cut bacon instead of the usual thick-cut, and customers were up in arms about it. With a smile, Sanders refers to the incident as “Bacon-gate.”

In fact, Sanders WAS a loyal regular — that’s why he bought the restaurant in the first place after it went up for sale; he feared it would close for good.

“There are only three reasons we would ever change the menu,” Sanders said. “If something becomes too costly or we can’t get it in, or if an item isn’t ordered enough by customers, or for efficiency.”

 Most of the upcoming menu changes are for efficiency.

  The initial “Granny Annie,” Annie Curry, named menu items for long-time customers who ordered it on a regular basis. Such as Ned’s Breakfast – hash browns, eggs and a choice of breakfast meat. Or LaRae’s Breakfast — three strips of bacon and sausage gravy on hash. It’s part of the restaurant’s charm, but it’s hard for new cooks to figure out what a Kathy and Shawn’s Sandwich, Maria’s Bowl of Soup, Woodsman Special or a Donnie’s Omelet entails.

“Hiring is a big deal right now, and we’ve had people who started and then quit a couple days later because our menu is so complex, especially when you make everything from scratch,” Sanders said.

  So although Annie’s will serve the same house-made items, including the dinner-size scones, hash browns, eggs, “SOS” gravy, hash, pancakes, omelets, etc., most of those quirky names will be discontinued, “in order to speed up the ordering and cooking processes,” Sanders said. “Most of the same things will be on the menu, but the menu will just look different.”

  Also, liver & onions will disappear. Once a classic, this dish has gotten harder to find as many old-school diners have closed. But, fewer people are ordering it these days, and “We had to take a hard look at things that weren’t selling.”

Sanders expects to get an earful from diehard liver-lovers. But even after limiting it to a Wednesdays-only special, “We still had more leftovers than we sold. Liver isn’t something that can keep, so there’s a lot of waste involved.”

  But on the plus side, the restaurant hired a baker, and is adding raspberry and orange rolls, peanut butter bars and other baked goods. 

The gourmet burgers that were added last year are staying. “We get a lot of compliments on them,” Sanders said.

The new menu is expected to come out in early April, but “it’s taking a lot of work to get it ready,” Sanders said.

So meanwhile, enjoy the liver & onions while you can.