Gardner Village and Archibald’s Restaurant, Revisited

It’s been awhile since I last visited Archibald’s Restaurant at Gardner Village. In the 1990s and 2000s, my mom and sister used to love strolling the grounds of Gardner Village in West Jordan. We would meet up and peruse the boutique stores nestled in historic houses and cabins. The historic factor was a big part of the charm, because two of the buildings were part of my childhood memories in Rush Valley, Utah. The decades-old St. Joer/Orr cabin and the Orson A. Johnson cabin were moved to the Gardner Village grounds where they could enjoy a new life as shops.  

  We usually concluded our expedition with a meal at Archibald’s Restaurant, housed in the stone flour mill and silo that Archibald Gardner first build in 1877.

When I was the Deseret News food editor, I did a few stories on Gardner Village events, too. Since Mom (Patricia Dymock) and my sister Christi Nash have passed away, and I retired from the Des News, I don’t have as many reasons to visit Gardner Village on my own.

  Last week I was invited to lunch by an old friend, Marcia Johns, Gardner Village’s long-time marketing director. It was great to hear how Gardner Village is still thriving, while preserving fascinating pieces of Utah history.

  The old flour mill was over 100 years old when Nancy Long bought it in 1979. By that time, the mill was shut down and the property was run down. She renovated the mill and started a country-style furnishings store in it (known as CF Home Furniture and Design today). Nancy sought out old houses that were at risk of being torn down, moved them to the site and renovated them into a village of shops and services. Within the grounds, you can find furniture, home décor, candy, bedding, clothing, gifts, flowers, a day spa, magic show dinner theater, escape room, and more. The mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Utah Historical Site.

  Archibald’s Restaurant was opened in 1990, within the stone walls of the old mill. The ambiance gives a a nod to the past, but with a clean, modern feel.

I would call Archibald’s menu elevated comfort classics, with standards like country-fried steak, chicken pot pie, seared salmon, fish & chips, chicken Cordon Bleu and rib-eye steak. And you can polish them off with desserts like carrot cake and Death by Chocolate bundt cake.

A time-honored signature entree is Lemon Chicken, a lightly breaded chicken breast topped with lemon garlic butter sauce. 

  But being a warm summer day, Marcia and I both chose cool, crisp salads — something that Archibald’s also executes well.

  Marcia ordered one of her favorites — the Wedge. Iceberg lettuce wedges are topped with tomatoes, bacon, bleu cheese crumbles, bread crumbs and bleu cheese dressing.

  I was in the mood for something crisp and bacon-y, and the Cobb salad fit the bill. Fresh greens topped with chopped bacon, diced tomatoes, green onions, olives, bleu cheese crumbles and grilled chicken. (The usual diced hard-boiled egg was omitted at my request.) Sometimes salads can be skimpy on the protein, but this salad was generous with the grilled chicken and bacon.  (Although the photo below may look like there’s not a lot of lettuce, I assure you there was plenty of lettuce below the toppings!)

We started out sharing the fried green tomatoes appetizer. They are hand-sliced in-house, and lightly breaded with panko crumbs to give them a crunchy finish. They come with a creamy salsa for dipping.

  Other appetizers are breaded avocado slices, and deep-fried cheese curds and onion rings. Oh, and avocado toast — once trendy, but now a restaurant staple. Archibald’s version starts with sourdough toast points, topped with mashed avocado grape tomatoes, burrata cheese, “everything” seasoning, and a drizzle of sweet balsamic glaze.

Now that I’ve been back to Gardner Village and Archibald’s, I realize that I’m going to have to come back and make some new memories there!