CEDAR CITY — Some residents on the city’s northern side — and in Enoch — have been wondering when more opportunities to dine and shop will come for years.
In 2001, the Utah Department of Transportation revamped Interstate 15 and moved the location of Exit 61 one mile north. Almost instantly a truck stop and gas station were built. Since then a credit union and a car wash are the only additions to Exit 62 in decades.
Locals may have noticed dust in the air across Main Street from Love’s Travel Stop as the Rigby and Weaver families pooled together to start yet another adventure.
Travis Rigby recently spoke with Cedar City News about plans for a new restaurant. While Rigby has built his reputation in business as the owner of Sparkles Car Wash and Papa John’s Pizza locally, both families wanted to try something new.
Travelers exiting the freeway at Exit 62 currently have two options — fast food or convenience store sandwiches. Things are about to change with the announcement of Second East, located at 686 East Canyon Ranch Drive.
“We are going to offer healthier food at an affordable price,” Rigby said. “Pasta, salads, proteins and drinks. There also be another place serving ice cream and desserts.”
Sweet Street will be the name of the confection establishment, and both names have special meaning to the families opening the business. Rigby’s wife, Amyanne, grew up on 200 East in Cedar City.
In a social media post to friends and family, she told the story of attending a speech given by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
“He spoke of ‘rootedness.’ And how Fairview, Utah gave that to him,” she wrote. “That’s what 2nd (East) is — rootedness — the ability to connect with the past, present and future. That is what our nation needs, our state needs and what Cedar City needs.”
Amyanne Weaver Rigby was raised in a family of nine by parents who supported them on state social worker and high school educator incomes.
Between Little League baseball games, newspaper routes, Sunday sermons, temple work for The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints and camping at the “S” curve, to her, the street became a symbol of sorts.
“I grew up in the original part of town, some call it dog town — I call it home,” she said in the post. “The seasons came and went and we grew and out grew our memories and our hand me downs, but we never outgrew 2nd East.”
Continuing with the family tradition, Second East will be a joint venture with his brother-in-law, Chris Weaver, who comes with several decades of experience in the restaurant industry. When asked his thoughts regarding the business name, Travis Rigby shared his own memories of the street from his youth.
“I met my wife when I was a sophomore in high school,” he said. “Every time I’d be driving out of the canyon, down (state Route) highway 14, I would be looking down that street. Hoping I could see Amyanne’s car parked out there, you know, love struck. I have a lot of good memories with the family there too.”
After acquiring a little more than 1 acre near the intersection of Canyon Ranch Drive and Auto Mall Drive, Rigby said they wanted to build a restaurant to be adored by locals and tourists alike.
“We are going to be open for Christmas, believe it or not,” he said, adding that their target is to finish the building by Nov. 30. “Then we can recruit and hire employees and have a soft opening.”
In terms of long-term investments, he will also be the first to admit, he said, a restaurant is probably not the smartest move in the current market.
“When you look at what happened during the pandemic, employee shortages, restaurants closing down — everything that happened to the restaurant industry, it’s not an easy business to get into,” Rigby said.
Still, he’s forging ahead with plans that have worked in the past for employees in his car wash and pizza businesses. And he said he’s been observing what makes other local establishments successful, like the longtime owner of Brad’s Food Hut.
“Wage inflation is a challenge,” he added. “We are going to try to pay competitive wages. Kind of like Brad Larson has it, where he has a line of kids that want to work there. And they seem like they work there for a long time. That’s kind of what we’re searching for.”
UDOT Communications Manager Kevin Kitchen told Cedar City News that at the start of the millennium, the freeway exit that used to be at mile marker 61 was closed due to poor visibility when departing I-15.
“Apparently there may have been some sight issues associated with it in conjunction with the angles,” he noted.
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