The Women of Ogden's Historic 25th Street

Virtually every visitor to Ogden, Utah is going to spend some time on Historic 25th Street.

Standing anywhere on the street, you can easily imagine Ogden’s rough-and-tumble days of bootlegging, gambling, and prostitution. Your mind easily travels back in time to the city’s glory days of bustling railroad passengers in crowded restaurants, bars, hotel lobbies, and brothels awaiting their connecting transcontinental trains at Union Station…though today, those places might be yoga studios, pottery shops or salons…or still bars.

These days, the collision of the historic and the contemporary creates the “vibe” on 25th Street. The biggest chunk of that vibe comes from the women-owned and women-run businesses you’ll find during your visit.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’d like to introduce you to a few of the faces you’re likely to see around the neighborhood.

Many of Ogden’s best eateries are co-owned/co-operated by husband-and-wife teams, with the wives being the heart of the operation. Tona Sushi owners, Tony and Tina Chen, didn’t earn a top-12 spot in Salt Lake Magazine’s Best Restaurants in Utah on Tony’s culinary skills alone. For nearly 20 years, Tina has been the front-of-house face for Tona as well as a fierce advocate for Ogden’s independent restaurant scene.

Ogden’s restaurant community is based more on cooperation than competition.

“It’s like a neighborhood where you can run next door to borrow a cup of flour,” is how Kym Buttschardt describes it. Kym and her husband, Pete, are community fixtures heavily credited with the revival of 25th Street over the last quarter-century due to their establishment of Union Grill, Roosters Brewing Co., and Roosters B-Street. You may recognize the Roosters name from the brewpub nearest security/baggage claim on your flight into SLC International. If not, you don’t want to miss it on your next outbound flight.

Kym and Tina were foundational to the establishment of Ogden Restaurant Week along with Craftburger’s Leigh Dean and Hearth on 25th’s Shana Hubbard. The most recent arrival? Table 25’s Jamie Buehler. Virtually every Ogden local would include these women’s establishments in their Top-10 Places to Eat in O-town.

The woman behind your locally roasted coffee could easily be Ground’s For Coffee’s Sadie Smith, or Daily Rise’s Beth Furton.

The sweet treat that gives you the burst of energy to keep exploring Ogden could likely come from The Queen Bee’s Robyn Stark, or Brooke Barragan at Brookey Bakes.

You might bump into Ogden City Arts Coordinator, Lori Buckley, scouting possible locations for more public art installations. Or you might be here for one of Ogden’s legendary Twilight Concerts under the direction of Christy McBride and Ashley Bockwoldt.

Gaze at the murals in the Nine Rails Creative District painted by Rachel Pohl, Jane Kim, Sherry Ferrin, and Lindsay Huss. Visit with dozens of women with working artist studios in The Monarch. Grab a print or an original watercolor from Kara Koolmees, who has colorfully contributed to Ogden’s vibrant arts scene for decades, or make a candle with Judy Kelly and Deanna Leslie at the Art Box. Either way, you’ll go home with incredible memories of Ogden and the women who make it magical.

When it’s time to wind down, grab a nightcap and listen to some live music at Sue Wilkerson’s Lighthouse Lounge or Heidi Harwood’s Brewskis or City Club.

If there’s anything we can do to make your trip to Ogden during Women’s History Month more enjoyable, pop in to see Tiffani, Caren, Millie, Hannah, or Sara at Visit Ogden…these women pretty much run the show.