Since 2005, European Tastees has been providing a taste of nostalgia to the European population in the Greater Salt Lake area. It is a true family business, founded by an Armenian couple, Artur Makian and Ruzan Mnoyan. I chatted with their son, Andrew Makian, who is carrying on his parents’ legacy of making German, Polish, Bulgarian, Russian, ex-Yugoslavian, and many other imported and baked in-house foods available to immigrants.
Their clientele reflects the origin of their inventory. Most of the time, Russian is the language resonating through the store. However, at the beginning of the pandemic, when all the toilet paper shelves became bare at the big box stores, born-and-raised Americans sieged European Tastees and emptied the shelves of all flour, rice, and other essential staples.
Despite Covid, the business is thriving. Like many other businesses, European Tastees had to adapt by utilizing delivery services, wearing masks, and constantly sanitizing. Since all of their grocery items are imported, it takes three times longer to receive them. Nevertheless, the eight-employee team takes pride in being able to offer the exact same array of food items as before the pandemic.
European Tastees is located at:
4700 S 900 E, Murray in the back of Ivy Place Shopping Village
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