A brief and incomplete history
The Bayou was founded in 2002 by a few of Utah's most passionate beer lovers. It is currently owned by original owners Mark and Kileen Alston. The Bayou is and will remain an independent, locally owned, one-off place for beer and food lovers to relax and explore the wonderful world of beer.
Who Are We?
Mark Alston began his career of beer after graduating from the University of Utah with degrees in Math and Physics. He had earlier been given a homebrewing kit which ended up changing his life. He opened The Beer Nut, Utah's premier homebrew shop, in 1994 and now after over 25 years in the beer business he can't understand a single one of his old math papers. Kileen Alston worked a very long stint at Utah's favorite Lagoon prior to leaving the glamor of Amusement Parks for the glamor of the bar business. Beating all odds, they have not only survived opening one business, The Beer Nut, but also a restaurant/bar and are still happily married and working together every day at the restaurant.
They have been lucky enough to surround themselves with an amazing staff of dedicated people. Turnover at The Bayou is very low and everyone has become part of the family. Without this amazing team none of it would be possible. Mark and Kileen owe a great thanks to all our current and past employees.
Our History
Now
With Utah's now extensive beer scene we still strive to remain the best place to drink beer. We are constantly searching out new beers to add to our list as well as spending extensive time teaching and training our staff about beer. We have no idea where Utah's beer scene is heading but we will hopefully keep leading the way.
2019
The Bayou serves the first draft beer from Belgium ever poured in Utah. Finally allowed by changes in Utah liquor laws Bacchus Oud Bruin becomes the first of many Belgian kegs that the Bayou will be pouring.
2019
The Bayou finally starts pouring draft beers off our new custom designed system. This system, designed in full by Mark, allows us to pour our beers using various gas blends and perfect pressures to each keg and makes cleaning easy and quick.
2015
With a beer list now reaching into the many hundred, it can be overwhelming to find a beer you want. To solve this problem, The Bayou released the first and still only beer app for any Utah bar. Our app's beer list is updated in real time and allows sorting and searching for beers in many ways. The app is available for Android and iOS phones.
2002
Mark and Kileen Alston and Del Vance (formerly of Uinta Brewing) join forces to open up Utah's first craft beer bar. Staring out with a list of over 100 beers they had no idea how huge it would end up becoming. While Vance would later leave and end up opening another beer bar they continue to remain friends and work closely to keep growing Utah's beer scene.