Need a quick bite while visiting the Utah State Prison? Check out the Serving Time Cafe, a restaurant staffed by female inmates and open to the public.

The cafe, operated by Utah Correctional Industries, is located adjacent to the prison at 14072 Pony Express Rd. Watch for the cafe’s banner along the frontage road at the parking lot for the Olympus Facility and Utah Correctional Industries’ showroom.

The Serving Time Cafe serves quick grab items plus hot lunches, including gourmet hamburgers. Menu items includes hamburgers, deli sandwiches and chicken strips. Breakfast items will be served starting April 22, 2019. The cafe also offers catering services (box lunches, deli platters) for business lunches, retirement parties and conferences. Click here to see a menu.

The cafe opened on Dec. 7, 2009, with three staff and five female inmate employees.

Many of the women who work in the cafe have earned vocational certificates in culinary arts through Davis Technology College and aspire to work as cooks at a community correctional centers or restaurant. The cafe provides them with the real-world experience of working in a fast-paced restaurant environment. They fill every role: dishwasher, dining room attendant, prep cook, baker, and cook.

Some women may never use the cooking skills they gain at the cafe, but they learn what it means to hold down a legitimate job and how to get along in the workplace — skills they never had a chance to develop before coming to prison.

The cafe is open weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The hours will change to 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting April 22, 2019.

Note: The cafe is closed on federal and state holidays.