Local restaurant dating back 68 years closing for good

CHUBBUCK — Tastee Treet, a Gate City establishment that’s served residents and visitors of the Portneuf River Valley for at least 68 years, will be closing its doors permanently.

Steve Porter, the owner, has decided to sell the original location at 1555 South Fifth Avenue that has records going back to 1955, as well as the newer Chubbuck location at 5231 Yellowstone Avenue. Porter’s reason is not that the business is failing, but that it was time to step away, which is a decision he hopes former customers can understand.

“It’s sad to see the end of an era of space burgers and hand spun milkshakes and fresh cut fries in this area, but it was the right thing for my family and for me,” Porter said.

Porter plans to auction off the equipment used to make Space Burgers. After the Chubbuck location closes on April 14, the equipment will be inspected to make sure it’s all operational. It will will be auctioned off to local residents in several months.

While the deal isn’t finalized yet, Porter said he intends to go through Prime Time Auctions because they’re a local business. Once the auction is finalized, it will be advertised. People can write their name and phone number down at the store and Porter will send out a group text with an announcement.

Tastee Treet isn’t a franchise and doesn’t own any sort of patent on the machines used to make Space Burgers. The machines exist outside of his restaurant, and there are other restaurants called Tastee Treet.

A family business

Porter’s parents acquired Tastee Treet from the original owner in 1975. In 1992, Porter’s parents tore down the old building on the original Pocatello property to replace it with the building that stands there now. Then in 2005, they opened up the Chubbuck location. Porter bought both buildings in 2011.

Porter said it’s become harder to staff management for both buildings. He works at one of those buildings every day.

“It just has become such a demand on my time and I’m watching my kids grow up without me because I’m always at work,” Porter said.

Porter told his family if he could sell the locations for what he paid, he could get out of it and was willing to walk away. He’s had multiple people approach him and ask him if he would be willing to sell.

“When I tell them that this is what I need to get out of it, that’s usually the end of the conversation because they recognize that it’s more than they think it’s worth or more than they’re capable of coming up with,” Porter said.

On January 3 of this year, an unexpected tragedy struck Tastee Treet. The manager at the Pocatello location passed away.

Porter closed the location, which he thought would be temporary at the time. After several weeks went by, they had no prospect of getting a new manager and Porter looked into selling or leasing it.

He got an offer on the store from another local business the day he listed it. He quoted the same price he’d told prospective buyers many times before.

“Yeah, we think we can make that work,” the person said, according to Porter.

The same day he accepted the offer for the Pocatello location, a different buyer gave him an offer on the Chubbuck store.

“I wasn’t looking to sell (the Chubbuck location at the time),” Porter said.

Still, it was an opportunity to sell the business earlier than anticipated and spend more time with his family.

‘I’m happy to see it stay a local business’

While it might be hard for members of the community to hear that the restaurant is closing for personal reasons, Porter feels comfortable with the buyers he sold the properties to and he hopes people support the new owners.

“They’re both local businesses and I’m happy to see it stay (a) local business,” Porter said.

In addition to spending more time with his family, Porter is excited to further pursue what has been his secondary venture, Pig Wings and Things. He serves pig wings, deep-fried watermelon, and other food items at the Cassia County Fair & Rodeo and Chrome in the Dome.

This year, Porter will be introducing his pig wings at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.