Creole & Sliders Cafe

Address: 2285 South Main Street

Telephone: 801-895-2099

Website: instagram.com/creoleandsliders

District: South Salt Lake

 

“The two things that bring people together, no matter who they are, are sports and food. And that’s what we built this place on.” Frank and Jovanna Henry, owners of Creole & Sliders Cafe, did not move to Salt Lake City with the intention of opening a restaurant. They came to retire.

After decades in San Diego - raising a family, running businesses, founding a school, and working in public service – Frank and Jovanna imagined a slower pace of life in the mountains. But just a few months in, Frank found himself missing the warmth of community, the familiar sounds of live jazz, and the rich Creole flavors he and Jovanna loved so much. “I told her, if we can’t find a place like that, we’ll build it,” he said. And that is exactly what they did.

Frank first arrived in Salt Lake at age nineteen, recruited from San Diego to play football for the University of Utah. “I’d just been stabbed in a gang fight the week before my recruiting trip,” he said. “Then I landed here and couldn’t believe how peaceful it was. I called my mom and said the only way you could die out here was in a car accident.” He had never been on a plane before and had never seen snow. “It blew my mind.” Frank thrived at the U. He became team captain, joined the Beehive Honor Society, and formed lifelong bonds with teammates who still support him today.

After a standout college career, Frank was drafted to play professionally for Saskatchewan in the Canadian Football League. He left the U in 1978 to play his first season, then returned in 1979 to finish his degree in history and began coaching as a graduate assistant. That launched a thirty-two-year coaching career at the high school and junior college levels in San Diego. “I loved it,” Frank said. “Some great teams, some not-so-great ones - but always good kids. I coached all my own kids, too.”

Alongside coaching, Frank, and Jovanna co-founded H-Town Christian Academy in 2001 - a private school in San Diego’s inner city. “We built it from scratch,” Frank said. “We created the curriculum, ran the administration, and coached the teams. A lot of our students had failed out of their previous schools. But we sent many of them on to four-year colleges, including one to Stanford who made it to the pros.” After seven years, the school closed due to funding challenges, but the impact endured. “We loved it,” Jovanna said. “It was exhausting, but meaningful work.”

Jovanna had her own powerful career story. She ran track in high school, earned a business degree from San Diego State, and landed a coveted position with the Department of Defense. “I started as a student aide and stayed for forty years,” she said. Working as a programmer and data analyst, she remained in the federal system until her retirement in 2016 and then continued part-time as a contractor. “It’s rare to get a job in your degree field right after college,” she reflected. “I was lucky.”

Jovanna’s story also begins in the kitchen. Her grandmother, from Franklin, Louisiana, supported her children through the Depression by working as a cook and housekeeper for a wealthy family. “She passed those recipes to my mom, and my mom passed them to me,” Jovanna said. “Now we’re passing them to our daughter.” Jovanna grew up cooking from a young age, especially after her parents separated. “My mom went back to work as a seamstress for the Navy, and I helped raise my brothers. I did all the cooking.”

In 1990, the couple opened their first restaurant in San Diego - Jovanna’s Creole Cuisine. “We knew nothing about the restaurant business,” Jovanna said, laughing. “But the food? That we knew.” The tiny space became a local legend, drawing Grammy-winning jazz musicians, Chargers players, and a loyal neighborhood crowd. “We weren’t making money, but we were making memories,” Frank said. When Jovanna became pregnant with their first child together, they shut the doors.

More than three decades later, the two returned to the kitchen with wisdom, vision, and experience. In the spring of 2025, they opened Creole & Sliders Cafe in South Salt Lake - a cozy, vibrant space that reflects their deep roots and shared passion. “We didn’t want a full restaurant this time,” Frank said. “Just a café. A place where food brings people together. Where we could roll up the garage door, have a band come in, and create that social energy we were missing.”

The menu blends soul and strategy. Jovanna is the chef, and everything is made from scratch - from the seafood gumbo (served Fridays only) to the red beans and rice, coleslaw, cowboy beans, and legendary cornbread. Frank takes pride in preparing the Po’ Boys and catfish dishes, while Jovanna bakes Southern desserts like peach cobbler and pecan pie. “Once a week, I choose the dessert. It’s always my call,” she said with a smile. “The café is called Creole & Sliders because, in addition to traditional Creole dishes, they serve hearty brisket and chicken sliders - each topped with Jovanna’s homemade coleslaw and cowboy beans on a soft, generous roll.” A favorite addition is the vegan-friendly Creole sauce over rice, built on the “holy trinity” of onions, bell peppers, and celery - the aromatic base for every true Creole dish - enhanced with tomato and layers of spice. “You could almost drink it,” Frank joked. “But it’s thick enough to need a spoon.”

Frank and Jovanna are creating an experience. On Saturday nights, live jazz fills the café. They host pop-ups at other venues like Policy Kings Brewery. They have formed close ties with the Black Chamber of Commerce and local musicians, and they dream of hosting South Salt Lake’s first jazz and blues festival down the road. “There’s no real cultural lounge space here,” Frank said. “That’s what we’re trying to build.” And they are doing it their way. “We’ve created a system that lets us go home at night. We're in bed by 9:00,” Jovanna said laughing. “We’re not running ourselves into the ground. This is a retirement dream, one we actually enjoy.”

Still, the work is no small feat. Jovanna cooks every day. Frank handles the business. Together, they are continuing to build something meaningful not only for themselves, but for the community that is quickly embracing them. “This is more than a restaurant,” Frank said. “It’s a love story - between me and her, between us and this food, and between us and this city. We’re just grateful to be doing what we love, together.”