About Us

Hi! Welcome. Glad you stopped by! Pull up a chair!

The first question we usually get asked is, "How did we get a sandwich shop inside a pottery shop?" Well, first we had to fold it into really, really small pieces... Actually, it all makes perfect sense once you hear the story.

Don MacDonald has been creating beautiful handmade pottery in the Salt Lake area for over 30 years. He started out in a small garage in Magna, then became affiliated with "Stone Age Pottery" and taught and managed their classes for them. He opened the retail gift shop at its present location at 232 East 800 South in 1987. Don's work is collected all over the world and he has received numerous awards in local and national competitions since he started making pots in high school.

One magical day he met Joanna Rendi and that's when his life got REALLY good! (Guess who is writing this.)

In October 2000, we purchased a warehouse around the corner from the gift shop and turned it into the Circle Pottery School of Clay Arts and moved Don's production studio there. The school was an instant and overwhelming success and helped many people improve their potting techniques under Don's expert tutilage. However, after 30 years as a professional potter, he is ready to retire from production work and do some of his own stuff.

In the meantime, we closed the gift shop for some remodeling and put in MOOCHIE's Meatballs and More, serving fresh homemade Italian food and the best Philly cheesesteaks and meatball sandwiches in Utah. Joanna, who is originally from Philadelphia, really wanted to bring AUTHENTIC Philly cheesesteaks into the Salt Lake area. There are many eateries who say they do "authentic" Phillys, but anyone who is from the east coast or has been there and had the real thing will know the difference. As an aside, if you are from the east coast, you may be familiar with a place called "Tony Luke's", rated one of the TOP FIVE best Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia--- that's Moochie's cousin, so it runs in the family.

So that's how we ended up with a sandwich shop inside a pottery shop.

We've expanded the gift area and are still selling pottery by Don and other local potters, so diners get the bonus of looking at the beautiful handmade pottery Don makes while enjoying the delicious handmade food Joanna makes. Moochie's is the kind of place you can get real homemade food at a reasonable price. It's not fancy, and it certainly wasn't designed by a focus group, which may be exactly why you'll like it. Eventually we plan to bring in unique items for cooks and gourmands. We are grateful to all the loyal customers who have made Circle Pottery a huge success over the years and hope you will continue to visit us for great gifts and great food.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, or if you have any comments, please send us an e-mail. Thanks!
-Joanna Rendi MacDonald