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The 2002 Winter Olympics cast Salt Lake City in a new, contemporary, more diverse light. Visitors discovered a panoply of cultural influences, brewpubs, ethnic flavors, and progressive chefs. Salt Lake City may not have the depth of restaurants seen in other big cities, but there are a couple of outstanding choices for nearly every budget and cuisine. Restaurants like Lamb’s Grill Café, Hire’s Big H, and Ruth’s Diner trace their roots back five-plus decades, and their colorful proprietors are more than willing to share the history they’ve witnessed from their kitchens. Returning LDS missionaries have brought back their favorite flavors from Asia, Europe, and Latin America, with impressive results. Seafood, Japanese, Tibetan, Indian, Spanish, and Italian are all suitably showcased in Salt Lake eateries, and when all else fails, there are great burgers and Rocky Mountain cuisine, a fusion inspired by frontier big game, seafood fresh from the great Pacific ports, and organic produce grown in Utah’s fertile valleys. You'll also find creative wine lists and knowledgeable service. Bakers and pastry chefs defy the 4,400-foot altitude with rustic sourdoughs and luscious berry-filled treats. Multiple weekly summer farmers' markets are thriving, and chefs are building more and more of a food community.
Foodies flock to this neighborhood café and food market for creative salads and colorful entrées like ahi tuna poke with guajillo chilies and mango, or lobster gnocchi in a saffron beurre blanc with dandelion pesto and candied oranges. Also on the menu are house-made soups and generous deli sandwiches. Big windows and warm mustard and terra-cotta tones lend the setting some Tuscan-style flair, with seating indoors and out.
A bustling space with high ceilings, brick walls, and live music some evenings, this contemporary take on a traditional Jewish deli is in a cheerful neighborhood on the south edge of Sugar House. It's a must for classic dishes—in enormous portions—of Reuben sandwiches, blintzes with fruit compote, matzo ball soup, and everything bagels with smoked sockeye salmon and a schmear.
Employing a team of world-class pastry chefs, including acclaimed owner and Food Network competitor Adalberto Diaz, this sumptuous little cake shop produces artful and delicious sweet treats. Stop by and treat yourself to a guava tart or a slice of raspberry chocolate cheesecake. There's an additional location in Salt Lake City International Airport.
Set in downtown's Gateway Center shopping village and offering several distinct dining stations and seating at gorgeous carved-wood tables, the city's first food hall opened in 2020 and has quickly become a trendy spot to eat and people-watch. The options are varied and consistently good and include Nashville hot chicken, Belgian-style waffles and crepes, slow-cooked ramen, prodigious lobster rolls, and Japanese-Mexican-fusion izakaya fare. There's also a large outdoor dining area with gardens and flowers, and a multiplex movie theater next door.
Begun by a pastry chef from acclaimed HSL restaurant, this off-beat artisan icecream shop turns out exceptional all-natural soft-serve ice cream in a riot of interesting flavors (brown butter, spruce tip with salted caramel, apple cider sorbet, olive oil), along with "composed" cones with interesting toppings mixed in—like house-made cake bits, gingersnap cookies, and honeycomb. If you're looking for sweet picnic treats, pick up a pint or a slice of ice-cream cake.
This ubercool artisan-coffee purveyor has several locations around town, with this simple, streamlined shop in a converted service station in the Avenues arguably the most inviting, in part because of its handsome wooden tables and for its location along a block of lovely historic homes. Publik sources its fair-trade beans from high-quality farms throughout Latin America and Africa, and always offers an interesting array of seasonal espresso drinks, like the wintertime favorite Sweet Melissa, a honey syrup–infused latte with lemon balm, sage, and sweet mint.
In a city known for healthy living and spiritualism, this Sugar House purveyor of exceptional loose-leaf teas, fine wines (by the bottle or in single-serving cans), and light but tasty snacks has a devoted following. Pick your tea from the lengthy menu—the blueberry matcha is a standout—and enjoy it hot, as a latte, or iced.
In the Liberty Wells district a little west of Sugar House, this eclectically furnished café with cozy armchairs, rotating art exhibits, and high-ceiling rafters is an inviting place to while away a morning or afternoon. Veggie quiche with house-made aioli, thick-cut sourdough avocado toast, and well-crafted espresso drinks provide sustenance, and there's always good music playing.
With an irreverent name and somewhat remote suburban location in the District retail-dining center in South Jordan, this contemporary post-industrial space pulls in ardent fans of Korean food from points far and near. Once you've tucked into a plate of kalbi flame-grilled short ribs, beef bulgogi, fusion-style garlic-ginger tacos with Asian slaw, or a Korean fried shrimp po'boy slathered in house sweet-and-sour sauce, you'll understand what all the fuss is about. There's a second location in Cottonwood Heights.
Whether for a flavor-packed snack or a hearty meal, head to this bustling hole-in-the-wall café near the Salt Lake City and County Building for some of the best fried chicken in the city—this Indian-spiced treat is available with veggie curry and rice, hummus and pitas, or in a salad. You'll find plenty of other tasty Indian and Middle Eastern dishes here, too, including falafel wraps, chicken shawarma, vegetable samosas, and masala chai. Alcohol isn't served.
Skip the overpriced breakfast at your downtown hotel and make a beeline for this enchanting Parisian-inspired boulangerie with tiled walls, marble café tables, and sidewalk seating out front. Start the day with beet-avocado toast, stuffed French toast oozing with lemon cream cheese and blueberry compote, or a fruit tart or almond croissant. The espresso and cold brew are first-rate, too.
As its name hints, this usually packed Downtown fast-casual eatery with counter service and a small seating area specializes in poultry, and the menu couldn't be simpler. Pick your spice level (from medium to the excruciatingly fiery "hot behind"), choose either a quarter bird or a boneless-chicken sandwich, and add some sides if you'd like (crinkle-cut fries, cider slaw, pickles). Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can is the only beer served, but there's canned wine, too. Additional locations are in Sugar House, Midvale, and Park City.
This cozy neighborhood bakeshop between Trolley Square and 9th and 9th turns out absolutely ethereal cookies (the salted caramel bars are legendary), tarts, and cakes, as well as sandwiches on soft and crusty savory breads. The soppressata and provolone and prosciutto-fig-gorgonzola sandwiches are among the favorites, and there's a full roster of espresso drinks and fine teas. There's a second location south and east, near Wasatch Hollow.
