ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Salt Lake City—restaurants and clubs to enjoy

By Blaine H. Hall Humanities Librarian Brigham Young University

With over 1,100 restaurants, delis, and other eateries of all varieties from small to large, inexpensive to high priced, and casual to formal, Salt Lake City has food and atmosphere to satisfy every taste and pocketbook. Here are a few suggestions for good eating based on the experi- ences of many locals and visitors. All of the confer- ence hotels feature one or more restaurants, and within walking distance of downtown hotels and the Salt Palace you will find over 90 restaurants featur- ing everything from four-star culinary artistry to casual regional dining and national and local fast- food chains.

For a busy conference-goer, finding a good place for a quick breakfast and a fast lunch is a high priority. Your hotel restaurant or cafe will usually suffice for a quick or leisurely breakfast, or you can order an inexpensive breakfast special at Coyote Bill’s next to the Shilo Inn on the comer of 200 South and West Temple across the street from the Salt Palace. And MacDonalds is at the north entrance to Crossroads Mall on South Temple.

For a quick, delicious, inexpensive lunch close to the convention center, try the food court on the lower level of Crossroads Plaza across the street from the Salt Palace or directly through a short tunnel from the Marriott Hotel lobby. Over 15 fast- food shops feature a surprisingly good selection of sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, burgers, tacos, pizza, pasta, and hickory-smoked barbecued meats in American, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Japanese, and Mexican styles. Tables in the center of the court allow you to sit and relax while you relish your repast. Prices start at about $2.00. Up the street at the Carriage Court in the new Inn on Temple Square, you can get a large helping of Frentier Stew or other moderately priced dish in a gracious, pleasant, smoke-free atmosphere. Or the delicious homemade food served cafeteria-style at the Lion House, Brigham Young’s historic home, a half block east of Main Street on South Temple, might appeal to you.

South of the Salt Palace enjoy Marianne’s Delicatessen at 149 West on 200 South where you can sit down in the Gasthaus for authentic German food and full service amid steins, nutcrackers, flags, and scenic paintings of Germany. Select from a variety of homemade sausages, wursts, sandwiches, salads, sauerkraut, red cabbage, strudels, tarts, cakes, and German beers. Siegfrieds Delicatessen at 69 West 300 South serves similar fare in cafeteria style. Prices at both are reasonable, making them popular with the downtown lunch crowd. Both open only for lunch.

On Main Street at 169 South step into the past at Lamb’s Restaurant, Utah’s oldest continually operating restaurant (1919), and still popular with the downtown business people, shoppers, and tourists. You’ll find a variety of sandwiches, salads, and other luncheon favorites priced from $3 to $6. Early dinner specials are served from 3:30-5:30 p.m. for $8.75 and include most of the accompaniments offered on the higher-priced dinner menu.

For dinner within walking distance of the convention center, Market Street Grill serves fresh fish, chops, and prime rib as well as an early-bird reduced-price special from 5:30-7:00. Squatters, the city’s only pub brewery, features a nice woody ambience and grilled foods. Shenanigans prides itself on great food and fun (you’ll enjoy reading the menu) and is also a good choice for lunch. Peery Pub & Cafe features continental cuisine and a casual atmosphere in- cluding fresh fish, home- made pasta, beef, and lamb. Baci Trattori of- fers a northern and south- ern Italian menu, and next door at Cafe Pierpont you can dine on fresh tortillas, fajitas, and other Mexican dishes. The Rio Grande Cafe in the restored Rio Grande Train Station, the home of the Utah History Mu- seum at 300 South and Rio Grande Street, is also a popular Mexican res- taurant.

Relax at one of the many inviting clubs in the Salt Lake City conference area.

For a choice of popu- lar dining spots just a few blocks east of the Salt Palace, grab a cab or hop on the UTA Trolley for a 65-cent ride to Trolley Square where you will find over two dozen eat- ing estab-lishments such as the Spaghetti Factory (Italian), Don Felipe’s (Mexican), E.I.B.O. Mesquite Broil-er, Tony Roma’s (ribs), and F errantelli Ristorante Italiano. And while you’re there you can browse the trendy boutiques and gift shops. Just across the street on 700 East is Mulboons, widely enjoyed for its delicious entrees and for its large bowl of iced steamed shrimp appetizer served with every meal. The trolley stops at most hotels and shopping centers and at the gold and burgundy trolley signs in the downtown area.

Away from downtown and the central city, dozens of excellent restaurants offer a wide choice of atmosphere, cuisine, and prices. To get away from the urban setting you might enjoy a run up 400 South to Emigration Canyon to the popular Ruth’s Diner for Chinese, Italian, Cajun, and Mexican dishes in a 1940s atmosphere. (Yes, the old trolley car is still part of the building.) For the best cozy canyon dining, ride outto the Mill Creek Inn in Mill Creek Canyon, east from Wasatch Blvd. at 3800 South. From the dining room a wall of windows looks out over the natural landscape where you might be visited by deerorotherwildlife. Prices are moderate. For a pricier canyon experience, Le Caille at Quail Run, 9565 South Wasatch Blvd., features the finest in continental and French din- ing. From the time you enter the gate up a winding brick road the setting has been transformed with ponds, trees, flowers, and vineyards into a French estate. Dinners are priced from about $30 up.

If you want drinks with your meal, beer is available almost every- where and many res- taurants serve alcoholic beverages with meals. Many private clubs in Salt Lake offer tempo- rary memberships where you can enjoy not only great food and drinks but the hottest jazz, the songs of a pi- ano bar, or the latest dance tunes. Near the convention center you will find the Oyster Bar next to Market Street Grill, Club Baci on Pierpont Avenue, the Green Parrot at 155 West 200 South, and Green Street at Trol- ley Square.

This is just an appe- tizerto Salt Lake’s great eating. For additional suggestions stop by the Hospitality Booth in the registration area and we’ll be happy to suggest other fine restaurants or let you browse some of the books and articles available on dining and nightlife in Salt Lake City.