Cozy Salt Lake Dining Spots

Your perfect après-ski spots to fill up.

Written By Paula Colman

Urban HIll | Courtesy of Urban Hill

You can practically see the slopes from the tarmac at Salt Lake City International Airport. Unlike other ski destinations, once you’ve deplaned and grabbed your bags, you’re less than an hour away from The Greatest Snow on Earth^®. There are 11 ski resorts along the Wasatch Mountain Range. Less time in the car, more time on the mountain.

Of course, once you've had your fill of the slopes, you'll be in need of a cozy après spot to cap your day of adventure. Here are five Salt Lake spots you won't want to miss.

Urban Hill is located in Salt Lake City's up-and-coming Post District.

Photo: Courtesy of Urban Hill

1. Urban Hill

510 South 300 West, Salt Lake City

Few dining establishments in Salt Lake City have earned or deserved the acclaim bestowed upon Urban Hill in recent years. This upscale restaurant in the up-and-coming Post District has impressed foodies and critics and received Best of State and the James Beard Foundation acclaim. Walking into its well-lit chic entry, everything looks and feels fresh. Small plates with fresh oysters from its raw bar accompanied by visually and deliciously crafted cocktails set the scene. It’s one of the few restaurants where patrons don’t mind being seated in the raised bar section in the center of the venue, if only to better view the offerings. Begin with starters like its popular Peeky Toe Crab Ravioli with a sumptuous vodka sauce, broccoli’s cool cousin, crispy calabrese and fennel pollen. Follow this with entrees, such as the Bison Ribeye with mole negro with smoked hominy and chard or vegetarian selections that top the menu (not merely an appeasing afterthought), such as a seasonal pick Quinoa Chile Relleno with a memorable woody black bean huitlacoche sauce. The only problem with Urban Hill is saving room for dessert, but take one home as you’ll continue to reminisce for hours and days about this memorable meal.

The Urban Hill smash burger features smoked bacon and hatch chile.

Photo: Courtesy of Urban Hill

Salt Lake City's Urban Hill has impressed foodies and critics and received Best of State and the James Beard Foundation acclaim.

Photo: Courtesy of Urban Hill

2. Oquirrh

368 East 100 South, Salt Lake City

If you’re looking for one that feels like a neighborhood gem, Oquirrh (pronounced OH-ker) is one of several foodie-friendly restaurants in the capital city that has received national acclaim while keeping its low-key vibe. Nestled between downtown and The Avenues neighborhoods (Read: Insider's Guide to Salt Lake City Neighborhoods), Oquirrh uses locally-sourced produce and meats to create traditional fare with a modern twist. Its winter staple, chicken pot pie, instantly recognizable for the top of the leg rising perpendicularly from the crust, makes not just a statement but bridges nostalgic comfort with a culinary-adventurous declaration. “This is the Place,” as they say in Utah, for a memorable dinner in Salt Lake.

Table X prides itself on “no shortcuts” – from the bread and butter course to dessert, every sauce, soup, and sausage is handmade in-house from scratch.

Photo: Austen Diamond

3. Table X

1457 East 3350 South, Salt Lake City

Before social media placed an ‘X’ on the unmeasurable, undefinable or unattainable, Table X made a statement on the area’s food scene. Conceived by three accomplished chefs, the constantly-evolving menu presents five and seven-course menus of the best bounty in the most immeasurable, undefinable or unattainable presentations. People here and elsewhere applauded the efforts. Table X prides itself on “no shortcuts” – from the bread and butter course to dessert, every sauce, soup, and sausage is handmade in-house from scratch (Read: From Farm to Table X). The bread is available during the day in its attached bakery in Millcreek, Table X Bread, which has also received national recognition.

4. Bar Nohm

165 West 900 South, Salt Lake City, Utah

Is it a bar or restaurant? Bar Nohm, another foodie circuit must, is leading Salt Lake’s vanguard of cocktail and culinary creatives that elevate both foods and spirits. While ‘nohm’ means ‘people’ in Korean, it's a self-described ‘izakaya’ or Japanese gastropub, with an aesthetic and menu that reflects Korean and Japanese influences, not by fusing them but complementing them. Japanese Oden, with an umami broth that warms on a winter night filled with seasonal ingredients that refresh and rehydrate on arid summer evenings, sits easily beside the spicy and savory Korean Beef Ssam. Delicious skewers — dakkochi or yakitori — are simply listed but should not be forgotten among the food offerings. It’s a meal of small plates meant to be shared with friends. However, the branzino, prepared as two palm-sized pieces (instead of the typical whole fish) topped with tamarind and crunchy burdock root, will test even the most generous companion. Although the food easily stands on its own, the ‘bar’ in Bar Nohm outweighs the menu in breadth and depth with cocktails, wines and spirits that begin with a nudge on crowd favorites and tempt the compounding-curious with complex elixirs and prized whiskeys.

If the Bib Gourmand judges come to the Wasatch Front, they’d be remiss not to include a stop at Fácil Taqueria.

Photo: Kim Heys

On the edge of a strip mall just off the highway between Big Cottonwood and Parleys Canyons, Fácil Taqueria is a popular haunt for the after-ski crowd.

Photo: Kim Heys

5. Fácil Taqueria

4429 South 2950 East, Salt Lake City

There are always a few restaurants that fly beneath the radar, places that don’t have white tablecloths or even cutlery. The places that locals just go to again and again, and their friends visiting from St. Louis and Houston text them repeatedly for the “name of that place we went to with the amazing food.” If the Bib Gourmand judges come to the Wasatch Front, they’d be remiss not to include a stop at Fácil Taqueria. On the edge of a strip mall just off the highway between Big Cottonwood and Parleys Canyons, this walk-in, grab-a-table-after-ordering joint is a popular haunt for families that don’t want to cook before soccer, Park City-ites heading to the local Trader Joe’s and in-the-know skiers after a day on the slopes. To call it a ‘taqueria’ is to ignore the flavor bombs served atop shells. Smoked Prime Brisket Taco with a salsa negra glaze topped with buttermilk dressing. Chicken tikka with a warm red chili rub, lime crema, mojo verde and crunchy pepitas. If the shrimp ceviche is on the board (a weekend special that became a staple), choose it over the crispy chips and salsa with guacamole — not because the latter isn’t delicious, just because you want to save room for desserts like the cinco leches or flourless chocolate cake. Cocktail selections go beyond the house margarita with seasonal offerings prepared with the care and imagination of its menu items.

Cozy Salt Lake Dining Spots

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About the Author – Paula Colman

Paula Colman is not a professional skier, mountain biker, sommelier or chef, but spends her time pursuing these and whatever else pops up along the way with an inordinate amount of enthusiasm and humor. As a recovering attorney and practicing parent, who has lived in seven states across all four time zones, she landed in Utah over a decade ago and decided that she could study for the bar or learn to ski…hmmm. She now shares her stories about outdoor adventures and entertainments throughout Utah as a regular contributor for Visit Utah, Ski Utah, ApresSkiUtah.com and others and on Instagram at @harpo_utah.

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