12 Best Restaurants in Salt Lake City, Utah

One of two inviting restaurants run by the city's excellent Proper Brewing Company, this contemporary neighborhood bistro on a quiet street in the Avenues is a terrific option for a meal on the terrace on a sunny day or in the postindustrial dining room. Sample the flavorful house-brewed ales paired with eclectic comfort fare like steak frites, Korean pork belly bibimbap, and shrimp and grits. There's a taproom downtown and an additional restaurant in Sugar House.  

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.

More than living up to its promise of farm-to-table freshness, this welcoming, microscopic, chef-driven neighborhood bistro capitalizes on local artisan farmers, with big and small plates anchored around simple ingredients like radishes, beets, or mountain stream trout. There's plenty to satisfy big appetites, too, such as bavette steak with duck fat potatoes, and fettuccine with braised hen, sofrito, pistachio, chile, and lemon. You can also dine at a second downtown location at 341 S. Main Street, which serves lunch on weekdays.

You'll often see chef-owner Takashi Gibo behind the sushi bar at this hip and lively Japanese restaurant across from the Gallivan Center. Takashi is known for sublime, melt-in-your mouth sushi as well as a slew of izakaya-style treats, like miso-grilled eggplant, baked marinated sablefish, and shiitake lamb shank in Japanese yellow curry. The list of specialty sushi rolls is long and never lacks for inspiration—try the one topped with escolar, sliced strawberry, spicy sauce, and fresh chilies, with toasted almonds and eel sauce on the outside. The full-service bar serves crisp sake and fine martinis.

Celebrated chef-owner Ryan Lowder brings joy with the basics—artful salads, house-made pastas, and charcuterie—and then dazzles with mouthwatering locally sourced dishes, from Cast Iron Mary's Chicken to rainbow trout with charred lemon and Greek yogurt. Stop in at this chic modern downtown bistro before or after a film, gallery tour, or live theater on Salt Lake's Broadway. The youthful Lowder studied with some of the nation's most famous chefs before bringing his own brand of sophisticated American cuisine to his hometown.

Arguably the best culinary destination in the far South Valley, this trendy bistro with exposed airducts and lofty timber-beam ceilings celebrates the region's vibrant agricultural heritage with a menu of seasonally changing farm-to-table cuisine. Steak from Utah ranches and roasted carrots, Korean-fried cauliflower, and other locally sourced ingredients share the menu with craft cocktails and local ales and lagers. 

At this cozy neighborhood spot with a leafy covered patio and an intimate dining room with a fireplace, tuck into plates of Spanish pintxos and tapas—ham and cheese croquettes, grilled bread with roasted mushrooms, Moroccan-style lamb skewers—along with shareable larger platters of tagine and paella. The wine list of well-curated Spanish and Portuguese bottles is one of the best in the city.

Mazza presents a long menu of well-prepared, traditional Middle Eastern favorites, like falafel, Aleppan walnut-pomegranate dip, cheese and za'atar flatbread, lamb kebabs, and oven-baked chicken and potatoes mutabbak (served with sweet onions and a tangy tamarind sauce over basmati rice). The desserts—including honey-drenched baklava—are noteworthy.

An unprepossessing storefront eatery near the leafy Avenues district, Oquirrh (rhymes with "poker") is named for the snowcapped mountain range west of Downtown and focuses on seasonal fare with locally sourced ingredients. Boldly flavored dishes like house-made radiatori pasta with basil-cashew pesto and Niman ranch pork chops with feta and beet puree are presented artfully on handmade stoneware in an intimate, art-filled dining room.

Sample small boldly flavored plates of yakisoba noodles, hamachi crudo, eggplant yakitori, and miso-glazed salmon at this airy, high-ceilinged Japanese restaurant in Sugar House. Ozora also offers a nice range of sushi rolls and sashimi. Save room for a slice of strawberry-and-yuzu cheesecake.

The expertly prepared, contemporary Vietnamese food is but one reason for this buzzy, contemporary bistro's success—there's also a good wine list and a range of creative cocktails. The kitchen specializes in modern and traditional fare, along with some nods to countries that border Vietnam—try the piquant lemongrass beef noodle soup before graduating to steamed whole branzino fish with a ginger-scallion sauce and tender sliced Peking-style pork chops with sweet-and-sour sauce.

This bustling, art-filled restaurant inside the airy, contemporary Eccles Theater draws plenty of folks for meals before or even during shows (there's a quick-bites intermission menu). Food here tends toward Southern American, with plenty of modern twists, such as barbecue bone-in ribs with sweet potato mash, and shrimp salad po'boys with root-vegetable chips. There's also an extensive selection of desserts and after-dinner drinks, as well as preshow cocktails.