Good Lesser Known Utah Restaurants?
 

I get tired of the same old places for dinner. I enjoy places that are unique, like Red Iguana downtown, or Este Pizza before it burnt up. Anybody have any unique places they like to eat in Utah that may be lesser known? I'd prefer Downtown and north, but if the food is good enough...

isnt the downtown one the Blue? I thought red was the one going out to the airport? i liked that place. nice mole sauce.

I think you are right...and the one by the airport has pretty dang good mole, I agree.

The Himalayan Kitchen (www.himalayankitchen.com) on 4th South and just off of State Street is fabulous. Very good indian/nepaleze food. The Butter chicken is terrific. It is becoming more well known but still a nice comfortable place to eat at.

Faustinas is also very good (www.faustinaslc.com) and has a terrific lasagna and other very nice food though it is a bit pricier than some other SLC restaurants.

Mazza has terrific middle eastern deli-style food. I really like their chicken kabob sandwich.
http://www.mazzacafe.com/

Su Casa on 5th E and 3rd S has good lunch specials.

When I lived in Provo there was a little hole in the wall on center street called "El Salvador's". There was zero ambiance (which worked well for them) and even the silverware was mismatched. But the food was awesome; I've often wondered if it's survived the past 13 years.

Ciao Italian - Sandy
Ottavio's - Provo
Carraba's - Orem
Ruth's Diner - Emigration Canyon
Tuscany - Fort Union
Windy's Sukiyaki- Ogden
The Oaks - Eastern Ogden
Rubio's Fish Tacos - Sugarhouse
Kostas Greek - Sugarhouse
Chick's Cafe - Heber
The Cheese Factory - Thayne, WY

Al fornos - best italian food in Utah

I disagree.

Al Forno's is good, but it's not the best. That title belongs to Fresco.

The Atlantic on main between 2nd and 3rd. Charlie Chows on 4th south and between 2nd and 3rd east I think. Charlie Chows is money. Sete Bella (SP) an Italian joint that is good but I can't remember the street address.

What's your take on Cucina Toscana (in the old tire building right behind Caputo's deli)?

I like Thai Chili Gardens. It used to be an itty bitty hole in the wall in South Provo. I think they have since moved to Orem.

I need to try Cucina Toscana. I've heard good things from former mission friends.

I'll try to take my wife there sometime next week and I'll report back.

I thought it was some of the best Italian I've ever had - also some of the priciest.

I'm ok with it being pricey if it's worth it.

What did you eat when there?

Antipasti: SPINACI AL SALTO CON CALAMARETTI, GAMBERI E CAPPE SANTE - $12. This was excellent. The scallops and calamari were delicious.

Le Paste: PENNE ARABBIATA $10 Also excellent. I've never been that much of a pasta fan. One reason is because I don't like white (alfredo) sauces. But the menu said the tomato sauce was spicy so I gave it a go and loved it. A half order was a whole plateful. I would definitely order this again even though pasta isn't really my thing..

Secondi Piatti: SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO AL LIMONE CON CAPPERI $19. Very good.

Menu is online. Also, you'll definitely want to make reservations.


One bummer: The creme brulee was horrible. It was really mushy/eggy - like it didn't set up properly. They also didn't carmelize the top. Maybe it was just a bad night for the dessert chef because everything that people had at the table was fabulous.

I might be late Sizzle but the best tasting food in SLC right now is on North Temple. A place called Sawadee.

Get the Satay, Garlic Chicken, and Waterfall Pork Salad. Try some Larb and stick with sticky rice as opposed to regular rice. You will not be disappointed. It always has foot traffic but I've never waited more than 10 minutes for a table and now you can eat outside.

Great, great place to eat, and you can feed 4 for under 40 bucks.

Just ate lunch there on Thursday. It's pretty decent Thai food. The service could be improved as they seem understaffed to me. Other than that I concur with this recommendation.

Have you ever been to Lugano's? The wife and I went there this week and thought it was very good.

Lugano's is excellent.

The Chef there had another restaurant called Pine, however they just closed the doors there and he'll continue to concentrate solely on Lugano.

Pine was on the corner of Van Winkle and 900 east correct? I didn't know that it had closed. I always wanted to check it out.

For an entertaining cultural experience, go to the Dees on 7th East and 21st South around 1am when the bars close.

I have yet to eat at Lugano's. I'll give it a try some time.

The wife and I tried a little Italian place close to our home last night and it was surprisingly good. It's called Roma Ristorante and is in a rather bizarre location - a strip mall here in Murray. It's on 900 East and is about 5500 South, right across the street from The Sports Mall. It used to be a PetCo or a Blimpies.

I was skeptical because of the location, but I learned that the owner/chef is from Italy so I was able to drop my bias. The cheese ravioli were very good and my wife's chicken Marsala was as well.

It's not as good as Fresco, but I liked it and like the fact that it is within walking distance from my house. It's also reasonably priced.

It's been there for about a year and I never noticed it until the other day.

Not so great any more.

The best Thai restaurant in Provo (don't laugh) is Thai Ruby. It's quite small and run by a nice family from Thailand. It is very good.

Is this so you can see the she-man? And yes this will be for pure entertainment purposes if you choose to do this.