Restaurant Recommendations in Salt Lake City Area
 

My husband and I will be staying in the Salt Lake City West Area. We are foodies and would like restaurant recommendations. We are willing to drive if it means a good meal.

We will also be driving to Orem, UT so we would be interested in any recommendations for places along the way or in Orem.

Thanks for any help on this.

Terry,

I don't know what you mean by the West Area? Can you give a city name? Are you in a hotel?

More details and I can probably give you some great restaurant names.

I guess you have to go to Orem for some reason. Not my favorite place. Plenty of chain restaurants, not much else that I know of. Plus, they are all closed on Sundays if that affects your plans.

I would head up to Sundance to have dinner at RR's Tree Room. Excellent. Reservations required. They also have a nice Sunday brunch, again, need reservations.

Some suggestions, though it has been a couple years since I've been, all in or within reasonable distance from downtown:

-Red Iguana (not to be confused with Blue Iguana) is a little west of downtown and an utterly splendid place for Mexican food, with mole being a specialty. It's a short cab or bus ride from downtown. There's also an ice cream place, Leatherby's, across the road from there that's worth stopping in for dessert.

-Cafe Trang (Pan Asian, especially Vietnamese).

-Crown Burger (a local chain that's a glorious step up from Mickey D's -- if you don't mind a big cholesterol blast, get their signature burger with cheese and pastrami, then put fry sauce on it).

-Acme Burger (a little more upscale than Crown Burger, but still good).

-Takashi (Japanese, especially sushi).

Was not as taken with Lamb's, which many guidebooks list. It's basically an okay upgrade to diner style food.

Pago is excellent--local ingredients etc. That's in the 9th and 9th area.
Forage is also very good. Near the 9th and 9th area.
Cafe Martine--Spanish tapas inspired. Downtown.
Plum Alley--Chinese inspired 300 South and around Main etc
Copper Onion is near Plum Alley
Meditrina--near the baseball park--small plates
Fridos Bistro--amazing Mexican take on various dishes

Red Iguana is always amazing!!!

Sorry I have not replied sooner! Thank you all for your recommendations. We will be staying at Grand America Hotel. I did not know that until now. Yes, we have some business in Orem but we will not be there all day so we don't have to eat there. Just thought if there was something good we would consider it. Appreciate any and all input!

Don't eat in Orem if you can help it :-) Just chain restaurants really. A new place is called Vivace and has good reviews. You could also try the Wild Grape in the Avenues. We ate at Meditrina last week and had the scallops piccata--my favorite dish there!!

I assume you have a car if you are going to Orem. It really is easier to drive around Salt Lake for going to dinner. There is plenty of parking and the most you might have to pay is $5. The Grand America is not really in the middle of downtown proper. It's a few blocks south. So I would just plan on driving if I were you.

Yes we have a car. I see a recommendation for the Tree Room at Sundance Resort. What about the more casual place, Foundry Grill? I'm thinking we could head up there after our time in Orem. Do you know what the dress code is for the Tree Room?

The Tree Room is lovely. They don't have strict dress code--you could check but I am pretty sure it is resort casual. I went there as part of a weekend getaway ski trip and I am pretty sure we had on sweaters and pants and we fit in just fine. The Foundry Grill is ok but there are better places IMO in Park City--you could do a "back of the Wasatch" loop from Orem, through Park City, and back to SLC.

great list, StantonHyde! Most of those are on my list to check out.

for other types of dining, I like Dodo's in sugarhouse for their desserts... fantastic pies. I recently enjoyed Eggs in the city for brunch/breakfast, amazing prices. I love the waffles and ice cream at Bruges and they have a second location in Sugarhouse now near the movie theater.

La Jolla Groves in Orem in excellent.

OOPS! La Jolla Groves is actually in Provo, which is next to Orem.

If you are ever back in the Salt Lake area again, don't forget to stop by the Shops at the Gateway. Back in November of 2012, we opened our second location in the Gateway—we love it there. Besides us, there are a variety of different dining options tucked away in Salt Lake's finest outdoor walking mall. Check us out: www.lajollagroves.com