rick

Dear Fodorites:

I will be taking some important clients out to dinner during an upcoming convention we are all attending in Salt Lake City. From previous experience, I know that they prefer upscale steakhouses, so I am looking for a steakhouse with the following features:

1. Excellent food and service.
2. Classy but not stuffy ambience (i.e., "white tablecloth" decor, but no requirement for ties and jackets for gentlemen.
3. Must serve wine AND liquor (pre-dinner cocktails).
4. Downtown location (near convention center and downtown business hotels).
5. Price is no object - it's all going on the compnay expense account!

My web research has turned up Spencer's and Shula's as two possibilities which seem to fit the bill. Is one better than the other? Any other suggestions for downtown steakhouses which fit my critieria?

Thanks to all for the help.

George

Last month, we had dinner at the Golden Steer. The food was superb, as was the level of service. Might want to check it out.

George

My mistake--I was reading Las Vegas and not SLC.

David

Don't know anything about steakhouses in SLC, but I do know about the liquor laws. To say the least they are squirrely. You must belong to the establishment in order to sit at the bar and have drinks before dinner. If you are not a member, there are usually a couple of tables in the bar where you can sit and have one, count-em, one drink before a meal.

If you are friendly with the bartender he can ask a regular who is a member if he will “sponsor” you so that you and your party my have additional cocktails. This is a no obligation thing on either party, though technically if your “sponsor” leaves the bar your drinking privileges go with him. The fee to join the bar is usually in the neighborhood of $25 and lasts for a year. I think you can sign up on the spot and start drinking immediately but I'd double check that.

If you decide to go bar-hopping after dinner the same rules apply about membership. You have to belong to each and every bar you plan to drink in or get someone to sponsor you. Even if you just want a coke from the bar, you need a sponsor.

You can't order wine while you have an unfinished cocktail on your table. It's a strict one-drink-at-a-time rule.

I believe an exception is the bar in the hotel where you are staying. Since you are staying there it's as if your membership is included. But to be on the safe side I'd ask the hotel to make sure.

SLC is not a drinkin' kinda town.

dan

Spencer's is good, located in the Hilton Hotel, and Shula's is good, located at the Wyndham.

Three others to consider, The New Yorker (located downtown), the Market Street Grill, which has a large fresh fish menu (flown in daily on Delta) with a selection of steaks, and a new steak place called Flemings, located in the Gateway, which is the new downtown shopping area (outside).

All serve drinks with dinner. Reviews can be found at http://utah.citysearch.com/best/results/7789.

Tony

I was in SLC for a conference last month. Bar "memberships" were something like $5 for six people, no sponsors, no BS, just pay your money and start drinking. We just considered it a tax, which is I guess what it is. Pretty strange place, and one I have no great desire to return to.

Spencers looked OK - but we didn't eat there. Best meal we had in the area, by far, was at Glitretind (sp?), the restaurant in the Stein Erickson Lodge at Deer Valley. Nice enough, but nothing special. Everything else in town was mediocre at best.

Get

Tony - I'm willing to bet that you are from "the center of the Universe - NYC" and that nothing outside of that city will ever measure up to your standards.

Augie

I bet that Tony is not in fact the center of the universe, but he has eaten nice meals in other cities.