What is the “Best?” It’s a subjective term after all. But we know it when we see it. Each year, we create an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink list to tickle your intellect, fill your belly, spark your imagination and inspire ideas for exploring the place where you live. We reflect on the talk of the town—newsmakers and civic upheavals—that inspired both cheers and jeers. We pile it all together into an always-incomplete list dubbed Best of the Beehive. Here we present some mouth-watering highlights that just might encourage you to get out, eat and drink!
Best mouthful of the South
Big South food truck
From Ogden to the UC (that’d be Utah County) to their home base on Main Street in South SLC, Big South’s dishing up generous portions of perfectly prepared soul food favorites like smoked oxtails, saucy BBQ wings, Mississippi pot roast and the hands-down best fried catfish you can get. All with your pick of two tasty traditional sides. I always get the smoked mac ’n’ cheese and collards, but you do you, sugar. instagram.com/bigsouthslc
Best Place to give a nod to a Buck—with a Bud
The Shooting Star Saloon
It’s worth a trip to Huntsville, to check out the Shooting Star Saloon, Utah’s oldest continuously-operating bar. For kicks, ask to be seated at “The Buck Booth,” where the head of the world’s largest St. Bernard looms in all its taxidermic glory overhead. Or you can eat burgers beneath thousands of dollar bills plastered to the ceiling, imagining the structure when it served first as a trading post, and later as a bar that somehow survived Prohibition. 7350 E. 200 South, Huntsville shootingstarsaloon.shop
Best St. George pie pitstop
Croshaw’s Gourmet Pies
Looking to feed your pie hankering? For St. George residents, it’s a no-brainer. Sold by the slice, as a mini or full-size pie, the endless offerings range from coconut, apple and rhubarb to lemon cream cheese, berry, banana and dozens of other paradise-filled pastries. Oh, and don’t forget about the savory pies. Nothing says cozy like a chicken or beef pot pie–even if it is100-plus degrees outside. To get the full experience, perhaps you’ll want to crank up the air-conditioning before digging in. 175 W. 900 South, St. George croshawspies.net
Best place to impress your dinner date
Omakase nights at Post Office Place
Omasake translates to “I leave it up to you,” and at Post Office Place, you’re in good hands. Takashi Chef Brice Okubo, Post Office Head Chef Brenden Kawakami and Takashi Gibo himself have curated a fifteen-course culinary journey, with dishes ranging from contemporary Japanese nigiri to experimental global cuisine. The menu changes each month and is only available on Wednesday nights, with seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets drop a week before the new month and sell out quickly.
16 W. Market St., SLC popslc.com
Best spot to take your paradoxically pickiest and most indecisive friend
Sugar House Station
Food halls are finally catching on in SLC. Case in point: Restaurateur Scott Evans revamped the Sugar House space formerly occupied by Kimi’s and turned it into the best kind of 21+ choose-your-own-adventure. Order cocktails featuring local booze (Waterpocket, Sugar House Distillery), wine from Casot, or java from Publik. Evans called “Avengers, assemble!” and resuscitated Birdhouse, Cannella’s and Greek Tyrant by Aristo (the name tracks)—along with other classics. 2155 S. Highland Dr., SLC sugarhousestation.com
Best unsung hero of the business lunch
Bewilder Brewing
Taking a work group out for lunch can be a struggle. The logistics of parking, seating a big group and negotiating separate checks are a huge pain. A delicious solution? Bewilder Brewing. Order at the counter, get a big table, enjoy a satisfying meal, delicious brew (HR, what?) and convivial atmosphere. Also, get that pretzel stack to share. 445 S. 400 West, SLC bewilderbrewing.com
Best Place to eat fluffy pancakes
Doki Doki
Iced Ichigo drinks, crepe cakes and cloud pancakes—it’s no wonder that some of Doki Doki’s Japanese-inspired desserts are even reserved by the slice. Bonus: the restaurant’s fish-shaped taiyaki waffles are perfect on sundaes, and those animal-faced cream puffs also make yummy, showstopping toppers. When Doki Doki shared fears over social media about possibly closing its doors this past winter, the city went bananas. Lines formed down the street and around the block with a pleading, ‘don’t go’ look in our eyes. Doki Doki remains, thank goodness, the most delicious Japanese dessert house in town. 249 E. 400 South, SLC dokidessert.com
Best Sunday Dinner ritual
Sunday Pho at The Pearl
Chef Tommy Nguyen labors over his authentic pho broth for six hours before serving it up every Sunday during soup season until it sells out (which it always does). Choose your protein and add-ons, like pork belly, spam and fresh ginger, and let the warming dish fill your soul.
917 S. 200 West, SLC thepearlslc.com
The best place to spend $125 on a grilled cheese sando
Chute Eleven in Deer Valley
No, it’s not a typo. The grilled cheese at Deer Valley’s newest apres lounge is 100-percent-for-real priced at a whopping $125 and decadently filled with a butter-poached lobster tail, royal ossetra caviar and Rocky Mountain sky cheese. Pair it with a glass of bubbles and sweeping views of the surrounding ski hills. 9200 Marscac Ave., Park City deervalley.com
There’s more to love in the Beehive State!
Outdoors
Jocularity
Weird Utah
Shopping
2025 Wasatch Faults (and Faves)
Find all of this year’s Best of the Beehive coverage, and more “Bests” from past issues. And while you’re here, subscribe and get six issues of Salt Lake magazine, your curated guide to the best of life in Utah.
