Tag: restaurant

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The Habit Opens 6th Utah Location

The Habit Burger Grill, one of my favorite quick-service restaurants, has opened its 6th location in Utah. This new location opened in November, and is located at 508 West Antelope Drive, in Layton.

If you haven’t stopped by to check out a Habit yet, you should definitely stop by and try it out. Everything they make is outstanding, and their prices are very reasonable, with burgers starting at around $3. On a recent tour of the kitchen, franchise owner Tom Hartman made sure to point out the lack of freezers in the restaurant. Nothing is brought in frozen. Everything from their tri-tip steak to their sushi-grade albacore tuna is brought in fresh.

For a location near you, check out Habit’s website.

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The Annex by Epic Brewing

Truth be told, I never managed to make my way into The Annex, Epic Brewing’s take on a gastropub, when they initially opened a year or so ago. I never heard reviews compelling enough to sway my meal choice in their direction.

However, Annex shifted gears this Fall, bringing in chef Craig Gerome, who cut his teeth cooking at Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia and Spruce in San Francisco. Chef Gerome completely revamped the menu, basically stripping everything from the old menu and starting fresh with his take. 

I was invited as a guest of Annex to try out the new menu and to meet Craig, and all I can say is that he is doing amazing things. You can tell this guy cares about his food, crowing about the fact that his mussels are FedEx’d daily from a lady named Jan in Maine, and she only sends him her very best, biggest mussels.

We tried the grilled octopus with salsa verde, lime bean and kale brodo, Bouchot mussels with Berliner weiss, poutine with braised cheek, and deviled eggs as starters. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but I’d especially steer you to the mussels. 

For the mains, we tried the herb fried chicken with fried green tomatoes and buttermilk risotto, and the stout braised pork shank. Of the two, I would definitely recommend getting the fried chicken, which was perfectly crispy, moist, and seasoned well. But other items on the menu such as the buffalo short rib pie and steak frites certainly caught my eye.

Dessert was a nice take on the traditional s’more, using house-made marshmallows and Amano chocolate, giving it extra depth and richness.

Sugarhouse continues to evolve, and the recent development occurring on and near the sugarhole continues to impress with new fantastic eateries popping up. There is a fun, electric vibe happening in this area that has been missing for quite some time.

I’m glad that Annex chose to locate here, and can’t wait to come back.

Disclaimer: I was an invited guest for dinner at The Annex by Epic Brewing.

Kale Brodo. Yes, I ate kale. And it was amazing.

Grilled octopus with salsa verde

Steamed Bouchot mussels

Poutine with braised cheek

Herb fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, buttermilk risotto

Stout braised pork shank

S’mores with Amano

Chef Craig Gerome

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Spitz, a new restaurant specializing in the Döner Kebab, opened this week in the former Lenny’s Sub Shop space at 35 East Broadway.

The interior is everything you’d expect from their interior designer, CityHome Collective. Clean, welcoming, warm, and funky.

Döner meat is roasted on a spit similar to tacos al pastor, or the pastrami at Crown Burger. Surprisingly, Spitz doesn’t have their centerpiece attraction on display, instead relegated to hiding behind closed doors in the back.

Admittedly, I am a neophyte in all things Döner, so I naturally associate the Döner Kebab to something of a mishmash between a wrap and a Greek gyro. I tried the Street Cart Döner, which is a traditional sandwich or wrap with a zesty garlic aioli and fried lavash chips added. It had the right amount of meat, sauce, and lettuce, and is a generous portion. I quite liked it.

Sweet potato fries are good, but are like every other sweet potato fry you’ve had elsewhere. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking, although the aioli the fries were served with was especially delicious. The fried pita strips served with hummus are great, and I’m curious to try the crispy garbanzo beans with olives on my next visit.

Service is a bit unusual for the downtown lunch crowd. You order up front, they bring out your food and bus tables, but drink refills are also handled by the staff, which seems to be a bit clunky when they get overwhelmed with the lunch rush. But I’m sure they’ll work these glitches out over time.

Spitz adds some lunchtime diversity to a city brimming with traditional sandwich shops. And judging by the big crowd they had on day one, I think a lot of people are excited to see this new place open up.

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Alamexo has recently opened in the space previously occupied by one of my favorites, ZY. In fact, Alamexo has the same owners, staff, and even the same chef: Matt Lake.

Matt moved to Utah a few years ago from New York, where he worked as chef for one of New York’s premier Mexican restaurants. After a few years operating the contemporary American restaurant, ZY, Chef Lake decided to go back to his culinary roots and switch to Mexican.

After an incredibly quick menu and restaurant decor switch (Lake didn’t want to close down for three months and have to lay off staff) which took only a few days, ZY has now transformed to Alamexo. And while I’m sad to see ZY go (Lake was adamant that we will see ZY once again in Salt Lake), Alamexo is a very welcome addition to SLC.

You won’t find any other Mexican food in Salt Lake in such a contemporary, modern environment. But don’t equate “contemporary” and “modern” to “expensive.” Entrées range from $13-$25 with sides and appetizers filling in the $3-$12 range.

Go with the guacamole, made tableside by your server in a molcajete. For $10, it’s a little on the pricey side for one avocado’s worth of guacamole, but worth the show.

My favorite side dish was the Mexican corn. Sweet, fresh corn accompanied by hints of chile, lime, and cotija. My mole poblano enchiladas were rich, complex, and the pork was cooked perfectly. Lake has always said the he doesn’t choose his signature dishes; his customers do. And I have a feeling that these will be on the menu for a while.

A dining companion’s steak dish was equally tasty and cooked spot-on.

As we went during their soft opening week, desserts were not on the menu, however, the kitchen brought out the best churros I’ve had. Don’t leave Alamexo without ordering some.

I’ve always viewed Matt Lake and ZY as a bit of a sleeper in the SLC dining community. I attribute part of this to Lake’s low-key demeanor. He is a guy that cooks because he loves to cook. He’s not in it for the fame. But if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he won’t remain a sleeper for long. Salt Lake’s lucky to have him.

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A new restaurant will be opening soon on Gallivan Avenue across from Bangkok Terrace.

From Scratch will focus on just that: fresh breads, pizzas, and baked goods made from scratch. So much so, that the owner has imported his own wooden flour mill from Austria to mill his own flour. Tables are made from old butcher blocks, art was commissioned from a NY artist, and lights are custom creations.

I really like the look of this place. It has a certain “San Francisco” styling that you don’t see much in SLC. As a downtown worker, I’m especially excited about the bar where single diners can plop down for a quick lunch.

From Scratch will be open for breakfast and lunch only to begin with. A special section of the restaurant will serve take-out items like espresso, in-house pastries, and house-made ice cream.

The owner hopes to open for dinner later in the year, and plans to pursue a liquor license.

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New Downtown Hot Dog Shop

Red Hot, a new hot dog shop in downtown SLC, opened this week. It is located next to Lamb’s, and shares the same owner. Red Hot features Snake River Farms “100% American Kobe Beef” and has a varied menu including numerous dogs, banh mi, salads, creative sides, and lemonade.

New Downtown Hot Dog Shop

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Mountain West Burrito: A Lesson in Blandness

I’ve wanted to check out Mountain West Burrito ever since they were acquired by the Heirloom Restaurant Group, who also own Communal and Pizzeria 712. Heirloom is doing such great things in the Utah dining scene, I was excited to have a little piece of Heirloom closer to home.

I was thrilled to hear that they opened a new Mountain West location near Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, which is a short 10 minute drive from my home. Draper isn’t exactly what you call a food mecca, and choices for quality Mexican-American is limited.

So is Mountain West my new go-to for a tasty burrito? In short, no. In fact, my trip to Mountain West this week was a lesson in blandness. Everything throughout my experience was the epitome of bland.

The location is tucked in next to a Firehouse Subs. The interior space is completely unremarkable. The space is filled with long, communal tables as well as a windowside bar with stools, little to no decor, and no personality. I’m no fan of Cafe Rio’s ridiculous over-the-top decor, either, but putting a little effort into creating a more welcoming environment wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

If you’ve ever been to a Chipotle, Barbacoa, Cafe Rio, or the like you’ll be familiar with Mountain West’s menu. The restaurant offers a variety of burritos, tacos, nachos, and salads. The $14 price for a burrito shocked me, until I realized how large the “giant” size is. Stick with the $7 “regular” size and you’ll have plenty to eat. So, while it offers a solid selection, the menu is rather, well, bland.

Service was vanilla as well. While I appreciated not being constantly yelled at military-style, which is my typical experience at places like Cafe Rio, the person working the counter didn’t seem particularly happy to see us or engage us about the food. We had numerous employees walk past us as we ate, and a little check in (“How is your food?” “Can I get you anything else?”) would have gone the extra mile and would have been appreciated.

Although I certainly appreciate Mountain West’s focus on local, organic, fresh (did I miss any buzzwords?) ingredients, those things are all good as long as the food tastes good. We started with an order of chips and guacamole. The chips were fresh, crunchy, made in-house, and perfectly salted. I ate more than my fair share of these. The guacamole was a disappointment. I would have appreciated some more zip and personality. Maybe some lime juice to add some acidity and offset the creamy avocado. Or perhaps some chopped onions to add some brightness. Cilantro, cumin, cayenne…anything to add some more dimensions other than just avocado.

I tried the half and half burrito. Half steak and half carnitas. The burrito come wrapped in foil and is a bit smaller (although still plenty big) than competitors’ similarly-priced burritos. They steam their tortillas, which adds a certain gumminess to the texture. The meat was tender and perfectly cooked. I had a few crunchy bits of undercooked rice, and the unremarkable guacamole made another appearance. And that’s about it for burrito fillings. In fact, I scanned the dining room looking for a fixings bar, desperate for some onions, cilantro, lime, or even some hot sauce. Nothing was in sight. I asked a dining buddy what flavors he was picking up on with his burrito. “Salt,” was his reply. I couldn’t agree more.

So, all in all not a very good experience at Mountain West. I plan on visiting again and will update this post when I do. But at this point I don’t think I would recommend Mountain West.

What do you think? Have you been to Mountain West? Did I just catch them on a bad day? Let me know!

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Bonneville Brewery Grand Opening

Bonneville Brewery, which recently opened in Tooele, Utah, is having their Grand Opening tomorrow (April 26th) from 4pm until midnight. During this time the brew pub will be giving out free appetizers and other giveaways.

I had the chance to check out Bonneville Brewery last week, and I left impressed. Since I was an invited guest compliments of the brewery, I won’t provide a review, but would like to share some dishes that our dining group got to try.

First of all, the building is impressive. I thought it was a brand new building and was surprised to hear from the restaurant manager that the building was actually an old, sketchy run-down bar before the current owner bought it and completely gutted it and started over. The restaurant is two stories with a giant open space in the middle that gives views up to the bar balcony as well as the two large TV screens on the wall projecting various sports. Downstairs is more restaurant oriented, while the upstairs is the dedicated bar area (21 and older upstairs), but you can get food upstairs as well. I liked the casualness of the upstairs a bit better and think that I will gravitate up there in subsequent visits. 

While my dining companions tried the beer and enjoyed them, I went with one of the restaurants “mocktails.” I hate that name, but oh well. Jeffrey went with the Spicy Raspberry Lemon Cooler, which was delicious. Raspberries, simple syrup, lemon juice, and ginger beer made the perfectly sweet combination. And it is definitely sweet. I didn’t like mine as much, the Cosmo-Not, which was made with cranberry juice, lime juice, and club soda. It was a bit too tart for my liking (“It’s cranberry and lime, what were you thinking, dummy?” Yeah, I know).

We thoroughly enjoyed their appetizers. The Canadian fries (think poutine) were cheesy, salty, rich, and crunchy–everything you want in a dish like this. The friend mac and cheese balls were good, and I particularly enjoyed them with a side of house-made BBQ sauce. Bonneville also does a great job with their wings, and the favorite at the table was the green curry wings. The spicy wings definitely lived up to their name, as I couldn’t taste much for about 5 minutes after trying one. 

Burgers. This place does burgers, and they do them well. Jeffrey had the pastrami burger, and I tried a bite. We both commented on how the meat actually tasted beefy, which is a really good thing. 

I had the bizarrely-named “cheesesteak.” I saw it on the menu right next to its corresponding $18 price tag, and couldn’t figure out for the life of me how they make a cheesesteak worth $18. Well, they do it through a bit of trickery. See, it’s not a cheesesteak in traditional sense of the word. This, my friends, is a perfectly-cooked hanger steak that is rested on a pile of caramelized onions and gruyere cheese. No bread in sight. So don’t let the name fool you. It’s worth every bit of the $18.

We also tried the pot pie and fish and chips, both of which were cooked well, fresh, and tasty. 

For dessert we tried the bread pudding, apple pie pizza, and the Pavlova, which is a creamy, merengue dessert topped with various fruit and a raspberry coulis. The Pavlova was a wonderfully light way to end a heavy meal. 

The owner of the brew pub is also the owner of the nearby All Star Lanes, and while the restaurant is new, the brewery has been creating their own libations for the bowling alley for a while now. This has given their brewmaster the opportunity to really dial the brewing process in.

I don’t get out to Tooele very often, but the next time I’m passing through I’ll definitely plan a little extra time to stop by Bonneville Brewery. 

Bonneville Brewery Grand Opening
Friday, April 26th, 4pm to 12am
1641 North Main St
Tooele, Utah

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Twin brothers Rod and Roger Livingston have competed in numerous national BBQ championships such as Jack Daniels and Sam’s Club, and they have done very well. They’ve decided to open up a new BBQ shop in Salt Lake City at 600 S 300 W. I’ve been a fan of their BBQ for years now, and I highly encourage you to give them a try. They open tomorrow!