Restaurants in Cottonwood Heights

Executive chef Ken Rose—the flavor architect behind Tiburon Fine Dining and Epic Casual Dining—tantalizes gourmands with his variation on popular American dishes. Each dish bursts with high-quality ingredients, ranging from artisanal cheeses to wild-caught seafood that includes salmon and Pacific white shrimp. Servers coax out flavor notes with the help of a staggering wine list that catalogs varietals hailing from California, Australia, and Italy. Located in The District, The Wild Rose lies within walking or hopscotching distance of shopping and theaters.

Reliving the experience of talking dry-rub and brisket with Food Network's Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, the owner of Pat's Barbecue marveled to the Salt Lake Tribune, "For hell's sake, for a barbecue place on a dead end street in an old warehouse, to be on national TV . . ." Pat Barber's secret dry-rub lives up to the hype, adding distinctive flavors to chicken, ribs, and pulled pork, which are ably supplemented by traditional side dishes such as cornbread, mashed potatoes, and more meat. Local musicians fill the air with tuneful sounds on Friday and Saturday evening, and a rotating menu of daily specials provide variety, including Friday's offering of Burnt Ends, a house specialty made from tender brisket tips.

The owners' menu of traditional Polynesian dishes hearkens back to their upbringing on Hawaii. Within an open-air kitchen, the staff grills and fries fresh ingredients and assemble them into lunch plates inspired by Hawaii's diverse immigrant population. Techniques and flavors borrowed from Japanese, Korean, and Indian cuisines are woven into Polynesian favorites, such as frybread, barbecue pork, and chicken-curry rice bowls. Through the tall windows of the exhibition storefront, sunshine spills in to bathe the eatery's goldenrod walls in natural light and allow diners to wear their mining helmets solely as fashion statements.

Andaman Kitchen’s chefs fill their pantries with locally sourced ingredients to craft dishes that strike the balance of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors essential in Thai cooking. They simmer tender pieces of chicken and pork in creamy red or green curries and drizzle lemony Thai-style dressing onto troops of deep-fried shrimp. Out in the dining room, sky blue walls and decorative Eastern statues surround tables scattered with a variety of noodle dishes, from plates of pad thai to bowls of glass-noodle soup that must be handled carefully to avoid shattering.

Thai Garden Restaurant's chefs carefully spice a menu of Thai cuisine awarded Best Southeast Asian fare by Salt Lake magazine in 2006 and 2007. In the dining room, ornate wood dividers stand stark against exposed brick, displaying intricate carvings of animals, workers, and Judd Nelson with fist triumphantly raised. Floor-to-ceiling front windows cast light on dishes of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu coated in flavors such as red curry and spicy Thai basil sauce, and customized to one of five levels of spice. Classic pad thai and pan-fried flat noodles conveniently fill entree-shaped voids in diners' stomachs with fresh sprouts, meatballs, and ground peanuts.

At Christopher's Prime Steak House and Grill, every piece of prime, corn-fed beef ages for 21 days before it's ready to be served. Chefs then hand-cut beef into kansas city sirloin, new york strip, or "cowboy" chops before locking in the painstakingly cured flavor with 1,500-degree broilers. In addition to steak, the menu also boasts seafood flown in daily from around the world, such as Scottish salmon and New Zealand barramundi. Locally sourced produce adds organic texture to every meal and linen tablecloths add softness to obstinately hard tabletops. The Zagat-rated "excellent" eatery can seat diners on the outdoor patio or in the dining room, which can fit up to 300 guests for wedding receptions, banquets, or corporate events.