Restaurants in Salt Lake City

Penny Ann’s Cafe dishes out plates of classic café fare whose “big, robust flavors” earned Penny’s a shout-out in City Weekly’s list of 2011’s Best New Restaurants. Chefs fold cheeses, veggies, and meats inside the fluffy walls of omelets and smother homemade buttermilk biscuits in sausage gravy and unconditional love. Lunch fare includes philly cheesesteaks, hand-pressed double cheeseburgers, and pasta noodles smothered in a choice of sauce. For dessert, multitudinous pies cradle fillings such as key lime, chocolate peanut butter, and banana cream inside crisp homemade crusts.

Stalwart bricks contain the pizza oven's feisty flames at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta, where chefs knead and stretch fresh pizza dough by hand. More than 25 specialty pies—such as the eponymous Boardwalk with pesto, spinach, grilled chicken, roasted tomatoes, and bacon—join customizable and Neapolitan-style pizzas on a vast menu of classic and gluten-free slices. Subs embrace meatballs or chicken parmesan, and pastas such as spaghetti, elbow macaroni, and wheat penne mingle with toppings including cheese, artichoke hearts, and steak slices, all ushered into rumbling stomachs by sips of soda, beer, or specialty cocktails. Each cozy booth glows from the light of a private inset television, which flickers with live sports between professional, college, and Montessori school teams.

Jars of Korean kimchi and delicate spheres of salmon roe dot Dahn Sushi’s kitchen, adding artful flourishes to a menu of classic Japanese cuisine. Sushi, the restaurant’s specialty, ranges from dainty duos of eel nigiri to hand rolls packed with tuna, octopus, or red snapper. Diners can belly up to the sushi bar and take notes as they watch the chefs chop, slice, and roll their creations into vibrant spreads, some of which look like friendly caterpillars. In addition to serving small groups within the scarlet dining room, Dahn's staff delivers giant platters of sushi to parties, meetings, and mermaids’ swim meets.

Traditional Indian dishes co-mingle with modern American fare inside Spice Bistro’s kitchen, where chefs dedicate themselves to preparing scratch-made cuisine from fresh ingredients to ensure that each morsel bursts with maximum flavor. Their extensive menu showcases more than 50 items, ranging from lamb or shrimp sizzled in a tandoor oven to vegetarian curries to thick-cut steaks and chops dressed with elegant glazes. Guests can pair each savory selection with more than 25 red and white wines, which are served by the bottle, the glass, or the repurposed birdbath.

Annie Defa learned a lot in her 10 years in the coffee-shop industry, including how to select the choicest beans from among thousands. She puts this knack into action on a weekly basis, consulting with her local roaster to supply the shop with the aromatic blends she brews into steaming mugs or transforms into specialty drinks. She and her crew also bake up croissants, cookies, and muffins fresh each morning. In the summertime, an outdoor patio supplements the café’s intimate indoor space, and free WiFi ensures that clients stay up-to-date with emails, news, and the latest styles of cappuccino-foam mustaches.

The cooks at Sammy’s reinvent American diner classics by piling 1/3-pound beef patties with unusual ingredients and blending numerous varieties of pie into gourmet milk shakes. Burger behemoths include Ben's Big Belly Burger, with a meaty base that hides beneath swiss cheese, grilled onions, grilled pineapple, guacamole, teriyaki sauce, and mayonnaise. Other treats include the Hey Nikki You're So Fine grilled-chicken sandwich and the Something About Mary, a black-bean patty caught in a farcical love hexagon of sautéed onions, pepper jack, pico de gallo, avocado, lettuce, and tomato.

In addition to concocting signature pie shakes in flavors such as mint Oreo and four different types of cheesecake, the team at Sammy's blends smoothies, regular shakes and malts, and cupcake shakes in flavors such as spiced carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting. Alongside the reformed diner fare, Sammy's regularly serves up live music events and a hip, relaxed atmosphere.