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Discover Salt Lake Magazine’s Utah nightlife Coverage. Here you’ll find reviews of the Best Utah Bars in Salt Lake City, along the Wasatch Front and Back, and around Utah to help you discover amazing Dining and Nightlife Experiences at Utah Restaurants and Utah Bars. And check out our Dining Guide, for an online collection of reviews and information about Utah Restaurants from the editors of Salt Lake Magazine.

Oct 28
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Eli Larson Hays/SLC Eatery: 2021 Salt Lake Magazine Cocktail Contest

By After Dark, Dining Awards, Eat & Drink

Each year, we ask a selection of Utah’s best bartenders to use local spirits and local ingredients and hit us with their best shot (or shots). So last Sept. 12, bartenders bravely gathered on a Sunday morning after the Saturday night late shift to swizzle up some hair of the dog and present their entries into the 2021 Salt Lake magazine Cocktail Contest. They didn’t disappoint. Through Nov. 30, we invite you to drop in to their bars and try their creations (or mix them up yourself at home). Pick your favorites and click the image below to cast your vote.

The Alta Peruvian, the 2021 Salt Lake Magazine Cocktail Contest entry from SLC Eatery, includes a handmade syrup that took months to perfect.

How long behind the bar? Five years, depending on how you count 2020.

What’s your favorite after-shift drink? Nothing too fancy. I’m usually reaching for a cheap, clean lager—anything from a High Life or Pabst to a nice craft beer like SaltFire’s NZed Pilsner or TF’s Kellerbier.

What is the “star ingredient” of your CC entry? I carefully picked out each ingredient to shine in its own way, but I put a lot of time into hand making my almond and sesame orgeat syrup. I spent months perfecting it. 

What’s your favorite drink to make? Daiquiri. There are countless ways to make it, and they are almost all delicious. 

What’s a drink that makes you cringe? Long Island iced tea—there’s not even any tea in it, and none of the ingredients seemed to be picked with any intention. 

Best hangover cure? Ironically, probably a Long Island iced tea! But for me, it’s usually takeout brunch and a homemade spritz on the couch. 

Got a bar joke? I’ve been told by many tourists that Utah’s liquor laws read like a joke. 

Why do you love bar work? I love the creativity and the fast pace, and I love putting a drink in front of someone and seeing the look on their face when they are pleasantly surprised or intrigued by something they haven’t tried before.

What is a cocktail/spirit you used to hate but now you love? Why?  When I was first discovering cocktails, I had a few too many Negronis in one night and it made it hard for me to enjoy Campari. But after a trip to Italy, there was no way I couldn’t fall in love with that bitter red devil. Now I especially love it when it is simply topped off with soda. I think I had one yesterday at brunch, actually. 

Eli Larson Hayes, bartender at SLC Eatery, with his cocktail The Alta Peruvian
Eli Larson Hays/SLC Eatery; Photo by Austen Diamond

The Alta Peruvian

1½ oz Peruvian Pisco Logia
¼ oz Benedictine and Brandy Liqueur
½ oz Yuzu juice
¼ oz house-made almond and sesame orgeat syrup 
2 dashes of chocolate bitters

Shake and double strain into a Nick and Nora glass. Garnish with sesame gastrique and sesame seeds on the glass, candied squash and micro greens on a pick.

Sep 17
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The Pines: A Familiar New Face

By After Dark, Eat & Drink

There is something to be said about a bar that keeps things simple and classic, especially in a city where try-hard trendy spots and zoomer-friendly bars pop up daily. The latest joining this echelon of approachable watering holes is The Pines. Owned by the Dick N’ Dixie’s group and residing in the former Tinwell space, The Pines is a welcome new but familiar face. 

Before they even opened their doors, The Pines was faced with challenges that are now synonymous with the year 2020. “We signed the papers in March of last year, and about two weeks later the whole city closed down,” says owner Will Bourne. For six months Bourne and co-owner Kirsten Fowler sat on the empty space and waited for their moment. Despite their delayed opening, Bourne says purchasing the building was a worthy investment. In addition to inheriting a beautiful bar and a reputable weekend hotspot, The Pines is situated in an up-and-coming area of Salt Lake. “In the next few years, this neighborhood is going to be booming,” Bourne says. 

Will Bourne, co-owner of The Pines
Will Bourne, co-owner of The Pines; Photo by Adam Finkle/Salt Lake magazine

Fast forward to 2021 and that very same neighborhood is already thriving. Next to Proper Brewing Company and adjacent to spots like Water Witch and Duffy’s Tavern, The Pines is a worthy addition. Walking into the bar is like seeing an old friend in a new place. The sleek industrial decor is familiar yet fresh, and the bar is stocked with a wide range of alluring elixirs. Both elevated and approachable, Bourne says The Pines is everyone’s bar. “It’s a place you can come and hang out, watch a game if you want or explore cocktails with our talented bartenders.” 

The Pines is definitely a place you can knock a few back and just generally hang out, but they’re also getting into events. Visit the bar on a Wednesday for free weekly trivia, or step out on Fridays for their New Wave Funk night with DJ Retrograde and Nix Beat. Bourne and Fowler are also experimenting with craft cocktail evenings, so you can make art or trinkets while you drink. The last boozy craft night was held in partnership with local service Party Chez Vous, which provided all the tools to make lush succulent terrariums while The Pines offered libations—because what’s more fun than playing in some dirt while tipsy? 

The Pines is a perfect combination of Dick N’ Dixie’s easygoing attitude and the cool ambiance of the former Tinwell. While the bar isn’t technically the new kid on the block, they are keeping the spirit of stiff drinks and long nights alive on south Main Street. 

837 S. Main St., SLC, 801-906-8418

Read more about libations and nightlife in SLC.

Oct 31
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Salt Lake’s Bartender

By After Dark

If you ask Tony Marino to list all of the Salt Lake City bars where he’s worked—well,  it’s probably easier to just have him tell you the bars where he hasn’t worked. “I never worked at Bar X,” Tony says. “I sort of missed the craft cocktail thing. I started tending bar in 1997 so I’m old. I got really good at making shots and party drinks. ”

These days, Tony is the tap room manager at Level Crossing, but his career reads like a genealogy chart of Salt Lake watering holes. He started at TGIFridays (remember those?) at age 23. Then Porter Rockwells, a State Street bar that became Capones and then Pinky’s strip club. He helped Dave Morris build Piper Down after Shaggy’s Living Room (a short-lived experiment that involved broken video games and D.I. furniture) folded at the 200 South spot that would become the Library, then The Hotel, and now is Lake Effect, which seems built to last. Ego’s for a bit, then Trolley Wing Company, where he served the now-owner of TWC, Jess Wilkerson, as a regular before Wilkerson bought the joint. Then it was Bocci, Gastronomy’s long-gone Italian restaurant on Pierpont Avenue (“I feel like everyone worked for Gastronomy at some point,” he says.) Then onto Green Street in its hopping heyday. 

“In the early 2000s, you were either a Port O’ Call guy or a Green Street guy,” he says. “Those were the two hot spots. That was back in the day when people would line up to get into Green Street. We’d have a line of 100 people waiting to get in at 12:40 a.m. on a Saturday. I’d have to tell my door guys to stop letting people in. I mean ‘come on man, last call is in 20 minutes, what are you thinking?’”

And the list keeps going, The Jackalope, the Wood Shed, Bar Named Sue on Highland. Lucky 13, then Dick ’n’ Dixies, one of his longest stints. He’s worked at Bourbon House three times, Whiskey Street and White Horse; his last gig was at The Ruin and now he’s on to Level Crossing. So, if there’s one person in this town who could answer the question, “What makes a great bar?” it’s Tony Marino.

“It’s the people, especially the regulars, who make a bar great and that’s a reflection of how the staff treats them and how they treat the staff,” Tony says. “A good bartender knows 85 percent of everyone in that bar when they’re working and she knows what they’re having. That’s one of these intangible things that you can’t fake. I’d hire bartenders who know how to smile over some pretentious mixologist any day. I can teach someone how to make a drink. I can’t teach someone how to be nice and friendly.”

See all of our bar and nightlife coverage here.

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May 01
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Utah DABC Report: Axe Throwers, Karaoke Singers Unite!

By After Dark, Eat & Drink

Well, it was business as usual Monday morning: The pledge of allegiance, the audit, then straight on to the violations and denials at the Department of Dashed Hopes, officially known as at The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Utah DABC).

Two businesses — Social Axe Throwing (yes, it’s an increasingly popular sport and has two locations plus a mobile unit) and Heart and Seoul, a Provo karaoke club opening a second location in SLC, both appeared before the commission to apply for licenses to sell beer.

As part of their applications, each business principal had checked the appropriate box for their type of enterprise: “recreational amenity” but under new liquor rules in H.B. 453 the Utah DABC balked.

It all sounds pretty straightforward to the uninitiated observer, karaoke and axe throwing are recreational activities, right? Not. I mean, what IS recreation? These are the kinds of minute points of language and deep thinking the DABC and its helicoptering parent, the Utah Legislature, revel in. During the 2019 Legislative session, our lawmakers took the time out from debating health care, medicinal marijuana, economic development, gay rights and the housing shortage to minutely define and specify types of recreation in H.B. 453.

The resulting list included many things like billiards, bowling, concerts and miniature golf. NOT axe throwing. NOT karaoke.

“Let’s not take this lightly,” one DABC member warned during the commission’s soporifically solemn analysis of, basically, what’s fun and what’s not. The whole discussion got a lot more complicated, but we sat through the silliness so you don’t have to. In short, Social Axe Throwing and Heart and Seoul were denied licenses.

One DABC member did offer a helpful suggestion. “Why don’t you buy a pool table? Or start serving food?”

See? Government agencies are just here to help. And keep you safe from tipsy karaoke.

See all of our food and drink coverage here.

Apr 19
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BTG Wine Bar’s Move Means More Room for Wine

By After Dark, Eat & Drink

Another red-tape ridiculousness instigated the move of BTG and Caffé Molise to the beautiful Eagle Building. Supposedly, the old location was due to be demolished for (yes, yet another) downtown hotel to serve Salt Lake’s booming convention business. With the departure of Outdoor Retailers from the Salt Palace schedule, the need for more rooms is less urgent; nevertheless the block is (or is not) slated to be razed and BTG and Caffé Molise were on the move—to bigger, airier, cooler spaces.

The change in BTG’s location is particularly good—the former space was dark and deep; the new bar, downstairs from Caffé Molise, is broken up into more intimate spaces. Settle into a banquette and test your tastebuds with flights of wines. BTG offers over 75 different wines by the glass in every category you can imagine—17 year-old port, botrytis viognier, madeira are just a few examples from the often-overlooked dessert wine list. Order a two-ounce pour for tasting, a full five-ounce glass or, if you know you love it, buy the bottle. And if you’re hungry, you can order food from Caffé Molise upstairs. The flexible space means you can bring a crowd or sip solo at the bar. This is the real deal.

404 S. West Temple, SLC, 801-359-2814, caffemolise.com

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Apr 19
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The Reinvention of Bar George

By After Dark, Eat & Drink

Remember those much-mocked signs required by the Utah Legislature? (We especially enjoyed the variant, “This is a Government. Not a Church.”) Of course, it all stemmed from the Byzantine (and I don’t use that word lightly and am aware of the cliché) laws and permits required to open a bar or restaurant in Utah.

A slight change to the ridiculous signage rule doesn’t really clear it up. Now the signs must read: “This is a bar” and “This is a restaurant.” Never the twain shall meet, except when they do at Scott Evans’ newest concept, replacing his Spanish tapas spot, Finca. Now, it’s two entities: the restaurant, George (“This is a Restaurant”) and the adjacent watering hole, Bar George (“This is a Bar”). The address is the same but the interior, which was too big anyway, has been divided into bar and restaurant sides.

Contrary to common belief, restaurants don’t make all their money on sales of alcohol. That is true in other states, where restaurants get a resell discount on what they buy, allowing a reasonable margin when they mark it up for consumer pricing. But in Utah, restaurants and bars pay retail prices (same as you and me), making it impossible for a traditional retail “keystone” markup. And making it hard to make a living as either a bar or a restaurant. 

Bar GeorgeThus, Bar George/George is another of the hybrids that we’ve seen seen open in Salt Lake City over the past year: Post Office Place, White Horse, London Belle, Lake Effect and Caffé Molise/BTG all have chef-driven menus that have made them food destinations as well as bars. Basically bars are becoming good restaurants and deftly side stepping the silly signage rule. 

And sure enough, the big impetus behind the chameleon change at George is because of our beloved Utah legislature and DABC. The revised 2017 law required Evans to choose between a bar license where alcohol can be served to those over 21 without a food order, or a restaurant license where you have to order food if you’re going to order alcohol. Evans had been operating with a now-nonexistent hybrid license. 

The food menu at both Georges is similar—the separation between the purposes of the two spaces is vague, except, perhaps to the DABC. The small space, Bar George, carved out of the huge Finca footprint, serves small bites but its big draw is a 40-bottle rotating list of natural wine, a passion of Evans. 

At its core, Bar George is a wine bar. Although there are cocktails, as well as sherry, madeira, beer and cider. But here you can peruse a wine list like you’ve never seen. Categories are labeled biodynamic, amphora, methode ancestrale, Col-Fondo, natural and vin natur. Natural wines are Evans’ passion and he’s excited to be introducing Salt Lake to these modern versions of ancient winemaking. You’ll have to learn a whole new wine vocabulary to order a glass with confidence here, but once you do, think how hip you’ll be. 

327 W. 200 South, SLC, 801-487-1699, bargeorgeslc.com

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