Salt Lake Classics: Old-School Spots That Never Quit
This city loves to tear things down and build them taller. So when a place hangs on for fifty, sixty, ninety years — doing the same thing the same way, still busy on a Friday night — that's worth paying attention to. We've been rolling dough on 400 South since 1965, so we've got a soft spot for the Salt Lake originals that never quit. Here are a handful we'd send you to any day of the week.
Ruth's Diner — since 1930
Ruth's Diner is the second-oldest restaurant in the whole state. Ruth opened a little hamburger counter downtown in 1930, and almost a century later the diner is still tucked up Emigration Canyon with creek-side patios and the kind of biscuits people will happily drive across the valley for. Go hungry, grab a seat on the patio, and get the biscuits. Some traditions earn their keep.
Hires Big H — since 1959
You can't make a list like this and skip Hires Big H. Frosted mugs of root beer, the Big H with melted cheese, and the fry sauce that basically became a statewide habit. We're a little biased here — our Midvale shop shares a building with a Hires Big H, so you can walk out with a Litzas pizza in one hand and a Hires burger in the other — but Hires has been doing the drive-in thing right since 1959, and every frosted mug proves it.
Iceberg Drive Inn — since 1960
Iceberg Drive Inn has been pulling thick shakes — the ones crowned with a dome of soft serve too tall for the lid — and hand-breading onion rings every single morning for more than sixty years. Nothing about the place is trying to impress you, which is exactly why it does. Order a shake you have to eat with a spoon first.
Crown Burgers — since 1978
Crown Burgers handed Utah the pastrami cheeseburger: a char-grilled patty buried under thin-sliced pastrami with a cup of fry sauce on the side. It's an only-in-Utah kind of thing, born from Salt Lake's Greek-American families, and once you've had one you understand why so much of the state is fiercely loyal to it. Also, if you're ready to have your mind blown, try one of their gyros! You can thank us later.
Red Iguana — since 1985
Red Iguana has been the standard answer to "best Mexican food in Utah" for decades, and here's the part we love: the Cardenas family started feeding Salt Lake back in 1965 — the same year we opened our doors — before reinventing the place as Red Iguana in 1985. Get the mole; they make at least eight kinds. Expect a wait. It's worth it. Some things are.
And then there's us — since 1965
We're in good company on this list, and we don't take that lightly. Sixty years on 400 South: housemade and hand-rolled dough every morning, real, 100% mozzarella (never a blend), housemade sauce, and the freshest ingredients we can get our hand on. Don Hale opened Litzas in 1965 with a name that's just weird enough to remember.
So here's our suggestion: work through this list one classic at a time. When you get to ours, the menu's right here, and both shops are easy to find. Walk in, grab a booth, pour yourself a Hires next door. That's the deal. It's always been the deal.
