UM @ Utah 9/3/15. Salt Lake area attractions?

Submitted by Unfiltered Manball on

Am seriously contemplating a road trip with my brother to catch this game.  Our sister lives in the area and said she will show us around for the long weekend.  I completely trust her and it sounds great.  Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of great eats, bars, sites, etc. that the area has to offer.

September 3-  Still sooooooo far away......

Thanks.

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Mr. Yost

January 17th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^

A buddy of mine if from SLC and we decided the day Harbaugh was hired that we'd head out there for a long weekend. Can't wait, hear it's awesome.

May want to look at TripAdvisor.com if you don't find your answer.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

y2mh

January 17th, 2015 at 7:24 PM ^

 Just got back after New Years. Go there many holidays to visit in-laws. Park City is awesome, and there are several good bars and places to eat close to the university (in an area locals call "The Avenues" ) in SLC.

 They have also just opened a remodeled area (Similar to initial design of Trapper's Alley in downtown Detroit where they enclosed the area between the buildings as walkways.), of downtown as high priced shopping called "City Creek Center".

 Can recommend a restaureant called Faustina's at I think 300South (or as SLC say "3 South")and there is a small chain with made from scratch burgers, shakes, great onion rings called Hires Big H restaurant.

Joined: 07/25/2012

MGoPoints: 816

Elian Gonzalez

January 17th, 2015 at 6:57 PM ^

You can visit the main Mormon Temple! Other than that, it's a decently nice city with limited activities. You could hang out in Park City, which is 30 min away and pretty fun(there will be no snow in Sep though).

Joined: 01/17/2015

MGoPoints: -32

umbig11

January 17th, 2015 at 7:10 PM ^

We have a large group going from Nevada, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Illinois, NY, Michigan, and Canada. Expect a sellout and tickets hard to come by for this one. We are headed out for Weds and Thurs, but going to Vegas for the holiday weekend. Park City would be your best best.

Joined: 07/21/2010

MGoPoints: 115573

SarasotaBlue

January 17th, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^

Try the Red Iguana for Mexican food. It's near downtown. The place doesn't look like much but it's probably the best Mexican food you'll ever eat. Amazing mole sauces.

Joined: 07/06/2014

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MaizeNBlu628

January 17th, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^

This^^^ some of the best mole sauce I've ever had. But if possible, go for an early (like 5 or earlier) or else expect to wait a while. I know they've opened a bigger and newer Blue Iguana as well, but heard its not quite as good.

Joined: 08/21/2009

MGoPoints: 2786

M Fanfare

January 17th, 2015 at 7:27 PM ^

Contrary to popular belief, SLC has quite a lot of bars, and plenty of great restaurant. The University of Utah has a great Natural History Museum. If they're still playing, hit a Salt Lake Bees game (AAA affiliate of the LA Angels) with a beautiful mountain backdrop in the outfield. Check out City Creek Mall to see what the Mormon Church built for 1.5 billion dollars. The Tracy Aviary is a cool outdoor zoo for birds, including bald eagles and condors. Head up to Park City for hiking, biking, drinking, and eating. Park City Mountain Resort has an alpine coaster and alpine slide. Check out the Utah Olympic Park to see where the 2002 Winter Olympics held ski jumping, bobsled, luge, and skeleton (take a bobsled ride if you have the money). See if the Utah Symphony is playing a concert at Deer Valley Resort.

There's plenty to do in the SLC area.

Joined: 08/17/2008

MGoPoints: 4715

mgoaggie

January 18th, 2015 at 8:17 AM ^

Well done. I'm a Utahn now, and these are pretty much the things I'd suggest. If you have time, it's worth it though to take a trek down to Southern Utah (St. George or Cedar City) and get some hiking in. September would be hot, but it's still worth it. 

Also, if you're feeling rowdy, Idaho is 2 hours north and you can get lottery tickets & non-3.2 beer there.

Joined: 06/12/2012

MGoPoints: 2992

M Fanfare

January 17th, 2015 at 7:29 PM ^

If you go to Park City, go to the High West Distillery and get a tour of Utah's first distillery since the late 19th century and the worlds only ski-in ski-out distillery. The food is pricey but delicious and the booze is distiller on-site.

Joined: 08/17/2008

MGoPoints: 4715

Njia

January 17th, 2015 at 7:45 PM ^

There are a lot of things to do. Utah is one of the most beautiful states in the Union, so outdoor activities definitely rank among the best you'll find anywhere. The aforementioned Park City is a great place to visit for a day or two. The Olympic Training Center is there and you can pay (a hefty fee) to go down the bobsled runs. There are also many, many excellent bars and restaurants, hiking, fishing, etc. Obviously, when it's ski season, go for the awesome powder.

In SLC proper, there are many exceptional places to grab food and the libation of your choice. One of the best places to get a burger (and most unusual) is Crown Burger (a small chain of about 3 restaurants in Utah). The namesake burger is a 1/3-pounder piled high with excellent pastrami made in house, cheese, lettuce, tomato and "fry sauce" (50/50 mix of mayo and ketchup seasoned with onion powder). It's still one of the best I've ever eaten.

A very authentic Mexican restaurant near the airport on North Temple is the Red Iguana. Be prepared to wait, but the mole sauces (seven kinds) are some of the best you'll find anywhere.

Being the headquarters of the LDS Church as well as the capitol of Utah, there are many museums around the city as well.

Enjoy SLC and the surrounding areas. I'm not a Mormon, but I found the people to be friendly and accommodating anyway. If you find yourself near the Temple in the center of SLC, you almost certainly be asked if you are interested in learning about the faith. If you are, great. If not, politely decline. You won't be pestered.

(An interesting factoid about the LDS faith: anyone not of the faith is considered a "gentile", even Jews. It's an oddity, but an amusing one.)

Utah is one of my favorite places to visit. Frankly, I may have talked myself into heading out for the game as well.

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 35773

MEZman

January 17th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^

If you're a fan of beer I recommend The Bayou (pricey but a great selection), The Beerhive (not as pricey but still a good selection), and the Beer Bar. For non-beer the usual recommendation is Bar-X which is connected to the Beer Bar via a hallway. There are plenty of other bars as well. The tap beers are limited to 3.2% (which is really about 4% in the more commonly used term). The bottled beers can be whatever.

Good places to eat. Breakfast - Ruth's (in Emmigration Canyon and awesome) and Pig and a Jelly Jar are two of my favs. Lunch/dinner - Moochies, R&R BBQ, Red Iguana, Faustina (pricey for SLC), Vinto, Stoneground, etc.

Breweries - Epic (awesome awesome awesome), Uinta (also really good), Wasatch/Squatters (pretty good), and Red Rock (pretty good).

Park City - Downtown is pretty cool if touristy. The High West Distillary is always recommended for food and drink.

Sites - Big Cottonwood or Little Cottonwood for the hiking. The Great Salt Lake (it stinks really badly so be forewarned). The Mormon Temple (meh). I guess City Creek is interesting if you want to see what a billion dollar mall looks like (no big deal as far as I'm concerned). There's also a zoo and various museums that range from good to ok (the Natural History Museum is pretty sweet). I don't think the Rio Tinto mine is open to the public again yet but maybe by then it will be.

Joined: 12/13/2008

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Black Socks

January 17th, 2015 at 8:07 PM ^

I used to live in Utah.  You all will enjoy the visit, it's goregous.  Sugarhouse and the Avenues are the best neighborhoods.  Park City for the "Aspen" feel.  Follow the restaurant suggestions others provided above.  Drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta and Snowbird - really beautiful drive.  The more I think about it there's not a ton to do, but I recommend the trip.  My favorite part of living there was the outdoors.

Joined: 11/30/2009

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