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City Cast Salt Lake

Shelby Hintze

The food may be the main event, but the table deserves a little attention, too. I'm all for making Thanksgiving feel special without creating more work for yourself. Think festive paper plates (because nobody should be doing dishes all night), a tablecloth that doesn't require ironing, a few whimsical decorations, and a hostess gift that's a little more interesting than a candle. Here are a few local and small-business finds to pull it all together.

On a day like Thanksgiving, don’t worry about doing the dishes. I love, love, love Utah company 

 for the best party goods at reasonable prices (especially if you shop out of season for next year!) I would set 

I’ve been slowly replacing my dish towels with 

 that the company also makes tablecloths, placemats, and runners. I think 

 would be great with the plates we picked out. I know it’s a little pricey, but it is spill-proof and, most importantly, doesn’t need ironing, which is very important to me.

And to decorate the table, I’m obsessed with this 

 (I’ve never met a honeycomb decoration I didn’t like tbh) and this 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think a great hostess gift is a 

. There are a bunch of different animals, but the state bird … c’mon! (Do not take this to a minimalist household.)

Set a festive Thanksgiving table with Utah-made paper plates, a no-iron tablecloth, honeycomb turkey decor, and a hostess gift from Salt Lake shops.

Add to Cart Salt Lake: November Edition

Add to Cart: November Edition

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Let the professionals handle the pie, rolls, and maybe even the whole dinner. These local restaurants and bakeries are taking Thanksgiving orders, but you’ll want to act quickly!

: If you’re tired of the traditional pumpkin or apple pies, try an “Oreo cookie pie crust filled with a Hojicha (toasted green tea) chocolate custard atop a chestnut caramel and crispy candied sobacha (buckwheat tea), topped with vanilla bean chantilly and more candied sobacha,” among other twists on traditional flavors. Pick up in Murray and Salt Lake on Nov. 24 and 25.

: Order by Nov. 20; pick up on Nov. 25 in Heber City, Orem, or Salt Lake City.

: Gluten-free options. Order by Nov. 22; pick up on Nov. 25 in Salt Lake City.

: Gluten-free options. Order frozen pies now and bake on Thanksgiving so your house smells like freshly baked pie. You decide if you take credit for it or not.

: DM your order on Instagram, pick up Nov. 25.

: Order by Nov. 20, pick up in Salt Lake City.

: Order quickly because things are already selling out. Pickup available in Salt Lake City, Draper, and American Fork.

: You can get soft dinner rolls and denser baci rolls here. Plus cinnamon rolls or bagels, so you don’t have to think about breakfast.

: They are famous for a reason. And even though the Lion House is closed right now, you can still make the rolls at home with a mix that is just about as good as the original.

: If you’re planning a big gathering, get the comfort food from Big South. Sides feed 15 to 20 people! Order by Nov. 16.

: Everything but the Bird packages and à la carte sides at locations across the valley, plus gluten-free options.

: I wanted to include its “Everything but the Bird” option, but it's already sold out in Draper and Salt Lake. But the "Thanksgiving Feast" that serves up to six people is a great deal for $225, and you can still get some sides and desserts individually.

: If you’re having a small Thanksgiving, try Rouser’s $99 for 2 dinner. Get all the staples without eating leftovers for the next three weeks.

: Full meals, sides, and desserts available in Park City and Salt Lake City.

Skip the cooking this year. Gourmandise, June Pie, Rouser, Vessel Kitchen, and more Utah spots are taking Thanksgiving orders, but act fast.

Where to Order Thanksgiving Dinner and Pies Around Salt Lake City

Outsource Your Thanksgiving

This year’s Brigham Young University vs. University of Utah rivalry game is on 

 in Salt Lake City. If you’re planning a watch party at home, why not take the rivalry a step further by serving snacks from businesses founded by your team’s alumni? It’s a delicious way to show your school spirit, and if your team loses, at least the food will be good.

Start the morning with pastries from The Kolache Place. 

The game kicks off at 10 a.m., which means breakfast is a must. Ross Hruska, a 2014 BYU finance graduate, founded 

Hruska’s Kolaches, now The Kolache Place

, in Provo with his siblings Cory and Devin in 2014. They brought their Texas family’s love of Czech pastries to Utah, offering sweet and savory fillings wrapped in soft, pillowy dough. The raspberry and cream cheese kolache even 

earned a spot on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

The only hot dog I’ll even consider eating: J. Dawgs.

 in 2004 while attending BYU, turning a rundown shack near campus into a hot dog stand after pawning his favorite guitar to fund the business. What started as a student’s entrepreneurial gamble has grown into a Utah favorite with eight locations across the state, catering options, and another signature sauce to add to the Utah Sauce Hall of Fame.

Cookies for celebrating or drowning your sorrows.

 Say what you will, but the BYU grads know their way around a baked good. Utah County fans can pre-order cookies, including my favorite sugar cookies topped with Italian buttercream, from 

 offers inventive flavors that go well beyond your standard chocolate chip. And don’t let the louder cookie competitors distract you: A little more time actually baking a cookie can be just as valuable as opening another storefront. (I told you I wanted to trash talk!)

 traces its roots to 1982, when 8-year-old Joel Clark sold his mother’s homemade pancake mix from a red wagon. His brother and fellow Ute, Jon, founded the company in 1995, and Joel took over in 1997 while studying economics at the U. Today, Kodiak Cakes is known for its whole-grain 

, making it a fitting breakfast option for fans who want to fuel up before kickoff.

Classic pizza and burgers from Hires Big H and Litzas Pizza. 

University of Utah graduate Don Hale opened 

 in 1959, and has built a local following for its burgers, fries, and old-school drive-in atmosphere. He later founded 

 after deciding Salt Lake City needed better pies. I’m happy to report that both remain personal favorites.

Chips, salsa, guacamole, and queso from Cafe Rio. 

 is a University of Utah graduate, though he is no longer involved with the company. I tried the 

 recently, and I have to say, it’s getting closer to its former glory. I couldn’t find a confirmed University of Utah or BYU connection for Costa Vida’s ownership, so you don’t have to let alma mater sway your opinion on which restaurant makes the better sweet pork salad.

Hosting a Brigham Young University vs. University of Utah watch party on Nov. 7? Serve kolaches, J. Dawgs, Kodiak Cakes, and Cafe Rio from businesses founded by each team’s alumni.


Holy War 2026: Game Day Snacks From BYU and U of U Alumni

Eat Your Way Through the Holy War

While the peach harvest may look a little different this year, local restaurants are still embracing the season, featuring the beloved stone fruit in a variety of menu offerings. Here are some of the treats you need to try before we go full pumpkin spice.

According to the food influencers on Instagram, the most anticipated peach treat is the 

 in Highland. Frozen custard, fresh Highland Garden peaches, a maple cream syrup, and homemade streuseltopping. Yeah, sign me up.

There’s always a debate on what makes a milkshake a milkshake. Can you drink it through a straw or does it need to be eaten with a spoon? Either way, adding peaches is a must. Check out the 

 in Spanish Fork and Orem. Or if you’d rather use a spoon, 

If you’re looking for a baked good, two bakery staples are getting the peach treatment. The gluten-free 

 is usually topped with raspberries but will feature peaches in September. And the 

 features strawberries, peaches, honey, and goat cheese. At 

 with cinnamon, homemade crumble, a Biscoff cookie crust, and fresh whipped cream.

 makes peaches the star of every course. You can order a peach-centered appetizer, main, dessert, or get all three as part of a prix-fixe menu. Peaches and burrata to start, a grilled pork chop with caramelized peaches and a bourbon jus, finished with a thyme-roasted peaches crumble.

The Best Peach Treats in Utah

Get Your Peach Fix With These Treats

As summer winds down, temperatures drop and we finally start spending a little more time indoors, so fresh produce might not be top of mind. But don’t put away your farmers market tote just yet.

Late September and early October are some of the best times to shop for locally grown Utah produce. The summer favorites may be fading, but they’re making room for crisp apples, hearty root vegetables, and the squashes that practically beg to become soup.

Depending on where you shop and how the growing season shakes out, you’ll find plenty of Utah-grown produce, including:

Winter squash, including butternut, delicata, and spaghetti squash

Shopping at farmers markets keeps money in the hands of local growers while giving you a chance to eat what’s actually in season.

Sundays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.Open through Oct. 11

Thursdays, 4-8 p.m., at Bountiful Town SquareThe 2026 market runs through Oct. 15 and accepts SNAP/EBT, including through Double Up Food Bucks Utah and Produce Rx.

Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.Open through October 17

Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.The market's fall season continues into Oct. 24, with a winter market returning Nov. 15 at 209 E. 500 South.

Did we miss your favorite market? Do you have a can’t-miss vendor? Let us know and we might include it in future City Cast Salt Lake newsletters!

Email me!

Fresh Produce and Farmers Markets For Fall in Utah

Fresh Utah Produce Isn’t Done Yet

After Utah's thrilling wins in the newest MICHELIN travel guide region, we’re holding out hope that another Utah restaurant will take home a star in the future.

Hell’s Backbone Grill is a perfect example of the MICHELIN criteria — innovative, consistent, sustainable, and well worth the trip.

If you know me IRL or have gathered anything from reading this newsletter, I’m an indoor cat. So I’m not making many trips to Southern Utah for hikes or camping. That said, I WOULD make a trip just for 

The Boulder, Utah, restaurant is a longtime destination for farm-to-table dining, with offerings made from ingredients grown at its own 

 or from local suppliers. The menu changes with the seasons, so you'll have a new experience with each trip.

The restaurant has been serving diners in the heart of southern Utah since 2000, when chefs Jen Castle and Blake Spalding decided to build a restaurant around their shared commitment to food, community, and sustainability.

Over the years, it has become part of Boulder’s community fabric and an advocate for the landscapes surrounding it. The restaurant’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship is woven into its operations, and Castle and Spalding became 

vocal advocates for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

. Their work has earned national attention, including multiple James Beard Award nominations.

In 2025, after 25 years of renting the property, Castle, Spalding, and longtime team members purchased the Boulder Mountain Lodge and restaurant, giving this beloved Utah institution a new chapter.

Black powder biscuits (and buying mixes to give as gifts), Three Sisters posole, butter dipped farm radishes, trout ‘n herbs, summer buttermilk pie.

Hell's Backbone Grill in Utah is Worthy of a MICHELIN Star

A MICHELIN Star? We’d Give It to Hell’s Backbone

With the announcement of Utah’s MICHELIN-recommended restaurants this week, we started thinking: 

 if we were handing out the honors? One star means a restaurant is worth a stop, two stars mean it’s worth a detour, and three stars mean it’s worth planning a trip around.

If it were up to me, here’s where some Utah favorites would land.

One of the things I love about the MICHELIN Guide is the range of restaurants it recognizes. Fancy or casual, the philosophy is simple: Good food is good food.

That’s why Victor’s is at the top of my list. I know a restaurant has won me over when, no matter how hard I try to convince myself to order something new, I end up going back to the dish that made me fall in love with the place in the first place.

The filling is packed with flavor, while the masa is moist, tender, and just the right amount of fluffy. And while the tamales are the star of the show for me, the rice and beans might be my favorite part of the meal. They’re consistently delicious and make the whole plate feel like comfort food in the best possible way.

 The smothered tamales combo comes in under $15, and the portions are generous enough that I can stretch one order into both lunch and dinner.

I’m a firm believer that we should eat more tapas. I want a bite of everything, not necessarily one big plate. Which is why I love Koyote. And so did the MICHELIN reviewers, who recommend the SLC ramen and tapas joint.

At the heart of Koyote is food designed to be shared. The menu takes familiar ingredients and pushes them in unexpected directions, layering spicy, savory, sweet, and tangy flavors into dishes that are as fun to eat as they are to talk about. It’s the kind of place where you might order something because you recognize an ingredient, only to discover it prepared in a way you’ve never tried before.

Koyote also embraces the idea that a great meal should feel like an experience rather than a formal occasion. The atmosphere is energetic and welcoming, making it easy to settle in for a few rounds of food and drinks.

house gyoza, karage wings, deluxe chashu-don, whipped tofu

The MICHELIN reviewers gave this Jewish deli a Bib Gourmand award, which celebrates “restaurants worldwide that serve exceptional food at a great value.” Which is exactly what Feldman’s does best. The french fries and fry sauce alone are worth it. But I will have a sandwich, too. I’m making good choices here.

. After discovering Utah was missing the Jewish deli food they grew up with, the couple opened Feldman’s in 2012, bringing classic New York-style pastrami, bagels, matzo ball soup and more to Salt Lake City.

MICHELIN Star-Worthy Restaurants in Salt Lake

Move Over, MICHELIN: These Are Our Utah Picks

 began with a freezer full of food and a new mom trying to make life a little easier. In 2016, founder Allyse Jackson started preparing freezer meals before the birth of her first child. She made far more than her family could eat, so she shared the extras with friends, neighbors, and families who could use a home-cooked meal.

She then decided meal prepping was something she was good at and 

Jackson officially launched Beehive Meals in 2019, initially preparing and delivering freezer meals herself from a rented commercial kitchen. Demand grew during the pandemic as families looked for convenient ways to avoid grocery shopping and still eat at home. The growth hasn’t slowed.

Beehive Meals produced more than 1.2 million meals in 2025 alone, bringing its lifetime total to more than 4 million meals. What started as one Utah mom’s solution for getting dinner on the table has grown into a nationwide business, 

Today, Beehive Meals offers ready-to-cook freezer meals, including gluten-free options and higher-protein meals. The rotating menus offer a mix of comforting family favorites and globally inspired flavors that you can cook in your slow cooker, Instant Pot, or on your stove. Recent options have included bang bang chicken, BBQ pork, Swedish meatballs, sausage marinara and chicken tortilla soup. Many meals can be served over rice or pasta, tucked into tortillas, or turned into sandwiches, giving families flexibility with sides and presentation.

The newer Flat Top line takes a more hands-on approach, with meals such as Greek chicken, steak fajitas, jalapeño cheddar smash burgers, and taco hash. Ingredients arrive prepped and frozen, so there’s no chopping or measuring — just thaw and cook.

How Beehive Meals Turned Dinner Into a Big Business

The season of tomato sandwich lunches and popsicle dinners is winding down, and with it comes more responsibilities and fewer daylight hours. Whether you’re looking for single-serving, ready-to-eat meals or prepared dishes to feed the whole family, turning to a local meal service can take one more thing off your plate.

: NUR Kitchen is a family-run Salt Lake City meal delivery service focused on fresh, nutritious, chef-cooked meals made from scratch. You can choose from a lunch or dinner menu. Lunch options feature lighter fare, like salads, while dinner options are a little more hearty. You can also choose portion sizes based on your nutrition goals.

👨‍🍳 Menu Sample: roasted corn salad (lunch), coconut lime salmon (dinner)

: Meals from Avant arrive ready to heat and eat, with no subscription required, although it is an option to save a little money. Its reusable containers are collected, professionally washed and sanitized, reused up to 1,000 times, then recycled. The menu features ready-to-eat meals, as well as bulk proteins, like four servings of grilled chicken, and premade sides to help round out a meal for one or a family.

👨‍🍳 Menu Sample: bibimbap power bowl, Swedish meatballs, lasagna Bolognese

: Beehive Catering is banishing the sad desk lunch for our friends in Utah County. Its weekday box lunches offer a convenient option for workdays, while family meals feed about five and arrive chilled, ready to reheat for dinner. The lunch menu features a weekly sandwich and a daily entree or salad choice, and each entree is also available daily as a family meal. Consider this my official plea to deliver to Salt Lake County, too!

👨‍🍳 Menu Sample: beef gyudon, braised beef enchiladas, turkey bacon club

: Citrus Pear meals are designed to feed your whole crew. Meals come assembled and ready to cook in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, oven or on the stovetop, with small and medium family portions available. Generally, these meals are a protein you can serve however your family enjoys it — like enchilada chicken can be used in actual enchiladas, on a taco salad, or served over rice.

👨‍🍳 Menu Sample: garlic parmesan chicken, honey lime ginger pork, carne asada street tacos

: Blue Door Kitchen lives up to its motto, “We make the meals you'd cook — if you had the time.” Its rotating weekly menu offers customizable family-style portions for two to six people, ready to heat and serve. Choose pickup or delivery, with no subscription required and new menus each week. The meals are simple, crowd-pleasers.

👨‍🍳 Menu Sample: cheese and spinach manicotti, chicken pot pie and biscuits

The season of tomato sandwich lunches and popsicle dinners is winding down, and with it comes more responsibilities and fewer daylight hours. Whether you’re looking for single-serving, ready-to-eat meals or prepared dishes to feed the whole family, turning to a local meal service in Salt Lake can take one more thing off your plate.


Utah Meal Delivery Services For Busy People

Get Back on Schedule With Local Meal Services

 this year gave Salt Lake City its first community-owned grocery store and a year-round home for local food. More than a place to shop, the co-op is built on the idea that neighbors should have a say in where their food comes from and how their grocery store operates. We are so excited to have this resource participating in our 

The co-op's mission prioritizes affordable groceries, sustainable practices, partnerships with Utah farmers and food makers, and a stronger regional food system. On the shelves, you’ll find local produce, bulk foods, pantry staples and specialty products alongside everyday essentials, because sometimes you really do just need the Ben & Jerry’s.

I’m particularly excited by the bulk section, where you're allowed to bring your own containers, instead of keeping track of a million plastic bags that you’ll just put in another container anyway at home.

My beet seeds never really grew, so I’m grabbing some pickled beets from 

Any local lettuce because I really want a BLT with my garden tomatoes but I don’t want … 

 to bring the outdoors in while I stay in the A/C.

The defining characteristic of a food co-op is the fact that the store is member-owned. Anyone can shop there, but for a one-time $300 ownership share (or a $25 monthly payment plan), members gain a voice in 

, including voting for the board of directors and helping shape the store’s future.

Membership also comes with perks like quarterly 10% savings on one purchase, monthly specials, discounts on special orders and events, and potential patronage rebates if the co-op is profitable. Best of all, the investment helps strengthen Utah’s local food economy and support local farmers and producers.

food

Add to Cart: November Edition

Outsource Your Thanksgiving

Eat Your Way Through the Holy War

Latest articles

Add to Cart: November Edition

Outsource Your Thanksgiving

Eat Your Way Through the Holy War

Get Your Peach Fix With These Treats

Fresh Utah Produce Isn’t Done Yet

A MICHELIN Star? We’d Give It to Hell’s Backbone

Move Over, MICHELIN: These Are Our Utah Picks

Latest articles

Get Your Peach Fix With These Treats

Fresh Utah Produce Isn’t Done Yet

A MICHELIN Star? We’d Give It to Hell’s Backbone

Move Over, MICHELIN: These Are Our Utah Picks

How Beehive Meals Turned Dinner Into a Big Business

Get Back on Schedule With Local Meal Services

Wasatch Food Co-op Brings A Community-Owned Grocery to 900 South