PRKGuide

The Best Restaurants In Park City

Restaurants you can literally ski to, ramen for cold nights, and more of our favorite spots in Park City, Utah.
The Best Restaurants In Park City image

photo credit: Blake Peterson

Park City is a ski town at its core. What sets it apart from other small mountain cities is the creative energy brought in by the Annual Film Festival and the fact that it’s a quick 30-ish minute drive from Salt Lake City airport. Whether you’re hitting the slopes or schmoozing at Sundance, there are fancier restaurants where you can use a corporate card on a gigantic porterhouse, bars with snowboarders sipping pilsners in snow pants and base layers, neighborhood bistros great for brunch or date night, and more to eat at. And if you want a great meal before flying out, check out our guide to the best restaurants in SLC.


THE SPOTS


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Main Street

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If you only have time to visit one restaurant while you’re in Park City, prioritize High West Saloon. The hometown distillery is basically mountain town perfection—the inside feels like an old-school saloon, the cocktails use the best of High West’s whiskey lineup, and you can theoretically ski right up to the restaurant in the winter. The menu features elevated versions of pub food, including a pretzel with whiskey-infused beer cheese and a burger smeared with bacon onion jam and two kinds of cheese. It’s walk-in only, so get there early: during ski season, there will probably already be a wait at 5pm.


Basically everybody in Park City knows and loves Five5eeds, an Australian-owned brunch spot. The wait can be long (over an hour on the weekends), but stick it out for the excellent breakfast dishes. Get your name on the list and head straight to the coffee bar for an americano or cold brew while you wait. The dining room has a mix of small bistro two-seaters, high tops, large round tables, and even a secluded nook with a bar counter. Once you claim a spot, order the hotcake with berries and a large dollop of citrus mascarpone.


Yuta at The Lodge at Blue Sky Auberge is a 25-minute drive from downtown Park City, but it’s worth it for an all-out splurge meal at a stunning resort. Yuta, which means “mountain top” in the indigenous Ute language, feels special and completely remote, with dining room windows that overlook the surrounding Wasatch-Uinta Mountains. The chef incorporates influences from the diverse populations that have lived in the area and utilizes the on-site garden to create a menu featuring things like elk chop, sweet potato soup, and roasted sea trout that get cooked in the kitchen’s large wood-fired hearth.


You can tell a lot about a restaurant by its most basic salad. At Handle, it’s one with just kale, pine nuts, and cheese, but it’s so perfectly dressed and seasoned that you leave thinking about the leafy greens for days. All the options on the daily-changing menu follow a similar approach. Great ingredients at the core, and some dishes shine thanks to creative executions, like the dukkah-spiced fried chicken with red pepper cream and a tangy cauliflower appetizer topped with a sweet chili glaze and Sriracha vinaigrette. It all comes together at a dinner-only, laid-back restaurant decorated with marble countertops, green booths, and pops of soft pink.


The Sundance Mountain Resort is around a 45 minute drive from Park City, but it’s worth filling the tank to have dinner in what’s basically Robert Redford’s cabin. This mountainside restaurant is built around an actual tree and the actor's personal collection of kachina dolls, pottery, and blankets from his films decorate the dining room. He even built the stone fireplace. Order the signature pepper steak with buttermilk mashed potatoes—a hearty meal so good you’ll forget it’s freezing outside—while you wonder if Redford has ever played chef in the restaurant’s kitchen. 


Harvest is at the bottom of Main Street, and you should post up on the patio to enjoy a flat white and acai bowl with a mountain backdrop. There’s a range of healthy brunch dishes on the menu and most can be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free. The Buddha Bowl of Goodness, with brown rice, butternut pumpkin puree, oven-roasted tomatoes, fermented cabbage, and miso ginger dressing isn't anything revolutionary, but it’s what Harvest does extremely well: pulling together fresh ingredients into dishes that taste as fresh as they look.


photo credit: Blake Peterson

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Sushi in a land-locked mountain town might sound suspicious, like a shark pledging a human-free diet, but at Yuki Yama, fish is flown in daily for the extensive menu of hot plates, noodles, sashimi, and creative maki. Grab a tall booth for a date night or get a seat at the sushi bar to see the chefs in action. Start with the Yama-mame, Yuki’s spin on edamame seasoned with garlic, togarashi, and cherry preserves, then try the wagyu beef tataki—served on a sizzling Himalayan sea salt block—and move on to the chef’s choice nigiri.


You might quickly browse Twisted Fern’s menu and think “this looks familiar,” but when you take a second look, there are some interesting twists here. There's a blue corn crepe with a corn and poblano filling and the duck has a side of blackberry-lemon-rhubarb compote. The menu changes often to showcase local in-season produce, but some of the mainstays are musts, including the smoked trout dip, made with cured Utah trout, and the three-cheese mac that combines cheddar, fontina, and gruyère from a nearby creamery. The minimalist dining room is bright and open with great natural light.


In Utah, it’s actually illegal for alcohol to get discounted at Happy Hour (it’s a bummer, we know). But at this Italian restaurant within the Park City Peaks Hotel, you can get half off appetizers and pizzas from 4-5pm, which lines up well with the end of a ski day. Individual wood-fired pizzas and easy-to-split appetizers, like shishito peppers and spinach artichoke dip, make Versante great for groups. We like the Spiro pizza (named after a popular mountain bike trail nearby), with prosciutto, roasted pistachios, baby arugula, and honey. During the winter, you can also look forward to the ice-skating rink and fire pits on the patio.


Tupelo, where the chef uses produce from his own backyard to make most of the restaurant’s Southern-influenced comfort food, is one of the best options for a special occasion meal off Main Street. The ambiance is a mix between sophisticated library and industrial loft, with dark wood tables, moody lighting, exposed brick, and leather chairs. Dishes change seasonally, but it’s always a good idea to order the buttermilk biscuits with honey butter, whatever salad they’re doing, and the grilled swordfish entree. Don’t skip the cocktail list, which features drinks concocted with syrups using local honey and garnishes picked from nearby farms (just don't tell the chef's plants at home).


Stop by this small butcher and cheese shop if you need a quick lunch and want to pick up some fancy gouda. You can't go wrong with the Butler Dip sandwich, caramelized onions and aged beef on perfectly-tangy sourdough bread, and the Detroit-style Sauce and Salumi pizza is so hefty that one delicious slice is often enough. As you’re eating, you’ll spot locals stopping by for wine night meat and cheese or parents busy with PTA meetings stocking up on Bolognese sauce for an easy dinner. Whatever you do, don’t leave without a banana pudding and chocolate mousse from the fridge. 


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With its tinted windows and signage that looks like it was designed with Microsoft WordArt, you probably wouldn’t do a double take on this strip mall restaurant. But Cortona’s low-key appearance is part of its appeal—you can have a fantastic dinner in a chill atmosphere. Their menu focuses on Italian dishes like chicken parm, fettuccini served with a giant meatball, and the star: a four-layer lasagna swimming in a pinot noir Bolognese sauce and topped with creamy bechamel. They only make a limited number every day, but you can (and should) preorder 24 hours in advance. For dessert, cruise over to the gelato case to sample the pistachio or hazelnut (the scooper will gas up the fact that they’re made with nut pastes imported from Italy).


This historic restaurant is one of the town’s go-to special occasion spots, but it isn’t so fancy that you couldn’t show up for an après-ski meal (please no ski boots, though). The menu has a lot of meat, including buffalo tartare and wagyu beef carpaccio appetizers, wild game, and hearty steak entrees, but this place also has great options from the ocean—the ahi tuna and risotto with shrimp and scallops are excellent as well. If you can, score a seat next to the floor-to-ceiling windows—the second-story location gives you a perfect opportunity to do some Main Street people-watching.


If a stay at the high-end Montage Deer Valley will cause irreparable damage to your bank account, you can get a taste of the luxe resort by dining at its most casual restaurant. After clipping out, discuss tomorrow’s snow conditions over a whiskey flight or rye cocktail, some bison-topped nachos, and a trio of their fries (rosemary sea salt, truffle parmesan, and sweet potato). There are a bunch of burgers to choose from, but the B&B prime beef patty with savory High West whiskey bacon tomato jam is the one to get. Afterward, step outside to roast some s’mores and take a seat around a fire pit, where you can watch some snowcats on grooming duty, a.k.a. peak Park City wildlife. 


We love Hearth and Hill for date night cocktails, casual group dinners, or any time we don’t want to deal with the parking hassle of Main Street. The menu offers plenty of shareable items, including a rich and creamy truffle mac and cheese and a salad with apples and yams. There’s a mix of entrees, ranging from chilaquiles to a mushroom reuben, but our go-to is the H and H Burger topped with pimento cheese and upgradeable with a huge slab of bacon. The drink menu includes the option to build your own Old Fashioned, choosing the spirit, sweetener, bitters, and even garnish from a list of choices. Hearth and Hill is also a worthy Sunday brunch consideration—the cinnamon roll with brown butter frosting is wildly good.


No dining experience has Swiss ski chalet energy quite like a four-course meal at Deer Valley’s Empire Canyon Lodge. Located at 8,300 feet, you can watch skiers zoom down the famous corduroy-textured, groomed runs as you enjoy dishes served from stone fireplaces. Reserve a table early during the winter season winter season of December to April to dine on stews, cured meats, and warm raclette cheese. If you want to go full-out winter fantasy like you’ve just stepped through a wardrobe and now a nice woman who looks like Tilda Swinton is offering you treats, book a snowshoe trek to hike to the lodge. Or, add on a mid-meal horse-drawn sleigh ride for some fresh air before the final chocolate fondue course.


A small Utah town might be the last place you’d expect to find decent Nashville hot chicken, but Pretty Bird has nailed it. Inside, it looks like a futuristic version of a fast food restaurant, with bright white walls, neon signs, and yellow plastic chairs. The options are pretty straightforward: chicken nuggets, a fried chicken sandwich, and chicken tenders. The sandwich best showcases the sweet, salty, and spicy chicken, topped with coleslaw, house pickles, and the tangy mayo Pretty Bird sauce. Choose your spice level, ranging from no spice to Hot Behind, and be prepared for the consequences—we recommend medium to get a little bit of heat without missing out on the flavor. Tack on a side of crinkle-cut fries to anything you order.


This casual Mediterranean spot is a solid takeout or group lunch option for salads, big platters, and pita sandwiches. The bowls (chicken, falafel, veggie, beef kofta, or lamb shawarma) come with a surprising number of sides, including roasted cauliflower or beets, pickled cabbage, Israeli salad, harissa yogurt, and a ton of sauces. Order extra toasted pita (for $1) to soak up every bite of the hummus and pickled slaws. Get here early or plan to wait since the dining space is pretty limited and they don't take reservations.


You’ll find Italian classics like chicken parmesan and bucatini all’ amatriciana on Bartolo’s menu, along with some dishes with a bit of a twist. Take for example the beet tomato burrata with pickled beets, cherry tomatoes, and fresh blackberries. The chef creates a new pasta weekly, but some of the standbys include rigatoni bolognese with slow-cooked angus beef and pork meat and the pistachio pesto mafaldine with roated cauliflower and radiccchio. This sunny Kimball Junction restaurant feels like your friendly neighborhood bistro, with long, group-friendly tables and a buzzy open kitchen.


When The Pendry Park City opened in 2021, it brought four new restaurants to the Canyons base of Park City Mountain Resort. One of those was Dos Olas Cantina, a Mexican restaurant where you could clip out of your skis and get to a mezcal cocktail and barbacoa nachos within minutes. You’re at a ski resort hotel, so expect entrees in the $20+ range, but portions are huge. The menu features things like tinga de pollo tacos and cauliflower with pineapple alongside tacos and fajitas.


Hana Ramen Bar is in a bare-bones space in an office park next to a Taco Bell, and serves the best ramen in town. The chef spends multiple days perfecting the rich tonkotsu broth that serves as the base for its noodle dishes. On a single-digit night at 7,000 feet, nothing beats the spicy tonkotsu, made with braised pork belly, bean sprouts, and red pickled ginger, and for vegans there’s an 18-ingredient ramen made with oat milk broth. Soup and noodles are the star, but Hana also offers a few appetizers and curry items to round out your meal—get the spicy gyoza, topped with chili garlic chips.


The Riverhorse on Main team also runs this casual spot, where you can sit down for lunch or just grab a to-go coffee and premade meal from the wall fridge. After a big morning on the mountain, the SaltBox breakfast burrito hits the spot, filled with sausage, eggs, and crispy polenta bites. Check the chalkboard for daily specials, like brioche french toast and braised beef short-rib grilled cheese, which are often even better than dishes on the actual menu. There are only a handful of tables inside, so come early to nab a spot or drive on over to City Park and eat in your car.


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