Where should you go for breakfast in Salt Lake City? The answer might involve mile-high biscuits in a canyon, cardamom waffles with lingonberries or pancakes so popular you can buy the mix to take home. From longtime diners to French pastries and creative modern brunch dishes, these eight Salt Lake City spots are worth waking up hungry for.
The Park Café
Sitting across from Liberty Park, The Park Café has been a neighborhood breakfast favorite since 1982. The vibe is classic diner, with big plates, hot coffee and plenty of regulars. Go hungry for the Michigan Hash, which piles sausage, peppers, onions and mushrooms onto the café’s signature Park Potatoes before adding eggs and cheddar. The French Toast Foolishness combines French toast, eggs, bacon and potatoes, while the enormous Pancake Sandwich does exactly what its name promises by putting eggs and breakfast meat between two plate-sized pancakes.
Penny Ann’s Cafe
At Penny Ann’s Cafe, the Heavenly Hot Cakes are the main event. Made with sour cream, the signature pancakes are unusually light and fluffy and have developed enough of a following that the restaurant sells its own pancake mix. If you want to go bigger, order the Pot of Gold, a glorious pile of home-fried potatoes, ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, peppers and onions topped with cheddar, eggs and sausage gravy. Other temptations include stuffed French toast and the PAC BAM Waffle, made with bacon soaked in maple syrup and folded right into the waffle batter.
Finn’s Cafe
Finn’s Cafe gives the Salt Lake breakfast scene a Scandinavian accent. Breads are baked from scratch in-house, including the cafe’s sourdough, while the breakfast menu mixes familiar American favorites with Norwegian influences. The standout is the Norwegian Waffles, seasoned with cardamom and served with sour cream, wild lingonberries and strawberries. Savory diners should look toward the Benedict Royale with smoked salmon and Finn’s hollandaise or the chorizo omelet with feta, avocado and tomatoes. Even the sunny garden patio adds to the feeling that breakfast here should never be rushed.
Eva’s Bakery
Downtown breakfast gets a little more Parisian at Eva’s Bakery, where blue doors open into a bakery case packed with croissants, kouign-amann, macarons and other reasons to abandon whatever you planned to order. For a full breakfast, the stuffed French toast pairs lemon cream cheese with blueberry compote, while the croissant sandwich layers scrambled egg, ham, tomato, Gruyère, arugula and hollandaise. There’s also the Boulange Benedict with ham and spinach, plus rosemary, thyme, garlic and lemon-roasted Boulange potatoes on the side. Definitely save room for a pastry.
Ruth’s Diner
Breakfast comes with a side of Salt Lake history at Ruth’s Diner in Emigration Canyon. Ruth Evans opened her original restaurant downtown in 1930 before buying a trolley car and moving the operation into the canyon in 1949. Today, locals still make the drive for Ruth’s famous Mile High Biscuits, particularly when they’re covered in country gravy. The menu goes well beyond diner basics, with cinnamon roll French toast, banana-walnut French toast and several Benedicts, including one built on green chile cheese cornbread with pulled pork and hollandaise. The canyon setting and leafy patio only sweeten the deal.
Hub & Spoke Diner
Hub & Spoke Diner takes familiar American breakfast food and gives it a creative upgrade, with a from-scratch kitchen producing sauces, dressings and plenty of dishes that go well beyond eggs and toast. The brisket Benedict swaps the usual ham for house-smoked brisket on a Hawaiian roll with jalapeño hollandaise. Chicken and waffles pair sweet-tea-brined fried chicken with a sweet potato waffle and chile maple syrup, while the stuffed Nutella French toast adds mascarpone mousse and pecans. There are also breakfast cocktails, espresso drinks and boozy shakes if your brunch plans are in no hurry to end.
Roots Cafe
Roots Cafe is especially good when the table can’t decide between sweet, savory, hearty and lighter fare. The Spicy Peeto breakfast sandwich stacks eggs, bacon, spicy sausage, avocado, grilled onions and caramelized jalapeños, while Roots B & G covers house-made herb biscuits in poblano chile gravy before adding eggs on top. Sweet-breakfast fans should zero in on the apple-pecan cranberry bread-pudding French toast or the rotating pancakes of the day. Crepes stuffed with citrus-mint ricotta and finished with warm mixed-berry sauce offer another reason to skip your usual order.
Oasis Cafe
Just east of downtown, Oasis Cafe feels suitably named, especially when the flower-filled patio is in bloom. The menu balances brunch comfort food with plenty of vegetables and lighter options. One signature worth ordering is the oven-baked German buttermilk pancake topped with blueberry compote. The croissant breakfast sandwich goes in the opposite direction with eggs, applewood-smoked bacon, avocado, tomato and cheddar, while huevos rancheros combine black beans, Spanish rice, southwest vegetables, salsa verde and guacamole. Bonus: Golden Braid Books sits next door, making breakfast and a little browsing an easy pairing.
