What is Damn Good Food?
If You Have To Ask…

I am your average everyday restaurant attendee. Those trendy and pretentious places that are full of hipsters is NOT what I am into, just looking for quality food, drinks and fun. Trying to find a new up and coming restaurant for a fun date night or a romantic setting is hard to do. BUT the hardest I have come to realize is a place to get a drink around here!! I feel like using the apps and searching on the Internet you just get large chain restaurants not that unique hidden gem you go to for the entire experience. The secrete spot you go to because the food is unbelievable and your glass is never empty is where people want to go. People just do not know how to help you pick out wine, beer or a drink at most places. Let me do some searching and please come read my exciting experiences so you can be ready to plan your own incredible adventure out!!

Who am I?

I grew up in a rural town in Minnesota where everyone pretty much knew everyone. In comparison to Utah it was the Park City of MN. In the summer our population went from 12K to over 100K. There is not a place I can think of that you cannot see water, its pure amazing. Eating out was not that exciting growing up; it was a big deal to go to Applebee’s and the day our town got an Olive Garden was the greatest day in many lives. I grew up on meat my dad and brothers hunted, anywhere from venison, duck, geese, grouse and a large array of freshwater fish. I loved it but lets just say my mom had about 5 “go to” meals and that was about it.

Moving to Utah for school was a real eye opener in MANY ways, some positive and negative. The sheer amount of restaurants was aweing to me. Every single type of food I could imagine was available to me but I was poor so I was unable to participate in this new world until I met my husband. He grew up in a family where eating out was their form of family time and celebration whereas mine was to grill up some sunfish or venison. He opened me up to this world of delectable and to me exotic food.

My husband and I were married for 5 years when we had our amazing little baby. We tried for 2 years to have him and he is the most amazing thing on this planet. He changed our lives in every way possible. That little monster completely consumes us and has made us the happiest parents in the world but I will not lie, being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever experienced. Some advice that changed my life was that we pick one night a week, get a baby sitter and spend time just my husband and I. We decided to do this and chose Thursday nights. At first I had absolutely no idea what to do!! One day I came up with the delightful idea of trying to go find fun, unique, up and coming restaurants in Salt Lake and Utah County. My husband jumped on the idea right away like I knew he would, he is a food lover. I am so tired of going to big chain restaurants I can find anywhere in the country, I want new and exciting. Sitting outside on the lawn at Olive Garden for 3 hours is not how I want to spend my “adult time”. I thought finding unique and fun restaurants would not be hard in Utah because of the MASSIVE amount of choices out there but it proved to be harder than I thought at first. After researching it out a little I started to realize the vast amount of places I was missing out on. With the crazy Utah liquor laws and a culture that does not readily accept drinking it is hard to find a place that delivers the whole experience though.

One of the benefits my husband gets from his job is a baby sitter once a week; she is 22 and absolutely amazing. Trusting the person you leave your child with is priceless. This alone time is set aside to be complete adult time so when choosing a place to eat I want it to not have a hundred kids running around, those kind of places are for the other six days of the week (which I do love). I try to pick places that are special and somewhere I can have new experiences because food and drinks can be an amazing experience if executed correctly. It is hard to find restaurants that help you pick out the perfect array of food along with drinks and wine. Most waiters/waitresses just look confused and/or judgey when I ask “what drink or wine do you recommend with this?” or they just read off the drinks on the menu. I am pretty sure I can read myself and it is my night out to have fun, I do not need to be made to feel awkward. You would think that they would be all excited because if they treat us right our tab will be double a normal table and that means a big tip.

I am so excited to take you along with me on this journey of food and drinks I am about to go on. My hope is that sharing my experiences with you will help you to have a much more exciting culinary experience in Utah.