Utah, You Can Do Better Than This

Peach City Ice Cream
306 North Main St.
Brigham City, UT




Unfortunately, Utah isn’t exactly known for culinary creativity.

I mean, sure I’ve had some great Mexican at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake City. I enjoyed the heck out of the pizza at Red Rock Brewery. Devoured a decent burrito at Moab Brewery. Got a pretty awesome burger at Crown Burgers.

But when you think of Utah, does one unique delicacy or dish come to mind?

Hmmmm….

…thinking….

…um, no.

Nothing.

When Zagat did their celebrated 50 sandwiches in 50 states expose, every state was able to lay claim to some iconic must try specialty, whether it be Italian Beef in Illinois or the Hot Brown in Kentucky or the Lobster Roll in Maine.

So which sandwich did Zagat pick for Utah you might wonder?

Fry sauce.

Yeah. It’s a condiment.

Not a sandwich.

The best recommendation the foodie folks at Zagat could come up with is to try fry sauce at Artic Circle, a sprawling Western fast food chain that serves burgers and fish sandwiches.

That’s it? That's the best you can do, Utah?

Really?

Well, Suit757 can do better than that.

I was determined to find some local culinary specialty at a non-chain restaurant on my brief trip across northern Utah.

Unfortunately, my first choice of Maddox Drive-In in Perry was thwarted when I pulled up to an empty parking lot at 1pm on a Monday and found that most annoying of all neon signs fully illuminated: CLOSED.

So I texted a fellow Suit who grew up in the area.

He suggested Peach City Ice Cream up the road. However, he did add the caveat that he hadn’t been there since he was a kid.

Peach City Ice Cream is that kind of place. A local drive-in with booth, counter and car service that has been catering to generations of locals since 1937 -- and young families with rambunctious kids smearing ice cream cones all over their faces.

But Suit757 wasn’t there for dessert.

I was hungry.

I ordered the pastrami burger with that Utah-famous fry sauce, a side of onion rings and a “fresh lime”, which is a local soft drink made of…

…you guessed it…

…fresh squeezed limes.

Who knows, maybe my “fresh lime” would have turned out to be that quintessential Utah concoction that would have finally placed Utah on the Suits in Strange Places culinary map.

I kind of doubt it…but you never know.

And we never will.

My waitress never brought my “fresh lime.” Just Brigham City tap water.

Unfortunately, the burger was one of the most dried-out over-cooked slabs of beef I ever attempted to consume.

A terrible burger.

I suppose there are people out there who don’t like juicy, greasy burgers.

If you happen to be one of those people, I have two favors to ask you.

First of all, stop reading this blog.

Second, STOP ORDERING BURGERS. Because you are ruining it for the rest of us.

If a burger is not drippy and juicy, it is not worth eating.

Period.

The pastrami was okay. I mean, when isn’t pastrami okay?

But the only way I could even eat the dry hockey puck of a burger was to sacrifice my fry sauce designed to accompany my onion rings by dumping it on top of the pastrami burger.

Alright. So I know you are dying to know what this mysterious creative Utah exotica, fry sauce, is all about, right?

Are you ready?

Fry sauce is basically ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together.

Otherwise known in the other 49 states as Thousand Island dressing.

That’s it. This ketchup-mayonnaise condiment is the only unique Utah culinary creation anyone in the Beehive State has ever created.

Maybe these Mormons need to take up drinking to get the creative juices flowing a bit more.

All I can say is, Utah, you can do better than this.

Rating: Wouldn’t Wear Shirt if You Paid Me.

Witness the Power of Pastrami

Crown Burgers
2684 South 3200 West
Salt Lake City, UT





Sometimes you have to put in a little more effort to find unique, interesting things to eat.

Like when you are in Utah. The Beehive State is not exactly known for culinary creativity.

About the quirkiest thing you’ll find in Utah -- besides Jon Huntsman’s hair cut -- is “fry sauce.”

Now, don’t get too excited.

Fry sauce has nothing to do with novel uses for leftover fried chicken grease. That actually might be cool.

Nope. These crazy Mormons, who abstain from alcohol and caffeine, like to dip their French fries in a creamy pink sauce that suspiciously resembles Thousand Island Dressing.

Hey, work with me here.

I’m trying hard to find something interesting to write about in Utah. Not as easy as it sounds.

So in search of this crazy Mormon concoction they call fry sauce, I ventured out to Crown Burger, a local chain popular throughout SLC with burger aficionados.

The thing to get at Crown Burger is, well, the “Crown Burger,” a quarter pound patty buried under a two inch stack of thin-sliced pastrami.

Yes. You read that right. Pastrami on a burger. Brilliant!

Of course Crown Burger didn’t actually invent the “Crown Burger.” Like a lot of good ideas (and a whole lot more bad ones), the idea of piling pastrami on top of a burger probably originated in Southern California.

But who cares who gets credit?

This Crown Burger was great. Sure, the pastrami and the pile of lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese completely drowned out the taste of the burger. But if there is one thing that tastes better than flame broiled ground beef, it’s got to be pastrami.

The French fries were okay especially with a quick dip in that world famous fry sauce.

But you know what? The highest and best use of that fry sauce was as a condiment on my Crown Burger. Forget the fries. I poured that stuff all over my pile of pastrami.

And isn’t that what makes life worth living?

As we amble through this world searching for those things that bring meaning to each new day, sometimes we stumble into an experience that alters our very path of life.

That’s the power of pastrami.

Rating: Seriously Thought About Buying Shirt.