Poplar Street Pub

Poplar Street Pub
242 S. 200 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801)532-2715
www.poplarstreetpub.com

After the final day of the JUS convention, James and I decided to just take a walk around downtown to find a place to eat. We stopped at a place called Lumpy's, but it was really crowded, so we just had a couple of beers while watching college football before continuing on with our search. We didn't have to venture far as about half a block away we found a jumpin' little place called the Poplar Street Pub. I found this very interesting since it is located on S. 200 West. Maybe it used to be known as Poplar Street, but this didn't deter me from entering.

From the outside this location doesn't look all that big, but when you enter the first room you come to is the dining room, which was quite large. You can walk through there to the bar area, which has a large patio area off to the side,followed by another large room with pool tables and other games. All of these areas have seating for dining, but James and I sat at the bar. The bartender was very prompt in taking our drink orders and asked if we wanted menus. We told him we did and started to decide what we wanted to eat.

James ordered a personal pizza and I ordered a grilled spicy chicken sandwich. In keeping with the spicy chicken theme, I decided to order some wings as an appetizer. The menu listed their hottest flavor as "Asian Heat." I had never heard of this, so I thought I would give it a try. I asked the bartender if they are hot and he said, "Very!" Most people would shy away from that response, but when a server tells me something is really hot or spicy, I begin to get excited. While sitting at the bar drinking our beers and waiting for our food, two guys sit down on the other side of James. We start chatting with them and we find out that they are homeless and living under a nearby overpass. At least that is what they told us. They seemed to be doing pretty well for homeless guys given that they had a few beers while we sat and chatted.

My wings arrive first and the bartender tells me, "Good luck with those." Now I am really pumped up when I hear that he thinks I am going to have a hard time with these wings. Not knowing what to expect from the "Asian Heat" spice, I was surprised that the wings had a sort of yellowish sauce on the wings, but there was no mistaking the powerful aroma of wasabi coming from the wings. I grabbed my first wing and took a bite to find the taste to be simply incredible. The wings were perfectly cooked and extremely hot. I had to let them sit on the plate for a couple of minutes before I could continue. When I did start eating again, the sweat started to bead on my forehead and nose with my scalp taking on a cool sensation. The wasabi flavored wings were definitely starting to fire me up. I ate most of the plate, but needed to save room for my chicken sandwich and didn't realize the plate of wings came with so many of them. James refused to touch them as they were way above his heat tolerance level. In hindsight, I should have offered them to the homeless guys, but the wings may have done them more harm than good.

James and I get our entrees and cannot believe the size of his pizza and may plate. This is really some serious pub food. The pizza James ordered could easily have fed two hungry people and my plate was loaded with fries accompanying the sandwich. My grilled spicy chicken sandwich was made so by including spices, pepper jack cheese, a Cajun sauce and slices of jalapenos piled high on the lettuce and tomato. I bit into my sandwich as was pleasantly surprised at how juicy and tender the chicken breast was and the incredible heat coming from the spices, cheese and jalapenos. The lettuce and tomato did a great job to help cool things off as much as possible, but it wasn't enough to keep me from sweating like crazy. The fries were incredibly tasty as they were infused with garlic. I have never tasted fries such as these before and they too were very hot and crispy. Even though I had eaten the wings previously, I did finish that sandwich completely and loved every fiery moment of it. Most of the fries though were left on my plate and that is a shame, but I just couldn't go the distance. James said his pizza tasted great, but there was no way he could finish it. Being the good guy that he is, he offered the homeless guys a couple of slices when the pie arrived and gave them what was left to take with them.

Salt Lake City seems to have a number of pubs, but Poplar Street Pub really impressed me with their food. This is definitely a spot I would hit again when back in town. As we were leaving I noticed a band setting up in the main dining room area and the place was starting to get packed with party people. We should have hung around, but I am getting old and just wanted to take it back to the hotel.

For my visit to Poplar Street Pub, I am going to give them five Stiffy's!

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Lone Star Taqueria

Lone Star Taqueria
2265 Fort Union Blvd.
Salt Lake City, UT 84121
(801)944-2300
www.lonestartaqueria.com

After my lunch at The Beerhive, I really wasn't that hungry, but one of the main missions for this trip was to visit The Red Iguana previously featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." My buddy Dave, whom I used to work with at JumpTV and also lives in Salt Lake City, was going to pick us up at the hotel and drive us over. The initial plan was to meet at our hotel bar for a beer and then head over, but there was no parking for Dave, so we ran outside to head straight to the restaurant.

It was good to see Dave again as he's a great guy and knows just about everything and everybody in Salt Lake City. He drove us directly to The Red Iguana where I immediately noticed all of the people hanging around outside. We parked and Dave went in to find out how long the wait was going to be. He came out and told us at least 45 minutes. Now I see that as a good thing, but my com padres didn't want to wait that long. To me, that's a sure sign of some great food waiting inside. When I watched the segment on this restaurant on the Food Network, it was clear they offer authentic Mexican food.

Dave suggested we hit one of the other spots featured on the show, so we headed off to Lone Star Taqueria. They are famous for their fish tacos. We weren't exactly hungry at that point, so we drove to the other side of town and hit a bar right across the street from Lone Star. After a couple of beers, Dave and I went to eat, while James waited for us at the bar. Dave and I head across the street to Lone Star Taqueria and I notice that it looks like it used to be a fast food location. Dave confirmed that, telling me it was once an ice cream shop and a burger joint at one time as well.

We head inside to order and I notice a sign that says their fish being served that day was salmon. At first I was a little hesitant as I had never had fish tacos with salmon. I had the fish taco combo, which comes with one soft-shell taco, an order of rice and beans. The interior of the restaurant is rather small, but there are a number of tables located outside. I don't like eating outside much, but on this evening the temperature was just right as the sun had begun to set. As expected on a Friday night, the restaurant was crowded and seating on the outside was rather limited. However, while we were in line ordering a friend of Dave's appeared and said his wife was outside at a table, so we should join them. Dave really should consider running for Mayor as everywhere I go with him he runs into someone he knows.

We get outside and settle in at the table and it isn't long before our food comes to the table. All of the food is served in paper lined pie plates. The tacos were perfectly sized and soft. Dave told me to be sure to use the sauce they served with the tacos and it was delicious. My first bite of the taco told me that this place is special. The fish was flavorful and moist. The rice and beans were cooked perfectly and tasted simply delicious. I quickly forgot about the fact that I didn't get to go to The Red Iguana after eating this meal. The food was outstanding and Dave's friends were great to welcome us to their table and engaging in some stimulating conversation. This turned out to be a fantastic evening.

If there was a cool place like this serving fish tacos in Daytona Beach, I would be eating there all the time. This small place serving simple food with big flavor is truly a gift to the people of Salt Lake City. I cannot wait to get back out there for next year's Jus convention.

For my first and probably not my last visit to Lone Star Taqueria, I have to give them five Stiffy's. If you are ever in Salt Lake City and like fish tacos, you have to check this place out.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

The Beerhive Pub - Vienna Cafe

The Beerhive Pub - Vienna Cafe
128 S. Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1602
(801)364-4268

On the second day of our JUS convention we had a two hour break for lunch and decided to go out to find something. We walked around the corner from the hotel and along the way, passed a truck selling tacos on the street. This intrigued me quite a bit as I like exploring in this manner, but it was warm and there really wasn't any seating in the area. If you know me, I am not a big fan of al fresco dining and get even more jammed-up if I can't sit down and enjoy my meal comfortably, so we trudged along. We found a pub about twenty yards away and decided to venture inside.

On this day, The Beerhive had one guy sitting at the bar and it looked as if the place was brand new and had just opened recently. It was a beautiful bar and room with a ice trough along the bar meant to keep your drinks cold during your visit. I thought that was a nice touch. We asked for a menu and were informed that they don't have food, but they do serve food from the Vienna Cafe next door. This should explain the two names at the top of this post. The Beerhive had an incredible array of beers available, including many of the craft brews made by Squatters Pub. I was quite impressed with their offerings. I ordered a Poligamy Porter, with the understanding that you can't have just one. It was quite tasty to say the least.

For lunch my buddy James ordered the Chicken Roladen, which is a chicken breast stuffed with Guyere cheese and topped with a mushroom cream sauce and I ordered the Swiss bratwurst. We sipped our beers and chatted about the conference and it seems as if the food arrive in no time at all. James said his chicken meal was great, but he was all about the bratwurst I had ordered. The bratwurst came with German potato salad, a large dollop of brown spicy mustard, red cabbage and a large roll. The roll was actually split as if I would want to put the bratwurst on the bun, but it seemed to big for the roll to me. Additionally, I found the roll to be cold and hard and sent it back. Our bartender was very apologetic and came back with my roll having been toasted with butter on a grill. It was very good. My bratwurst had a wonderful pork flavor and went very well with the spicy mustard that accompanied it. I found the potato salad and the cabbage to be very flavorful as well. This was really great food.

James and I finished all of our lunch and were quite satisfied by the fact that we had stumbled upon this gem of a restaurant. The next time I am in Salt Lake City, I would love to go straight to the Vienna Cafe and have a great German meal. This meal brought back a ton of memories for me of when I lived in Germany while my father was in the military.

For my first visit to The Beerhive and Vienna Cafe, I have to give them four Stiffy's. Great food, great beers and a wonderful atmosphere!

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry

Squatters Pub & Bar

Squatters Pub & Bar
147 West Broadway (300 South)
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801)363-2739
www.squatters.com

I recently spent a couple of days in Salt Lake City while attending the JUS convention. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to hit some of the spots I missed last time I visited and seek out new places. My main goal was to dine at The Red Iguana, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. However, I did make some wonderful discoveries, so not all was lost.

My flight got into Salt Lake City pretty late and by the time I reached the hotel it was close to 11:00 in the evening. Since I hadn't eaten much that day I decided to head out to see if we could find a spot nearby. My buddy James was with me for this convention and he wanting to grab a bite as well.

Not far from the hotel we found Squatters Pub & Bar. It should be noted I visited there that last time I was in town, but only had some of their great beer on that trip. We were surprised to find the location not only still serving food that late, but quite lively with a room full of people eating and enjoying their various beers. We settle in at the bar and order a couple of beers while perusing the menu. It was typical pub fare, so we both decided to order burgers. I got the Black & Bleu burger and James had the BBQ Buffalo Burger. Both came with a hearty serving of fries on the side and arrived after a very short wait.

When the bartender gave us our food I asked her for a bottle of ketchup. She turned around, grabbed one and gave it right to me with the label facing her. Since I recognized the shape of the bottle, I knew it was Heinz and was more than fine with that. I pour out a good portion of ketchup to accompany the fries and start to dig-in. At the very first bite, my first thought was that they had substituted Heinz in that particular bottle. It had a weird flavor that I really couldn't put my finger on. Trying to be a trooper I continued to forge ahead. However, after about my fourth or fifth French fry, I had to turn that bottle around and read the label. Turns out she gave me "Organic" ketchup. Now you would think this would not make a difference in the flavor, but I am here to tell you that it was a very noticeable change and not for the better if you ask me. I looked around for other ketchup bottles and noticed that there were a number of regular Heinz Ketchup bottles on various tables. My feeling is that the "Organic" ketchup should only be given to a person if that is what they specifically ask for, or when somebody asks for ketchup the wait staff should ask, "Regular or organic?" Just a bad way for me to get started. Although I am glad I didn't put it all over my burger.

James said his buffalo burger was good and I have to admit the burger I ordered was good as well. Squatters has some great beers on tap and seem to be known throughout the area for their beers as I found other locations pouring some of their brews through their taps. If you are ever in the area I suggest you try their Polygamy Porter. It is so good you won't be able to have just one!

I'd probably hit Squatters again if I got back to Salt Lake, but would probably just have some beers. My overall experience really got jammed-up by that rotten ketchup. For this visit to Squatters Pub & Bar, I have to give them three Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry