The national 4 days of AOTA — or stay longer!
I’ve been living here for a number of years, and am happy to call it home base. If you’re staying in the downtown area, there are plenty of places to get to with a short walk, bike, run, or Uber if you’re tired after logging all the steps at AOTA. I’m going to share a few of my favorite “quick” things to do around the city, mostly which consist of food, if we’re being honest.
So without further ado, here are a few of my favorites within walking distance of the convention center. Many of these places offer vegetarian options as well.
Eat these things:
Close to downtown: all walkable, all yummy!
Another Utah classic: this one’s a local brewery. Stop in for some solid eats and local brew.
Down the block. See description for Red Rock. Also, they do brunch.
A chicken shop that will not disappoint. Hot chicken sandwich. Do it.
A great Italian restaurant on Regent street. If you don’t mind spending a little more, this one’s a great option.
All the bizarre pizza toppings you want, including the classics. Just be sure to be in a pizza mood when you go here.
Offers great Italian thin crust pizza along with gelato. You’re walking all the steps at AOTA, so you earned it.
A Utah classic, always busy, always a line, always yummy. Get the molé sampler, pick a molé, and get wowed.
This one is close to the convention center and offers decent Mexican food. Not to be confused with the Red Iguana, which I find to have better molé.
Amazing street style tacos — can’t miss on this one. Have yet to order something I didn’t like.
Döner Kebab. Although I usually get the street cart fries when I go here.
Vegan and vegetarian options
I don’t personally eat Vegan very often, so I had to take to the authoritative world of social media to get some opinion. The top choices were definitely Bud’s, Trolley Wing Co, Copper Onion, Omar’s Rawtopia, and Zest. Here goes, leading off with an opinion from a trusted friend:
“I will say most places have at least a couple veg options. For a less fancy option I really like Zao. Poplar and Proper Burger both have great veggie burgers. Mazza is also a great option for Mediterranean food.”
“Buds vegan sandwich shop is good. It's just a shop window with an outdoor eating area so it's a less formal venue.”
and
and
“@zest is definitely my favorite!”
Honorable Mentions:
Do these things:
Hike the living room. Yes, it’s a hike, flagstones at the top arranged like couches. There used to be a remote up there. Great view of the city. Great spot for pictures, like this one I snapped last fall.
Jog a lap or two at liberty park.
Go skiing. We typically ski through May in this state. 14 resorts. Here’s one of me at Snowbird.
Visit a national park if you’re around for an extra day or two. We have five.
Walk up to Ensign peak, same reason as #1, except the hike is a little easier. Check it out, I hiked on up there just the other day:
Take a tour of Temple Square. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is officially headquartered here.
Eating, hiking, skiing, and learning — all great things to do while you're in town for AOTA!
