Salt Lake City’s 5 Legendary Après Ski Restaurants

If you don’t find stashing a couple of candy bars in your pocket and eating them all alone on a cold lift ride for ski day meals tempting, then you’re so lucky après ski was invented to feed your belly and your ego simultaneously—I mean, you can’t tell the lift chair about your epic powder sesh and get the same response that would erupt from your equally-stoked compadres, right? High-fives for days.

Since Salt Lake's ski resorts hoard the greatest powder on the planet there has to be (mathematically speaking, of course) an equally fantastic après ski environment where feasts, music, and big-air tales run rampant. A healthy ski ecology demands it. And this après ski community has been thriving since 1936 when your grandma was skiing with leather boots and staring down the Great Depression like a double-fisted champ. Your life on the slopes just isn’t complete without these 5 Salt Lake resort après ski classics:

The Aerie | Snowbird | Little Cottonwood Canyon

Classy is about the only way to describe this restaurant. A glowing fire, live entertainment, and après ski food and beverages that will turn hippies into yuppies (own it) and visitors into locals.

Must order: Pan-Seared Idaho Trout (butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, mushroom hash, preserved lemon aioli).

Thirsty Squirrel | Solitude | Big Cottonwood Canyon

The perfect pit stop after your day of skiing at Solitude. Super cool (with a side of funky) place to hang out and enjoy an amazing selection of craft beers, and appetizer-style entrees. You can even swap your ski poles for a pool cue or catch the game on one of the many large-screen televisions.

Must order: Bavarian Pretzel. Served with a housemade beer cheese sauce.

Porcupine Pub & Grille | Big Cottonwood Canyon

The vision of the geniuses that opened this Salt Lake staple is to create the perfect gathering place for skiers, mountain bikers, outdoor enthusiasts, families, and friends to come relax and enjoy great food while meeting new friends and experiencing exceptional service. Enough said.

Must Order: Cherry BBQ Salmon. Grilled fresh wild Coho Salmon*, topped with a black cherry bbq sauce & aioli.

Silver Fork Lodge | Solitude | Big Cottonwood Canyon

Rustic alpine lodge = old-timey log cabin fit for the masses: families, dude-bros, high-rollers, low-rollers, mountaineers, city slickers, risk-takers, safety-first-ers, eaters, optimists, and, yes, skiers. You’ll just feel warm and fuzzy inside—because the food agrees with your belly and because everyone is just so dang happy to be on a mountain.

Must Order: Burger & Fries (obviously)

Lonestar Taqueria | Base of Big Cottonwood Canyon

We can safely tell you about the local superstar-to-the-max restaurant now because Diners, Drive-ins & Dives already outed our best-kept secret: fish tacos at Lonestar Taqueria. It’s just down the road from the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon, and, honestly, it’s worth the drive and the line (and the locals who think they’re better than you because they backcountry ski, and they’re wearing their beacons to prove it).

Must Order: Fish Tacos

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