Skiing in Utah, Staying in Salt Lake City

Blue Iguana (downtown)... popular Mexican. We go every time we get back.

Mazza: fantastic Mediterranean. Similar area.

Kyoto: Japanese.

Ruth's Dinner (Emigration Canyon) was a popular spot to take visiting faculty. Interesting, historical local institution.

Salt Lake has a lot of good restaurants. And skiing obviously.

What are your interests/ages? My kids always liked the museum etc at Thanksgiving Point down towards Provo. Depending on your family's ages, it might be a bit younger oriented though.

I live near the canyons. I go past Big Cottonwood everyday.

If you are staying at the Marriott, you are close to the Porcupine, a fun bar and good food. Fam friendly. Bandits is another popular spot.

If you guys like Sushi, the Mint is a great choice.

La Caille is just a short drive down Wasatch from where you are staying. Fabulous Sunday brunch. Very well known restaurant here. It’s expensive for dinner, but it’s excellent.

Red Iguana is probably what the other poster was referring to. It’s excellent (the mole is amazing) and it’s been featured on various food shows. It’s between downtown and the airport. There is usually a wait to get in, so be prepared.

As for downtown SLC, there isn’t a whole lot to do in my opinion. We go there for events, specific stores, or Indy movies. Of course there is the temple, be aware of the ongoing construction that takes away from the views of it. You can park at Creek Center for free for 2 hours which is right across from the temple.

Rice Eccles stadium is where the Olympic opening ceremonies were held. You can park and walk up to the 2002 caldron right by the front entrance. There is also a little Olympic display too.

Park city is fun to visit. The Olympic training center is there right off the freeway. It’s so cool to watch the kids train for freestyle skiing, ski jumping and sled sports. There is a free Olympic museum and if it is in your budget, you can actually do the bobsled run in a real bobsled, with an experienced pilot. It’s super fun and exciting. We did it last year. It’s called the Bobsled Experience. Reservations would be required.

Let me know if you have other questions.

If you are going to Alta and Snowbird, you might consider the public bus as traffic could be horrid, especially on a snow day that brings out all the power hounds. We once got a police escort on the bus (since a lot of essential workers were riding the bus) and bypassed the gridlocked traffic in Sandy. This saved at least an hour on the way to Snowbird.

Big Cottonwood Canyon is maybe a little less congested to Brighton and Solitude.

Red Iguana is owned by the same folks as Blue Iguana. It's just downtown (165 S W Temple St). Good mole at both!