SEP21-20- RED C0 faI fiIi1a fcy MS ft Marianne R.asmussen et's face it like it or not, you gotta eat. Why not turn one of life's necessary evils into an excuse to have a little fun? Whether you're looking for fast, cheap eats or the ultimate culinary experience, there are plenty of places to choose from to satisfy your needs. RED set out in search of some of the best eating establishments in the Salt Lake area. Here are the top recommendations. I & ft te m - THE GUIDE - R1X 6i rVt Located at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, this restaurant can be a bit tricky to et to, but the trip is well wo. i .he effort. Ruth's is best when enjoyed outdoors, and the spacious patfo has plenty of room, great scenery and live music on the weekends. The menu is classic diner fare, offering delicious pancake, waffle and omelette breakfasts, and some of the best burgers in town. Plan to stay for an hour or -- two you'll want to soak in your surroundings. Cafe Trang Main Street can be deceiving. On the outside, Cafe Trang, located in a neighborhood on as though it has locks Main Street, But inside those seen better days. cracking brick walls, you'll find a delightful gem of a restaurant. The menu runs about 10 pages 818 S. Looks not-so-ne- w Gandolfo's New York Deli Main Street e Gandolfo's is a true New deli where half the fun is in the selection. Choose from an overwhelming number of sandwich creations, with names like NYPD Bleu (grilled chicken with bleu cheese) and The Godfather (chicken, mari-narand mozzarella). Gandolfo's best deal is the special, which includes a side and drink for $4.99. The atmosphere is informal antiques and photos of New York line the walls. The service is generally good, and most sandwiches can be prepared in less than five minutes. A word of caution: The downtown location can make parking a bit hairy. For the full New York experience, brave public transportation and ride TEAX, which runs right along Main Street. long and is loaded with Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. The adventurous and unadventurous alike are bound to find a dish they'll enjoy. The service is fast, the food is good and the price is affordable (most meals run between Cafe Trang is great for a quick lunch, casual dinner or $5-10- late-nig- ). ht fix. see RESTAURANTS, page Rl 5 158 S. York-styl- j. a half-sandwi- ch ' ' black-and-whi- te Ruth's Diner 2100 Emigration Canyon Ruth's Diner is a nice combination of home-styl- e cooking and comfort. HIDE AW AS continued from page Twilight would be packed every night like it was on Saturday it's playfully sleazy enough for tough charming and quaint enough for women looking to go slumming, down-hom- e enough for the pool-sticwielding reguk lars. But this is the U we're talking about, which means Twilite is an untapped resource and an undiscovered hangout that most minors dream, about, even if it is right next door to a police station. - This Cm mM liimSi 1 vtK t.uYf.,,-- Scott Lewis The Tap Room South Highland Drive When former owner of The Tap Room Manny Daniels died two years ago, friends and long-tim- e fixtures in the tiny bar in Sugar House decided they would celebrate his life in the place he helped keep alive for so long. They drank, and, in the process, they set a record. The bartender carried 44 full glasses of draft beer to the end of the counter not one of them spilled. If you order a draft at The Tap Room, order it with some friends the price is hard to beat and, the more you get, the better the show is. It's a tradition, and sooner or later an ambitious bartender will break the 2168 44-dra- ft record. Nestled in the urban landscape of Sugar House, The Tap Room looks like a building better suited to house ski patrollers on the side ffmliMiliifl?lriMiiiir x waiter is tagtr to pleat. of a mountain than spirit seekers looking to meet their friends. But inside there's no doubt R4 enough for freshmen who are living off an allowance. At any other university, the guys, L...IH about the good vibe running through the joint. Once you settle in you've got to make a decision. Do I eat a pickled egg or not? Once a week, employees fill a jar with a secret mixture and a bunch of boiled eggs. Most people eat them with a dash of Manny's hot sauce two-gallo- n and sweet and sour. Make sure you get all your kisses in beforehand however. Bartender Neil Catr said people come to The Tap Room because everyone seems to know everyone else. "Even though it's really small, it's very comfortable, and I know most of the people who come in," Catr said. - Shane McCammon Chronicle Editor in Chief Ex Wife's Place 465 South 700 East Richard wants to know who's talking shit about his "home town bar," Ex Wife's Place. 30s. Everybody is nice, in an kind of like Richard and the way, regulars look out for the place. Nirvana's Unplugged album is playing loudly in the pool table area, Kurt Cobain's scratchy voice filtering over to the bar. June pours the drinks on Saturfrosted days huge mugs of Killian's Irish Red and shots of tequila behind a long bar in front of red vinyl booths e diner. reminiscent of an She's seen some crazy things in her time at Ex Wife's, but one thing she's never witnessed taking place in her bar is a wedding, not even a drunken, pathetic, old-tim- beg. "This is definitely not the place to be getting married," she says as she tops off another mug of beer. And, just like Richard, the bar itself has a story behind it. Originally owned by a man who named it "My Wife's Place," the bar now belongs to the who inherited it upon the death of her Ironic, some might say. But even more ironic is that the bar doesn't belong to anybody who inherited it from a will it really belongs to people like Richard and June and the shaggy-haireguy in his 20s sitting alone at the bar, watching football on a blurry television. ex-wif- e, d. he's no more he's ramand specific than that actor and an on about being bling comes to he He also a model. says so named Ex Wife's much, they've a drink after him the Richard, which is Mountain Dew and He's in his 40s vodka. Like everyone ve met at the bar, Richard is genuinely nice and chatty, just looking to have an k enjoyable evening at a establishment. The crowd is a mix between older regulars like Richard and a dude who looks like he's pushing 70 over by the pool tables and people in their late 20s and early laid-bac- d Scott Lewis Burt's Tiki Louna 726 South State Stieet When you're 18 and you're Amish, you get a chance: Go see the world, do what you want and come back when you're done. Fourteen years ago, five guys 'iim ninrna mm it h 1 tfnimut, from Ohio left their tightly-kni- t Amish community to check things out on their own. Never having touched an instrument before, they decided to start a band. "We just never went back," said Skwid, a member of the band Hostile Amish. And what place is more suited to host the band that describes its music as "barncore" than Burt's Tiki Lounge? Aside from the usual crowd that packs Burt's seven nights a week for live music, the Hostile Amish had more pairs of eyes watching them perform. Portraits of John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Miles Davis, Tom Waits and Jesus Christ make for a rather intimidating audience for a band beginning its first tour ever. But Burt's is more than cozy haunt with a thatched ceiling and a surfboard set up as a table. With a loft upstairs featuring pool tables and a stage meant for an interpersonal music experience, the wall decorations take a back seat. Amish left Big Piney, Wyo. for Salt Lake Sunday night heading into Burt's for a 10 p.m. gig. Band members say it's their new style of "barncore" music that keeps people coming to the bar. Bartender Scctt Kerbein said it's obvious why most people come to Burt's. "It's the only bar in Salt Lake that never has a cover charge and always has live music," he said. So who is the Eurt of the Tiki Lounge? "Everybody has their theories," said Kerbein. "I think he's just retired and chilling somewhere in South America this place is a gold mine." Read RED every Thursday in The Daily Utah Chronicle