Breakfast. The most important meal of the day. Heck, possibly the most drool-worthy meal of the day. In the following list I’ll share my top top picks for the best breakfasts in Salt Lake City, delving into the cozy cafes, bustling bistros, and hidden gem eateries that are guaranteed to kickstart your day in the most delicious way possible.
The Dough Miner
Best bagel
Neighborhood: Granary District
Address: 945 S 300 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
For a left field breakfast pick, consider this Granary District business that specializes in Cornish pasties. Pasties start with a thick savory pastry, which yields to a variety of fillings, both traditional and creatively modern; the pictured funeral potato option makes fro a great hearty start to the day when you need a grab and go option. Bonus points: The Dough Miner also serves quality coffee and most recently introduced top notch bagels.
The Dough Miner take no shortcuts following traditional techniques; that means: mixing the dough, raising, cutting, hand forming, fermenting, raising again, boiling then baking then topping. Schwoo! All that hard work means you get the real deal – a nice brown crunch on the outside and a thick bready inside, delicious.They remain a relatively hidden secret, which means you don’t have to get there at 3.00 a.m. sharp to avoid missing out.
Salt Egg City
Address: 67 W 1700 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Neighborhood: Salt Lake City
SEC focuses on one type of sandwich and does it better than anyone else. Breakfast sandwiches are the name of the game here, with every component meticulously sourced and handled. Bread from local artisan bakers, eggs and bacon from top quality sources. Their goal is to make the ultimate breakfast sandwich and after you read this story we wrote about Salt Egg City – you might just agree…
The Other Place Restaurant
Best all round classic breakfast spot
Neighborhood: Downtown Salt Lake City
Address: 469 E 300 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
A classic American style diner atmosphere that will take you back to era’s long gone. The dining room is functionality, the menu massive, and the servers fast and friendly. It’s the kind of place where, “coffee?”, is one of the first words spoken as soon as you arrive. It’s a perfect breakfast spot when you crave a filling plate to start your day.
The menu offers everything from omelettes to heaving breakfast platters to Greek infused dishes. Bonus points? It’s downtown and eminently affordable, much of the breakfast menu is easily affordable with just $15 to your name.
Lazy Day Cafe
Best pancakes
Neighborhood: Millcreek
Address: 2020 E 3300 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84109
Here’s what our contributor Pete wrote when covering some of the best pancake spots in SLC, “There’s nowhere quite like Lazy Day Cafe. The tiny strip mall diner is popular among locals for simple breakfast classics. The lemon pancakes are a standout. The cakes are very dense, serve like a comfortable neck pillow. They are served with a side of homemade buttermilk syrup. The lemon pancakes at Lazy Day taste incredible and invoke similar textures to a pound cake or fresh donut. The lemon is complemented with the caramel like buttermilk syrup. A dessert for breakfast. These are not every day pancakes. They are rich and dense. If you ask me, it’s worth the risk. Be ready for this beautiful sensory overload. “
Trolley Cottage Cafe
Cute and cosy
Neighborhood: SLC / Trolley Square
Address: 703 E 600 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84102
This cute little cafe just over the road from Trolley Square proper has a fun menu of gourmet picks to kick off your day with; a French-inspired bistro with American twists. Classics like omelets and benedicts sit alongside more interesting selections like pain perdu (French baguette toast) with orange “Grand Marnier” butter sauce, berries, mascarpone cream.
IndieGo Coffee
South Salt Lake grab and go
Neighborhood: South Salt Lake
Address: 3310 S 500 E, South Salt Lake, UT 84106
If you’re in a rush and just want to grab and go, check out this spot in South Salt Lake. IndieGo have all your caffeine needs ready to rock – as well as some fun pastries, both sweet and savory. My favorites are the Indian flavors found in some of their fabuouols hand pies – the chicken tikka and paneer tikka pies make for a unique start to the day.
- IndieGo Coffee website
- IndieGo Coffee Instagram
- IndieGo Coffee news
Root’d Cafe
Cottonwood Heights Cafe
Neighborhood: Cottonwood Heights
Address: 2577 Bengal Blvd, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121
Once upon a time this was Franck Peissel’s Franck’s Angel Cafe. The spot in Cottonwood Heights is now Root’d Cafe, not to be confused with Roots Cafe a couple miles North mind you; and yes, I’ve already had that confusing conversation with someone myself already.
The menu is surprisingly affordable in today’s age of twelve dollar avocado toasts. Check out the range of options under ten bucks not to mention smart wine choices such as the impeccable Carol Shelton for just $5.
Baby’s Bagels
More solid bagels
Neighborhood: Downtown Salt Lake City
Address: 204 E 500 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
You can read our full story on this company here. Started as a popup business, Baby’s recently celebrated the opening of their brick and mortar location in downtown SLC. That means you can snag their excellent bagels multiple days per week. Pictured above is my own creation with some sausage and eggs I had to hand – if you’re in a rush, the cream cheese spread at Baby’s is first rate.
Oasis Cafe
Every day hangout
Neighborhood: Downtown Salt Lake City
Address: 151 S 500 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84102
A tranquil getaway just on the edges of bustling downtown SLC makes this a great option to refuel and recharge in peace and quiet. Breakfast and brunch are served 7 days a week until 2 p.m. both inside the zen like space and outside on the pretty patio on warmer days.
Oasis Cafe also features a full bar, which means if breakfast needs that extra kick of a mimosa or bloody mary, the folks here have you covered. Do note that in SLC you can only order an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant after 11am.
Feldman’s Deli
Feldman’s made their name with with their classic NYC-style half pound monster deli sandwiches. And while they’re amazing creations you should definitely stop in for, you might not know the East side restaurant also serves breakfast. Served Tuesday through Saturday, 8 am – 10:30 am, Feldman’s Deli menu is stacked with homestyle dishes like corned beef hash as well as selections that nod back to the owners’ East coast roots like bagels with lox and schemar. The owner Michael Feldman is a Jersey native – so you know everything served up here is legit.
Ruth’s Diner
An undeniable institution for breakfast in Salt Lake City. Ruth’s Diner started life as the archetypal roadside trolley diner, and despite changes and expansions over the years, still remains a popular destination with locals and visitors alike.
One of the reasons are the wonderful views of Emigration Canyon where Ruth’s diner is nestled; another of course is the food. Every meal at Ruth’s starts with complementary ‘mile high biscuits’, fist sized, fluffy slices of buttery biscuit. You’ll want to nibble on these, if only not to ruin your appetite for an eclectic breakfast menu that covers all the familiar bases from benedicts to breakfast burritos.
Over The Counter Cafe
You’ll find something common with a lot of our favorite breakfast spots in SLC – they all share longevity. They’ve been feeding locals happily for year upon year. There’s something to be said for reliability and consistency, eseecpually when it comes to breakfast. Case in point, Over The Counter Cafe. This cafe has been serving up breakfast ever since its doors opened in 1983. Ever since then, the Millcreek based eatery has been delighting locals with stellar breakfast fare.
The cafe’s approach to their menu explains their long lived popularity, much is made in house with care and love. Coupled with a wallet friendly menu and it’s hard to beat if you’re in the neighborhood. Open seven days a week 6.30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hub & Spoke Diner
One of SLC’s newest restaurant’s, not to mention one with a fine pedigree behind it. This modern spin on the classic all American diner, comes from Scott Evans, the chap behind farm to table pioneer Pago and the Spanish focused Finca restaurants. Like Evan’s other restaurants the focus is on high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients as the basis of the menu. Everything is made fresh, nothing is frozen. While this means prices do skew marginally higher you will find local organic eggs, baked goods from the in-house bakery from scratch daily, not to mention house-made sausage, house-smoked bacon, and a variety of ice-cream shakes – with boozy varieties on hand too.
Best breakfast by city
Here are our picks for the best breakfast by city in the valley:
- Avenues – Avenues Proper
- Cottonwood Heights – Root’d Cafe
- Downtown SLC –
- Draper –
- Holladay – 3 Cups
- Lehi – One Man Band
- Midvale – Waffle Love
- Milcreek – Lazy Day Cafe
- Park City – Five5eeds
- Murray – Anna’s Restaurant
- Sandy –
- Sugar House – Original Pancake House
- South Salt Lake –
- Taylorsville – Penny Ann’s Cafe
- West Jordan – Village Baker
- West Valley City – Ogie’s Cafe
Maybe also check out
Missed breakfast? Still hungry? Check out our brunch and lunch lists. Maybe we can tempt you to something else delicious while you’re here as well? Check out these other detailed guides, some of the most popular pages on our website:
- Best pancakes in Salt Lake City
- Best brunch in Salt Lake City
- Best lattes in SLC
- Coffee shops – who opens the earliest
- Salt Lake City restaurant guide
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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I cannot believe that Roots Cafe is not at least near the top of this list, if not at the top. Local, organic, delicious, eclectic, personal, etc
Roots Cafe and Sweet Lake Biscuit and Limeade didn’t make this list?! That’s very hard to believe.
Blue Plate diner is CLOSED
Hi Andi, I believe Blue Plate is still serving for the time being until May 4th is my understanding.
No penny Anne’s cafe. This list is a paid site for sure.
This page is currently unsponsored Steve, at the time of writing.