Salt Lake City Bar Guide
30+ bars across SLC's drinking neighbourhoods, curated by editors who know the city.
Salt Lake City's Utah liquor laws make the bars unusual — the Zion Curtain, the half-shot pour limits, the private-club history. The bartenders work around all of it. High West Distillery's award-winning rye is poured at Whiskey Street and Water Witch. Bar X has run since 1933. The bars are quirky and the drinks are good.
Five neighbourhoods cluster the scene. Downtown is the cocktail spine. Sugar House is the residential cocktail-and-brewery quarter. 9th & 9th holds the boutique cocktail rooms. Marmalade is the new creative-class district. The Avenues cover the residential dive-bar layer.
Cocktails run $11 to $14 (Utah caps spirit pours at 1.5oz). Pints $5 to $7. Tipping is 20 percent. Most bars run to 1am. Reserve Water Witch on weekends.
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Cocktail Bars in Salt Lake City
World-class cocktail rooms
Rooftop Bars in Salt Lake City
Skyline drinks
Date Night in Salt Lake City
Romantic spots
After Work in Salt Lake City
Apéro-hour bars
Live Music in Salt Lake City
Bands and DJs
Craft Beer in Salt Lake City
Microbreweries and taprooms
Hidden Gems in Salt Lake City
Unmarked doors
Sports Bars in Salt Lake City
Watch parties
Top Picks This Week
Bar X
Salt Lake City's most awarded cocktail bar. Heritage cocktail bar from 1933. Reopened by Ty Burrell. James Beard semi-finalist multiple years. Long marble counter.
Beer Bar
Beer hall next door to Bar X (also Ty Burrell). Long communal tables, two hundred craft beers, and the most reliable downtown evening.
Whiskey Street
Whiskey-focused cocktail bar with one of the country's longest American whiskey lists. High West rye is poured neat or in cocktails. Reserve.
Water Witch
Boutique cocktail bar with a tight rotating menu. Twenty-eight seats. The bartenders rotate the menu around Mountain West ingredients. Reserve.
White Horse Spirits & Kitchen
Cocktail-and-American-food bar inside a heritage building. Long bar, classic-cocktail-leaning menu, and a thirty-something professional crowd.
Garage on Beck
Heritage live-music dive bar in a converted gas station. Live blues and country every weekend. Cheap drinks, neighbourhood crowd, and the most authentic SLC dive.
Neighbourhood Guide
Downtown
The cocktail spine. Heritage cocktail rooms, hotel bars, and the densest concentration of serious bars in Utah.
Sugar House
Residential cocktail-and-brewery quarter south of downtown. Boutique cocktail rooms, craft-beer taprooms, and a thirty-something local crowd.
9th & 9th
Small neighbourhood quarter east of downtown. Boutique cocktail rooms, restaurants, and a quieter weekend pace.
Marmalade
The new creative-class district north-west of downtown. Indie cocktail rooms, restaurant-bars, and a younger crowd.
The Avenues
The historic residential district north of downtown. Heritage neighbourhood dive bars, neighbourhood pubs, and a quieter pace.
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