Salt Lake City
You're flying out of Salt Lake City Airport, you have 90 minutes to kill, and you'd like to do better than a Pret. Good news: airport drinking has improved more in the last five years than the previous fifty. Pre-flight drinks at Salt Lake City Airport range from chain reliability to surprisingly polished hotel-style bars in the airport hotels. This is barsforKings's editor-curated guide to drinking better at Salt Lake City's airports.
Downtown · $$$
Salt Lake City's most awarded cocktail bar.
Downtown · $
Beer hall next door to Bar X (also Ty Burrell).
Downtown · $$$
Whiskey-focused cocktail bar with one of the country's longest American whiskey lists.
9th & 9th · $$$
Boutique cocktail bar with a tight rotating menu.
Want a real drink before flying? The fastest play is to get to airport hotels next door — most run polished bars that beat anything post-security. We list them at the bottom. If you've got 60 spare minutes pre-airport, see our shortlist of bars in Salt Lake City proper at the end.
Plays for Salt Lake City Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond Salt Lake City? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.