Bodega and The Rest — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

We arrived about 45 mins before our reservarion and had drinks in la Bodega while playing cards against humanity. Ruth orderd a Queen and Country, a gin with a sage infusion. I went with the Dos passos, a tequila, mezcal, lime, honey drink. Both were well made and tastey. The Bartender was fun, and fast, with a smile that never left her face. At our reservation time, A cheerful, happy to be at work tonight, hostess came and lead us through the back door down to "the rest". She made us feel at home and set up our dinning experience.The restaurant is extremely dimmly lit.Being past my 40's I found it impossible to read my menu without my phone and using it's light.(Either more light or BIGGER font. Just saying).Our server caught me using the light on my phone, before I could come up with a good lie i mean excuse of why my phone and light were on, she disarmed me by saying many people need to use their phone.(Again more or bigger just saying).We ordered an appetizer tray, a wooden plank covered in all manner of delicious tidbits.I do believe you receive a tray similar to this while waiting in line at the pearly gates.I won't go into to much description of these morsels of angelic goodness because it changes depending on what is in season.Dinner is served. A large round white plate settled on the table no room around the edge for fancy drizzle or other nonsense.The edges on this plant were only there to restrain the food it supported.That as the name suggests Shrimp and Grits.The creamy and rich grits hid in their bosom a warm a meaty surprise of a Homemade andouille sausage.This Cajun banger stole the show upstaging the namesake shrimp.Rich and full of flavor.The shrimp being a little lackluster a tad over done.Over all a very good meal.Arriving along with the meal above and demanding just as much respect to plate size and contents containing.The Porter house a king of steaks trimmed and cut up in to meaty chucks laid on their side as to say, even Ray Charles can see its perfectly cooked. Lounging around this jabba the hut flesh of meat are pearl potatoes coated in salt and representing that even a bit player can add depth and character to the plot.For dessert we decided to finish up with beignets. However because of the amount of food and the extreme great taste of the main dishes we had not left enough room in our food baby bellies.They were transported home with the other leftovers in to go boxes.After sending the night in the fridge and being cold and completly against how the were designed to be serverd they were light and delicious.Now to the complaint.I mentioned above I am using the lighting as part of the problem.That being not able to see the menu. Also I had looked online and it had said plates were between $25-$35 Okay no problem. Umm problem is I never looked at the prices on the menu.The check was $$$$ we expected $$$. It was the last $ is my complaint. That big king of steaks that Jabba the Hut flesh of meat was $80.00 Are you kidding me. Now Ruth in your defensive brought up something I hadn't, but she had heard the server say that these items on this part of the page are for two. Okay so my Porterhouse was a steak for two. That being said that was not a $80.00 dinner for two. I am not a bigger eater and as I did bring some slices of that mass of meat home it was not the Robin Leech steak of the rich and famous as it is priced. In closing Ruth and I had a wonderful night we enjoyed each and every minute of our beautiful evening of dining.I do recommend bringing your reading glasses a small pen light and though it was a fabulous beefcake slabe of meat. Try the other steak on the menu and save the regret of spending to much money, for the morning after a Chippendels stripper show...

Our group had dined here before with good experiences (unique place and we love the ambiance), but we had such a bad experience on our most recent visit that I am still thinking about it several months later and am thus prompted to write a negative review for the first time in my life. Things started out well--our server was extremely friendly, informed, and excited to give us her personal menu recommendations. We all ordered craft cocktails which were interesting and tasty. We had barely even noticed the wait on our food at this point because we were enjoying our drinks and conversation so much, but when our server came back to apologize about the wait for the THIRD time and explained to us that one of the cooks had to leave because of "personal reasons," we took note of the fact that we had been waiting over 40 minutes since ordering and hadn't received our appetizers. We got the warm marinated olives and pork belly appetizers which were both quite good, though nothing to write home about. The olives came with 2 pieces of toasted bread and my friend asked for an extra side of bread both because there were 4 of us and because we were super hungry by this point (bread is not served here). The extra side of bread was two more pieces and was over toasted/practically burnt; we did eat it, but only because of how hungry we were. Our main courses did not arrive for over another HOUR and by this time, our server had come back another 4 times to replenish our drinks and to continuously apologize for the wait. When it finally arrived, I did thoroughly enjoy my beer can chicken main course and not just because I was completely starving after waiting more than 2 full hours from the time of ordering, but because it was truly delicious. Because our server was exceedingly sweet and apologetic throughout the course of the meal and because we enjoyed the food overall, we weren't necessarily expecting a discount, but it did come up in conversation because all four of us are restaurant professionals and ALL of the restaurants we work in would have at least offered a round of drinks or an appetizer on the house due to the wait. However, when we saw that we had been charged for the extra 2 pieces of burnt bread (I believe it was $3), my friend decided she'd had enough and said "I wasn't expecting a discount even though we waited so long, but I can't believe you charged us for the side of bread that we wouldn't have needed if we weren't starving due to the wait." Our server promptly said "Oh yeah, you're so right, you guys waited SO LONG, I'll talk to my manager and we'll definitely hook it up." She then came back nearly 20 mins later and told us that she was so sorry, but her manager was unwilling to do anything for us, even remove the charge for the bread. She was super apologetic and looked mortified. The fact that the manager couldn't come tell us this his/herself, (or better yet stop my our table to talk to us/assess the situation/apologize!) was shocking to us and we felt terrible for our server, who continued to act terribly embarrassed. We tipped her well regardless because we knew it wasn't her fault, but we left with a horrible taste in our mouths and doubt we'll ever go back. It obviously wasn't about the money (we spent several hundred dollars for 4 people) but on principle, we felt slapped in the face. I feel like the management in this place couldn't be worse--they seem to think the place is so cool that they can be pretentious and not at all care about...

My all time favorite bar | hidden gem in Salt Lake City! This is such a delightful place and have been meaning to come here ever since I moved to Salt Lake City. I luckily had the opportunity when some friends came into town for business and I got to recommend some cool low key, local only, awesome finds, if I knew of any.

Of course I wasn't about to let my peeps down! I immediately recommended we walk up the street from wherever we were, which happened to be The Blue Iguana which they weren't as much fans of, but hey they didn't ask me my opinion on where to go, ha. Kidding, kind of. Anyways, in case you are wondering they did end up eating at the Red Iguana before they hit the road home to Idaho on Sunday. I had said that the Red Iguana was the best Mexican food in town and if they had a chance to go there before they left, they should. Happy to hear that they loved and enjoyed it which most everyone I know who has been there, has!

Back to the amazement that is The Rest. So, you will see Bodega on the street. Bodega is the top of this building and business. The Rest is the bottom and it is so cool, low key, undercover, library, vintage, romantic, dark lit, urban vibe, you won't want to miss out. I will advise you, I don't know what the price range says on Yelp or Google right now, but it is pricey. For the one drink I got there, which I believe was the cheapest on the menu, or I at least was aiming to stay somewhat classy and cheap, that drink alone cost $18. Insert the shock face emoji

It is on Main St in Salt Lake City by Whiskey Street. You'll see the sign Bodega outside and then the downtown is The Rest. It's a hidden gem and you have to ask about and you can request a table, they will go check if there is anything available. You will hang out upstairs in a crammed area which doesn't compare to the downstairs, so just hang tight. Once you go downstairs you will go down these mysterious eloquent stairs and may think something sketchy is going on. Pretty soon you will appear in what is called "The Rest". Enjoy, and of course you are welcome. Reviewing isn't what I do, its who I am. Kidding, Kidding, well,...