Five Alls restaurant — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

First time going to Five Alls and I have a lot to say about it. This is an icon that's been around decades but recently sold to new owners.

Parking and getting to the restaurant is a little challenging. The concrete stairs need repair and the balcony feels like it might detach. Getting inside is a bit adventurous.

The decor is like inside a midevil castle. I loved the fireplace near the front desk.

We got there about 5:30 and spent over an hour. Seating was very spaced out, thanks to Covid I'm sure.

There's a bar with a game room in front (closed) and a few areas for larger groups up to about 30 people. The mix of fancy with these games is a little funny to me!

It looks like there's another entrance that has a throne with a sword and shield above it. This is your Instagram moment.

We brought our 9 year old. There's not a kids menu but there was plenty to share.

You need good eyesight to read the menu as it's small print cursive in a dimly lit room.

Be sure to read the menu about how the restaurant was named. I think the message is the tax collector wins all.

I wish there was some sort of princess in the mix.

The atmosphere is fun and unique, from the chairs to the doorway, chairs, and dessert menu which has metal scrolls on the sides.

I hope they decorate for the holidays in the future. But I have a feeling like nothing should change or all the people who got engaged and have anniversaries here would revolt.

I think for the price, they could improve. For example, redo the fabric on the chairs and make the bathroom match the rest of the experience. But my review is already long and I haven't gotten to the food.

This is a 5 course dinner. I guess one course for every all. You drink from pewter glasses and eat off pewter plates.

The appetizers are odd. Clam dip and bread pieces with poppyseeds in them. And 3 meatballs...and a partridge in a pear tree. But don't fill up on bread because you're getting more next.

For the first course we choose between broccoli soup or pineapple. Yes, fresh pineapple. Why? I'm not sure but both were really great.

I had the steak and crab legs which were long and split down the middle. And a very small steak. I asked for it medium rare and it was medium. My husband asked for medium and his was rare. I ended up finishing his and gave him mine.

For my meal, which was $62, I think they should've gotten the steaks right. The steak was good, not amazing and the mushrooms on top were appreciated.

The salad has lots of chopped up vegetables like carrots and cauliflower with a house made vinaigrette that I loved.

I gotta fries (English chips) which were warm and crispy but with a bit too much oil for me.

I usually drink water but my daughter Sprite and I drank some. Best Sprite ever. Our waiter kept it full.

The dessert was difficult to understand, but the menu itself is charming. I had a vanilla ice cream sundae with strawberries in chocolate sauce. Despite being stuffed I finished it and enjoyed it.

I wasn't going to try the coconut almond cookies (surprise, I think that's a bonus dessert?), but they're addicting.

My husband got a very small piece of cheesecake. Which is all there's room for. Homemade for sure and like everything, their own take.

I wish I could customize some of the sides or just got a larger salad. They were a little out there for me. I wonder who came up with the quirky menu and why. My guess is it hasn't changed since 1969.

This is one of a kind and I appreciate that. I think it could be improved though. I'd like more choices and a little more polish/attention to detail, less food but higher quality. But it's immersive and it's own world where you forget it's 2020.

We overheard a waitress say she's worked there since she was 14. That says a lot about the loyalty and feel of timeless you experience along...

UPDATE!! UPDATE!! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!

Since the “owner” wrote such a long reply to my original review, I would like to update my review. Yes, I do know it is a 5 course meal. From what I’ve read from many reviewers on this establishment, it could be possible that it is in a different platform than fine dining. Possibly the ‘seasoned’ chefs you have aren’t seasoning the foods all the time. (Read other reviews on this place)

I made sure to step into the facility and look around before I throw down a couple hundred dollars on something that is going to make me dislike a restaurant. As should anyone else that goes anywhere. Read reviews from honest people before you shell out a ton of money on overpriced places.

The facility is in real need of upkeep. Not only the rear area of the restaurant and back stairs, but the front as well. The price of the food is definitely not reflected in the atmosphere. It appears that they have put the money into building in it, and then never doing anything whatsoever since 1969?? It doesn’t look maintained.

Last thing, there are TONS of other restaurants to choose from, after what I seen, I chose not to eat at this establishment and imagine how many other people have chosen the same way I did because of the reviews they read and seen the way the restaurant was represented when they walked up to a worn out building and considered the high cost to eat there.

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ ORIGINAL REVIEW ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I was planning on eating here because I seen a reel on a social media platform and was in awe from what I seen. That’s where the problem is. These reels can make things like a basic, over priced restaurant look outstanding.

One day when I was in the area of Five Alls restaurant, I stopped in and asked the host if I could look around to see what the ambience was like. The host was kind and let me and my friend do just that. I have to tell you, from what I seen on the reel and actually seeing it in real life, it was almost a 180 degree difference. Not completely 180, but you, as the reader can tell what I’m saying. The location is odd for the setting. We went up the back of the building to a very worn out staircase and the deck to the door was actually mildly scary (I should have taken pictures) it just looks worn out throughout the entirety of the restaurant and outside of the entire property. As I read other reviews for this exact restaurant, it seems as if 20% of the diners thought it was overpriced for what you get. Many of the diners gave higher stars even when they said it was overpriced. I want to end with this: The idea of this restaurant is absolutely wonderful with the medieval setting BUT! The place just looks and actually is worn out. I believe if they switched property locations and really built it with beautiful wood and made it upscale and classy (DO NOT raise the price because of this, you already have prices that aren’t reaching an actual market class of folks that would eat there) this place would skyrocket with diners. I REALLY wanted to dine here with a few friends but I will not be doing that after what I seen in-person. Best of luck to FIVE ALLS! I’ll keep an eye and ear out to see if things change...

My wife and I dined at the Five Alls to celebrate her birthday and had a wonderful time. She had the prime rib and I had the steak and shrimp. The steak was cooked the way I wanted and topped with sauteed mushrooms. Her prime rib was the way she wanted it. The meals were accompanied by a baked potato (her), English chips (me), and mixed vegetables drizzled with some sort of cream sauce.

The price listed included appetizers such as meatballs and bread with onion dip, a fruity drink, soup or other items, a small salad, a plate of bread, and a dessert from their menu. There is more than enough food with all the courses and you get a variety of items. Our server was fast, efficient, and friendly. Just what you expect at a fine dining establishment.

I have read reviews from others on the Internet that fault the restaurant for being old decor and not well maintained. I agree that the decor hasn't changed much over the years (it looks much the same as when I proposed to my wife there in the late 1970s). The ambience reminds me of an English pub or restaurant that one might encounter in Europe. You don't complain about eating in a hundred-year old building there, as long as it is clean and well maintained. The Five Alls appears to be clean and well maintained to me.

Other reviewers have faulted the dark interior and inadequate parking. I agree to both to a certain extent. It is dark inside, especially when you first come in from the sunny outside. But once your eyes adjust, there is enough light to see what you are doing. I didn't need to get the flashlight on my phone out to read the menu, as I have done at some other places. It wouldn't hurt to brighten the place a little, since the paneling on the walls is dark wood. As far as parking goes, there are four spaces by the front door. The store next door chains their parking lot at 6 to keep patrons from parking there. But there must be some other parking available somewhere because there was a pretty full house when we went on a Friday evening - more than would fit in four parking spaces. Maybe they just need to publicize the parking situation better for those of us that don't know any better.

To summarize, this restaurant has been a fixture on the east side of Salt Lake for years, and in my opinion is as enjoyable now as it was when I first moved to town 40 years ago. It serves a solid menu of meat and seafood, cooked and served in a pleasant atmosphere. It is NOT a trendy hipster bistro, or one of those restaurant-of-the-month phenomenons that get the restaurant critics all a flutter with their latest fusion of Swedish and Somali cuisine. If you go there with that understanding, I doubt you will be...