Wildwood — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

Walking in to what feels like an old avenue single floor twin home the ambiance was immediately inviting. Greeted and sat instantly with a reservation for 4. Being our first time here we decided on doing a table sharing theme and order multiple things.

I'll start with apps as they were cooked to perfection when it came to the fried apps and the stove top apps were spot on.

Frog legs 🐸: theses guys were buff and tasted like a juicy white meat and no you don't see the feet as it's ankle to hip joint. Came with 4.

Fried Olives (green): liking 🫒 I was excited for these and they taste kind of like they sound a perfectly fried, not to much crumb, and a little tart. It comes with a lot.

Gambas: I loved everything about this dish, shrimp were regular size and butterflied well. The chili oil sauce was great and not a lot of heat. The naan bread was a great to dip as well. A lot of shrimp possibly 4 to 5 each person.

Roasted cinnamon beets: these were surprisingly good and came kind of looking like a mess at first but the chaos on the plate complimented well and plenty to share. At first a little bland with just yogurt and beet on the fork so make sure to grab the other items on the plate and it brings this good weird flavor to the palette. Plenty to share for 4.

Carrots: were really good with a perfect amount of crunch and softness to them. Slightly sweet and oily. Plenty for 4 people.

Pillows: 4 square potato pillows that were decorated nicely and the American sturgeon caviar was a great addition on top of a nice tasting cour creme.

Croquettes: if you ever had a croquette from Spain these will remind you of them. Perfect to the crisp when fried and soft on the inside. Came with 4

Dinner:

Braised pork belly was cut in about 1 inch squares cooked with a nice crisp on top and bottom but break apart middle. The seasoning was slightly sweet. This was my favorite dinner item we order. The potato's that came with it were cooked great as well and the dish looks dark but devilishly good. Plenty to share

Risotto: was cooked perfectly however ours was way over salted but that can be an easy fix by asking for light salt and then adding some yourself to liking. We had left overs.

Scallops: scallops were cooked perfectly and placed above a bed of mashed potatoes that were a perfection of soft and creme like. Once again super salty and it can be ruined down like mention above my asking for light salt then add to your liking. 6 to 8 and potatoes were taken home.

We corked our own red wines slightly chilled that paired really well with everything we ordered. A beer would be fine as well.

Overall id go there again and all that was 237...

Still love Wildwood 3 years later. It's so charming, amazing food/flavor and atmosphere in the heart of Salt Lake's Avenues. It's like you're the only ones they're cooking for. So intimate with the open kitchen.

I got the scallops and they're very good, with a touch of curry. I brought home some and reheated it. But warning, heavy on the butter.

My friend got BRAISED PORK BELLY and it had slices of fresh strawberry. SO GOOD! And a huge portion.

My husband got the DESERT MOUNTAIN BURGER - it has beehive cheese and caramelized onion. He loves it and I like it but my fav was the pork belly.

The other dish is ribs that my friend got. The fries are so good and hand cut.

We also got the appetizer to share - Samball butter sauce & creamy sesame dressing chicken wings. I can't describe how complex and interesting the flavors were. Hot, fresh and amazing sauce and a dipping sauce that were exotic, not quite spicy. SO GOOD. I mean, AMAZING. They switch up the menu so I'm not sure if they have these all of the time. I hope!

Get reservations on weekends. It gets crowded. They have a patio. It's so charming and great service. We love to double date there. It makes me want to run there right now just looking at the pictures again.

There's a a speakeasy downstairs and a patio but we ate in the main dining area because we were closer to the magic (I wish I had the view my husband did - he could see the food being made) and more comfortable chairs.

It's eclectic as far as entrees and though there were several fried items on the menu, the fried entrees aren't heavy. We're charmed. The burrata salad is wild and almost citrusy without any citrus. But it is spring and almost like it has nettle.

The menu changes which I like but I had duck the first time I came. It had a light sauce with cherries and purple potatoes.

My husband had chicken mash I think it's called. But it's like crab cakes without crab but in a light creamy sauce. They describe it better than I can. HE LOVES IT and gets it again and again. I admit, it's a favorite of mine too but I always want to try something new, so I beg some bites of his.

We both loved what we ordered. Our waitress was wonderful. Everyone was.

Dessert was beignets, which are more cream puffs than doughnuts. You spoon on whipped cream and rich chocolate pudding.

As we left we planned our next trip. And who we're...

The night started by me falling down because the host didn't point out the step in their "speak easy" basement. I'm not sure if I got an apology, but the host did say, "I usually tell people about the step!" Which are unmarked, no yellow or red edge to let you know it's there. While the main floor seemed decent, the basement was simply that. An unfinished basement. They had lit, scented, candles around the room, so if you're scent sensitive it's very distracting, especially when you're eating. The bathroom door didn't lock. There's pictures on the walls with broken frames and part of the hall is missing the wall and it's covered with a cloth tarp. I'll say we got the food in a timely manner, with the intent to order dessert that night. But much like going to an Applebee's, they delivered the food with our ticket to pay. The next time I saw the waitress, she was asking for payment, and by then I wasn't impressed to inquire about dessert. Then there was an issue with the receipt, the original showed values like "$35" or "$60", the receipt that we signed had random change value applied. "$35.27" or "$60.54". It's not a huge deal to pay an extra $3, but no explanation as to why there was a price change. Again, never saw the wait staff after they charged our card. The table behind us got free dessert for just sitting there long enough. Literally what their waiter told them. Maybe they were more well dressed than us? For the value of the food, I could have gone to Harmons and bought the same ingredients and saved money. I understand that I'm paying for labor but the food was mid. My boyfriend got the Waygu, it was very salty and came out raw. It's also a skirt cut, so you're paying the high value but receiving a fairly thin slice. I got the pork belly, which was very sweet due to all the fixings, but the meat was dry and unseasoned. I don't know how you get dry pork belly when it has such a high fat content. Overall, they buy high value ingredients and don't know how to use it to the full potential all while expecting you to pay the high value price. Your experience might be different. You might be the next well dressed couple that gets...