Sugar House is in the middle of a full-scale dining shift. Over the past two years, new openings, relocations, and rebrands have reshaped the neighborhood, bringing everything from shabu-shabu and Thai curries to steakhouse cocktails, food-hall energy, and century-old LA flavors. These additions are changing how locals eat, gather, and think about Sugar House as a dining destination.

Salted Roots began as simple kitchen experiments and quickly grew into one of Utah’s most talked-about small-batch food brands. Founder Ivy Watrous has been cooking since childhood, blending bold flavors with careful technique. Today, her handcrafted salts and sugars are showing up in farmers markets, home kitchens, and even cocktail menus — each one shaped by personal stories, long hours, and a commitment to doing things the hard way when it matters.

Cold Case Ice Cream is delivering more than dessert. With high-butterfat, inclusion-packed flavors and a built-in mystery game inside every six-pack, the Utah-born company is gaining national attention and gearing up for major production growth.

Most people assume Utah is the strictest state in the nation for alcohol. One small importer discovered the opposite—and uncovered a legal quirk that gives Utah more freedom than the rest of the country. Her journey explains how