People drive right through Escalante, eager to hike Spooky and Peekaboo slot canyons or bathe at Calf Creek Falls. But once they’ve worked up an appetite, where can they go to eat? 

There was a time when your best option was rounding up snacks at a Gas-n-Go, but now there are real options in Escalante, a town with fewer than 200 full-time residents. 

Most of Escalante’s eating establishments are open seasonally from March through October, serving both tourists and locals. Fourth West Pub is open year-round. 

Escalante Mercantile, Cafe and Natural Grocery

When Marcie Hoffman came on a post-retirement trip to Escalante with her father, the Miami Beach native asked herself, “What kind of lucky people get to live like this?” By the end of her first day, she’d bought 100 acres of land. 

A year later she noticed a turn-of-the-century brick home on Main Street and imagined making it into a grocery store and cafe, partly because she missed some of the foods she’d always had in the city. “I really thought I was gonna come here to retire, but I forgot I would take myself with me,” she jokes. 

Escalante Mercantile, Cafe, and Natural Grocery doesn’t try to compete with nearby Griffin’s Grocery for kitchen staples. Instead, Hoffman sources meats, vegetables, and specialty foods that can’t be found elsewhere. The Merc’s cafe offers smoothies, iced drinks, and coffee brewed in a Moka Pot, Italian style. Lunches include sandwiches, house-made soups, salads, and “dessert curiosities.” Hoffman says 90% of her customers are travelers, but she also enjoys it when locals pop in.

North Creek Grill

Just outside of town, you’ll find North Creek Grill at Slot Canyon Inn. The restaurant originally had an outdoor kitchen focused around a spectacular pizza oven, but it was soon transformed into an enclosed commercial kitchen with an indoor dining room and patio seating. 

Chef Tyler Warren helped develop the kitchen and a southwestern menu that incorporates New Mexico chiles. Meats and vegetables are locally sourced as often as possible: beef comes from Escalante and Boulder ranches, trout from Koosheram, greens from nearby Halfacre Farm, and beans from the Four Corners area. 

Restaurant and Inn owner Joette-Marie Rex proudly notes that many of the restaurant’s clientele are also locally sourced. “We’re an inn, so obviously our guests go to the restaurant,” she says, “but the word is out. So we get (local) people from Panguitch, Tropic, and Boulder, too.” They think of North Creek Grill when they want to celebrate a special moment or just want a great meal.

Adding a fun element is the property’s archaeological site, the largest on the Colorado Plateau. BYU sponsored a dig in 2008, which discovered a grape-sized potato in the human layer, meaning it was a local food product. Rex discovered the same potato — Solanum janii — growing near the chicken coop 11,000 years later. 

Escalante Outfitters 

Red rock, outdoor gear, and pizza — what could be a better combination? Escalante Outfitters supplies locals and tourists with high-end outdoor gear and food to fuel their adventure. “We sell everything you need for backpacking and canyoneering,” says Nathan Waggoner, who co-owns the business with his wife, Kristina.

What’s surprising for a gear store is the presence of a top-notch pizza kitchen. “Our pizza is unique in that it’s completely made from scratch,” Waggoner says. “We stew the red sauce and grate the cheese. The crust is made from a sourdough starter we’ve had for 17 years.” 

All the sandwich breads are made in-house with flour from Lehi Roller Mills. People coming in off the desert often want a fresh salad, and Escalante Outfitters has them, made with ingredients from Utah suppliers. 

“Pizza is wonderfully transportable,” Waggoner says, noting that locals often get pizza to go. Escalante Outfitters also provides pizza for the local elementary school on teacher conference day. 

Escalante Outfitters has eight cabins, a guide service, and hosts a state liquor store, which is open year-round. 

4th West Pub

It had been thirty years since Escalante had a real bar, and some people thought Dave and Erin Treanor were crazy for trying to bring one back to the traditional Mormon farming town. But when the Treanors approached the city council for local consent to get a liquor license, the response was a unanimous “yes.” 

“They said, “We know somebody is going to do this; we’d rather this be a local family who knows our culture than someone from outside with dollar signs in their eyes,” Dave Treanor says. 

The city council was right to have faith in the Treanors. 4th West Pub is a community gathering space, not a dance-on-the-tables roadhouse. It has a pool table, foosball, games, and a lounge area where you can hang out and grab a drink. Or not. Non-drinkers and drinkers alike enjoy the pub together. Food options include street tacos, paninis, and specialty Kanab beef burgers with branded buns and homemade sauces.

Distinct from most Escalante businesses, 4th West Pub is open year-round, making it a good option for hearty winter tourists. Treanor says he endures the ups and downs of the off-season because the Pub’s true calling is to be a local gathering place. 

“We’ve tried to keep it going because it’s so important to us to keep the community going,” he says.

Feature Image: Charcuterie board from Escalante Outfitters.