Following on the success of their uber popular brunch spot in Sandy – Sunday’s Best – restaurateur Michael McHenry and Founding Partner/Executive Chef Tyler Stokes recently launched a new SLC location of Sunday’s Best, situated in the flashy Post District.
Michael McHenry
Visit Sunday’s Best and you won’t think you’re in Sandy or Salt Lake City. “This feels like being in Las Vegas, L.A., or South Beach,” I said to Michael McHenry as he gave me a tour of his new glam eatery and bar. “That’s the idea,” he said. “We want guests to feel like they’re someplace else,” Michael explained. Mission accomplished.
It’s an eye-popping venue and the owners, architects, and designers spared no expense on decor, with vibrant tropical colors, plush furnishings, a decadent upstairs Champagne lounge called Sunday School – in short, the perfect place to put into action the owners’ admonition to “Brunch me hard.” As you will see, however, there’s much more to Sunday’s Best than just brunch. Read on.
Beignets w/Homemade Jam
I can’t resist beignets when I see them on a menu and I will go out on a limb and say that the powdered sugar Beignets with Homemade Jam ($15) at Sunday’s Best are right up there on a par with the fab ones served at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Other shareable dishes and snacks at Sunday’s Best include Oysters on the Half Shell ($23/6); Deviled Eggs ($22); homemade Toaster Strudel ($8); Monkey Bread ($16) and more.
Pasta Carbonara
As you’d expect at a spot dedicated to brunch, Sunday’s Best offers a wide range of brunch/breakfast items, from Biscuits & Gravy ($19); Eggs Shashuka ($23); and Breakfast Burrito ($19); to Avocado Toast ($19); Eggs Benedict ($19); and Huevos Rancheros ($24). Personally, I’m not a huge fan of classic breakfast foods so I appreciate that the menu also offers dishes like delicious Pasta Carbonara ($24) with smoked bacon, poached egg, pecorino, parsley and black pepper.
Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl
Other enticing menu items include a Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($19); double Cheeseburger ($19), Fish Tacos ($24) with blackened salmon; and a generously portioned Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl ($26) with lightly seared sesame-seeded ahi tuna, short grain rice, cucumber, green onion, wakame, avocado, crunchy rice, ponzu, and sesame soy.
I love the tongue in cheek, slightly sacrilegious accoutrements at Sunday’s Best and, in particular, at the upstairs indoor/outdoor Champagne lounge called Sunday School, where the food and beverage menu comes in the form of a churchy “Lesson Guide” with praying hands on the cover. It’s just one example of the pseudo religious iconography that Sunday’s Best – and especially Sunday School – excels in.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise though since the McHenry Restaurant Group is so good at branding. Indeed, I can see a day when there are Sunday’s Best restaurants throughout the country. Who wouldn’t want a Sunday’s Best in their town?
I highly recommend enjoying a craft cocktail at the 21 and over Sunday School either out on the upstairs deck with sprawling city and mountain views or inside at the beautiful bar. There’s an enviable selection of Champagne available too, listed on the drink menu ( which is labelled “Sinners”) as “For the Ballers” with prices ranging from $115/bottle for NV Moet & Chandon Brut to $590 for a bottle of 2002 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Brut.
Tyler Stokes
The Sunday School food menu is curated by the super talented and creative Partner/Chef Tyler Stokes, who also is Chef/Owner of Provisions restaurant and Noodlehead.
Hamachi Crudo
The cuisine at Sunday School is decidedly more refined and complex than most of the Sunday’s Best menu downstairs. For example, there is a Grilled Peaches ($16) appetizer with speck, basil, mozzarella, balsamic, and olive oil, as well as Hamachi Crudo ($20) with coconut cream, lime, basil, chili, and crispy fried shallot – an excellent shareable dish, indeed.
Steak Frites
An entree of Steak Frites ($49) that I enjoyed out on the deck featured a perfectly cooked Prime New York Strip, sliced and served with herb butter, scrumptious ginger soy jus, and crispy fries. Steak lovers can also go big with Sunday School’s Prime 24 Ounce Utah Bone-in Ribeye ($99).
Seared King Salmon
My wife very much enjoyed her Sunday School entree of Seared King Salmon with celery root puree, shredded Brussels sprouts, apple sticks and cider reduction ($38). Other enticing entrees include Chef Stokes’ remarkable Roasted Chicken Khao Soi ($35) with curry broth, egg noodles, lime, fall veggies, cilantro, and red onion. There is also a Candied Walnut Shrimp dish ($28) on the regular Sunday School menu that I’m very eager to try.
If you’re old like me and somewhat annoyed by loud restaurants and bars, I recommend arriving at Sunday School early – before eight o’clock for dinner and/or drinks. That’s about when the DJ gets going playing tunes ensconced, by the way, in a faux pulpit.
If you’ve read this far, you deserve a treat: one of the best dinner bargains in The Beehive State.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, Chef Stokes and his crew host the Palate Parlor Tasting Menu at Sunday School. It’s a truly smokin’ deal: a mere $50 per person for five food courses paired with five wines. Are you kidding me???? Nope. It’s true: The cost is $50 plus gratuity, of course. Compare that with the typical restaurant wine dinner that runs $150 or more per person. The Palate Parlor Tasting Menu and wine pairings simply can’t be beat.
Kumamoto Oysters
The menu changes from week to week, but on the Tuesday night that we visited the Palate Parlor dinner kicked off with a Kumamoto Oyster appetizer with apple cider mignonette and honeycrisp apple paired with Sunday’s Best Brut by Gruet Cellars of New Mexico.
Celery Root Bisque
Course #2 was an interesting Celery Root Bisque with braised beef short rib “marmalade” and Asian pear, teamed with Broc Cellars “Love” white wine blend – a spot-on pairing.
Ricotta Gnudi
A dish my wife and I both absolutely loved was Ricotta Gnudi with scrumptious cider brown butter sauce, sage, and Parmigianno-Reggiano. It’s a dish I hope makes it to the permanent Sunday School menu, and was perfectly paired with 2024 Queen of the Sierra Rosé from California’s Forlorn Hope winery.
Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder
Up next was another killer dish: Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder served with orzo, Manila clams, and topped with a superb saffron aioli. The meat entree was paired with 2022 Rex Hill Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Dark Chocolate Pudding
Our Palate Parlor dinner closed with a decadent Dark Chocolate Pudding with mango streusel and coconut caramel, paired with heavenly sweet 2022 Capitello Dolcino Muscat from Oregon. It was the perfect end to an outstanding but ridiculously inexpensive wine dinner evening.
There is so much to love about Sunday’s Best, Sunday School, the weekly Palate Parlor dinners, and especially the irreverent vibe there that I find so refreshing and amusing. Servers like CeeCee add to the enjoyment, helping to make Sunday’s Best a new must-visit destination on the ever-evolving downtown SLC dining scene.
Photos by Ted Scheffler
Culinary quote of the week: “Brunch: The socially acceptable excuse for day drinking.” – Anonymous
