61_Shasta
Member
OK. It looks like in another thread things got off to a rocky start so allow me on behalf of our entire tailgate group to be the first to welcome all of you to Salt Lake City. Since many if not most of you have likely not been to Salt Lake City I'd like to take a moment to give you suggestions to make your visit the best. Want some friendly smack? Visit www.utefans.net. Most posters are pretty cool. We have our jerks too but join us and let's have some fun. Will Utah/Colorado become a rivalry? Eventually it might. Right now no, it probably isn't. You don't manufacture rivalries they have to develop on their own.
For accommodations I wouldn't recommend any of the airport hotels as they're easily a ten minute drive or cab ride to to downtown. Hotels are plenty downtown with my personal favorites being the Monaco, Grand America if you want a 5-star feel and the Peery Hotel if you like an older more nostalgic stay. Otherwise there are your typical Hilton, Marriott, etc., hotels and several economy chains.
Speaking of the airport, while you can catch the 550 bus you'll probably want to take a cab or a shuttle to your hotel. UTA buses are not luggage friendly and I can pretty well guarantee that the hassle won't be worth the money you'll save.
Wherever you are going downtown give yourself plenty of time to get around. There is major redevelopment going on and several streets are either closed or restricted both to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. If you're staying downtown definitely let the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) be your wheels to get to and from the game. Utah being a mostly commuter campus has extensive parking but quite a large portion of it is reserved for various passes on game day and you'll wind up with quite a walk after finding one of the free lots. If you're coming from downtown you'll want to take the red line of the UTA Trax light rail system from the Courthouse station (located on Main Street between 4th and 5th South) to the stadium. Come up early as these trains get more and more packed the closer you get to gametime. If you're coming in early be aware of one thing. UTA Trax light rail and buses will not run on Thanksgiving.
If you like to have a cocktail or two in your room you'll need to plan in advance. Either bring it in your luggage or there are two liquor stores downtown. Liquor in Utah is only sold at state stores although there is an embryonic movement to change that. The one on 2nd West and 4th South is more convenient to most downtown hotels and caters more to the liquor customer than wine and I'll promise you that you'll get hit up by at least one panhandler. On 3rd East between 2nd and 3rd South you'll find another that is more wine oriented. Liquor stores are closed on Thanksgiving day and bars are open at their discretion on Thanksgiving.
Thankfully the "private club" law is gone and bars downtown are open to the public without membership. The grand lady of downtown bars, Port O'Call is gone thanks to the US government but two groups of its upper management opened their own establishments and are doing well. Gracie's is probably the more popular of the two but the Green Pig is my personal favorite of those two. Lumpy's on Pierpont Avenue is the flagship Ute bar and is amenable to all visiting fans. If you're wearing your school gear don't be surprised if you get at least one drink bought for you. If you're a dueling pianos kind of person Keys on Main is great or if you don't mind a little walk the original, The Tavernacle, is on 3rd South just east of 2nd East. Those who are not LDS or familiar with the area "Tavernacle" is a play on the LDS Tabernacle on Temple Square. Just as a side note the Tabernacle is actually a pretty cool place to visit and is open to the public.
Restaurants run the range from taco carts to five-star dining at the Grand America. Some personal favorites are Market Street/Oyster Bar, Bambara and Cuccina Toscana. If you go to Cuccina Toscana ask your waiter if Valter is there. If he is make sure you experience Valter. You don't meet Valter, you experience him. Tex-Mex at the Rio Grande is good as is eclectic fare at the Tin Angel. If you have a car and don't mind driving Lugano in Millcreek is always good as Cafe Madrid both in the same area. The Pie Pizza is a long standing Ute hangout right off campus with great pizza and plenty of cold beer. Lunch is a hands down. Tony Caputo's Market and Deli. Best deli in town period. Tony's almost always there and is always willing to help with suggestions for what's fresh.
It's hard to say that there's anything that you'd consider "must-do" in Salt Lake City but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to do. Obviously if you're LDS Temple Square is your Mecca and whether you're LDS or not slip in a tour of the LDS conference center. From the outside it's hard to believe that it seats somewhere around 22,000 people. The state capital is an amazing building that just underwent a restoration back to near original condition. There's an outdoor mall on the west side of downtown known as The Gateway if you're into shopping and just south of there are the neighborhoods of old Japantown and Old Greektown. If you're a "hole-in-the-wall diner" there are some little places in those neighborhoods that have a ton of character and some good food. Also If you have some extra time make a run to Park City. The food is good, the bars are fun and it's still mostly locals rather than the tourists. Skiers, Alta, Snowbird, Soltitude and Brighton are in limited open status. Either rent or bring your rock skis just to be safe, though.
Most alumni tailgates are held on the west side of Guardsman way by the football facility. Have fun with your fellow alums but hopefully you'll have an opportunity to stop by the Guardsman tailgate lot directly east and have some pregame fun with us. If you skip the alumni tailgate and have your own food to cook you'll no doubt find a camp that will let you use their grill. We typically have food on the grill for visiting fans and you're welcome to join us. We've been honored enough to have OSU, UCLA and ASU fans join us and we love hosting our visitors. And I probably should apologize in advance. We have our share of "tailgating is an excuse to start drinking at 6:00 am" people. They're a pain in the ass to us too but everybody has them.
Most any of the Ute fans you'll find posting here will be more than happy to make suggestions, offer any help or answer any questions you may have about your trip. Here's hoping it's a good one and above all a safe one however you travel to SLC! Please send me a message if you have any questions about your visit to Salt Lake City, tailgating or anything else.
For accommodations I wouldn't recommend any of the airport hotels as they're easily a ten minute drive or cab ride to to downtown. Hotels are plenty downtown with my personal favorites being the Monaco, Grand America if you want a 5-star feel and the Peery Hotel if you like an older more nostalgic stay. Otherwise there are your typical Hilton, Marriott, etc., hotels and several economy chains.
Speaking of the airport, while you can catch the 550 bus you'll probably want to take a cab or a shuttle to your hotel. UTA buses are not luggage friendly and I can pretty well guarantee that the hassle won't be worth the money you'll save.
Wherever you are going downtown give yourself plenty of time to get around. There is major redevelopment going on and several streets are either closed or restricted both to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. If you're staying downtown definitely let the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) be your wheels to get to and from the game. Utah being a mostly commuter campus has extensive parking but quite a large portion of it is reserved for various passes on game day and you'll wind up with quite a walk after finding one of the free lots. If you're coming from downtown you'll want to take the red line of the UTA Trax light rail system from the Courthouse station (located on Main Street between 4th and 5th South) to the stadium. Come up early as these trains get more and more packed the closer you get to gametime. If you're coming in early be aware of one thing. UTA Trax light rail and buses will not run on Thanksgiving.
If you like to have a cocktail or two in your room you'll need to plan in advance. Either bring it in your luggage or there are two liquor stores downtown. Liquor in Utah is only sold at state stores although there is an embryonic movement to change that. The one on 2nd West and 4th South is more convenient to most downtown hotels and caters more to the liquor customer than wine and I'll promise you that you'll get hit up by at least one panhandler. On 3rd East between 2nd and 3rd South you'll find another that is more wine oriented. Liquor stores are closed on Thanksgiving day and bars are open at their discretion on Thanksgiving.
Thankfully the "private club" law is gone and bars downtown are open to the public without membership. The grand lady of downtown bars, Port O'Call is gone thanks to the US government but two groups of its upper management opened their own establishments and are doing well. Gracie's is probably the more popular of the two but the Green Pig is my personal favorite of those two. Lumpy's on Pierpont Avenue is the flagship Ute bar and is amenable to all visiting fans. If you're wearing your school gear don't be surprised if you get at least one drink bought for you. If you're a dueling pianos kind of person Keys on Main is great or if you don't mind a little walk the original, The Tavernacle, is on 3rd South just east of 2nd East. Those who are not LDS or familiar with the area "Tavernacle" is a play on the LDS Tabernacle on Temple Square. Just as a side note the Tabernacle is actually a pretty cool place to visit and is open to the public.
Restaurants run the range from taco carts to five-star dining at the Grand America. Some personal favorites are Market Street/Oyster Bar, Bambara and Cuccina Toscana. If you go to Cuccina Toscana ask your waiter if Valter is there. If he is make sure you experience Valter. You don't meet Valter, you experience him. Tex-Mex at the Rio Grande is good as is eclectic fare at the Tin Angel. If you have a car and don't mind driving Lugano in Millcreek is always good as Cafe Madrid both in the same area. The Pie Pizza is a long standing Ute hangout right off campus with great pizza and plenty of cold beer. Lunch is a hands down. Tony Caputo's Market and Deli. Best deli in town period. Tony's almost always there and is always willing to help with suggestions for what's fresh.
It's hard to say that there's anything that you'd consider "must-do" in Salt Lake City but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to do. Obviously if you're LDS Temple Square is your Mecca and whether you're LDS or not slip in a tour of the LDS conference center. From the outside it's hard to believe that it seats somewhere around 22,000 people. The state capital is an amazing building that just underwent a restoration back to near original condition. There's an outdoor mall on the west side of downtown known as The Gateway if you're into shopping and just south of there are the neighborhoods of old Japantown and Old Greektown. If you're a "hole-in-the-wall diner" there are some little places in those neighborhoods that have a ton of character and some good food. Also If you have some extra time make a run to Park City. The food is good, the bars are fun and it's still mostly locals rather than the tourists. Skiers, Alta, Snowbird, Soltitude and Brighton are in limited open status. Either rent or bring your rock skis just to be safe, though.
Most alumni tailgates are held on the west side of Guardsman way by the football facility. Have fun with your fellow alums but hopefully you'll have an opportunity to stop by the Guardsman tailgate lot directly east and have some pregame fun with us. If you skip the alumni tailgate and have your own food to cook you'll no doubt find a camp that will let you use their grill. We typically have food on the grill for visiting fans and you're welcome to join us. We've been honored enough to have OSU, UCLA and ASU fans join us and we love hosting our visitors. And I probably should apologize in advance. We have our share of "tailgating is an excuse to start drinking at 6:00 am" people. They're a pain in the ass to us too but everybody has them.
Most any of the Ute fans you'll find posting here will be more than happy to make suggestions, offer any help or answer any questions you may have about your trip. Here's hoping it's a good one and above all a safe one however you travel to SLC! Please send me a message if you have any questions about your visit to Salt Lake City, tailgating or anything else.
