Burger Bar - Roy, UT

The burger bar was a little out of the way,  29 miles outside of Salt Lake City. It is across a parking lot from a trailer park and about a mile from the gates of Hill Air Force Base.

It looked like an old dairy queen with only a walk up window. The only outside seating were a few cement benches. The employees shout your order number out over a much too loud loudspeaker.  Still, there were people lined up deep to wait for their food. The sign said "since 1952."

I got the elk burger. They claim that it is locally grown along with the buffalo that they also serve. The elk was really good. It comes on a single patty with their special sauce.  I found out that the special sauce was just mayonnaise and catchup. They also give you two little containers of the sauce to dip your fries in.

I showed up in mid September. They already had their seasonal pumpkin shake out but, I didn't notice the sign in time and just had vanilla. It was really more like soft ice-cream.  They piled it about three inches above the top of the Styrofoam cup.

I thought that Burger Bar was a 9.6. The food was unique and good and the atmosphere was sufficiently eccentric.

Burger Bar
5291 S 1900 W
Roy, UT 84067
801-825-8961

Ruth's Diner - Salt Lake City

Ruth's might be a diner but it is definitely not a dive. The first thing that hits you is actually on the drive up. Ruth's is situated out of town up in the mountains. It is gorgeous!

There is a large outdoor seating area. You sit under the canopy of some large trees with the majestic Rocky Mountains poking through.

Maybe as a tribute to the Rockies, they bring you out a "mile high" biscuit. It is probably about four inches square. They serve it with butter but, it is so good that it doesn't need it. Looking around at the other tables, it doesn't remain a mile high for long.

I got the tilapia sandwich with onion rings. The sandwich was nice. It had the fish with some Cole slaw and cheese on it. The bread was disappointingly ordinary after having experienced the biscuit.  The onion rings were good but, not great.

This was the most upscale triple-D restaurant in Salt Lake City so far. It was nice but nothing special despite the framed napkin-note from none other than Betty Crocker to Ruth raving about the biscuit.  The service was okay.

I'd give Ruth's an 8.3. The scenery on trip up the hill alone was worth checking it out, so I was not overall disappointed.

Ruth's Diner
2100 Emigration Canyon
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(801) 582-5807
http://www.ruthsdiner.com

Rino's Place - East Boston, MA

Rino's is probably one of the best kept secret's in East Boston.  It was kind of strange because I went looking specifically for this restaruant and drove right past it the first time because the sign was not at all obvious and the shades were drawn, so it didn't even look like a restaruant on the side of the building that I drove by on.  So, on one hand they have been featured on national television but, on the other they don't stand out on a typical Boston neighborhood street.

There is no doubt that this is an Italian restaurant.  There were people actually speaking Italian in the restaurant and the look of the dishes being served at the other tables was pure Italian.

It was a pretty small restaurant.  The ceiling was like a plywood wood arch down the length of the single room.  It reminded me of an old railroad car but, it didn't match the outside of the building unless they built the brick building on top of the railroad car.  The only bathroom was though the kitchen door and to the right.  The whole kitchen was probably about 10 to 12 feet square

This was definitely not Giada's Italian kitchen.  This was a tough middle class Italian neighborhood.  People talk to you like they might sock you in the mouth at any time.  You'd better behave yourself.  The wait staff wasn't tripping over themselves with kindness here.  But, boy could someone in back cook.

I ordered the lobster ravioli.  I read some reviews on yelp.com before I came here and everyone raved about it.  Wow!  They raved for good reason. 

The pasta was obviously freshly made maybe after I ordered it.  It had that hard, chewy a-dente texture and taste that you only get with super fresh pasta.  The lobster was also obviously super fresh because it could not have spent much more time than the time to cook it inside of the pasta before being served.  The lobster still had its firmness to it.  The ricotta cheese inside was really flavorful.  The sauce was a really nice tomato sauce that tasted like the old country.  Just really great.
 
It came with a salad which was okay but, I didn't think that it was anything special.

Rinos Place
258 Saratoga Street
East Boston, MA 02128-1616
617.413.6390
www.rinosplace.com