Utah Eats: Latin American food and a diner vibe
Utah Eats: Want Latin American cuisine with a diner vibe? Try Sabor Latino on North Temple. Also: A lot of new openings, gluten-free pancakes, PB&J sticks, a BOGO burrito deal and more. The Salt Lake Tribune's food and drink reporter, Kolbie Peterson, went to Sabor Latino, a Latin American restaurant recommended by Salt Lake City Council member Victoria Petro. The restaurant serves Latin American comfort food and offers three sections of its menu: Guatemalan, Venezuelan, Colombian, and Mexican. While the restaurant's high-backed vinyl booths, lunch counter, and open kitchen still reflect a diner vibe. Kumo Cafe, known for its Japanese souffle pancakes, is now cooking up gluten-free pancakes. From June 3, Via 313 will be offering PB&J sticks for National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. In celebration of National Burrito Day, Dog Haus has a deal where users of its Dog Hhaus app can buy one burrito and get one free.
Published : a month ago by in Lifestyle
This article is reprinted from the Utah Eats newsletter, compiled by Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday, become a subscriber by going to sltrib.com/newsletters.
For my latest dining adventure, I went to Sabor Latino, a Latin American restaurant that was recommended to me by Salt Lake City Council member Victoria Petro, who represents the city’s District 1 (Fairpark, Jordan Meadows, Rose Park and Westpointe). Thank you, Victoria!
Sabor Latino’s large, cheerful red and white sign is the first thing you’ll see on your right if you venture west on North Temple and go under the belt route to 2080 W. North Temple. (Sabor Latino has a second location at 3053 S. State St. in South Salt Lake.)
When you enter, you may pick up on the vibe that Sabor Latino used to be a diner — with its high-backed vinyl booths, lunch counter and open kitchen — and you wouldn’t be wrong. And there’s still some of that diner feeling in the current restaurant, with its relaxed atmosphere and menu (which includes breakfast) focused on Latin American comfort food.
There are three sections on the menu: Guatemalan; Venezuelan and Colombian; and Mexican. So you have a variety of cuisines and dishes to choose from.
To drink, I ordered a mango juice, which was fresh-made and thick with mangos. It was so large that I drank half of it and took the rest home.
To eat, I got the churrasco chapin — more on that below.
The North Temple area is one of my favorite places to eat, and I’m happy to include Sabor Latino in my go-to restaurants on that street.
• Famous for its cloudlike Japanese souffle pancakes, Kumo Cafe, at 3432 S. State St. in South Salt Lake, is now cooking up gluten-free pancakes, according to an Instagram post. The jiggly gluten-free pancakes, served in stacks of three per order, are available in all flavors — creme brulee, passion fruit, ube, matcha, pistachio raspberry and more — except Nutella Oreo and butter Biscoff, the post said. (While the pancakes are gluten-free, they’re not safe for individuals for full-blown celiac disease, according to the post.)
• From now until June 3, pizzeria Via 313 — which serves Detroit-style pizza in Orem, Lehi, Riverton and Sandy — will be offering PB&J sticks in celebration of National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, which was Tuesday. These sticks are made with Detroit-style dough slathered with creamy peanut butter icing and grape jelly, according to a news release.
• Happy Lamb Hot Pot is collaborating with Doki Doki to offer the Japanese dessert cafe’s creamy panna cotta cups as part of Happy Lamb’s all-you-can-eat Mongolian hot pot experience, according to an Instagram post. The panna cotta cups, which come in passion fruit and raspberry, are gluten free and available at Happy Lamb Hot Pot, 6562 S. State St., Midvale.
• In celebration of National Burrito Day on Thursday, Dog Haus — at 10261 State St., Sandy — has a deal where users of its Dog Haus app can buy one burrito and get one free. For one of those burritos, try the Hot Mornin’ Cluck (pictured above), made with three sunny side up eggs, a crispy Nashville-style hot chicken tender, white American cheese, pickled jalapeños, crispy tater tots, chipotle aioli, miso ranch and hot honey, all wrapped in a flour tortilla and then grilled.
• 98K Fried Chicken & Sandwich, at 3370 S. State St., is now open in Salt Lake Chinatown, reports Gastronomic SLC (with which The Salt Lake Tribune has a content-sharing agreement). It serves American-style hamburgers, fries, fried chicken and Asian specialties.
• Blacksmith Ice Cream just opened its second location, in Millcreek at 1295 Miller Ave., reports Gastronomic. It serves ice cream that it makes by pouring cream on a frozen anvil.
• Devil & Angel Desserts has opened at 13311 Tree Sparrow Drive in Riverton, reports Gastronomic. It serves boba, doughnuts, soft serve and “croffles” (a cross between a croissant and a waffle).
• House of Corn has opened in the former Even Stevens location at 414 E. 200 South in Salt Lake City, Gastronomic reports. It serves tacos on handmade multicolored tortillas.
• Kluck’s Krispy Chicken has opened its second location, in Orem at 1066 S. 750 East, Gastronomic reports. It serves mostly chicken sandwiches.
• Louks Greek Baby Donuts has opened a location in American Fork, at 541 S. 500 East, Gastronomic reports. It serves “louks,” short for “loukoumades,” which means Greek “baby donuts,” according to the website.
• Napoli’s Italian Restaurant has opened a new location at 7640 Union Park Ave. in Midvale, Gastronomic reports. It serves classic Italian fare.
• Noodlehead has opened at 1330 E. Chambers Ave. in Millcreek, Gastronomic reports. It serves ramen, pho and bahn mi; created by Provisions.
• The Peppered Vine has opened at 9476 S. Union Square in Sandy, Gastronomic reports. It serves rotating internationally influenced entrees depending on the day of the week.
At its meeting last week, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services’ commission issued bar licenses to two new Salt Lake City bars — one in Sugar House called Scovilles and one in the downtown Peery Hotel (pictured above) called Spritz! — as well as Rooted Vine bar in Moab and Logan’s second brewery, Home Range Brewing. The commission denied licenses to two businesses.
For this Dish of the Week I chose Sabor Latino’s churrasco chapin ($19.99), a Guatemalan dish made with carne asada, black beans, fried plantains, cheese, sour cream and grilled green onions.
From what I could find online about the word “churrasco,” in Guatemala it refers to barbecuing meats and other foods outdoors with family and friends. And the word “chapin” colloquially just means “Guatemalan.”
This hearty dish filled me right up. I think beans and rice are foods that usually don’t get the attention they need at restaurants, but these were seasoned well and full of flavor. The fried plantains were my favorite part of the plate: soft and starchy, but with crispy, caramelized edges.
The meat (I believe it was a skirt steak) was thin and savory, perfect for cutting into strips and rolling up into the piping hot corn tortillas that came with the dish.
Topics: Food & Drink, Latino