DINE

Brews and Trucks

Find great mobile food options where you get your locally-made beer.

BY THOMAS CRONE tcrone@cityweekly.net

The true fans of particular food trucks know where those mobile businesses present themselves to the public, be that at a common destination like the Gallivan Center or on the humble, outer parking lot of a hardware superstore or car dealership. Other purveyors, of course, pull right on up onto city sidewalks and you can count on those appearing pretty much every day along major roads. And with the rise of Instagram as a go-to food truck tracker, you’ll never be too far from four-wheeled food in Salt Lake City.

Over the years, several trucks have become regulars at a type of destination that makes all the sense in the world for a daylong collaboration: craft breweries. Without internal kitchens but with an on-site audience of hungry customers, several local craft breweries have developed a reputation as a great place to find consistent, quality food, often seeing the same trucks visit their locations on a regular or intermittent basis.

Below are a handful of breweries that feature regular food trucks. We’ll list their address and all-important Instagram pages.

Fisher Brewing (320 W. 800 South; IG: fisherbrewing): As a kind aside, be forewarned that Monday nights at this spot are nuts, with a backyard bags/cornhole league. That said, this place is busy most of the time, giving it a good reason to keep a food truck outside the front door seven days a week. As much as anyone on this list, Fisher keeps a wide range of food options rolling.

Kiitos (608 West & 700 South; IG: kiitosbrewing): Alongside their beers, Kiitos features occasional live music and a rotating cast of food trucks, with those setting up right outside the front door. Green Chile House (IG: greenchilehouse), a New Mexico- and green chile-themed truck, tends to be a frequent visitor, but the variety here is solid from Thursday to Saturday.

RoHa Brewing Project (30 Kensington; IG: rohabrewing): Of the group listed here, this spot’s got the least-routine food truck program, though that may change over the summer as the brewery targets added vendors. The most-often found truck here is Torito’s Tacos (IG: toritos_tacos_slc), which parks right out front when around. (And if you have a truck, this is a business actively looking for new food truck partners.)

Saltfire Brewing (2199 S. West Temple S; IG: saltfirebrewing): For the past four years, Salfire’s been without a consistent food truck presence, though some have been through on an intermittent basis. By press time for this piece, the brewery will have its own vehicle ready, called Punk As Truck. Though it’ll occasionally roll offsite for special events and festivals, it’ll largely be parked right at the front door of Saltfire, allowing its customers a regular food option.

TF Brewing (936 S. 300 West; IF; tfbrewing): Here’s another spot with a food truck mere feet from the front door, though this one’s on a small parking lot, which causes the occasional awkward dance of driver and pedestrian. That aside, this is a really fine spot for food truck ordering, as the venue features nice outdoor seating options both out front and in back, with the selections varying by genre and style seven days a week.

As a household that’s seen both members deal with bouts of COVID-19 in 2022, we found food trucks a good way to sample a lot of cuisines around town (even during the coldest weather), while keeping the sick member of the crew away from the order line. Once healthy, we’ve continued to keep an eye for any/all of the following trucks:

Cluck Truck (IG: clucktruckutah): There’s no fast/casual foodstuff in America that’s seen a popular explosion like the fried chicken sandwich. This truck offers a play on that trend, with tasty wraps and a better-than-your-average-truck’s selection of sides.

District Thai Fusion (IG: districtthaifusion): Here, you’ll find some really nice curries, a classic pad thai and egg rolls that have to find a place on your plate.

Tacos Costa Grande (IG: acoscostagrande): On many a weekday, you’ll find this truck at the busy intersection of 4500 State Street in Murray, but the truck’s a regular at breweries on the weekends, when mobile kitchens can expect work from noon until last call. You may know the semi-permanent taco trucks nearer to downtown on State and on Main; this one’s a fantastic alternative. Super, super nice folks, to boot.

Unique Spice Always aka USA (IG: uniqe_usa; sic): Offering a selection of excellent Iraqi fare, you’ll want to sample a couple of entrees, with the knowledge that they’re pretty large and will likely be your next day’s lunch. You’ll be offered some free soup (say “yes”) and a dessert of baklava (not free, but also say “yes”). CW

THOMAS CRONE Burgers so good they’ll blow your mind!

30 east Broadway, SLC 801.355.0667

OUTDOOR SEATING ON THE PATIO TUESDAY TRIVIA! 7-9 PM LIVE JAZZ Thursdays 8-11 PM

1048 East 2100 South | (385) 528-3275 | HopkinsBrewingCompany.com on TAP on TAP A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have

on tap this week

2 Row Brewing

6856 S. 300 West, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com On Tap: Feelin’ Hazy

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com On Tap: Vitruvian Pils

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

Bonneville Brewery

1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com On Tap: British Mild

Epic Brewing Co.

825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com On Tap: Experimental IPA #2

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com On Tap: Fisher Beer

Grid City Beer Works 333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com On Tap: Extra Pale Ale

Hopkins Brewing Co.

1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com On Tap: Black Sesame Stout

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

Level Crossing Brewing Co.

2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com On Tap: Throwing Smoke Smoked Porter

Moab Brewing

686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com On Tap: Bougie Johnny’s Rose

Mountain West Cider 425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com On Tap: Pomme Paloma

Ogden River Brewing

358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenRiverBrewing.com On Tap: Injector Hazy IPA

Policy Kings Brewery

223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Proper Brewing

857 S. Main, SLC ProperBrewingCo.com On Tap: Veni Vidi BiBi- Italian Pilsner

Red Rock Brewing

Multiple Locations RedRockBrewing.com On Tap: Zwickle Mandarina

RoHa Brewing Project

30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com On Tap: Spudnik 7

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com On Tap: Cosmic Autumn Rebellion

SaltFire Brewing

2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Mobius Trip Oak Aged Sour

Salt Flats Brewing

2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com On Tap: Barrel-Aged Winter Amber

Shades Brewing

154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Winter Warmer Amber Ale

Silver Reef

4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George StGeorgeBev.com

Squatters

147 W. Broadway, SLC Squatters.com

Strap Tank Brewery

Multiple Locations StrapTankBrewery.com Springville On Tap: PB Rider, Peanut Butter Stout Lehi On Tap: 2-Stroke, Vanilla Mocha Porter

TF Brewing

936 S. 300 West, SLC TFBrewing.com On Tap: Edel Pils

Talisman Brewing Co.

1258 Gibson Ave, Ogden TalismanBrewingCo.com On Tap: Kingslayer

Toasted Barrel Brewery

412 W. 600 North, SLC ToastedBarrelBrewery.com

Uinta Brewing

1722 S. Fremont Drive, SLC UintaBrewing.com On Tap: Was Angeles Craft Beer

UTOG

2331 Grant Ave, Ogden UTOGBrewing.com On Tap: Snowcat IPA

Vernal Brewing

55 S. 500 East, Vernal VernalBrewing.com

Wasatch

2110 S. Highland Drive, SLC WasatchBeers.com

Zion Brewery

95 Zion Park Blvd, Springdale ZionBrewery.com

Zolupez

205 W. 29th Street #2, Ogden Zolupez.com

MIKE RIEDEL

Lager Lovin‘

The season of the crispy boi begins with two stellar beers

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

Bohemian - Nala’s Lager: Annually, Bohemian Brewing and Salt City HomeBrew Supply team up to hold Utah’s only all-lager home-brew competition. The best in show beer and its creator are rewarded by getting a limited, but full-blown, professionally-made version of their beer for sale in a custom-designed can. Last year’s lager winner came from the mind of homebrewer Chaz Smith; his special pale lager was brewed utilizing unmalted rye, wheat, spalt and barley, and also featured honey and Laurel hops.

It pours a huge fluffy three-finger head that sticks around forever; I have to suck some of it down to even start nosing and tasting. It brings a soft rye bite right away, and a light bready aroma due to the rye and light malts, I think. Hops are not very bright but fairly floral. The Laurel hops pop right out with plenty of lemongrass and hay-like grassiness.

Like the aroma, the taste starts with light rye and a light bready quality, but not overwhelmingly so. Light, clean, malty flavor comes through with the rye, and even a light rye bitterness. Then come the hops on the march, fairly bitter but with a nice big hop flavor, surprisingly strong considering that the brew is just a few months old now. Again, Laurel dominates a bit, with an initial, nice big lemon/orange flavor with grassy floral hops. Also in there, a light grapefruit essence kick on the back end. On the finish, it gets quite bitter, as that dry crisp lager comes through and pulls everything out of the beer except the hops and rye. The finish is very clean with medium bitterness.

Overall: The rye plays well with the light, clean but slightly bready malts, and the crisp lager finish brings it all out. It’s a wellexecuted beer that I could have a few pints of, with a nice dry finish to round it off.

Squatters - El Cobre: Squatters’ head brewer Jason Stock told me that, during a recent trip to Mexico, he was inspired by some local lagers he enjoyed in a small beach community just north of Cancun. Enamored with the brew, he immediately came home to attempt to duplicate it, so that we could all share in the love.

Cobre (copper) does indeed have a wonderfully clear, copper color, and a huge, fluffy three-finger head that sticks around forever. Rich, toasted bread and toasted nuts are the primary aromatics; a sweet breadiness like pretzels lays just beyond the toasted notes, adding further richness. Finally, spicy, floral, perfumey hops show up at the party.

While the taste follows up on the aroma very thoroughly, it still remains restrained with rich, bready malts, toast, almond paste, walnut and pretzel, all working perfectly in concert with earthy, spicy hops and just a hint of floral qualities. The aftertaste has that biscuity, sugar-cookie richness that only comes from lager brewers who really know their stuff.

Overall: Doing a copper lager and making it a mainstay in the Squatters lineup should be a no-brainer in the current hazy IPA-heavy craft beer scene, but when you do it this well, it doesn’t really matter what the masses are clamoring for. This is beautiful, subtle, complex, crushable, savorable and everything else a truly great beer should be. Salt Lake City is lucky to have such an amazing brewer, and they should really be hyping this stuff up a lot more.

Squatters’ El Cobre is on draft only, and I found that it worked well with many morsels—chile verde specifically, but also sushi and a catfish po-boy. Nala’s Lager comes in 12-oz. cans and at 5.0 percent ABV is also available on draft at the brewery. As always, cheers! CW

MIKE RIEDEL