21 & OVER BARS Forget about navigating the state’s labyrinth of liquor laws—the more than 20 bars and pubs listed here prioritize putting a drink in your hand, although most of them serve good food, too. Restricted to 21 and over. (Be prepared to show your I.D., whatever your age. This is Utah, after all.)
BAR FLY LIBATIONS | BA RS
All bars listed in the Salt Lake Bar Fly have been vetted and chosen based on quality of beverage, food, atmosphere and service.
PHOTO ADAM FINKLE
This selective guide has no relationship to any advertising in the magazine. Review visits are anonymous, and all expenses are paid by Salt Lake magazine.
Franklin Avenue
THE BARS OF EDISON STREET (BUT FIRST, SOME HISTORY) BY JEREMY PUGH AND AVREY EVANS
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H E A L L E Y WAY S T R E E T connecting 200 South and 300 South in downtown SLC, was originally named Franklin Avenue. According to the blogger Rachel Quist (Rachel’s SLC History, slchistory.org), when Franklin Avenue was in its heyday (the late 1880s and 1890s) it was home to the majority of African Americans in SLC. Franklin Avenue was considered a tenderloin district like the other mid-block alleys in the area, Commercial Street and Plum Alley. There were brothels on Franklin Avenue in the 1890s but also a multi-racial community living in boarding houses and many businesses were owned by people of color. In 1906 city leaders changed the name of Franklin Avenue to Edison Street and now the street is once again undergoing a revitalization with a slew of newly opened bars anchored by the original bar Ryan Lowder’s Copper Common on the southern end. Here’s your guide to Edison Street’s latest lightbulb moment. (See what we did there?)
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