SUmmer in red rock country

Capitol Reef & Boulder, Utah Have Fixes For Foodies

By Heather L. King

When Utahns think of the towns of Torrey and Boulder, Utah, they tend to think of them as “southern Utah”, with the heat and tourist-filled national parks and monuments one might expect. But due to elevation, the weather in Red Rock Country — particularly in July and August — is similar to Park City, which means it’s often 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the neighboring Big 5 destinations.

Where to Eat and Play in Boulder

Sweetwater Kitchen

3995 Hell’s Backbone Road, Boulder, UT

Located in the main lodge at Boulder

Mountain Guest Ranch, Sweetwater

Kitchen is named after the stream that runs through the property. Views of the landscape captivate diners seated on the wrap-around patio — perhaps with a Sand Creek cocktail in hand made with Ogden’s Own Madame Patrini Gin. Enjoy beef sourced directly from the ranch via the steak frites with decadent anchovy butter, or lighter fare like the blackened trout salad with homemade Caesar dressing.

Wild Indigo Café

Hills & Hollows 840 W Highway 12

Boulder, UT

Place your order for classic American-style breakfast, Indian street food-inspired cuisine at lunch or a changing dinner menu

PHOTOS BY HEATHER L. KING

on Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings from the brightly painted food truck on the hill. Opened in March 2023, creator Lacy Allen’s “food with flair” features a wide selection of items including a waffle sandwich and chai to dosa hot dogs and fried green beans with housemade chutneys and sauces. Cool down with a mango lassi, and be sure to visit Cache Canning in the shops next door to pick up pickled, preserved and grown fruits and vegetables. Wild Indigo Café is located at Hills & Hollows Market, with cheery outdoor seating with a view.

Magnolia’s Street Food

Anasazi State Park Museum 460 N Highway 12

Boulder Town, UT

This breakfast (served until 11am) and lunch bus can be found permanently parked at the Anasazi State Park Museum in Boulder dishing up massive and tasty tacos and burritos seven days a week. Magnolia’s Pancho & Lefty’s breakfast burrito is an adventure-fueled start to the day. Fresh-made agua frescas or Colorado River Coffee Roasters cold brew complete the meal. The vibrant kimchi breakfast tacos come as a pair featuring homemade kimchi, a fried egg, green chiles and grilled onions. Add local sausage for $2 more. If destinations take you south to Escalante, Magnolia’s has recently opened a second location there as well.

Torrey

Situated just outside of the west entrance to Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey is a quaint and friendly location on the Capitol Reef Scenic Byway (Highway 24) surrounded by green pastures, rose-colored cliffs and a tight-knit community you’ll be delighted to get to know.

Where to Eat and Drink in Torrey

Capitol Burger

The Chuck Wagon

12 W Main Street, Torrey, UT

What do you get when two professional chefs own a food truck in Torrey? The #4 best restaurant in a five-state region according to Yelp. Luke Fowles, owner and chef of Capitol Burger, and his wife, co-owner, and pastry chef Sunny Clark, do everything differently than your average burger joint — and it shows in every bite of the six burgers they sell in the parking lot of The Chuckwagon. The couple grind the beef for the patties fresh every day it’s served, make their own American cheese, pickles, mayo and aioli. Each burger has its star ingredient that’s drool worthy — from the roasted green chiles on the mac n cheese burger to the garlic cremini mushrooms and blue cheese on the mushroom blue burger.

Hunt & Gather

599 W Main Street, Torrey, UT

As the name implies, Hunt & Gather utilizes ingredients like wild game, fish, fruits, vegetables and goat cheese that’s been hunted or gathered from local purveyors. Lettuces, herbs and fruit are grown both on property and at the home of owners/chefs Chet and Nancy Saign, while mushrooms are foraged from the nearby hills. The dinner menu is divided into Hunter or Gatherer, where entrees such as a filet of elk is seared and served with chevre from nearby Mesa Farm and house-smoked and cured meats grace the charcuterie board. Hunt & Gather serves local hard ciders and spirits from Etta Place Cider and Robbers Roost Distillery across the road. Chef Chet uses his years of experience working in some of the best restaurants in Salt Lake and on the East Coast to coax delicate flavors out of each and every sauce.

Etta Place Cider

700 W Highway 24, Torrey, UT

Ann Torrence and Robert Marc have 90 different kinds of heirloom apples growing in their high-elevation orchards in Torrey. They never planned to make hard cider, but today, they operate and experiment via Etta Place Cider, taking apples from tree to bottle in about 6 weeks. The cidery makes handcrafted and seasonal hard ciders featuring the fruits of the orchard and southern Utah. Visit the tasting room on the west end of Torrey to sample their best-selling Etta Place Dry, the latest bottles such as the Etta Place Gingered, which can be used in a cocktail that might otherwise be topped with ginger ale, and purchase limited edition delights like the Etta’s Reserve Fig Mead.

Robbers Roost Distillery

700 W Highway 24, Torrey, UT

Sharing space with Etta Place Cider, Robbers

Roost Distillery is the Torrey outpost of Waterpocket Distillery from Salt Lake. The wild and adventurous spirit of the west is at the heart of owners and distillers Alan and Julia Scott’s desire to reintroduce pre-Prohibition herbal spirits, bitters and long forgotten liqueurs to adventurers seeking unexpected flavors. The Scotts are now offering tastings of distilled spirits found only in red rock country under the Robbers Roost label, as well as many offerings from their full line of spirits.

Color Ridge Creamery

135 E Main Street, Torrey, UT 84775

Color Ridge Creamery began as a way for owners and husbands Joseph Shumway and A.C. Ivory to fill the void of a really good ice cream shop in Torrey. Joseph, who helped reimagine his family’s dairy farm in western Wyoming by becoming an ice cream chef, makes all the ice cream at Color Ridge. The 8 flavors available at any time may change throughout the day or weekend, but it’s easy to try multiples with their three or five-scoop flights in custom-thrown pottery dishes. They also offer ice cream shakes that allow for mixing and matching of two flavors in a cute glass mug that’s instantly Instagrammable.

Wild Rabbit Café

135 E Main Street, Torrey, UT

The lines out the door at Beth Rumsey’s Wild Rabbit Cafe on most weekends hint at the delicious baked goods, Shooke Coffee Roasters coffee and hearty breakfast and lunch offerings found inside. Try the fluffiest biscuits and gravy made with local Oyler Family Farms sausage, or a farm egg scramble with your choice of protein, bread and cheese surrounded by plenty of sauteed vegetables.

Shooke Coffee Roasters

135 E Main Street. Suite 107, Torrey, UT

The name Shooke Coffee Roasters started as a family joke about owners Shawn Passey and Brooke Salt’s celebrity name. But coffee is no laughing matter as the couple works diligently to bring out the best in every coffee bean sourced from small farmers around the world. Passey brings his years of expertise as a professional coffee roaster to the table along with connections made through Fair Trade USA to blend together Boulder Mountain Breakfast Blend and Cathedral Valley; a mix of beans from Indonesia and South America. Drink Shooke Coffee at Wild Rabbit Café two doors down, and then take their roasted whole beans home from their shop via an online subscription.