Food trends seem like they can change in the blink of an eye. One minute you might feel you’re on top of what’s trendy, and the next minute you could see something totally new on TikTok.
Like anywhere else, the food scene in Utah is changing rapidly. I wanted to get an idea of what Utah’s food scene might look like by the end of the year, so I turned to five experts who make it their business to know what’s hot and trending.
I asked each of these influencers from the world of food to pick one thing they thought would become a trend by the end of 2025 — whether it was a type of food, a type of dining, or a scene that’s heating up in Salt Lake City. They all listed examples, so if you see something that sparks your interest, you can go experience it yourself. I also included all their social media handles, so you can go check out their content.
Who knows? That new food you try could be your new favorite thing.
‘Experience dining’
Influencer’s name: Chase, aka SLC Foodie.
What is ‘experience dining’? “A lot of focus beyond the food, really about the atmosphere, the ambience and creating an experience, versus what we’re all used to — just showing up at a restaurant, eating, and hopefully you have great food, great service, great drinks. ...”
“They’re going to come to your table and do something, some type of show, whether it be bringing out a cocktail on fire, having the cocktail being pushed with liquid nitrogen, so you get a nice smoke effect, sizzling rosemary at the table, so you get a lot of [the] aromatic side of the eating experience — pretty much short of them singing to you at the table.”
Where can people find ‘experience dining’? Three examples:
• Margarita flight at Sol Agave, 660 S. Main, Salt Lake City, and 749 W. 100 North, American Fork. “It comes out this fun little holder that you put on your table, it has these tiny, little mini margaritas, and they’re all dressed up, so you’re eating with your eyes.”
• Breakfast tower at Skillets, 282 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City. “This tower is a three-tier triangle tower, each layer is different. ... And that one’s kind of geared towards multiple people, so everyone’s pulling from the tower and enjoying as they eat.”
• Steaks at Blind Rabbit, 1080 E. 2100 South, Salt Lake City. “They’ll sear the butter on your steak at the last moment, essentially at the table.”
Why do you think this will become a trend? “It seems like every restaurant that’s launching is trying to one up the next one,” especially in the world of brunch, Chase said.
Where can people find you: On Instagram as @slcfoodie, on TikTok as @slcfoodie, on Facebook.com/saltlakefoodie, on YouTube as @saltlakefoodie, weekly segment on FOX 13, weekly appearance on Mix 105.1.
Xiao long bao (soup dumplings)
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Soup dumplings are made in Salt Lake City, Monday, March 31, 2025.
Influencer’s name: Amber, aka Mile High Food Fairy.
What is xiao long bao? “I had my first one in New York City. Basically, it has minced pork in it, and it has this broth in it with this gelatin. And the fattier it is, it usually has a richer taste. But it’s just this cute little pillowy dumpling, and you hold it on the spoon, and it’s really hot and steamy, and all this broth just pours out.”
Where can people find xiao long bao? “There’s a big grocery brand that is widely available — they were in Costco for a while; you can find them in Harmons — it’s Mila, and they make frozen soup dumplings that you can just steam at home. And I actually get them all the time because they pride themselves in having better-than-restaurant quality. Unfortunately, right now, I’d say we don’t yet have a place as good as those, but I am hopeful ... that eventually we will have actually fresh-made soup dumplings that are going to be better than Mila.”
Amber said more places that make xiao long bao from scratch are starting to pop up, including: Zhu Ting Ji, 5486 W. 1900 West, Taylorsville; Oishi Ramen, 3424 S. State, South Salt Lake; and Annie’s Shanghai Taste (inside Ocean Mart, 115 W. 900 South, Sandy).
Why do you think xiao long bao is going to become a trend? “As the Utah area gets more diverse, and people are moving in from out of state and are looking for some of their favorite foods from wherever they moved from, whether it be California or Washington or wherever, I feel like the demand is growing, and I feel like that’s something that is going to continue.”
Where can people find you: On Instagram as @milehighfoodfairy, on TikTok as @milehighfoodfairy.
‘Japanese-style Japanese food’
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Shoyu Ramen at Ramen Ichizu on Friday, March 28, 2025.
Influencer’s name: Brandon, aka Pho King.
What do you mean by ‘Japanese-style Japanese food’? “By Japanese-Japanese food, I mean non-Americanized Japanese food. I don’t think American-style Japanese food will go away, and I hope it doesn’t. I just think it’s great that it looks like there’ll be more diversity in the type of Japanese and other Asian restaurants as a whole in Salt Lake.”
“American-style sushi are mostly the inside-out rolls like spider rolls and of course anything named after a U.S. state. Japanese sushi tends to be more simple with usually fewer than three visible ingredients — sushi like nigiri, maki, gunkan, etc. The origin of inside-out rolls, aka uramaki, is disputed but almost all agree it was created in North America. In a game of cultural ping pong, you can sometimes find uramaki in Japan if you look hard enough. They’ll have them in big cities in sushi shops popular with tourists like revolving sushi or chain restaurants. ...”
“With ramen, the American style is almost entirely tonkotsu. In Japan, there’s so many different types of ramen that anyone that tells you they understand them all is either lying to you or lying to themselves.”
What do you think will happen with this trend? “I’m feeling pretty good that places will open that specialize in dishes like udon, soba, donburi, katsu and omakase/prix fixe sushi.”
Why do you think “Japanese-style Japanese food” is becoming a trend? “A couple years ago, there was maybe only just one or two fully Japanese restaurants [in Salt Lake City]. But right now, we have places like Ramen Ichizu and they just had two crazy pop-ups,” one featuring @yakitoriguy and one featuring Takuro Yanase, chef at Ramen Break Beats, one of the hottest ramen spots in Tokyo. “I saw the line earlier, it’s huge, it’s ridiculous. But I think it shows to me that there’s an interest in having food that is more representative of the countries they’re based off of.”
Where can people find “Japanese-style Japanese food”? “We are already seeing more Japanese-influenced Japanese restaurants opening like Ichizu, Koyote, Junah and Pepper Lunch, as well as several hand roll places like Under Wraps, Tonkotsu and Handosake.”
Ramen Ichizu is at 915 Washington St., Salt Lake City; Koyote is at 551 W. 400 North, Salt Lake City; Junah is at 916 S. Jefferson St., Salt Lake City; Pepper Lunch is at 13299 S. Teal Ridge Way, Riverton; Under Wraps is at 1043 S. Valley Grove Way, Pleasant Grove; Tonkotsu is at 1898 W. 3500 South, West Valley City; Handosake is at 222 S. Main, Salt Lake City.
Where can people find you: On Instagram as @phokingslc, occasionally Reddit.
International cuisine
Influencer’s name: Travis R. Richards, aka Restaurateur Inner Circle.
Why did you pick this trend? “It’s important to the culture of America to keep the melting pot, and I think that food is easily one of the best ways that that presents itself in America. I mean, you can go to basically any small town and find Indian food or Thai food or Chinese food.”
Why is it important to support local international cuisine in particular? “Mainly just because they’re all locally owned small businesses by immigrant families.”
Where are some restaurants where people can find good international cuisine? Four examples:
• Swad Cabin, 856 S. Spanish Fork Parkway, Spanish Fork. “They’re the first Indian restaurant in Spanish Fork,” Richards said.
• House of Corn, 414 E. 200 South, Salt Lake City. “The owner, Armando [Guerrero], is very authentically Mexican, and he brings in all of his own corn from Mexico and makes all of his tortillas in house,” Richards said.
• Matcha Cafe Kyoto, 2223 S. Highland Drive, Suite E5, Salt Lake City. Focuses on ceremonial-grade matcha, ice cream and desserts.
• Batista Food and Grill, 493 E. 2700 South, South Salt Lake. Menu centers around Cuban and Nicaraguan food.
Where can people find you? Restaurateur Inner Circle group on Facebook, on Instagram as @restaurateurinnercircle, on TikTok as @restaurateurinnercircle.
Salt Lake City’s bar scene
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The communal table at Bar Nohm in Salt Lake City that just reopened with a new concept and a new connection to the bar Water Witch next-door on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
Influencer’s name: Brecken, who is half of Utah Chef’s Kiss, along with her husband, Brad.
Where are you seeing this trend in action? “The Central Ninth neighborhood, they have such a good lineup of bars with Bar Nohm and the Water Witch and The Pearl and Scion Cider, like all on that strip. And I feel like they’re all really having a fun cocktail program where they’re bringing in bartenders that are experienced and want to have fun with cocktails, rather than just a classic old fashioned, that kind of stuff. And so they’re creating unique combinations that I think are kind of setting the tone.”
What are some of your favorite bars right now? “I really love Earth & Stones. They just opened last year, and it’s just a tiny, cute little spot, but it’s great drinks. It’s a good place to start if you’re just starting to drink, because they can really help you kind of figure out what you like. …” (63 E. Exchange Place, Salt Lake City.)
“There’s a new wine bar in Salt Lake City, too, called The Tasting Room, that is really fun if you want more of a wine education.” (357 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City.)
“Sol Agave is really fun, because they have good Mexican food, but they have really fun margaritas, and they do really fun mocktails, too, because they’re playing to the Utah scene as well.” (660 S. Main, Salt Lake City.)
“And then my favorite that I went to was a cocktail pairing at Mar | Muntanya and Alpine Distilling. They had a collab where they did this whole course meal, and every course had a drink that corresponded, and it was all these specialty cocktails.” (These five-course dinners are held every Saturday at Mar | Muntanya; reservations are available via Tock. In the Hyatt Regency, 170 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City.)
Do you have a favorite cocktail right now? “I’m always an espresso martini girl, those are my favorite.”
Is anyone making a particularly good one? “Aker. ... They do it with pandan cream, so it’s just got this sweet cold foam that has this earthiness, but it’s still sweet on an espresso martini. It’s really good.” (9 Exchange Place, Salt Lake City.)
Where can people find you? On Instagram as @utahchefskiss, and on TikTok as @utahchefskiss.
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