3 Best Restaurants in Salt Lake City, Utah

Run by a friendly husband-and-husband team who began with a hummus stand at the farmers' market, Laziz has grown into an outstanding full-service Lebanese restaurant in the burgeoning Granary District, with a cheerfully hip plant-filled dining room and street-side terrace. The most delicious strategy here is to make a feast of a selection of small plates: spiced labneh, eggplant baba ghanoush, grilled Halloumi cheese, kibbeh, fried cauliflower with garlic-cilantro pesto, red-wine-braised lamb shank, and maybe a kafta burger or two. The short but excellent wine list features several Lebanese bottles. There's a second location in Midvale.

Mazza presents a long menu of well-prepared, traditional Middle Eastern favorites, like falafel, Aleppan walnut-pomegranate dip, cheese and za'atar flatbread, lamb kebabs, and oven-baked chicken and potatoes mutabbak (served with sweet onions and a tangy tamarind sauce over basmati rice). The desserts—including honey-drenched baklava—are noteworthy.