[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You’re acquainted with those buttermilk biscuits, you anxiously await the house Bloody Marys and you can search for that trolley car hidden inside Emigration Canyon. But just how well do you know the history of Utah’s second-oldest and beloved diner? We are throwing it back to a time of cabaret singers, free burgers and beer, and a woman named Ruth, who would soon start a Utah staple and historic landmark.
Ruth wasn’t always known as the burger-flippin’ beauty she became. Between 1912 and 1916 she performed as a well-known cabaret singer at downtown bars around Salt Lake City. She was a free, hot-spirited woman with a soft spot for her chihuahuas and Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Ruth first opened her diner under the name “Ruth’s Hamburgers” in 1930 at a small downtown location on 120 E. and 200 S. At one point, the diner sat across the street from a small house of “ill-repute” that Ruth would keep under watchful eye. She would invite the girls of the house over, keep them well-fed and flourish on their stories of local businessmen, judges and politicians. Her love for local color and hot stories didn’t quit there. In the late ‘50s and ‘60s Ruth would welcome the U’s fraternity boys in for cold beer and hamburgers, no IDs required.
Years went by, and Ruth, along with her hamburgers, grew steadily in popularity. After many years downtown, she bought a Salt Lake trolley car and sought a fresh start in a more picturesque location. She headed up Emigration Canyon and reopened Ruth’s Hamburgers in 1949, where she would run the diner and live out her final years.
Ruth passed away in Nov. 1989 at the age of 94, leaving the diner to one of the frat boys she had such a soft spot for, Curtis Oberhansly. Though not much of a storyteller, cabaret singer or spit-fire, Curtis did successfully own the Diner for 25 years, until 2001 when he sold the old trolley car diner to current owners Tracy and Erik Nelson.
Going into its 84th year, Ruth’s Diner is still as cherished and buzzing with locals as it was when Ruth was behind the grill. Today, the Diner is mostly known for huge breakfasts, especially the Mile-High biscuits and country gravy. You can still order some of Ruth’s favorite creations — as indicated by a pink flamingo icon on every menu — including the Meat Loaf Burger, Ruth’s Killer Bloody Marys and the Pink Flamingo cocktail.
Each year the Diner is nominated for a variety of local foodie awards, including City Weekly’s Best of Utah and Salt Lake Magazine’s Dining Awards, and is featured in different Utah travel guide eatery suggestions. Ruth’s Diner also had the honor of being featured on an episode of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” to showcase one of Ruth’s old favorites, Grandma Claire’s Baked Mac and Cheese.
Now, take a two-minute drive up the canyon until you spot that old trolley car, sit on the back patio with some friends and enjoy a delicious piece of Utah history.
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@ChronyArts
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