Stoneground



The Particulars

Where: 249 East 400 South (second floor), Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Click here for Google Maps
Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 am-11pm
S.I.N Sunday 5 pm-9 pm
Cost: $$
Website: http://www.stonegroundslc.com/
Our Visit: Dinner 1/16/2010

The Atmosphere

Stoneground is cool joint on 400 South across from the city library, on the second floor above Café de Bolla. You generally park around back, and then ride an elevator up to the second floor. The ambiance here is very cool, both sophisticated and casual all at the same time, very urban-chic. The nighttime lighting is very dim and intimate, with lots of tea candles on the tables and around the restaurant. The heavy grey stone tabletops and the dark heavy wooden furniture give the place an almost old-world feeling, offset by the uber-artsy paintings on the wall. A pair of coin-operated pool tables in the middle of the room adds to the fun and casual feeling. If you can grab one of the deep booths, I totally recommend it, they’re really nice! I particularly enjoy watching the servers, who despite being required to all wear black, are an incredibly varied and engaging group of people who reinforce the atmosphere of casual artsy sophistication.

The Menu

This is one of those modern restaurants that seem to defy labels, but we think it can be summed up as “modern American Italian?” They specialize in pastas, exotic pizzas, salads, along with a variety of other dishes. They seem to manage an exotic flair with almost every dish, though there are some more traditional choices to choose for those with more conservative tastes. Their New York style pizzas are one of their specialties. They actually do what’s called S.I.N Sundays, where they forgo the regular menu, and instead serve all-you-can-eat exotic pizza and salad all night long. We’ll definitely be covering that on a future post! They have a very respectable wine and beer list, along with a range of hard liquor as well. While we did not get this this time, they have an award-winning tiramisu that we still think is the best anywhere, period. Try it some time. Trust us, it’s amazing.

Our Meals

We each got our favorite dish. Bruschetta for an appetizer, the Chipotle Shrimp for Porter, and the Artichoke Heart Throb for Erin.
The Bruschetta ($7.50) is piled high, and features amazing marinated tomatoes and a special balsamic sauce that is to die for. We play a game to see who can go the longest without losing any tomatoes off the pile. It’s really hard!
Both entrees come with a side salad. This is full of a rich dark green spring mix, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We always get the House Balsamic Vinaigrette, which is just incredible. This is the same salad they serve on S.I.N. Sundays, and it rocks.
The Chipotle Shrimp ($15.00) is Porter’s favorite dish. This features shrimp, onions, and red peppers in a roasted-tomato chipotle sauce, over two lightly fired polenta cakes. It is slightly spicy, has a lot of flavor, and a lot of varied textures.
The Artichoke Heart Throb ($13.00) is Erin’s eternal favorite, and our usual choice if we’re going to split a dish. It’s basically linguine tossed with whole baby artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, button mushrooms, and spinach in a buerre blanc sauce. It has a very light and clean taste that we find very refreshing.

The Salad with House Dressing

The Bruschetta

Artichoke Heart Throb

Chipotle Shrimp