Cosmica
Zach Wade cooks Neapolitan pizza and pasta in a Central Ninth room lit pink, on plates that look salvaged from a closed Pizza Hut.
Why go
Salt Lake Magazine put Cosmica among its five Restaurants to Watch for 2026 and got there before the national press did: Before the vaunted New York Times made a fuss about Zach Wade's 'spaghetti western' spot, we were already sitting at the bar nibbling on an heirloom tomato salad, swirling a vermouth and soda and looking forward to the Bolognese
(Salt Lake Magazine). The Times listed it in 2025.
Jenny Willden calls the room the crown jewel of Central 9th and is direct about the risk a place decorated like this runs: Cosmica isn't just vibes, though—there's some seriously good stuff coming out of the kitchen
(The Infatuation). Her order is the puffy bread, then one of what she rates among the city's best Neapolitan pizzas, then the pastas.
The spaghettone is the one she keeps returning to, al dente with fresh garlic, red sauce and parmesan and nothing else in the way.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the puffy bread first, then the Neapolitan.1
- Order: the spaghettone.1
- Order: a shareable side if you want a vegetable, though Willden's own line is that carbohydrates are what you are there for.1
- Avoid: bringing somebody who will read the neon and the kitsch as a warning. The kitchen is the point.
What locals & experts say
- Jenny Willden, The Infatuation:
Cosmica may be a relative newcomer, but it's fast becoming the crown jewel of Salt Lake's booming Central 9th neighborhood.
1 - Salt Lake Magazine, naming it a Restaurant to Watch:
When the Times says it's good, it oughta be right? But like, duh, we already said that.
2
Good to know
- Booking: worth doing. It is small, new and busy.
- Where: 945 South 300 West, in Central Ninth, a few minutes from Bar Nohm and The Pearl.
- What kind of room it is: a playful Italian dining room got up as a diner, with a bar worth sitting at.
Verdict
should-visit — Zach Wade's room made the New York Times Restaurant List in 2025, which almost nothing in this state does, and Jenny Willden calls it the crown jewel of Central 9th and rates the Neapolitan among the best pizzas in the city. The cooking she describes is specific enough to order from: puffy bread, then pizza, then the spaghettone. What holds it here is how little else exists. One full local read and a placing reported at second hand is a thin file for a room this well regarded, and the Times's own sentence about it has not been read.