HSL
HSL glazes its bone-in pork shank in Frank's RedHot, buffalo-wing style, and serves it with apple butter.
Why go
The owners of Handle in Park City, executive chef Briar Handly and his partners Melissa Gray and Meagan Nash, opened HSL (Handle Salt Lake) on 200 South in spring 2016 (The Salt Lake Tribune). Handly oversees a menu that rotates with the seasons (Eater). Salt Lake Magazine named HSL and Handle together its Best Restaurant in 2024. Jeremy Pugh put the award down to the menu: This double-barrelled approach creates a menu that just won't sit still. It bobs and weaves through the seasons and isn't afraid to buck its own traditions
(Salt Lake Magazine).
The pork shank was on that menu in 2016 and was still there in 2025. Anne Wilson's table of four shared one in 2016 (The Salt Lake Tribune). Ted Scheffler ordered it on a packed Saturday in 2019 and had plenty left to take home. He called the whipped ranch and apple butter beside it an ingenious combination of sweet and tart flavors
(Utah Stories). Jenny Willden of The Infatuation wrote in 2025: You won't even need a knife to take down the pork shank with apple butter and Frank's Red Hot glaze, because the meat falls right off the bone
(The Infatuation).
Order the cauliflower as well if it's on. In 2016 the kitchen coated it in a cornstarch slurry, fried it lightly and sauced it like a General Tso's chicken, with garlic, soy, vinegar and sugar. Wilson wrote that year: It's like veggie crack and not to be missed, even if you think you don't like cauliflower
(The Salt Lake Tribune). Braxtyn Birrell heard the cauliflower called the house go-to
in 2017, when it came with a sriracha vinaigrette (SLUG).
Start at the bar. Salt Lake Magazine put HSL, a restaurant, on its list of the state's favorite bars in September 2026. Avrey Evans wrote that the bartenders pride themselves on their detailed knowledge of esoteric spirits. Belly up with an open mind and prepare for a lesson
(Salt Lake Magazine).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the bone marrow with duck liver mousse and honeycomb, if it's on. Ted Scheffler (Utah Stories, 2019):
It's as satisfying a dish as I've had in a long, long time.
5 - Order: the wild mushroom toast on garlic, spinach and ricotta. Braxtyn Birrell (SLUG, 2017) wrote that it
just blew avocado toast out of the water.
4 - Avoid: the grilled broccoli. Birrell (SLUG, 2017) rated it the one weak dish of about a dozen.4
What locals & experts say
- Ted Scheffler, Utah Stories (2019):
If there's a better place to dine in Salt Lake City, I haven't found it.
5 - Anne Wilson, The Salt Lake Tribune (2016), after four visits:
It's become my new happy place.
3
Good to know
- Price: mains ran $28 to $32 in 2019. Eater listed the room at $$$$ in 2025.5
- Booking: book on Resy or call (801) 539-9999.1
- When: dinner only, as Eater listed it in 2025.8
- What to wear: Willden (2025) says the velvet chairs and moody room make it
a place worth putting on something that at least has buttons.
9 - Diets: the house says it cooks for gluten-free and vegan diners.2
- Where: 418 East 200 South, on the east edge of downtown.
Verdict
should-visit — Book dinner for the Frank's RedHot pork shank, the one dish critics ate there in 2016, 2019 and 2025, and have a drink at the bar before you sit down. The shank cost $32 in 2019.