Ruth's Diner
Ruth's Diner serves breakfast inside an old Salt Lake City trolley car that has stood up Emigration Canyon since 1949.
Why go
Ruth Evans opened Ruth's Hamburgers downtown in 1930 (Ruth's Diner). Erik and Tracy Nelson, who had both worked there, bought it in 2007. Erik is the chef (Utah Stories). Tracy told the Deseret News in 2013 why people come: It feels homey and people like that comfort food
(Deseret News).
The Mile High biscuit comes with every breakfast plate, with house-made fruit preserves (Ruth's Diner). Mary Brown Malouf put it fourth among Utah's biscuits in 2019: Probably the most famous biscuit in the state, Ruth's 'Mile High Biscuits' are enormous. Like, enormous.
She also found them a little bit doughy and less flaky than other biscuits on the list
(Salt Lake Magazine). Stuart Melling of Gastronomic SLC describes them as fist sized, fluffy slices of buttery biscuit
(Gastronomic SLC).
Plan for a wait. Jenny Willden of The Infatuation: Built inside a renovated trolley car and located 20 minutes outside the city in Emigration Canyon, the small indoor space means long waits, but they also have a spacious outdoor patio
(The Infatuation). The bill stays small: Heather L. King found nothing on the menu over $20 in September 2025 (Utah Stories).
Order this / avoid
- Order: any breakfast plate, for the biscuit. Natalie Barrett (Deseret News, 2013) found the biscuits
crumbly, moist and 'ginormous.'
9
Good to know
- The best seller: the banana walnut French toast combo, according to the general manager, Patrick McIver, in 2025. The house makes it from its own banana walnut bread.4
- Price: the April 2025 menu priced biscuits and country gravy at $13.29 and the pulled pork benedict at $18.99.
- When: shut Tuesday and Wednesday. The bar opens at 10am. Live music plays on the patio.
- Where: 4160 Emigration Canyon Road, up the canyon east of the city.
Verdict
should-visit — Drive twenty minutes up the canyon for a diner breakfast, with a giant biscuit on every plate and no plate over $20 in 2025. The room inside is small, so expect a wait or sit on the patio.