Planning Your Moab Adventure Wedding - Where to Eat in Moab, UT
Hello, your local Moab elopement photographer and snobby foodie here. I’ll be honest, Utah is not known for it’s food scene. My partner regularly complains that he can’t find a decent fried rice, and as someone who has worked in plenty of restaurants and grew up in Chicago I can be a bit snobby about food myself. Eating out in Moab can be pricey, especially if you get lured into one of the tourist trap restaurants, so here are a few bits of advice to help you navigate.
If you google “best Moab restaurants” you’re going to get some crappy suggestions (sorry but I’m not sorry, Moab Brewery, Blu Pig, The Spoke, Pasta Jays, etc etc….). Every restaurant in town gets nuts during peak tourist time, so I’d advise rearranging your schedules and eating habits a bit while in town and eating earlier/later.
So if you’re visiting for your Moab elopement or engagement, let this guide to the best restaurants in town cue you in to where the locals really go ;)
Breakfast
The breakfast burritos! So good. I only get the Wescial but should look into expanding. The line gets pretty crazy so place your order online and pick it up.
2. Doughbird
Putting Doughbird on this list kills me a little because The Donut Shop next my my old work is also so good (he’s so nice and works so hard and man those donuts sell out fast too). But the donuts at Doughbird are just incredible. If you get there early enough you can score a box of the day olds, too.
3. Moonflower
I’ve spent way too much money at Moonflower over the years but everything is just so good. The Gouda breakfast sandwich is small but excellent, but you have to get there right at 8:00 to snag one. The sandwiches also rotate, so you might just get unlucky. Fortunately you can stock up on healthy snacks like dried mango and hummus (the jalapeño-cilantro hummus omg!!) while you’re there. Check out the 25%-50% off produce bins too - they’re hit or miss, but if you’re looking for some organic produce that you’re going to eat right away you can score some great things in there.
4. Fresh Moab Coffee
This place is going to appeal to a very specific person but I just love the little courtyard and everything about the place. A lot of the transient dirtbags hang out here because the espresso is donation based, so make sure to bring cash and know how to use an express machine. It’s hard to find though - go to Moab Bike Fiend, walk down the alley to the right, and it’ll be the last turquoise door on the right.
What is a bike shop doing on this list? Lucky for you it’s not just a bike shop. They still serve coffee, and Seth and Sock are as knowledgable about coffee as they are bikes. We served Fresh Moab Coffee when I worked there, but Seth and Sock were pretty hyped on Sweet Bloom coffee out of Denver and I believe they’ve switched over to them. Either way, excellent coffee.
6. Red Rock Bakery
We have a weird relationship with this place - the bagels are meh but the cinnamon rolls!! They used to serve them at Eklectika (RIP - truly the best restaurant in Moab) so we started going to Red Rock. Covid was a weird time so we fell out of the habit, but those cinnamon rolls are worth dealing with the rest of Red Rock’s weird vibes.
Lunch
There is no other option - my partner and I lived in Castle Valley so picking up quesadillas was a part of our regular City Market - Gear Trader - Moonflower routine. Gabe is pretty picky and would only get the Enchanted Chicken, but I was always down for the new flavors like the Fiery Fungus and the amazing one that had kimchi in it. Get the chipotle sour cream and let the weather dictate which salsa you get - they’re both excellent, but if it’s 100+ degrees out you don’t need your food to make you sweat even more. Only open for lunch and they usually sell out before their “closing” time, so don’t wait!
Okay, if the line for Quesadilla Mozilla is crazy or you can’t stomach cheese (I’m lactose intolerant and compromised for this place though, just saying), Moonflower has so many health sandwiches and salads and other things. Sometimes you can get lucky and score one of the half-off sandwiches or salads, but those go so quickly during peak season.
Dinner
1. Thai Bella or Arches Thai
Locals know that there are two good Thai restaurants in town. They’re owned by the same people and you honestly can’t go wrong. Sometimes I think I prefer one but then we’ll go back to the other and I’ll forget why I liked the other one more. I love all of the curries and Gabe was always pretty satisfied with the Thai basil rice. Arches Thai does have a good lunch menu though, which Thai Bella does not.
2. 98 Center
The nachos! The bahn mis! The peanut butter and gingerbread cookies! I was a bit snobby when I first tried 98 center because I thought I’d had better Bahn mis in Salt Lake - wrong. They’re very much the same, although 98 Centers are more expensive and smaller. Local paddle board legend Natalie Zollinger works here as well when she’s not guiding, so worth a visit if you’re into Moab’s rafting scene.
3. Sabaku
Why would you get sushi in Moab? Such an absurd concept, right? Yet it’s just so good. The usual appetizers like edamame are great, but I always go for the agedashi tofu. I’ve never had a bad roll here, either.
Honestly I never thought I would put frozen yogurt on a ‘Moab’s best restaurant’ list and maybe it’s due to the general lack of desert options in town. But nonetheless, we went to MOYO any time we thought we could squeeze a little more food in after the quesadillas.
Where do we just get a drink in Moab?
Hello and welcome to Utah! I sometimes forgot I was still in Utah because Moab is so different from Salt Lake City, but alas the rules are the same. If you’re lucky enough to find a place that’s licensed as a bar you can order just drinks, but otherwise you’re going to have to scope out the cheapest appetizer to go with your alcohol.
Don’t even think about getting a liquor drink and a shot on the side - you can get a beer and a shot, but not two liquor drinks.
So you’ve heard about our weak beer too, huh? No, it’s not 3.2% - Utah measures it’s beer by weight instead of volume so 3.2% ~ 4%. Still crappy though, right? They did raise the limit to 5% (thanks Budweiser), but if you want something stronger make sure you’re not ordering a draft. Oh and that manhatted/old fashioned/martini you ordered doesn’t have the traditional 2oz of liquor - you’re getting a very overpriced and 1.5oz version of that strong cocktail you wanted.
My advice? Grab a bottle of wine at the liquor store and enjoy the view from the backyard of your Air BnB - there literally is no bad view of Moab.
