The Best Restaurants In Orem and Provo, Utah

It is unlikely that any other establishment in Utah knows the art of smoking and seasoning meat like Five Star BBQ Company. Jared Terry, the founder of Five Star, will even attest to eating his own BBQ’ed creations for breakfast. Five Star covers all five corners of BBQ: ribs, pulled pork, wings, brisket and chicken.

Black Sheep Café excels in the rare combination of traditional Native American cuisine with refined service in an urban setting. If the Black Sheep indeed lives up to its name as a loner among other Southwestern restaurants, it can only be in the best possible way. Typical southwest fare takes a Navajo turn with the Black Sheep’s red chili beef tacos served on traditional fry bread and green chili stew.

Communal is a restaurant engaging with the community in multiple ways. First and foremost, Communal is about fresh produce, ingredients and partnerships with local farms. Their roll call of agricultural partnerships, listed on their website and ordered by ingredients from coffee and tea to corn and cheese is both impressive and informative. The restaurant’s other communal engagement is with its customers; few other locations between Orem and Provo can boast such a cult following.

A sibling of Communal under the umbrella of the Heirloom Group family, Pizzeria Seven Twelve shares the same commitment to local ingredients paired with a passion for pizza. Aiming to create ‘experiential dining that can change your life,’ Seven Twelve offers no shortage of inspirational food flowing from an open kitchen, where the staff are happy to chat with customers. Pizzas range from classic to highly creative while remaining faithful to local ingredients.

The state-wide consensus is that Ruby River Steakhouse serves up the best steak of Utah. Self-styled as the most flavourful filets east of the Mississippi, Ruby River is the proud recipient of annual accolades from City Search, City Weekly and Best of State. Award winning steaks span the classic New York, t-bone and top sirloin, as well as indulgent innovations like gorgonzola crusted or bacon-wrapped sirloin and filet mignon. In the long shadow of Ruby River’s steaks, the menu is also populated by burgers, salmon, sandwiches and bountiful sides.

Maria Bonita covers a vast range of Mexican food with an expansive menu, ensuring that diners do not need to look any further for anything and everything from carne asada and chile rellenos to mole-smothered chicken. Mirroring the expansive menu are the restaurant’s expansive portions. Maria’s daily specials rank among the best lunchtime deals in the vicinity of Orem.

Following La Jolla Groves’ description of itself as ‘fine dining in a whimsical grotto,’ no one can claim that Provo’s premier restaurant inspired by the Isle of Capri lacks audacity. Equally dazzling is La Jolla’s aim to provide ‘insanely’ good food made from healthy ingredients all at a reasonable price. La Jolla Groves offers options for all tastes and prices, without compromising quality of ingredients or healthiness of dishes.

Station 22 takes an original approach to American classics, switching up traditional ingredients and innovating decadent combinations. Station 22’s appeal to ‘vernacular cuisine,’ holds a particular resonance as so many residents of Provo and Orem have come to call this establishment their home.