I love brunch; it’s my favorite meal of the day! It reminds me of Saturday mornings from my early childhood when my mom would make pancakes, waffles, eggs, or some other yummy brunch food. People love brunch for so many reasons but don’t always want to cook it. So, what is a brunch-loving Salt Lake local to do? Well, lucky for them, there are 5 new brunch places in Salt Lake City, and I have gone to and reviewed each of them for your convenience.

For my experiment, I needed to first find the 5 newest brunch places in SLC. They are (in order of opening): the Trolley Cottage Café, opened November 2021; Skillets, opened November 2024; Hash Kitchen, opened March 2025; the Early Owl Café, opened May 2025; and Sunday’s Best (SLC Location), opened July 2025. I decided on these restaurants based on the following criteria:

• Opened within the last 5 years
• In Salt Lake City, Utah
• Has sit-down seating
• Not part of a large franchise chain (like IHOP, Original Pancake House, Denny’s)
• Serves French toast

I graded the restaurants (out of 5) in 10 different categories: cost, vibes, decor, service, wait time, french toast flavor, french toast texture, potatoes, drinks, and an x-factor. I have broken these areas down into two categories, atmosphere/service and food, and ranked the restaurants within those.

Atmosphere/Service (cost, vibes, decor, service, wait time):

       1. Sunday’s Best - 50/50

I loved Sunday’s Best. I went there with my mom on Thursday, October 16, around 10:15, and from the moment we walked in, we were in awe of the attention to detail in the decor. The restaurant has a colorful, modern, French aesthetic that is so fun. An anonymous junior at Rowland Hall who has been to Sunday’s Best loved it and remembers that “it was very colorful.” My mom and I ordered the “funky monkey” French toast, the chicken and waffles, a side of potatoes, and for drinks we got a vanilla latte and a mocha. In total (including tip) we paid $70, which we found to be a fair price considering all we ordered, the service, and the amount of food we got to take home.

       2. Skillets - 44/50

Skillets was so fun! My mom and I went there Thursday, October 23, around 10:30, and got the French toast flight, breakfast burrito, rosemary potatoes, hot chocolate, and passion fruit juice. We were seated right away, but our table was slightly small. Regardless, the decor was very fun and cute, with lots of fall decorations and marble accents. Natosha Washington, our Assistant Head of Upper School, is a regular at the Skillets food truck, and she tells me that their “customer service is phenomenal, especially their suggestions, like when you ask what you might want.” I completely agree! We enjoyed listening to their music selection and speaking with our server, Jasmine, who has been working there since the second month they’ve been open! We paid a total of $63 and had some leftovers to bring home.

       3.   Trolley Cottage Café - 44/50

The Trolley Cottage Café has been one of our favorite brunch spots ever since we first went there, but I had never tried their French toast, so we had to go back for my experiment. My mom and I went on Friday, October 24, at 1:20, and got the pain perdu (French toast), the parmesan brioche toast (which came with country potatoes), and a vanilla latte. I love the classy French vibe in the cafe, and our server, Irish, was lovely. We paid $53 but didn’t take home any leftovers and ordered less food and beverages, so don’t only pay attention to the number! We appreciated the attention to detail in the decor and plants! 

       4. Hash Kitchen - 42/50

Hash Kitchen is super fun. With their BYO bloody mary bar and custom doughnut area, it is a super cute restaurant with a modern classy diner aesthetic. I went there with my dad on Sunday, October 19, at noon, and we ordered the Fruity Pebbles French toast, the banana split French toast, and the smashed potatoes, with an iced salted caramel latte and the cara-mello latte to drink. Although it was a Sunday at noon (a popular time for brunch), we were seated right away. On the other hand, we paid $65 and ordered pretty much the same amount as at the other places, but I felt like we didn’t get as much food (more to come in the food section), so I felt like the price was slightly unjust. But I did love the overall feel and accent walls!

       5. Early Owl Café - 40/50

My father and I went to the Early Owl Café on Sunday, October 26, at 10:20, and were seated at 10:35–which is not a bad wait time for a brunch place on a Sunday morning, but because this was the only place where there was a wait, I had to rank it lower due to that. Kolbie Peterson, who wrote an article about the Early Owl Café in the Salt Lake Tribune, agreed that their timing was pretty good! She noted that the “service was prompt and friendly, and the server took our coffee orders right away.” I loved the little owl details, such as the salt and pepper shakers and the plant holders! On the other hand, one reason this one ranked the lowest was the price. We ordered the fruity French toast, the banana French toast (with ice cream), and a side of potatoes for a total of $50. To me, $17 is a lot for french toast—even if it does come with fruit—so if it is going to be that expensive, it better be amazing!

 

Food/Drinks (French toast flavor, French toast texture, potatoes, drinks, and an x-factor):

 

       1. Skillets - 46/50

Skillets and the Trolley Cottage Café tied for first in this category, and let me tell you: if you love French toast and are a SLC local, you NEED to try both places’ french toast. But to start, let’s go over Skillets. The French toast flight came with 3 pieces of French toast, each one prepared in their own respective way (which you can also get a full order of). The three versions were the signature French toast (served with fruit and bacon), the stuffed French toast (stuffed with Nutella and topped with strawberries and extra Nutella), and the Biscoff bliss French toast (with whipped cream cheese, cookie butter, whipped cream, and Biscoff crumbles). They were all amazing and can appeal to a wide variety of french toast lovers. If you love sweets, get the Biscoff. If you love chocolate/Nutella, get the stuffed. And if you love a classic, get the signature. The potatoes were also very good, and although they didn’t have lattes, the hot cocoa was good too. The x-factor was their breakfast burrito, which has been ranked Utah’s best breakfast burrito, and my mom thoroughly enjoyed it.

       2. Trolley Cottage Café - 46/50

Ever since my mom and I came here, I haven’t been able to get this French toast off my mind. When I tell you it was incredible, I mean it. The texture was possibly my favorite part. Somehow it was crispy on the outside but still warm and fluffy on the inside! The homemade syrup and general flavor were also to die for, and the fruit was the perfect flavor enhancer. Wyatt Bergsjo agreed with this assessment in his google review from August 2025. He writes that it was “honestly the tastiest brunch I have had.” I also really liked the vanilla latte and the potatoes! My mom got the parmesan brioche toast, which was ranked as the x-factor, and she liked it overall but said that “the hollandaise was flavorless.” But overall, any French toast lover should not go another week without coming here to have their horizons expanded.

       3. Sunday’s Best - 44/50

Sunday’s Best had some really good French toast as well. The bread was fluffy and the flavor was good, but what really brought this one up was the fruit. There were enough berries to go with every bite! This is a rare find in the French toast market. The drinks were also very good, and the potatoes were nice and crispy. But I need to emphasize their chicken and waffles, which we ranked as the x-factor. When I first tasted them, I remember telling my mom it was like tasting a “symphony of flavors.” The chicken was cooked perfectly, crispy and crunchy breading but moist and juicy in the middle, and the waffles were a perfect texture with a miso glaze and a Texas butter. Whether you’ve never tried chicken and waffles or are their #1 fan, it is imperative that you add this spot to your must-try list.

       4. Hash Kitchen - 34/50

I got to try both types of French toast that Hash Kitchen had to offer, and I did my ranking based on the one I liked better—the Fruity Pebbles French toast. This French toast was very good, with a fun crunch thanks to the Fruity Pebbles. I really enjoyed the overall flavor and the fluffyness along with it. The salted caramel latte was yummy, but I didn’t like the cara-mello latte because it tasted too bitter (I think maybe they gave me a coffee with cream by accident!). The potatoes were also yummy! We graded the x-factor as the banana split French toast, which was also pretty good but needed a bit more depth-of-flavor. But perhaps Hash Kitchen would have ranked higher if we had gotten the breakfast potato tacos! One anonymous senior told me that she always gets those and loves them.

       5. Early Owl Café - 30/50

Finally was the Early Owl Café. Unfortunately, my father and I did not like their French toast. It was made with whole wheat bread, which gave the toast a gritty texture, and the bread was pretty flat and dense. I personally don’t enjoy the flavor of whole wheat bread, so the flavor wasn’t my favorite either. There was a lot of fruit on the fruity one, I must say, but I couldn’t get past the flavor or texture of the actual French toast. We only got water drinks-wise, but they did have some good-looking teas. The potatoes were yummy, but as I did for Hash Kitchen, my x-factor was the French toast I didn’t like as much: the fruity French toast. I liked the banana split one better because it had the option of getting ice cream with it, which both my dad and I really liked and brought a nice addition to the plate. I also liked the caramelization on the banana from it as well. Overall, I would go again, but I wouldn’t get the French toast.

So, after eating at the 5 newest brunch places in SLC and ranking them in 10 different categories, my final ranking was: Sunday’s Best in the first-place spot, followed closely by Trolley Cottage Café and Skillets (who tied) at second and third, then Hash Kitchen in 4th, and finally Early Owl Café in 5th. All of these places were so fun and all great options if you are looking for a yummy brunch! Going to all of these places taught me a little bit more about Salt Lake culture. Because they were all decorated in a modern way, I can tell that SLC’s culture has shifted to a more modern and trend-focused place, which makes sense as it is a quickly-growling metropolitan area. Also, because four of these places were opened within the last year, it is apparent that brunch is a growing industry and that we can expect more brunch places opening in the future (yay!). If you read this whole story, thank you for your time, and now, why are you still reading? Go get you some brunch!