I love coming to Utah. I head out this way several times a year for my job, and I never cease to be amazed by the undulating flatlands that are edged with sharp triangled mountains capped with white frosting.
Stunning.
Salt Lake City offers a lot of wonderful places to eat as does Lehi and Provo. These are my stomping grounds when I'm here.
When I'm traveling, I like to find places to eat that are a great experience, locally owned, and off the beaten path. But Kneaders is my guilty pleasure. Family owned, there's 56 franchised locations in the area and surrounding states. I sure wish they'd come to the Ohio Midwest.
When you eat their food, it feels like you're eating at a small locally owned deli that takes great pride in their bread, baked goods, meats, soups, and drinks.
My favorite thing is the all you can eat French toast with strawberry compote on the side and fresh whip cream topped with homemade caramel syrup. Seriously.
Yesterday I had driven four hours and was ready for some food, but wanted to do a drive-through. I hate drive-through food, but sometimes you don't want to go inside and sit down and eat because you're exhausted and just want to get to your hotel.
Kneaders removes my drive-through guilt. I knew that I was going to get an above and beyond meal for dinner.
I ordered a cup of beef stew, a turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich on cheesy focaccia bread, and a Chocolate Dome. I also ordered an almond croissant for breakfast the next day.
I got to my hotel, unpacked, settled in, laid out my meal on the desk and instantly felt my whole body, relax and unwind.
The beef stew had a savory velvety base with huge hunks of tender pot roast. I actually wish I would've got a bowl.
The sandwich was huge. I only ate half. The bread was fresh and pillowy soft with a crusty outside covered in melted, golden cheese. The turkey was literally off the bone and I don't mean off the bone deli style processed, I mean fresh freaking turkey. Like the day after Thanksgiving. Thick avocado, lettuce, red onions, mayo and provolone cheese. Absolutely delicious.
Kneaders has incredible baked goods. I have never ordered a baked good from them that I did not like. I don't normally do heavy chocolate, I like fruit-based pastries, but I had a long day yesterday with a few stressful moments and felt like some chocolate was in order.
The Dome is just that. A dome filled with dark spongy chocolate cake and a light creamy whipped chocolate mousse covered in a ganache with a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top. It was the perfect size- not real big, but I only ate half and a few hours later ate the other half. Really decadent.
This morning, I made some hotel coffee and pulled out my almond croissant. I left it in the wax bag and also put it inside a grocery bag, nice and tight, so it would stay fresh. It was a pillow soft flaky croissant, crispy on the outside with an incredible almond filling, dusted with powdered sugar and slivered almonds. That along with my black coffee pretty much has sent me on a perfect path this morning.
For your viewing enjoyment, I've put pictures of the food and the mountains. Triangle mountains, triangle, croissants, and triangle sandwiches.
There's a theme here.
Please remember, I'm giving a five star review here because it's a drive-through. You can go inside and eat, but remember this isn't an elevated deli. It's a basic local/franchise restaurant and when you look at it from that direction it's definitely five stars. read more