Bolder Food in Boulder, Utah

Food seems bolder in Boulder, Utah. The remote tiny Southern Utah town has some pretty interesting food options. I initially took a road trip to do a story about the world-famous farm-to-table restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill, for Utah Life magazine. The next day, while exploring some of Boulder’s scenery and the Anasazi State Park, I discovered a couple of other great eating spots. If, like many foodies, you make a culinary food pilgrimage to Hell’s Backbone Grill, check out Magnolia’s Street Food and the Burr Trail Grill while you’re in town. Now is a good time to visit, while the local harvest is being turned into creative and delicious dishes.

Magnolia’s Street Food is a quirky-looking bus parked next to the Anasazi State Park Museum, serving seriously good eats. Visitors to the state park can sit on the picnic tables or on the lawn under shady trees to enjoy their tacos, “all-natural” hot dogs, breakfast burritos, and so on.

It’s owned by Garin and Haylee Apperson, who met while both were working at Hell’s Backbone Grill. While Garin was busy serving a stream of customers, I talked to Haylee, who was lunching on the lawn with the couple’s two daughters, Magnolia Grace and Emmylou Maxine.

She told me that Garin had attended California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and worked in restaurants in Seattle and San Francisco before heading for rural places in Montana, Yellowstone, and the Sawtooth Hotel in Stanley, Idaho. Haylee was a hairstylist in Salt Lake City, “And I decided to travel a bit. I’m really passionate about food, and I thought Hell’s Backbone Grill was a great place to start. Five years later, here we are.”

When they became pregnant with Magnolia, “We wanted to raise our kids here, and knew we couldn’t afford to do it if we were working for someone else.”

They began doing catering and festivals, and then talked to the Anasazi State Park about permanent residence. “It’s been a great relationship, “Haylee said. “We’re here 7 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.”

They use local meats, and Haylee manages three gardens that they can pull from in summer and fall. “We try to keep it organic whenever possible,” she said. “We have lots of specials in the summer and fall based on what we have in the garden.”

The Highwayman burrito ($11) is a basically a breakfast buffet wrapped up. The vegetarian Southern Belle Burrito features cage-free eggs, griddled sweet potatoes, greens, goat cheese, ranchero salsa, and cilantro.

 There are tacos with a choice of three fillings: 

• Sweet Magnolia: Griddled sweet potato, mushrooms, goat cheese.

• The Carlos: Crispy pork & pickled onions.

• Picadillo: Local spiced ground beef, pickled jalapenos & carrots, cotija cheese.

I got an order of Garden Fries — hand-cut French fries loaded with sauteed kale and mushrooms, avocado, pickled onions, cotija cheese, and cilantro ($11.25). They make eating fries feel a little virtuous…because, kale, of course.

I also checked out the Burr Trail Grill, a stone’s throw away from Hell’s Backbone Grill. I enjoyed sitting out on the outdoor patio, under shady trees and a high canopy to provide extra shade without feeling closed in.

It’s not a huge menu, but rather eclectic, with things like risotto cakes, fried green tomatoes, wings, and a lamb burger. Definitely not a “greasy spoon” menu.

I had a BTG (Burr Trail Grill) burger ($13), which came on a hefty bun (a huge step up from Wonder Bread). The grass-fed beef really carried a meaty flavor. I loved the bright tomatoes; I think they were marinated a little to make them more juicy. And there were lots of caramelized sautéed onions, with a crispy bacon slice. I asked for ketchup, but the burger was so flavorful I didn’t need it.

Instead of potato wedges, I ordered the slaw. It cabbage, carrots and scallions, with a rice wine vinegar/citrus dressing — no gloppy mayo.

House-made pie is one of the specialties, with flavors like Caramel Apple, Whiskey Chocolate, and Ginger Berry. Although I didn’t try any (I’d filled up on enough calories for two days), I notice that Yelp! and Trip Advisor reviews are pretty enthusiastic.

If you are heading to the Grand Staircase area, I’d recommend checking out at least one — or all — of these places.

And if you’re looking for a relatively inexpensive, clean and comfortable motel, check out Pole’s Place, right across the street from the Anasazi State Park. You make reservations the old-fashioned way — by telephone. And since the owner also does the cleaning, check-ins and everything else — she’s not always around to answer the phone. Leave a detailed message and she’ll call you back with a price quote. With fees and taxes, I spent close to $100 for a night. It’s an older motel, definitely not the Ritz-Carlton, but the owner takes a lot of pride, especially in the beautiful flowers that spruce up the place a bit.