With a population of just over 200 people who mostly engage in ranching and farming, it sits on the northeastern corner of the Grand Staircase. Hells Backbone Grill has long been one of Salt Lake restaurant critic. 20 North Highway 12, Boulder 435.335.7464Open Seasonally (MarchNovember)SuSa: 7 a.m.2 p.m. It comes with a side of yummy pinto beans and freshly made flour tortillas.Įxcellent service, ambiance, and a very well-constructed wine list make Hell's Backbone Grill worth a trip to Boulder. For a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Boulder packs a culinary and scenic punch. Castle's 'Christmas' posole (a traditional New Mexico holiday supper) is a 'stew' made with hominy, tender pork shoulder, onions, celery, garlic, herbs, spices and, most importantly, a rich, zesty red-chile sauce.įor lunch or breakfast, try the chile-migas: a plate piled high with scrambled fresh farm eggs tossed with blue corn tortilla chips, jack cheese and Castle's hot-as-hell red chile sauce. If you've never tried posole, you're in for a treat. Youll find Hells Backbone Grill equally humble and refined, grounded and ethereal its one-of-a-kind. Sometimes they make it with traditional pork, sometimes with lamb, and there's even a version with black beans and butternut squash. The posole at Hell's Backbone is something I could eat daily. The phrase destination restaurant usually. Hearty potato-cheese soup with bacon and chives, or the fried-green farm tomatoes with Castle's red-chile ranch sauce, are also sensational starters. GO THE DISH-TANCE Hells Backbone Grill in tiny Boulder, Utah. And, so is an order of Zuni sweet-potato skillet cakes-so simple, and yet so satisfying. As you stroll up the stone steps to the restaurant, you'll notice Tibetan prayer flags encircling the exterior of the restaurant.ĭinner begins with gratis warm 'blue ribbon' buttermilk biscuits, a great way to start a meal. The organic farm is worked with sustainability in mind, and with what owners Blake Spalding and Jennifer Castle call 'Buddhist values of right livelihood.'Įven weeding is done by hand and by two rescue goats. Hells Backbone Grill is a restaurant located in Boulder, Utah near the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It's Utah's Chez Panisse, a restaurant where the vast majority of the food comes from Hell's Backbone's 'no-harm' organic farm, which produces some 12,000 pounds of produce annually, not to mention breakfast eggs from 130 heritage-breed hens, fruit from 75 heirloom trees, grass-fed local beef, lamb, and more.

It's a case of heavenly Hell.Located about a four-hour drive south of Salt Lake City and enveloped by the grounds of the rustic Boulder Mountain Lodge, Hell's Backbone Grill is a magical place. Skillet-fried trout encrusted with blue corn and molasses is sensational. A salad of organic greens with jicama and roasted corn in a chili-honey dressing hits all the right notes of freshness, texture and honest flavors. But through a combination of good will and working with local ranchers and farmers, they not only made it, they’re thriving and beloved in the community. Championing (and then growing) organic food and serving perfectly matched wines in a remote county that’s not exactly keen on “Wild Utah” bumper stickers or demon alcohol was an act of faith.

Though they’ve been lauded by diners from all over the world and featured in “O” and Gourmet, it hasn’t been easy. If you’ve ever been to the little oasis called Hell's Backbone Grill on the edge of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, you find it equally humble and refined, grounded and ethereal it’s one-of-a-kind.

Hells backbone grill