Heber Valley Golf

Spin Cafe

Restaurant | "Smoked Meat and Spicy BBQ"

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After our fist visit to the Spin Café, we had no desire to return. The food had considerable underlying quality, but the excessive use of pepper in the BBQ sauce pretty much ruined things, the excellent Buffalo Burger excepted, but how often do you want to eat an $11 burger? So, we did not return for quite a while, but eventually we decided to try it again, although that decision was made with considerable trepidation. She played it safe and ordered the Buffalo Burger, which held its place as the best Buffalo Burger we have encountered. I again ordered the three smoked meats (chicken, pork, and beef) sampler plate, and again requested BBQ sauce on the side. Unlike our first visit when sauce on the sid...Read More

After our fist visit to the Spin Café, we had no desire to return. The food had considerable underlying quality, but the excessive use of pepper in the BBQ sauce pretty much ruined things, the excellent Buffalo Burger excepted, but how often do you want to eat an $11 burger? So, we did not return for quite a while, but eventually we decided to try it again, although that decision was made with considerable trepidation. She played it safe and ordered the Buffalo Burger, which held its place as the best Buffalo Burger we have encountered. I again ordered the three smoked meats (chicken, pork, and beef) sampler plate, and again requested BBQ sauce on the side. Unlike our first visit when sauce on the side was not an option, I got sauce on the side for two of the three meats. While the BBQ sauce was still overly peppered, it was more palatable than the first time, especially since I could control the amount. That was good enough to bring us back a couple more times.

Summing up four trips, the smoked beef is the best smoked dish because it is remarkably moist for smoked meat.. However, the Spin Café’s smoking process has an affinity for chicken. The BBQ sauce continues as in visit # 2– barely tolerable on account of the excessive use of pepper, but you can get it on the side to help you control the fire in your mouth. The Beef Brisket sandwich is second only to famous Bubba’s of Jackson Hole because Bubba’s properly serves theirs dry with a choice of three BBQ sauces on the table. Besides too much pepper, too much sauce hides the flavor of the smoked meat, and Spin goes overboard with the sauce. Rosemary-garlic baked potato pieces were as good as this dish comes. The BBQ sauce aside, the quality of the food is comfortingly consistent. You can trust that your smoked beef or chicken or Buffalo Burger will be as described here.

Ask if there is a choice between curly fries and regular French fries. Their curly fries are outstanding, the French fries are OK. The apple slaw continues as our favorite side, but the BBQ beans are
pretty good, except for all that damn pepper. There is little reason to forego slaw for one of the other choices. However, if your oder a sandwich with slaw, the juice from the slaw, which is served on the same plate as the sandwich, will soak the bottom bun of the sandwich. This is unpleasantly messy. Ask for slaw on a separate plate. Is this Heber’s best restaurant? No. It comes close, but it is the best (and only) smokehouse. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on May 29, 2009

Spin Cafe
220 N Main
Heber City, Utah
(435) 654-0251

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Heber Valley Golf

Attraction | "Nice Climate, Great Golf"

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The 18,000 residents of Heber Valley share 36 square miles with 6½ golf courses-- 117 holes of golf. Golf is big in Heber Valley because there is a near ideal summer climate. Nobody gets excited if there is no rain for 6-8 weeks. When it rains, a rain that lasts for more than an hour gets a lot of attention. Humidity is 10-25%. Midsummer temperatures average 92 very dry degrees, dropping to 50 at night. If you play early in the morning, bring a sweater. *We live here, and it is not unusual for us to change clothes three times a day in summer to adjust to changing temperature. The 2,000,000 residents of the Salt Lake Valley, less than an hour away on the other side of the Wasatch Ra...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 28, 2009

Heber Valley Golf

Heber City, Utah

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Spicy Lady

Restaurant | "An Unusal and Usally Good Place to Eat"

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Our first two visits to The Spicy Lady were a mixed bag. The first meal, on Christmas Day, was all around superb, a terrific British style roast beef and a perfect Chicken Florentine. Our second visit was a let down and a bit of a disappointment. Although nicely flavored, lamb shanks were greatly in need of longer cooking, leaving them difficult to cut off the bone, a real battle. Our third visit had good points and some not so good. Starting with the best, the Vietnamese Spring Rolls were nice and the Kangaroo Empanadas were superb appetizers. The Kangaroo, inside a pastry shell with cheese and stuff, is not to be missed. Several of us had Crème Brullee for desert. It won unanimous pr...Read More

Our first two visits to The Spicy Lady were a mixed bag. The first meal, on Christmas Day, was all around superb, a terrific British style roast beef and a perfect Chicken Florentine. Our second visit was a let down and a bit of a disappointment. Although nicely flavored, lamb shanks were greatly in need of longer cooking, leaving them difficult to cut off the bone, a real battle. Our third visit had good points and some not so good. Starting with the best, the Vietnamese Spring Rolls were nice and the Kangaroo Empanadas were superb appetizers. The Kangaroo, inside a pastry shell with cheese and stuff, is not to be missed. Several of us had Crème Brullee for desert. It won unanimous praise.

She had a repeat of Chicken Florentine which was not up to the standards of what was served the first time. First time, the chicken was perfectly cooked, cooked through but still juicy, easily the best prepared chicken we ever encountered in Utah with the possibly exception of the old Bonanza Cafe in Beaver. Second try, the chicken was typical a Utah disaster, so overcooked that it approached the texture of cardboard. As this is the Utah standard, if you must eat chicken in Utah, the Spicy Lady is the place to go. It won't be any worse than anywhere else, and there is a chance it will actually be properly done, just don't count on it.

I had Hungarian Goulash, a culinary classic. Any restaurant that serves such classic cuisine gets a lot of points, but while it was good, something was not quite right. I've had Goulash in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Austria, and we make it home. The Spicy Lady's wouldn't make the cut. I think the problem was too much sour cream. The beef and onions were drowned in sour cream, rather than being accented by it. Still, you won't go wrong with it, but you will not be blown away.

Our appetizers and deserts cost about $9 each. Nobody had a a main course costing $20 or more.

Spicy Lady has a full bar, only the second in Heber City. Of course, this is Utah bar which means it is nothing like a real bar. The wrinkle is the only way you can order alcohol is if you also order food, and drinks and wine are very expensive-- state rip-off tax, it's not the restaurant. For an idea of haw baffling getting a drink is in Utah, in 2008, the State Legislature passed 187 pages of changes to the booze laws. The most important goes like this: previously, a "pour", the amount of a liquor that could be in a drink, was limited to 1 oz. A "mixed drink" could contain more than one "pours" of more than one liquor up to a total of 2.75oz. After the change, a pour is 1.5oz. maximum and a mixed drink is limited to 2.5oz. In the real world, a Martini contains contains a 3oz. pour of gin. So how much gin is in a Utah Martini, one pour of 1.5oz, or 2.5oz.? I can't figure it out, but either way, a Utah Martini is watered down.

Utah claims it liberalized booze laws for the Olympics, but when the Olympics were over, the State Legislature reversed many of the "liberalizations". A typical liberalization: "Beer gardens" could be set up by fencing off an area and posting a security guard at the gate to be sure nobody under age 21 entered the sin zone. One liberal change that stuck was that before the Olympics, restaurants were not allowed to display their wine list unless the customer specifically asked for it. Now, the waiter is allowed to ask you if you would like to see the wine list.

Restaurants cannot buy wine at wholesales prices, they pay the same a retail customers. Consequently, restaurant prices are 3-4 times retail prices (in most states, restaurants can buy wine at wholesale prices so the mark up over retail is 2-3 times). At most, but not all restaurants, BYO plus the "corkage fee" is cheaper than the wine list. The problem with BYO is that you have to go to State Liquor Store to buy wine, and the closest decent selection to The Spicy Lady is 15 miles away in Park City. You can't really BYO because only a bottle with a Uath state liquor stamp which is only on bottles sold in State liquor stores are allowed in Uath.

The Spicy Lady's wine list starts at $26 for an obscure Spanish red, which is actually pretty good. This runs contrary to typical restaurant wine pricing, where the lowest priced wine is the most overpriced bottle in terms of value for the money.

Service was chatty friendly good, and very fast even though the restaurant was almost full.

Our third visit was on a weekend night, when there was live music. All I can say is that it wasn' obnoxious.

So, after three visits to The Spicy Lady, we are still a little puzzled in deciding how good it is. When it is good, it is very,very good, but food quality is spotty. Considering the relatively low prices of the entrees, it is worth a shot, even with a trip from Park City.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 28, 2009

Spicy Lady
139 North Main Street
Heber City, Utah 84032
(435) 654-4288

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Easy Street Brasserie

Restaurant | "Constitantly Fine Food"

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Visitors golfing in Heber Valley can stay in Heber Valley, Park City, Sundance, or even Salt Lake City. Spring, summer, and fall at the famed ski ski resort center, Park City, is the low season, with greatly reduced rates compared to winter. Park City is an easy, scenic 30 minute drive from Heber Valley's golf courses. If you are staying in Park City, or even if you stay in Heber Valley, eating at one of Park City's many fine restaurants– "More Chef’s per capita that Paris– ran one ad, should be considered. The Easy Street Brasserie, one of Park City’s best restaurants, has reopened after being closed for a couple years while construction work was going on next door and behind the...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on May 28, 2009

Easy Street Brasserie
201 Heber Avenue
Park City, Utah 84060
(435) 658-2500

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Ghidotti's Italian Restaurant

Restaurant | "Always Decent, Sometimes Great"

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Visitors golfing in Heber Valley can stay in Heber Valley, Park City, Sundance, or even Salt Lake City. Spring, summer, and fall at the famed ski ski resort center, Park City, is the low season, with greatly reduced rates compared to winter. Park City is an easy, scenic 30 minute drive from Heber Valley's golf courses. If you are staying in Park City, or even if you stay in Heber Valley, eating at one of Park City's many fine restaurants– "More Chef’s per capita that Paris– ran one ad, should be considered. So we take a look at Ghidotti’s Italian Restaurant. Veal Marsala was a nice dish bearing questionable resemblance to Veal Marsala. The nicely breaded veal was overcooked, ma...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on May 28, 2009

Ghidotti's Italian Restaurant
6030 N Market Street
Park City, Utah 84098
(435) 658-0669

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Heber City Journals

Heber Valley Golf

Spin Cafe

Heber Valley Golf

Spicy Lady

Easy Street Brasserie

Ghidotti's Italian Restaurant

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