FLASHBACK 1988: Jay Byrd gets perspective on the Salt Lake nightlife 

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In commemoration of City Weekly's 40th anniversary, we are digging into our archives to celebrate. Each week, we FLASHBACK to a story or column from our past in honor of four decades of local alt-journalism. Whether the names and issues are familiar or new, we are grateful to have this unique newspaper to contain them all.

Title: Maybe Utah is a Pretty, Great State After All ... Beats Vegas!
Author: Jay Byrd
Date: August, 1988

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Last month I packed up the car, and headed out on a vacation to the pencil-necked-geek capital of the Western Hemisphere, Las Vegas, Nevada.

No matter how weird you may think any other place in the Americas is, no place is as consistently strange as Las Vegas. I mean, in what other town could you sit in front of a place like Caesar's Palace at 3:00 a.m. and watch mobs of crazed, liquor-drenched, polyester dressed geeks move from casino to casino like a march of the dead?

Not in Utah.

But you would be surprised what is in this state if you bother to look. Take downtown Salt Lake City, for instance. The first thing you should do some morning is start your day off with a big cholesterol-clogged breakfast at Snappy's Service Lunch located at 57 South State.

Snappy's is perhaps the oldest continual restaurant operating in the city. It used to be open twenty-four hours, but now does business between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The size of a postage stamp, in comparison with most eateries, there are no tables so everyone sits at a lunch style counter. There is limited seating so you'll want to get there early.

The crabby looking man behind the counter is Morrie, the owner. Frequently throughout the morning you'll hear Morris tell a customer to "shut up" or "sit down." And every once in a while he'll even throw a patron out for trying to panhandle a cup of coffee. But don't mind all that, he's really a nice man.

Also be sure and note the framed color photograph of former World Wrestling Federation star Steve Gaterwolf below the clock. You won't find anything like that at Dee's Family Restaurants.

Next, why not drop by Bill and Nada's Cafe for lunch? Owner Bill McHenry has been in business at 479 South 600 East for forty years or more. Inside the cafe is a huge mural depicting Bill on his horse. It's a real slice of the old west. Got a couple of minutes before you get waited on? Check out the jukebox complete with speakers and titles right there at your table. Play something by Patsy Cline or Al Martino, it will make you feel six years old again.

May I suggest the legendary "Big Bill" sandwich or maybe a hot plate of brains and eggs. Try eating it the traditional way with a soda straw. It's great for a hangover.

And if you're still downtown in the late evening, why not stop by Salt Lake City's oldest club, The Club Manhattan, for a cocktail. This is a private club so you'll have to buy a membership, but it will be well worth it.

Stick around awhile and you'll see more nice suit imitations than at a fire sale at Mr. Mac's. Dig the band too. They're beautiful! Ask them for their version of Volare, and you too can pretend you're Wayne Newton.

Had enough of the life in the club fast lane? In the mood for serious art? Stop by Cinema In Your Face! at 45 West 300 South. This used to be a porno place, but now shows some great, limited-distribution films like Red Monarch—the great satire on the Stalin years in Russia, and the classic sex satire Aria.

Then, why not stop by the Twilight Lounge on 347 East 200 South for a fast glass of ice cold beer. The jukebox is free, and the customers range from the socially distorted and disenfranchised, to young college yahoos out for a good time. A word of warning: watch out for flying pool cues.

Yes, there's a lot of things you can find in Las Vegas that you can't find in Salt Lake City. And that's an understatement. But there's more to the place than often meets the eye. Check it out, and who knows, maybe I'll see you this weekend.