Utah Valley's Best-Kept Fine Dining Secret: Inside Magleby's 40-Year Legacy in Springville

There's a moment, right after you descend the stairs into the Grotto at Magleby's, when everything outside — the strip malls off I-15, the rush to get somewhere else — just disappears. You're in a room with stone columns, a cascading waterfall, tall booths, and the quiet sound of someone settling into a very good meal. Bone china on the table. Flowers. The kind of stillness that a real occasion deserves.

This is fine dining in Springville, Utah — and if you haven't been, you may be the last person in Utah Valley who hasn't heard about the chocolate cake.

Magleby's has been a Utah Valley favorite for over 30 years, a winner of more than 25 Best Of categories, and holds its position as Utah Valley's only prime steakhouse. But awards don't really explain why generations of Utah County families keep coming back here to mark the moments that matter. For that, you have to know the story of the man who started it all.

From the Dentist's Chair to the Dinner Table: The Doc Parkinson Story

Forty years ago, retired dentist David "Doc" Parkinson had a dream to share truly great food with the world. That dream became the original Magleby's restaurant, where for more than 20 years Doc personally greeted guests at the door with world-famous breadsticks and a warm smile.

Let that sink in for a second. A dentist — a man whose entire career was built around the inside of people's mouths — decided his life's second act would be feeding people really well. And he wasn't halfway about it, either. Doc lived with passion and purpose, never doing anything halfway. Whether riding 400,000 miles on his three motorcycles, playing 127 holes of golf in a single day, or asking himself daily, "What Would Christ Do?" — he poured his heart into everything. 

That ethos — total commitment, zero shortcuts — is what built Magleby's into a Utah dining institution. Walk through the door even now and you can feel it. The attention to presentation. The made-from-scratch recipes that haven't changed because they don't need to. The staff who actually seem happy to be there.

An early floor manager described the food as "gourmet homemade" and the approach as "fine dining, but as casual as you find." He noted that Doc didn't necessarily know every guest personally, but he acted like he did: "He loves everyone and he tells them he loves them. It's kind of funny, but people really feel it." 

That's not a brand strategy. That's a man who genuinely meant it.

In 2008, Doc's son Richard Parkinson stepped in to carry the legacy forward — launching Magleby's Weddings and Catering, which grew into a full-scale operation serving events across the entire state of Utah. And in 2023, Danielle and David Doty — a family of seven based in Kamas, Utah — acquired the business through their company Kensington Asset Management. David traded a career at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and private equity to work on Main Street instead of Wall Street, with a commitment to growing Magleby's while honoring everything the Parkinsons built.

The restaurant lives at the intersection of two families' dreams now. And somehow, it feels more alive for it.

The Magleby's Experience: Prime Steaks, the Grotto, and That Waterfall

You can go to Magleby's for lunch on a Wednesday and eat very well from the buffet — a spread that includes fresh seasonal salads, hearty sides, pasta, chicken, and carving stations — for a price that won't make you feel guilty about dessert. But if you really want to understand what this place is, you go downstairs.

The Grotto is the heart of the Magleby's experience. Stone benches, swan-neck lamps, stucco walls, wooden beams, stone columns, and a terra cotta tiled floor that blends Italian and Spanish romanticism with something entirely its own. There's a cascading waterfall. Fresh flowers. The kind of room that makes people sit up a little straighter without feeling like they have to.

One reviewer described it perfectly: "We loved sitting in the downstairs of Magleby's, complete with a waterfall, romantic music, tall comfortable booths and fresh flowers on the table. The service and ambiance were unbeatable." 

For dinner, this is Utah Valley's only prime-grade steakhouse. The slow-roasted prime rib is the flagship — hand-carved, tender, served the way prime rib is supposed to be served. The ribeye and petite filet medallions round out the steak menu for anyone who wants their cut their way. If you're after something lighter, the Penne Pasta tossed in house-made salsa rosa and the Blackened Salmon topped with creamy dill sauce are both serious contenders.

And then there's the last Friday of every month. The Prime Rib and Seafood Buffet is quite an experience — the prime rib, crab legs, and salmon are all very good, and the shrimp cocktail is particularly memorable. It's the kind of event-within-a-restaurant that gives regulars something to look forward to every single month.

The parmesan breadsticks deserve their own sentence. They arrive at the table warm, they disappear fast, and every review that mentions them sounds slightly obsessed. You'll understand once you have them.

Lenora's Chocolate Cake and the Sweet Legacy of a 40-Year Recipe

Here's the thing about Magleby's chocolate cake: people talk about it the way they talk about their grandmother's recipes. Not as a menu item. As a memory.

Thanks to Lenora Parkinson — Doc's wife of 50 years — Magleby's dessert recipes became as legendary as the breadsticks themselves. She wasn't a professional pastry chef. She was a woman who baked with precision and love, and whose recipes became so inseparable from the Magleby's identity that the cake now carries her name.

One longtime diner put it plainly: "Order the chocolate cake with raspberry sauce, or take a cake home. Their cake is really the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted."

You can eat a slice in the restaurant. You can also take a whole cake home, which is what a lot of people do for birthdays and celebrations — and which tells you something about how deeply Lenora's chocolate cake has embedded itself into Utah Valley family traditions.

The chocolate bread pudding is another thing worth saving room for. As one diner wrote, you'll be in heaven. Don't skip dessert here. That would be missing the whole point.

A Utah Valley Celebration Tradition, Not Just a Restaurant

Magleby's has been the backdrop for more Utah County milestones than probably any other restaurant in the valley. Graduations. Homecomings. Anniversaries. First dates that became engagements. It's become a Provo-area tradition and the celebration place for generations of Utah families, and the private dining room — which accommodates up to 100 guests — ensures that big moments get the setting they deserve.

One gluten-free diner summed up what so many people feel when they walk through that door: "Absolute BEST gluten free place I've ever eaten! Steak was superb! Staff was very knowledgeable and helpful. Best part? Dessert!!" 

The catering arm has grown to match. From intimate backyard weddings to full-scale corporate events across the state, Magleby's carries its scratch-made recipes and hospitality DNA far beyond the walls of the Springville building. But the restaurant itself — that historic Reynolds Building on South Main Street, the waterfall in the Grotto, the warm breadsticks arriving at your table — that's where the story started, and it's still the best place to experience it.

Planning Your Visit to Magleby's Restaurant

Magleby's is located at 198 S Main St, Springville, UT 84663, right in the heart of downtown Springville — just a short drive south of Provo and very close to the Springville Museum of Art if you're making a day of it.

Hours: Monday–Tuesday: 11am–8pm Wednesday: Lunch Buffet 11am–2pm; Regular dining 4pm–8pm Thursday: 11am–8pm Friday–Saturday: 11am–9pm Last Friday of each month: Prime Rib & Seafood Buffet, 4–9pm Sunday: Closed

What to order: The slow-roasted prime rib is the anchor of the menu — don't overthink it. The Blackened Salmon with dill sauce and the Penne Pasta in salsa rosa are the best non-steak options. Start with the parmesan breadsticks (they'll keep bringing them), and end with Lenora's chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. That's the Magleby's full experience, right there.

Reservations are recommended, especially on weekends and for the monthly Prime Rib and Seafood Buffet. The private room books up fast around holidays and the wedding season, so plan accordingly.

Phone: (801) 370-1129 Website: maglebys.com Instagram: @maglebysrestaurant

Why Magleby's Still Matters

There's no shortage of places to eat in Utah Valley. But places with forty years of history, a founder whose motorcycle sits at the entrance to greet you, a waterfall dining room, and a chocolate cake recipe that a grandmother perfected over decades — those are rare. Actually, there's really only one.

Fine dining in Springville, Utah has a name. It's had the same name since 1979. And if you've been going for years, you know exactly what we mean. And if you haven't been yet — honestly, what are you waiting for?