The Five Course Meal Salt Lake City Can't Find Anywhere Else: Five Alls Restaurant's 55-Year Tradition

Pull open that brass ring on the heavy wooden door at 1458 S Foothill Drive, and you've done something most Salt Lake City diners never experience anymore. You've stepped back in time to when dinner wasn't something you squeezed between errands, but an event worth dressing up for. The heavy pewter mug in front of you catches the dim glow from stained glass windows depicting medieval figures, and your server—dressed in period costume that somehow doesn't feel gimmicky—explains that tonight, you'll experience the only authentic five course meal in Salt Lake City.

One recent diner captured it perfectly when they described their visit as not just a meal, but a complete experience. And they're not wrong. This isn't just about the food, though the food is exceptional. It's about the fact that in a city increasingly dominated by fast-casual concepts and trendy gastropubs, Five Alls Restaurant has been doing the exact same thing—unapologetically, defiantly—since 1969.

How a European-Trained Chef Built Utah's Most Unique Fine Dining Experience

Richard Halliday didn't set out to create Salt Lake City's most distinctive restaurant. He just wanted to cook food the way he'd learned it—from his mother's kitchen, from culinary studies in Europe, and from years working under Finn Gurholt at the legendary Finn's Restaurant on Parleys Way. When Halliday bought the former Balsam Embers location in 1969, he brought with him something the Salt Lake Valley had never really seen: a commitment to the full European dining tradition, complete with multiple courses, continental technique, and an atmosphere that transported diners somewhere far from suburban Utah.

The Five Alls name itself tells you everything about Halliday's vision. It's a reference to classic British pub signs depicting five figures: the king who governs all, the bishop who prays for all, the lawyer who pleads for all, the soldier who fights for all, and the countryman who pays for all. That kind of historical detail—the willingness to explain a 500-year-old tradition to Utah diners—characterized everything Halliday did. He learned to be baker, chef, carpenter, and decorator all at once, slowly transforming the space into something that felt genuinely transported from medieval England.

What makes the Five Alls story even more remarkable is what happened in 2019. After 50 years of operation, the restaurant briefly closed when Anne Halliday Lentz, Richard's daughter who had run it alongside him, faced the impossible task of managing the kitchen while caring for her ailing father and raising three young children. But customers were thrilled when it reopened under new ownership, with longtime fans reporting that signature dishes like the Chicken Kiev remained just as exceptional as they remembered.

The Five Course Tradition: What Makes This Fine Dining Format Special

Here's what most people don't understand about the five course meal format until they experience it: it fundamentally changes how you eat. At Five Alls, dinner isn't something you rush through. The carefully timed progression—from appetizers to soup or salad to entree to dessert—creates a rhythm that forces you to slow down and actually taste what you're eating.

The meal begins with what regulars call the "addictive" starter course: poppyseed breadsticks served with clam dip and spicy Scottish meatballs. These aren't afterthoughts—they're house-made, and customers consistently mention them as highlights. Then comes your choice of seasonal soup, fresh fruit, or one of the most underrated salads in Salt Lake City. Recent reviewers have described it as exceptionally fresh, with crisp greens and excellent dressing that could easily stand as a meal on its own.

The third course brings house-made rolls with butter, giving you a moment to breathe before the main event. And here's where Five Alls separates itself from every other restaurant in the Salt Lake Valley: when your entree arrives on its heavy pewter charger plate, you realize everything you've eaten so far was included in one price. The wild rice or baked potato, the vegetables, the beverage—it's all part of the experience, not a series of add-ons.

Finally, dessert: a parfait and an almond macaroon for the road. The whole meal takes about 90 minutes, and by the end, you understand why couples have been celebrating anniversaries here since 1969, why nervous young men still choose this dimly lit room with its valley views to propose, why families have returned for generations, creating traditions that span nearly five decades.

Filet Oscar and Chicken Kiev: The Signature Dishes That Define Old-School Continental Cuisine

Let's talk about the Filet Oscar, because this dish alone explains why Five Alls has survived 55 years. It's a nine-ounce filet mignon cooked to your specification, topped with asparagus spears and fresh Alaskan king crab meat, all finished with a creamy béarnaise sauce. This isn't fusion cuisine or a modern interpretation. This is classic continental cooking executed the way it was meant to be.

Couples who've been coming for years consistently order the Filet Oscar as their favorite, and they're far from alone. Diners rave about the quality—some ordering it cooked "black and blue" (seared outside, cool inside) report it's among the most delicious steaks they've ever tasted. The crab isn't an afterthought—it's generous, fresh, pre-split so you're not wrestling with shells, and it transforms an excellent steak into something genuinely special.

Then there's the Chicken Kiev, the other signature that's been on the menu since day one. This is free-range, boneless chicken breast topped with house-made hollandaise sauce—crispy outside, butter-tender inside. Starting around $54 for the complete five-course experience, it's a moist, perfectly breaded chicken breast served with exceptional hollandaise that keeps customers coming back year after year.

The menu also features Filet Roquefort (blue cheese, mushrooms, bacon, red wine sauce on an English muffin base), pre-split Alaskan king crab legs, New York strip, fresh salmon, and a stuffed pork chop with sage-bread dressing. Every entree includes all five courses—appetizers, soup or salad, rolls, sides, dessert—making the pricing more reasonable than it initially appears. You're not paying for one plate; you're paying for an evening.

The Old English Atmosphere: Pewter, Stained Glass, and Costumed Servers

Walking into Five Alls feels like entering a different era—or maybe a different country. Broadswords and shields decorate the walls, tables come complete with pewter mugs and charger plates, and backlit stained glass windows depict each of the five figures from the restaurant's namesake tradition. The stained glass alone tells stories, with each panel depicting one of the five figures from British pub history.

The servers wear period costumes—corsets and medieval-inspired attire that somehow enhances rather than distracts from the meal. Old English themed dining with charming, costumed servers and meals served on authentic pewter ware lit by hand-crafted stained glass creates an atmosphere that's theatrical yet sincere. This isn't a Renaissance fair with food as an afterthought. This is a restaurant that happens to have fully committed to its theme.

The dining room features dark wood paneling, leather-look tablecloths, tapestries, and vintage chandeliers that create pockets of warm light in an otherwise dim space. There's a fireplace for winter evenings. The private dining rooms—the "Parlour" and the "Guildry"—offer views over the Salt Lake Valley that become particularly spectacular at sunset. Couples celebrating multiple anniversaries describe spending years enjoying meals on those distinctive pewter plates.

The pewter itself deserves mention. Real pewter stays cold longer than ceramic, which means your water stays refreshingly chilled throughout the meal. The weight of the goblets and chargers adds a sense of ceremony to even the simplest action of taking a drink. It's these small details—the brass ring door handle that requires real effort to pull, the way candlelight reflects off pewter, the muted classical music in the background—that separate Five Alls from restaurants that merely serve food.

Five Alls in Salt Lake City's Fine Dining Landscape

What makes Five Alls Restaurant genuinely important to Utah's food scene is its stubborn refusal to change. In an industry obsessed with innovation and Instagram-worthy presentations, Five Alls has served essentially the same menu in essentially the same way for 55 years. It's a bold move to operate an atmosphere-heavy eatery serving classic dishes like Chicken Kiev and Filet Oscar for more than half a century, especially in a market that typically rewards novelty over tradition.

Located in the Foothill neighborhood near the University of Utah, Five Alls occupies a unique position in Salt Lake City's dining ecosystem. It's not trying to compete with modern New American restaurants or chase food trends. Instead, it offers something increasingly rare: a formal dining experience that takes itself seriously without being pretentious about it. Multi-generational customers describe getting engaged beneath the restaurant's distinctive stained glass windows, creating memories that span decades.

The restaurant serves as a bridge between Utah's past and present—a place where prom-goers nervous about which fork to use get gentle guidance from experienced servers, where anniversary couples celebrate milestone after milestone, where the same families return generation after generation. When the restaurant briefly closed in 2019, the outcry was immediate and heartfelt. Families who'd been customers since the opening shared stories of four generations making Five Alls their favorite restaurant.

That's not marketing speak. That's what happens when you create something authentic and then protect it from the pressure to constantly reinvent yourself. Five Alls isn't perfect—the building shows its age, parking can be tricky, and prices reflect the complete five-course experience—but it offers something you can't find anywhere else in the Salt Lake Valley: a genuine time capsule of what fine dining meant before "fine dining" became an Instagram hashtag.

Planning Your Visit to Five Alls Restaurant

Five Alls Restaurant operates Wednesday through Saturday from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, with Monday and Tuesday closures. The limited schedule is part of the experience—this isn't a place you drop into on a whim. Make reservations, especially for weekend evenings or special occasions.

The restaurant is located at 1458 S Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City, tucked into a building that's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Parking is available on the Foothill side at the front entrance, as well as in adjacent bank parking lots. There's also parking on the west side of the building with entrance via stairs on 2300 East.

When it comes to ordering, longtime customers recommend the Filet Oscar if you want to understand why people have been coming here for 55 years. The Chicken Kiev runs about $54 for the complete five-course experience, while the Filet Oscar is around $97. Remember: these prices include appetizers, soup or salad, house-made rolls, sides, dessert, and that almond macaroon to take with you. First-time visitors consistently note that when they understand everything included, the pricing feels quite reasonable for the experience.

Dress code ranges from formal to business casual—most diners lean toward the dressier end, though it's not strictly enforced. This is the kind of place where dressing up feels appropriate and actually enhances the experience. The meal will take 90 minutes minimum, so plan accordingly. This isn't dinner—it's an evening.

The private dining rooms (Parlour for 8-18 guests, Guildry for up to 38) book up quickly for special events, particularly in December. The main dining room can accommodate larger groups with advance notice. Contact the restaurant directly at (385) 528-1922 or through their website at fiveallsfinedining.com.

For special occasions—proposals, milestone anniversaries, graduation celebrations—the staff can work with you to add personal touches. They've seen thousands of engagements over the decades, so they know how to make your moment memorable without being intrusive.

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There's something almost defiant about Five Alls Restaurant's continued existence. In a food culture that prizes innovation above all else, that treats restaurants as disposable trend vehicles, Five Alls just keeps serving the same Filet Oscar it served in 1969. The pewter plates still require serious dishwashing effort. The servers still wear medieval-inspired costumes. The brass ring door handle still requires two hands to pull.

And people keep coming—not despite these anachronisms, but because of them. Because sometimes what you want isn't the next big thing. Sometimes you want the thing that's been around longer than you have, that your parents loved before you were born, that will probably still be here after you've had your own kids and brought them for their first five-course meal.

That's what a five course meal in Salt Lake City looks like when it's done right. Not as a gimmick or a throwback, but as a tradition worth protecting.