The Best Breakfast in St. George

Breakfast is one of the things this town does properly, and there is a climatic reason for it: in a desert, the good part of the day is the start of it.

Why breakfast matters more here

From June into September, anything worth doing outdoors happens before mid-morning. Hikers, golfers, runners and cyclists are all out at first light, and they all want feeding afterwards.

The result is a town that genuinely eats breakfast — early, and in numbers — rather than treating it as a weekend indulgence. Even outside summer the habit sticks.

The practical consequence for a visitor: go early. Weekend mid-mornings are the busiest hours in the busiest category, and the wait at nine on a Saturday can be substantial. Arriving at seven is both easier and more in keeping with how the place works.

What to expect on a menu

Generous American breakfast is the backbone — eggs, hash browns, pancakes and biscuits, done well and in quantity.

Mexican-influenced breakfast is a genuine local strength, reflecting the region's population. Breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros and chilaquiles are widely available and often the best thing on offer.

Southwestern touches — green chile, in particular — turn up throughout, and are worth seeking out.

Two Utah items you may not have met:

Utah scones are not British scones. They are yeasted dough, deep-fried until puffed, served hot with honey butter — closer to fry bread than to anything you would recognise under that name in Britain. If a menu offers scones, this is what is arriving.

Fry sauce, the ketchup-and-mayonnaise-based condiment, is a genuine Utah institution and turns up with breakfast potatoes as readily as with chips. Its origin is disputed — the usual story credits Don Carlos Edwards and the early Arctic Circle restaurants, a Provo drive-in competes for the claim, and similar sauces predate both — so enjoy it without settling the argument.

The Sunday problem

Many places close on Sunday or run reduced hours, and breakfast is the meal this affects most, because Sunday breakfast is exactly when a visitor wants it.

Plan Sunday morning rather than improvising it. Hotel restaurants and the chains near the interstate are the most reliable.

Where the categories overlap

Breakfast here blurs into two neighbouring categories worth knowing about:

Cafés and bakeries cover the lighter end — pastries, coffee and somewhere to sit. See coffee shops and bakeries.

Drive-through soda shops are a genuine part of the morning routine for a large part of the population, in a community where many people drink neither coffee nor alcohol. Dirty soda began in this town, when Swig opened here in April 2010.

Practical notes

• Go early, especially at weekends and especially in summer.
• Check Sunday hours before setting out.
• Portions run large. This is a region with an outdoor, early-rising culture and the plates reflect it.
• Patios are best in the cooler months — the outdoor season here runs autumn to spring, inverted from most of the country.

Current breakfast and brunch listings, with addresses and phone numbers, are in the directory: breakfast and brunch in St. George.