Your Guide to August 2026 in Salt Lake

Today on CityCast Salt Lake, it's August in our city, and we planned the whole month for you. I'm Allie Viya, I'm here with producer Ivana Martinez. Hi. And newsletter editor Therina Ria. Hi, good morning. Welcome, welcome. Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. If you are a new listener and we met you at 801 day, welcome. This is our guide to the month. We're going to basically plan your whole month for you, special to August here in Salt Lake City. If you're a regular listener, welcome back as usual. We've got you covered when it comes to everything from headlines to the best places to eat in Salt Lake City. So I have to give a quick shout out to our sponsor for this episode, Rocky Mountain Power. They were also the sponsor for 801 Day. They've been really coming through for us. So shout out to Rocky Mountain Power. All right, you two, here's how this is going to go. We're going to start with experiences. These are the things we just think you got to do in August in the Salt Lake Valley. Then we're going to move into food, our favorite subject, what to eat and drink this month. And then we'll finish it off with something called Pick of the Month, which is basically like, okay, fine. If you take none of our other advice, really, really do this one thing. So let's waste no time. Therina, what are you up to in August in Salt Lake City? Well, I'm going to head out to Mountain Point Lake. Where is that? I've never heard of this. Oh, my gosh, Didina? Bluffdale. I found it on TikTok. Ivana said she saw the same thing. We have the same algorithm. We do. Our brains and our feeds are synced. Yeah. For sure. So it's a private five acre lake in Bluffdale. So you reserve your time slot and then you have the whole place to yourself. So they have like a nice little sandy beach area. They have a lakeside dock that's shaded and it has enough seating for up to 50 people. Cool. And then they have paddle. boards, kayaks, and life jackets for you to use once you reserve your spot. And it's so nice. It's like really, if you want to beat the crowds at all the lakes while it's hot, it's kind of nice to have your own private little thing, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I saw this tea and I was like, oh my God, how do I get this on? I was like, I want to do this immediately. Yeah. And I think I saw it's like a two hour. You have to have a two hour minimum for your party, right? But it looks so cool. I saw people jumping off. of like the little dock thing doing backflips. That's not my thing. But I think this would be a perfect thing for like a family party, a family reunion. I was actually eyeing it because my mom's birthday is coming up. Oh, cute. I think I might throw her a little party here. Oh, that's so cute. Yeah, yeah. That's such a great idea. Family reunion if you want to do that. Okay. This website is cracking me up because you have to be a member in order to reserve it, which. becoming a member is free, but you still have to do that, which is very like Salt Lake City bars before the Olympics. It's kind of nice, too, because they do, apparently they had in July, like some community gatherings for their members. So it's like a way, you know, to meet other people if you don't want to.

be secluded and just hang out with your friends if you want to meet other people. They have a little members gathering. They also have hot springs there. You know, it's way too damn hot to, you know, swim in the hot springs. But once it gets a little colder, you can, you can soak in the hot spring. That's fun. Love it. Yvana, what about you? What are you up to in August? Okay, so I feel like I'm at the part of the month where I've really fallen off like my workout routine. Like summer has gotten so hectic and I'm just like kind of flailing at this. However, I saw that Salt Lake Public Lands is doing free Pilates in the park every Sunday in August through October. So it starts this month. And it's at donor park. And they're going to be having these classes by instructors from the block. I feel like you're familiar with that place, Alie. Oh, yeah. Yep. They have really cool instructions instructors there. Yeah, they do. And it's Matt Plottie, so it's got to be Juna. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Juna's such a hustler. Shout to Juna. Yeah. She's everywhere. She's everywhere. She's doing Pilates on roofs, in parks, at coffee shops. Go girls. She's working hard. She'd be hustling. She'd be hustling. But no registration is needed for this. All you do is you show up. And I think that's a really cool thing for people to do if they're looking for like a fun way to spend a Sunday in August. Yeah. I also want to quickly plug that I saw that there's this new studio opening downtown. And they're doing free classes until this Friday because they're doing like kind of a soft opening. It's called Studio Legacy is how I think you pronounce that. Okay. That's nice. I booked one. for this weekend and I'm really excited. So, yeah, I just, I think it'll be fun. Dude, Pilates is so hard. I took a Pilates class recently and like... There are muscles I never knew I had. Where did you go? I went to P-Volve. I don't know if you've been there yet in Sugarhouse. That's a whole different. Jennifer Aniston's favorite. That's not Matt Pilates. I'm sorry. There's so many iterations of it. You're on a clock. You're wearing the like. equipment that looks like sex toys, the ball that like wraps around your legs. Right. It was intense for sure. So maybe this will be more chill. It's in a park. It's free. Yeah. All you need is your mat. Like we're not using crazy equipment here, but yeah. That's so fun. Love Pilates. What about you, Allie? Okay, so this is something I actually can't do because I'm a scaredy cat. Okay. But I think that people who are not afraid of their own shadow should get a job at the Fear Factory. Oh. So the thing about Salt Lake City that we do really well is haunted houses. We have whole like grain silo campuses like the Fear Factory that...

basically sit unused all year long, but for September and October when they are open nearly every night and running these like elaborate haunted houses. We three one time went on a tour of the Fair Factory. And as you remember, they, the owner took me through like one of their rooms with all the lights on and no actors. And I was still scared. I'm scared. I know. And I know it seems early. It's crazy in August to be like already talking about Halloween. But if you want to be an actor in one of these haunted houses, now is actually the time to apply. So Fear Factory is hosting auditions on August 8th and August 22nd. This is their description. We're looking for the twisted, the bold, and the unhinged. Theater kids. That's the three of us. Larry Curley and Moe. I saw this because I think, I believe I put this in like our events calendar. I was like, you know what? What if I get a side gig for? Oh. Would you do this? I think I could. I would be bad at it. I think I would. There's like an inner theater child inside of me. And I am like so ready to perform and be in like theatrical makeup and be like, oh, what are you doing? Like you're in an October weekend. And I'm like, guys, I got to go to my gig. I'm going to be a monster at like. Yeah, got to go. Well, and one of the funniest things we saw when we were on quote unquote the lot. Because this is the one at 6th West and 8th South. You feel almost like you're on a Hollywood lot when you're there. Yeah. But if you remember, it was like middle of the day, they were getting ready for the evening lineup of, you know, buses of people coming in for the haunted house. And all the actors were doing warm-ups. And it was like people in the most terrifying makeup and costumes you've ever seen, just like stretching. La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Don't want to lose your voice on the first night. I have a terrifying scream, so I feel like I'd be perfect for this. Nothing funnier than like a bloody clown doing vocal warm-ups. Their website is. Red leather, leather, yellow. Exactly. And by the way, you don't just, they're not just hiring actors, like front of house, staff, whatever, makeup artists, you name it. So Fear FactorySLC.com is the website. Really fun, seasonal gig. Also, think of all the friends you'll make. Just like work in the haunted house with people. Friends for life. Friends for life.

Producer Ivana Martinez, newsletter editor Terina Ria. Let's talk about food. What are we eaten and drinking in August? Ivana, kick us off. Oh my gosh, Ali. I'm so excited about this. One of my favorite coffee shops, Azucca came out with these macha raspados. And I am so pumped. Here are the flavors. They have Mexican strawberry macha rasbado, a toasted coconut macha rispado, mango. blueberry, you name it. What's your respotto? So it's kind of, I don't want to compare it to like a shaved ice cream cone, like a shaved cone, but it's, I mean, it's shaved ice. It's shaved ice. It's shaved ice. Yeah. And, you know, you just, it's fine shaved ice with condiments and like flavored syrups on it. But, you know, this time it's much inspired. And I got to say. Their matches are pretty damn good already. And I'm really pumped to see that they have this on their menu. I should note, this is only at their West Valley location. I was just about to ask, can I get it in the, what should I call it, the post district location? No. No, unfortunately. You have to go all the way to West Valley. But you can make an experience. I think it's worth it. That's my favorite location. Yeah. It is beautiful in there. Remember when the Jonas brothers went there and then it was the one day the owner wasn't there? Oh, so sad. Shout out to her. She was so. I think he went twice. I think they went twice. Yeah. I wonder if Olivia Dean went when she came to the Maverick Center. We should make it the official like celebrity stop off. Yeah. That would be fun. I love that. That's a great pick. Okay, yum. It's so hot. Danina, what about you? I feel like this is your beat, man. You are always writing about new restaurants. Well, often also restaurant closures in the newsletter. Well, I found, again, on social media, this place called... Phineola Eats. So it's a small local business that operates fully on Instagram. They're open Thursday through Saturday and you place a pre-order through their, through Instagram DM. And then you pick it up in West Jim Jordan once it's ready. So they make it fresh for you. And they have a bunch of menu items, but one of their signature dishes is pokey nachos. So instead of tortilla chips, you get these crispy fried wonton chips. piled with marinated ahituna, crab salad, green onions, Fudacake. It's messy. So if you crack into it in your car, be ready for that. But honestly, it's worth it. They also have fried Musubi, which is like a twist on the classic Hawaiian snack. If you haven't had Musubi, it's like a block of rice, spam, wrapped in seaweed. And then they fry it. So it has this really crispy interior. And they load it with toppings as well. You got to try it. My mouth is watering. I saw the video. And I was just like, oh, my God, how do I get this order and how do I put it in?

right now. Yeah. And the portions are huge. Yeah. So it's so nice. Okay. I'm looking at their menu online and they have something called the Doug Special. So a plate is $25 and it sizes all the way up to a full tray, which is $130. But crab, regular, and then they've got a hot Cheetos. Musub. Yeah. So they're... Yeah, way ahead of Crumble on that one. Yeah, exactly. Okay, but I love that they have a big back special for $65 and it looks scrumptious. Could try a little bit of everything. Yeah. Feed the whole town. I feel like you could do like a picnic with this too. Like you kind of, it's already like ready to go. Head to a park in West Jim Jordan and eat your heart out. Absolutely. Yeah, brother. Allie, what are you eating or drinking? I have huge and breaking news, which is that it is time for me to shut my trap about sandwiches in Salt Lake City because I found the deli of my dreams now. It's not exactly in Salt Lake City. Oh, no. It is in Midway. Oh, right. You're Midway's biggest family. I really am. I keep. going there. Yeah, I think it's so hot in the valley. I'm like, where can I go right now and just kind of hang out for the day? And the answer is midway. But then I went to Hidden Peak Provisions. This is the little sandwich shop that's right across the street from the Ballerina Farm store. Yes. And I walked in there, you guys, and I knew I was home. They had a deli. They had like a chalkboard handwritten menu up on the wall. I look around, I see a fish poster. I say, Hold on now. So am I a fishhead? No, but what that signals to me is there's a Vermonter in the room. Then I go to the counter to order and they have Hetty Topper, which is like a very iconic Vermont beer sauce that they're selling. And I said, who hears from Vermont. And the woman was like, my husband lived in Burlington for years. And I was like, I know this sandwich is going to rock. And then I'm going to hit. This is going to hit. This is huge. This is huge. Ali has found her sandwich. I found my sandwich, you guys. What about it is like sets it apart. And what sandwich did you get? The bread is excellent. So the menu's fabulous. Like what I got was a chicken salad with, um, pickled onions, and then lettuce. Simple on a beautiful, beautiful bread, not too thick sliced, like deli. Like I love a marble rye. I just want deli sandwiches. I want them to be cold. I want like stacks and stacks of thinly sliced meat. I want them to be really, really fresh, kind of giant. I want to be able to like eat half now, save half for later. Yeah. Chandler, who's also regular on this show, was with me. She got a wrap that had trout and then apple slices in it. Oh, my goodness. I like that flavor combination. Yeah. The menu is great. They've got everything from like, oh, a turkey club that's just like thick, thick, thick, thinly sliced roasted turkey, pickled bread onions, harissa on a wheat.

Oh, just deli sandwiches, you guys. Like, I think we're overthinking it here in the Valley. Utah. We did it. We finally got a good sandwich. We did it. Allie is finally going to shut up. She's going to go to Midway every time she wants a sandwich. That's what's going to happen. So I really think... I really think August is a great time to go up. Get a beautiful cold deli sandwich. You can eat it there, or I would take it to go. I'd drive a little bit down the street to a... access point for the Provo River that actually, if you just search on Google Maps, I think it's called River Entry or something like that. Very simple. And you can like, you know, follow the fishermen down. And there's all these little places where it's little grassy knolls right along the Provo. You can stick your feet in the river. You can do what I did, which is sort of just stand in the river because it's pretty chilly and eat your sandwich. How lovely. Perfect sort of country day. I love this. Any meat that falls off will feed the fish. Exactly. A trowel just leaps into the air and grabs it. That sounds so nice. Do you know, I had a great hoagie at Neighbors Bar recently. Oh, yeah. Have you tried that one? I haven't had it. Someone next to me ordered it and it is huge. Yeah. Really? It was yummy. So you got to try it and see how it compares to this place. Well, I love Neighbors Bar. Shout out to them for helping us host 801 day this past weekend.

All right, folks, this is the big one. It's time for pick of the month. And pick of the month is sponsored by our friends at Rocky Mountain Power, really keeping the lights on around here. They want you to be sure and know that registration is now open for be what smart, begin at home. This is a program that they run. If you're a fourth grade teacher, you can reserve a free interactive energy education presentation that aligns with electricity learning standards and includes educational posters and activities. So this is a real opportunity to indoctrinate the children to be what smart so that they can go home and shame us their parents to be what smart. This is how we change the world, y'all. Right. One step at a time. Once the fourth graders are in, it's over. It's happening. It's fourth grade straight to policy to the White House. That's true. So if you go to thinkenergy.org slash wattsmart, you can find out more about this program. I imagine also if you're just like a parent who's interested in this program, you can also use that website and learn more. Mm-hmm. All right, Therina, what is your pick of the month? Well, I think we should go to this wildfire fundraiser. It's on August 27th at the Drift Lounge. It's actually hosted by Thursday Salt Lake City, and they usually host like... dating events around Salt Lake. Okay. But they're, you know, they care about the city and the state, which is currently on fire. So they're hosting a silent auction. And the proceeds will go to Utah VOAD. So this is an organization that coordinates disaster preparedness and recovery. So they've been helping a lot with like all the fire recovery and flooding recovery around Utah. So they, so. come out and support. They have some, like, cool, cool prizes up for grabs. I think there was, like, a golfing package. I know you're into golfing alley. Oh, well, no, I just date a golfer, so I sort of am often driving the car and drinking a high noon. Yeah, the thing that I really love about this fundraiser is that... The idea that they're going to host this fundraising event that's like for this amazing cause. And because it's not a dating event, there will be no pressure. And then everyone's going to hook up. And actually everyone will follow them up because they're like, wait, who's here to support a good cause? That's hot. Yeah. What do you mean? We just both have shared values and we happen to be in the same room. I think this is called a me cute. It's how they make this event even hotter. And like, excuse me for saying this, but like this just brought back like, a flashback to an event that or a dinner I went to years ago with a professor and they were having like firefighters do like a whole firefighter contest and I think oh yeah that would be so fun.

I don't know if that's included. You're saying you want firefighters in the room because they're hot. Okay, that would be smart. They are out fighting fires, Ivana. Half our state is on fire. They're busy. They can't just be. I know that they're busy, but they can also take a break because, you know, you can't be burnt out if you're fine fires. That's so true. Take a break to be our eye candy at this fundraiser. But they also have, okay, 60 minute sports massage is up on the table. Sure. There's some beautiful acrylic paintings. So if you need to, if you are trying to have some art in your house. A kingfisher saltwater fly fishing rod. That's nice. Okay. Two tickets to all these different concerts, a hydroglow facial, an SUV tent. Hello. Hello. Love it. Really cool stuff. Good stuff. Ivano, what about you? Okay. Well, speaking of Meet Quts, on August 15th, it's going to be Romance Bookstore Day. And guys, you know, I... I really love love. I just, I'm like, I'm a hopeless romantic. I love reading romance books. I started a book club. years ago, like pre-pandemic, and we're still going today. It's kind of started with the premise of being like a romance book club. It's evolved now to just women's fiction. But I think this is going to be such a fun day. The King's English is throwing this party. They're going to have girls who smash. They'll be slinging burgers from 11 to 2 p.m. And they're going to have 15% off all romance books for this day. And, you know, I think it's going to be great. I just finished a really great romance book that... Oh, which one? It was called One and Only. And it was really good. I got it. I like, you have to read it. Okay. Can I tell you something that happened to me recently? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, what happened to you. I'm going to paint you a picture of how unhinged things have been inside my steaming hot apartment while I empty my AC filters lately. Oh, no. So I deleted all my social media. I'm off. What I'm doing now is listening to audiobooks like a madwoman. I'm finishing a book every one to two days. Amazing. So I went on to Libby's Available Now audiobooks. And I am not a romance reader. Like not at all. I loved the wedding people. You know, everybody did. But I'm not like a romance girlie. I checked out this book totally blind. Just whatever. It's popular shirt. Wait, what's the book? The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. Oh my goodness, Ali. I've seen this everywhere. Yes. Ivana. This book is too. I can't. I can't. But I'm also like the other thing that happens when you listen to audiobooks a lot is that 1.1, 1.2. These are gateway drugs to becoming a madwoman who listens to books at 2.0, which is now me. So picture this. I'm in my house. I'm like making a sandwich and this is what it sounds like.

Logan stared at her. He really wanted to touch her, but he knew that he couldn't. She wanted him to thrust inside of it, but she knew that she couldn't have him at this moment. No. Oh my God. No, because this is, I can't. I actually audience. I'm like if someone walked in here, they would commit me. And that is how I read books when I'm like severely far behind because I am unfortunately the person who's like last in my book club. But not this time. Not this time. Not with this one. What's it called? Tell us what it's called. So we can go by it. One and only. It was about this Korean matchmaker who's like family for generations has like done matchmaking and she can like see into people's past lives. I was like, oh, interesting. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, it's super fun. And then she has kind of, she's always known who her like. one in her fated is, is what she calls it. But she's never met him yet. And she's just tried, she's tried to look for him. She's a 40-year-old woman. And she has kind of a heated night with a 28-year-old and kind of hits it off. And dot, dot, dot, who do you think she meets shortly after this hookup, his boss? who is her faded, and then it just all gets rolling from there. I wonder what this audio book will sound like. Yeah, exactly. It was incredibly good. It was really good, actually. She did such an incredible job. I listened to it, like, last weekend on my way down to Hurricane, and my boyfriend and I were in the car, and we were both gripped. I was like, we were locked in. We're like, oh, my God. What's the, there's a Korean word for it? Inion? In your... Oh, yeah, from past lives. I remember learning that in the past lives movie. Yeah. Yeah. So, so maybe it's your chance to pick up this book and they fall in love again. You're 15% off. 15% off. Yeah, love that for the King's English. Yeah. They rule. Allie, what's your pick of the month? Okay, so mine is pretty easy to do, but you're going to really feel good about yourself when you do it. And it is taking Salt Lake City's newest survey. Their planning division has put together this survey. It's called Building the Village, and they're developing a child-friendly and family-friendly city initiative. And so they want our feedback. They want to know what our priorities are. I think this is really important for a couple reasons. The main one being that we know that this city is not necessarily the place for families right now. I mean, enrollment is so down in our elementary schools that we had to close four of them at the end of 2024. And so there is this shared understanding that this could be a better place to have kids and raise kids. And that doesn't just mean like affordability. That also means like access to parks, safe streets, et cetera, et cetera. A lot of things. Yeah. So you don't need to be a parent to take this survey. You can be one. You can also be a child care provider. You can also just be a neighbor like me. It was really quick. I actually took it this morning. And I also think like.

I don't know. These kinds of things roll out and we always assume that someone else is going to do it. Like other people will take it and say what we think for us. And the truth is, they just simply won't, right? Yeah, you gotta speak for yourself. They won't. And I know that because I'm on their website looking at some of their upcoming community engagement events and they have one registrant. Oh. The other reason to do it now is that the survey closes on August 4th tomorrow. So today's the last day to get it done. What are some of the questions like? Like what are they asking? I'm looking at it right now. It's asking like, children in my neighborhood have access to green spaces. And I kind of love that they have these emojis. No, they have these emojis from strongly disagree to like the kind of face to strongly agree, which is like the little happy like, ah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's there was like one question. Well, I love a power ranking like any good millennial who was raised on BuzzFeed. And so there's one where it's like, you know, rank your priorities when it comes to family friendliness. Oh, nice. I mean, I'm in my mid-30s, like something that I'm thinking about in this city. And so, yeah. I will be interested to see what sort of like planning initiative is the result of all this data gathering. Yeah. And I'll also be interested to see what other people think because I have my things that I think, right? But there was also some stuff in here that wasn't so obvious. Like it asked about like what you look for in a family friendly like housing development. And one of the options was bathtubs. And I was like, oh. That's so obvious. Yeah, because you have just hosed down your kid. But if you've never had one, you probably like it wouldn't even occur to you, right? That's such a good point. Yeah, things you don't think about. So take the survey. It'll take you a couple minutes and you'll be very easily contributing to making our city more family friendly. Be a better neighbor. Yeah. All right, you two. We got to get out of here and start making our show for tomorrow. Oh, yeah. Newsletter editor Thedina Ria, producer Ivana Martinez. Have a great August. Have a great artist. Thank you, you, too. See ya. If you like this show, if you want it to be around every day, the best way to make sure that happens is to become a CityCast Salt Lake neighbor. That's our membership program, and we shower you in perks like ad-free listening. Visit membership.citycast.fm to learn more. That is all for us today, but we'll be back tomorrow with more from around town. Take care.