Where to Eat Near Temple Square: Lunch Spots by Walking Distance

A trip to Temple Square from Provo usually runs on a schedule: a tour, a concert, a family history appointment, a visit with out-of-town relatives. Lunch is the part that tends to go wrong. The grounds have very few places to eat, the nearest ones close early on some days, and the first restaurant you walk past may not be open on a Sunday. This page is a short, checked list of places to eat within a short walk of the square, with the details we could confirm from each restaurant's own site or an official source on November 9, 2026, and a plain note where we could not.

It is not a ranking and it makes no claims about taste. It tells you where each place is, what days it says it is open, how it connects to the train, and what to check before you commit a family or a carload of students to a Saturday in Salt Lake City. For a wider list of dinner options in the city, see our Salt Lake City restaurants for a Utah Valley night out.

Quick facts

Everything above is as listed on the official pages named later in this article. Where a cell says "not stated," we did not fill the gap from memory.

Who this page is for

This guide is written for a Utah Valley household making a day of Temple Square: a family with kids in tow, a student group on a Saturday, grandparents visiting from out of state, or a couple heading to a downtown appointment. It assumes you are coming from Provo, that you may be riding FrontRunner, and that you want lunch to be one decision rather than a search. It is also for anyone who has been caught by a closed kitchen. Two of the five places below are closed on at least one weekend day, and a third closes mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Getting there from Provo

The parent restaurant guide puts the drive from downtown Provo to downtown Salt Lake City at about 45 miles and roughly 50 to 60 minutes without traffic, by OpenStreetMap routing. Weekday rush hour on I-15 adds time. If you are driving, plan the parking before the meal. Our I-15 commuter guide covers what that corridor is like at the busy hours.

By train, the route is FrontRunner to Salt Lake Central, then TRAX. UTA lists Provo Central at 701 South Freedom Boulevard and Salt Lake Central at 325 South 600 West. UTA lists Salt Lake Central as served by FrontRunner and the TRAX Blue Line. From there, UTA's station list shows the Temple Square station at 155 West South Temple and the City Center station at 55 South Main Street, both served by the Blue and Green lines. Our FrontRunner from Provo guide walks through the Provo end of the trip.

Two UTA details matter for lunch planning. First, UTA's common-questions page says FrontRunner does not currently offer Sunday service. TRAX does run on Saturdays and Sundays, from about 6 a.m. to midnight, but you cannot get from Provo to Salt Lake City by train on a Sunday. Second, the same UTA page says the agency runs a free fare zone in downtown Salt Lake City, which can make a hop between a restaurant and the square cheaper than you expect. UTA's page does not spell out the zone's boundaries in the text we read, so check the zone map on rideuta.com before relying on it.

For a deeper look at the commute, our FrontRunner station-by-station guide covers the stops between Provo and Salt Lake City.

The two restaurants beside the square

Temple Square's own food and drink page is short. It says visitors can eat at The Garden Restaurant or The Roof Restaurant, both in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and that other restaurants are in the nearby City Creek Center and elsewhere downtown. Both are at 15 East South Temple, which makes them the closest sit-down options to the square itself.

The Garden Restaurant

The Garden is on the main floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Temple Square's listing describes fresh food in a casual setting, with a menu built around soups, salads and sandwiches made daily, and a renovated dining area with indoor and outdoor seating. The restaurant's own site says the space is the former Nauvoo Cafe space, offers either "Grab & Go" or "Stay & Chat," and states "No Reservations Required."

Its hours are the tightest on this page. Both Temple Square and the restaurant's site say Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Saturday and Sunday. That means a Saturday outing to the square cannot rely on The Garden, which surprises people who assume a restaurant attached to a visitor attraction will keep visitor hours. The Temple Square page lists daily soups, including tomato basil, broccoli cheddar and chicken noodle. The restaurant's site shows photos of a turkey avocado sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich, grilled cheese with soup, fruit salad, and cookies and pies. We did not see prices on either page, so we do not give any.

Who it suits: a weekday lunch where you want to eat quickly before an afternoon appointment or tour. A grab-and-go option helps with kids and with groups that have a time limit. The Garden's phone, as listed on its own site, is 801-539-3560, and it was advertising Thanksgiving roll pre-orders on the day we read it.

The Roof Restaurant

The Roof is on the tenth floor of the same building. Temple Square describes it as sitting high above the square and serving reimagined Utah favorites, including house-made flatbreads, steaks, modern funeral potatoes and desserts, with an alcohol-free beverage menu. The Church's November 2025 renovation update says it reopened after a major renovation and now serves a sit-down, a la carte menu instead of the earlier buffet, with reservations through theroofslc.com. If you remember the old buffet, that format is gone.

Hours, per Temple Square and the restaurant's own site, are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Temple Square lists Sunday as closed. This is the option for a Saturday lunch, since it is open when The Garden is not.

One thing we could not reconcile. The restaurant's own page carried a banner reading "Opening November 14th" and a "coming soon" note on a Chef's Table experience, while the Church's update from a year ago says the restaurant had already reopened. The banner may be left over from the reopening. The phone number on the restaurant's page (801-539-3550) also differs from the Temple Square number (801-353-3355). Call before you go, particularly for a group. We also did not find a lunch-specific menu or a dress code on the pages we read, and we do not state either.

Downtown stops a few blocks from the square

The places below are not on Temple Square grounds. Distances here are rough, worked out from Salt Lake City's street-number grid, where a block is roughly a hundred numbers. They are not measured walking routes.

Pretty Bird

Pretty Bird's downtown location is at 146 Regent Street. Its site lists Monday and Tuesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Takeout and delivery are available through its online order page. We did not read a menu, so we do not describe one. Visit Utah's City Creek Center page lists Pretty Bird among the nearby restaurants. By the street grid it sits roughly two blocks south and a little west of the square's southern edge, so a walk of several minutes.

Its Sunday hours make it one of the few confirmed options on this page for a Sunday lunch near the square, with the caution that it closes at 4 p.m. that day.

Eva's Bakery

Eva's Bakery is at 155 South Main Street, on the same street as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and about a block and a half south of South Temple by the street numbers. Its site confirms the address, a phone number of (801) 355-3942, online ordering and a catering section. The "Hours & Location" page it links to did not load for us, and third-party listings disagreed with each other about hours, including whether it opens on Sunday. We therefore give no hours. Check evasbakeryslc.com or call before you plan a meal around it. Visit Utah lists it among the restaurants near City Creek Center.

The Copper Onion

The Copper Onion is at 111 East Broadway, which is 300 South. By the street grid that is about three blocks south of South Temple and one block east of Main, so a longer walk than the others, or one stop on TRAX. Its site says it serves dinner seven nights a week, weekday lunch and weekend brunch, and links to Resy for reservations. The page did not give times, so we do not either. It is also covered in our parent night-out guide, which lists it as open on Sundays as seen on Google in October 2026. That is a secondary source, so confirm on the restaurant's own page.

City Creek Center

City Creek Center sits next to Temple Square. Visit Utah's page describes it as a shopping center with more than 100 stores and restaurants, a retractable roof and a recreated section of City Creek, opened in 2012. The page lists, as dining inside the center: AQUA Terra Steak & Sushi, Bocata, Brio Italian Grille, Cafe Rio, The Cheesecake Factory, Johnny Rocket's, Kneaders Bakery and Taste of Red Iguana, plus a classic food court. It lists these as nearby: Antica Roma, Benihana, Blue Iguana, Eva's Bakery, FreshFinPoke, Honest Eatery, Itto Sushi, Ivy and Varley, Pretty Bird, Siegfried's Delicatessen, White Horse Spirits & Kitchen and Whiskey Street Cocktails & Dining.

We have to be careful with that list. It is a state tourism page and we could not tell its date. The center's own site, shopcitycreekcenter.com, did not return its dining, hours or parking text to us, and the restaurants' own sites for most of these names did not load or were not checked. So treat the City Creek names as leads to confirm, not as verified open listings. Tenants in a mall change. The same Visit Utah page states the center is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and closed Sundays, with some store hours varying, but our search found conflicting statements about Sunday, so confirm that on the center's site before you plan a Sunday there.

Parking at the center is the other open question. Visit Utah says the first two hours are free and then $3 per additional hour, with garage entrances off West Temple, South Temple, 100 South and State Street. Search results about the center gave different rate structures, and we could not load the official parking page. Check shopcitycreekcenter.com for current rates and for restaurant validation before assuming a price.

Costs

We did not find menu prices on any of the pages we could load, and we do not estimate them. What we can say is structural. The Garden lists a soup, salad and sandwich menu in a quick-service format, with a grab-and-go option, and The Roof lists a sit-down a la carte menu. The Copper Onion takes reservations through Resy. For a family of four or a student carpool, the practical step is to open each restaurant's menu page before you leave Provo. The Roof's full menu is linked from its Temple Square page at theroofslc.com/menu. Pretty Bird, Eva's and The Copper Onion each link their menus or ordering from their own sites.

Transit and parking are the other costs. UTA's common-questions page says fares can be bought online, at ticket machines, at pass outlets, or by tapping electronic readers at TRAX and FrontRunner stations, with discounts for low-income riders, youth, seniors and people with disabilities. It also says transfers between regular non-express buses and TRAX are free within a two-hour window. It does not give fare amounts in the text we read, so see rideuta.com for the current fare. If you drive, parking costs depend on the garage you choose, and we only have the unconfirmed City Creek figures above.

Timing

A few patterns follow from the confirmed hours.

• Weekday lunch is the widest choice. The Garden, The Roof, Pretty Bird and, per its site, The Copper Onion all serve a weekday lunch window.
• Saturday leaves The Roof and Pretty Bird as the confirmed sit-down and counter options. The Garden is closed.
• Sunday is thin. The Roof and The Garden are closed. Pretty Bird lists 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and The Copper Onion lists weekend brunch, though we have no times for it. FrontRunner does not run, so the trip is by car.
• The Garden closes at 3 p.m. on weekdays. If your tour or appointment runs long, you may miss it.
• Holidays and events change things. The Garden's site was advertising Thanksgiving roll pre-orders on the day we read it, which is a reminder that the holiday weeks are busy. We have no stated holiday hours for any of these places, so call.

If you are going for the Christmas season, our Christmas in Salt Lake guide covers what the downtown draws look like from Utah Valley. Lunch plans are easiest when made a few days ahead.

What is open around the square right now

The Church's November 2025 renovation update says the Joseph Smith Memorial Building's lobby, mezzanine and The Garden Restaurant are open, and that The Roof reopened. It says work on the Salt Lake Temple is ongoing and points to a public open house beginning in April 2027. It does not list which other parts of Temple Square are closed. Our Salt Lake Temple open house guide tracks the temple side. The takeaway for lunch is that the grounds are in a construction period, so confirm the route to the restaurants rather than assuming a path you used years ago is open.

Who should skip this list

• If you want a long, leisurely dinner, the parent guide's downtown dinner picks are more useful than a lunch list.
• If you are visiting on a Sunday and need a full menu of choices, this page confirms only a few. Our Salt Lake City restaurants open on Sunday page is a better starting point.
• If your group has strict dietary needs, none of the pages we read gave allergen or dietary information, so call the restaurant first.
• If you are using a wheelchair or pushing a stroller, Temple Square's restaurant pages list FAQs about wheelchair access and strollers but gave no answers in the text we read, so we cannot confirm access. Ask the restaurant directly.
• If you are heading to the Family History Library, see our Family History Library visitor guide, which covers that trip on its own terms.

What to check before you go

1. Hours for your day. Open the restaurant's own page the morning you leave. Three of the five sites we visited did not give a full set of hours or did not load.
2. The train schedule. If you ride FrontRunner, check the last southbound train before you commit to a late lunch, because it does not run on Sunday. UTA's schedules are at rideuta.com.
3. Reservations. The Roof lists online booking, The Copper Onion links to Resy, and The Garden says none are required. For a group, phone ahead.
4. Parking. If you drive, confirm the garage and its rate before you enter, particularly at City Creek.
5. Construction. Temple Square is in a renovation period. Check the Temple Square site or app for the current walking routes.
6. Contact numbers. The Temple Square page lists 801-353-3355 and says contact hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain time. The Roof's own site lists a different number, so try both if one goes unanswered.

What we could not confirm

We did not confirm hours for Eva's Bakery or exact lunch times for The Copper Onion. We did not confirm the current dining list, hours or parking rates at City Creek Center from the center's own site, and we did not check the individual sites of most restaurants named in the Visit Utah list. We found no menu prices. We did not verify walking distances on a map. Lamb's Grill and other downtown names that may come to mind are left out because we could not confirm them from an official page today. A list like this ages quickly, so use it to narrow your options and then confirm with the restaurant.

The day-trip side of a visit is covered in our Salt Lake City day trip from Provo, which is a good companion if lunch is one stop among several.

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