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SALT LAKE CITY — Look, we all have to eat to survive. And while some of us do it simply to sustain our life, others take great joy in finding new places to eat — almost as if a flavorful hobby (sign me up!).
I love food and trying new places to eat. During the last year, I — like everyone else — have been cooped up more at home, so when I've gotten the chance for takeout, it's been even more joyful since I can't hit up my favorite restaurants on the daily like I used to when I worked in downtown Salt Lake City.
Many restaurants have unfortunately been forced to shutter over the last year due to the pandemic, while others have found a way to survive and even thrive as they adopted new standards and new ways to get people food.
Any local business saved is great news. So as a way to highlight some of the great businesses in the state and to also discover new places for great food, I've decided to focus this year's Bracket Challenge on local takeout food places that do it best along the Wasatch Front. But I need your help choosing the best 64 places to enter into this year's challenge.
A week ago I reached out on Twitter to get some suggestions and got more than 100 local restaurant that people know and love; the survey below lists these suggestions. I know there's so many more places that serve great food, so there's still time to submit your favorites.
Below, click on all the restaurants you'd love to see advance to the Round of 64. The top 60 vote getters will be entered into the bracket in an S-Curve approach, similar to how the NCAA Tournament is seeded. The restaurant with the most overall votes will be seeded No. 1 and so on until the bracket is filled. The final four picks will be reserved for the restaurants that received the most votes in the "other" category — so write in your favorite restaurant to see them added. You won't get to vote on these, so write it in if you don't see your favorite there.
Feel free to write it in the comments section below for an extra vote (I won't tell if you don't).
As for the definition of takeout food, that's really up to you. It's probably not the place where you sit down and eat, but if they offer delivery or takeout options, nobody will fault you for voting it to move forward. Maybe your favorite restaurants have a great website that is easy to order from, or the delivery is always first class. Really, it's for you to decide — I won't be the judge.
Go vote for as many places as you'd like to see advance. It could be 10 restaurants, 50, or 100 — let your heart (and stomach) decide. Just vote!
If you can't see the survey below, click here. To view the results, click here.
