Bayleaf Bar and Grub

The main reason that I’m giving Bayleaf three stars is because of its crazy awesome weekend hours. I love that I can stop by here with coworkers after work on a Friday for a bite to eat and also get some booze, or come by to eat something after a night of drinking downtown.
However, nothing I’ve ever ordered here has been better than mediocre. And, in consideration of the quality of food you’re getting, it isn’t cheap. And the service is definitely hit or miss (though they DID bring me free ice cream one time, of their own volition, when my food wasn’t ready with the rest of my table’s).
I’d never come here during regular business hours, as there are so many better places to go downtown. But because of the fun and friendly atmosphere late at night on the weekends, it is a fun place to occasionally hit up.

Best thing to happen to downtown in many years. Makes you feel like you are in a real city.
Feb-6−2013 = UPDATE: This place is now closed. :(

So so unimpressed.
Went to the Bayleaf for the second time last night, and must say, I will not be going back.
The first time I ordered the BBQ shrimp and grits. Five medium sized shrimps over a pile of (essentially) cornmeal for $ 12? Uhm… no. It’s one of the most expensive items on the menu and that’s what you get?
So this time we started off with the fried pickles, cuz I love me some fried pickles. They were fine (hard to mess up). Everyone at my table raved about the dipping sauce, but I thought it was gross (it was basically spicy mayo). The couple we were with started with fried mac and cheese and that was delicious.
For an entrée I ordered the blackened catfish po boy with a side of fries and the husband got the fried catfish. Others at the table ordered the BBQ shrimp and grits, and the house soup (she was sick).
This review is based the two po boys. Disgusting. Ugh. I like fish. A lot. I like raw fish and cooked fish and fried fish and boiled fish. I eat anchovies and caviar and lobster and CATFISH. And this was just nasty. The fish tasted like a fish market smells. It was just pure fishy smell-​taste. I tried my husbands to see if his was any better, and it was the same. I will say he enjoyed it. But I don’t know why. It was gross.
My overall impression of this place is that it might be great if you’re leaving the bars at closing time, and that’s about it. The food was definitely sub par, the service was average, the décor was uninspired. After just getting back from St. Louis and having REAL southern food, I just don’t think I can dine at this place ever again.

I had heard about the Bayleaf as being a good place for southern food and that they were open 24 hours.
I went in and sat down and was caught off guard initially by the fact that they had served my water in a mason jar… ok, so I’m getting the feeling of the real deep south. The waitress was nice and when I asked she said the owner was from Alabama, so it was all starting to make since.
I ordered fried chicken and hoppin’ johns. I got what I expected with the hoppin’ johns since I knew it would Alabama style instead of South Carolina style like where I’m from. SC style uses small red field peas instead of black eyed peas which is what I got. They were crunch… hm not typical. The fried chicken was also gritty in the batter. Bot indicated to me that the ingredients used were old and needed to be thrown out. The experience wasn’t too great, but it wasn’t that awful either.
Maybe I just caught them on a bad day. I’d suggest going and eating there and seeing if you like it.

at 3 in the morning anything tastes perfect.
Bayleaf is one of those joints you go to after a hard night of partying on main st.
They have a huge variety of food, especially breakfast items, which are perfect for that time and state. :D
it’s creative, fun, and filling.
Def. a must go. Especially fi you wanna people watch at that time. No Joke.

We drove into the city late and this is the only place with kitchen that opens 24 hours a day. We were hungry enough to eat a whole elephant so we ordered their dinner dishes.
Atmosphere is really relaxing and great for groups and service is super friendly. We even asked our server for things to do around town and she was extremely helpful.
The food was so-​so since the menu had dishes from American to Asian. It was interesting but the taste could be better. I ordered the harley with a side of collard greens and the hoagie was great but the collard green was super sour. My friend ordered the bulgogi and it was not that good but it was suggested as one of the local’s favorite.
I believe this would be a great place to grab a drink and if you must eat late dinner stick with American dishes.

STAY AWAY!!! After our visit because we got food poisoning, we looked up Bayleaf’s status on the health commission website and the place had 52 health violations! It’s a surprise that this place is even still open! I don’t know what these other people are thinking but it was gross!
The very little of the food was mediocre, but most of the food was not good at all, especially the mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and the gravy! The french fries were TOO hard as if they re-​fried them from another day and the batter on the chicken and fish was so hard, you need to peel it off just to eat the meat. The chicken was dry whether you had the chicken and waffles or the chicken fried chicken breast. Once you take the crispy fried layer off, the chicken and fish were very bland! THIS IS NOT WORTH YOUR TIME!!! do not go here!
After our meal, the next day our family all got sick with food poisoning! to our suprise, a friend of one of the family members also went to Bay Leaf the same day and was also sick the next day. obviously it is not a coincidence when all 17 of us had gotten sick plus another person that went the same day.
We all had different things to eat but shared some of the food; from the chicken and waffles to the korean platter. You can imagine how many different things we ordered and still came out with the same food poisoning result! BEWARE of this place! unless you want to get food poisoning… DO NOT GO HERE! It was not worth the money to have mediocre food and a stomach punching 2 days of sickness (that’s so far, who knows how long it may really last)

Oh man, oh man. I must admit, the number one thing I love about this place is that they give you your drink in a huuuuge mason jar. Which is awesome because I definitely didn’t have to ask for a refill. The food was amazing. I ordered the meatloaf. They bake it… wrap it in BACON. and then pan sear it. AWESOME. I’ll definitely be back if I’m ever in SLC again.

Good food will forgive a multitude of sins… mediocre food will forgive nothing.
We ordered the chicken and waffles because I love me some chicken and waffles. We also requested the fried mac and cheese. We were told they were out of mac and cheese and they did not have Guinness. We settled on 2 plates of chicken and waffles 1 white 1 dark. How in the name of all that is holy in this foodtastic fat man’s world does the white meat come out juicier than the dark meat? The dark meat was dry and a bit on the tough side, the waffles were way to fluffy to be paired with the chicken. Although the chicken breading had good flavor it was not good chicken. The waffles would be better as breakfast the flavor was waaaay off to be serving with chicken. I know several big boned women that would «smack the white off your teeth» if you tried to pass this off to them.
The service is another story, slow doesn’t even begin to cover it, I actually had 2 birthday’s while waiting for our server. It did look like there were only 2 servers in the whole place and we did see a couple of people leave because they were standing there for about 10 minutes without being seated or even being approached. When our server brought our check she had to look through 5 other books before she found ours, (it was still in her pile). We didn’t even look at it we just gave her the card so we wouldn’t be there for another hour while she disappeared. We left a 18% tip and I felt that was overly generous. If I could do it and sleep at night I would have left $ 1.
The upside to this place is they are open 24 hours on the weekend so if you go get shitty drunk at Murphy’s you can stumble across the street barely avoiding the Traxx train and go here for some breakfast. That is my advice only go if you are drunk enough not to care what it tastes like and you can blame the poor service on you being an obnoxious drunk.

I ordered the blackened catfish which was a huge mistake for three reasons:
The first reason is that all they use for spicing is burnt salt, they informed me when I sent it back that that is how they make their blackened items. They refused to make me another entrée and just threw the catfish away.
The second ordeal; The manager at the time of this incident was rude, arrogant and hostile as he refused to credit me in any way or, offer even an apology for the 12.99 lunch mistake. (The side orders of Greens and Vegetables were good.)
And Finally, I got the stare down as I left the place never to return again.
My advise; there are many, many eating establishments on this block, choose any other venue or walk a mile ot avoid this overpriced, rip-​off.

I had been going to this place regularly since the week it opened. I met the owners a couple of times, and they are definitely nice people. I have had some outrageously good meals here, at all hours of the day. I have recently been back a few times, after a break of about 6 months. It seems that Bayleaf is slipping a little, which is a shame.
The place is extremely popular as one of the very few late-​night restaurants in the downtown SLC area. Try to get a seat after last call on some Friday or Saturday nights, and you can be in for a long wait. When Bayleaf first opened, the food was top notch. It looks like, in response to the volume of customers, they have simplified their menu and cut back on the quality.
Example: hash browns. I seem to recall that the hash browns were made in-​house when Bayleaf first opened, and they were excellent. Nicely sliced potatoes fried on a griddle. On my most recent visits, the hash browns looked identical to the potato shreds that you can get in the frozen food section at Costco. Another example: Succotash. I went with a friend a few months ago, who said this was her favorite side dish. When she ordered it, the waitress said it was no longer on the menu. I can only think that it was too costly in terms of time and ingredients to prepare, when the main focus seems to be churning through customers. It seems that a few other items were removed from the menu, and others were simplified.
And finally, I typically sit at the bar when I’m there by myself, which provides a front-​row view of the workings of the kitchen. I have noticed on my last visits that the kitchen is looking much less organized, and sometimes completely messy.
I’m still going to go there with the crowds on the weekends after the bars close, but I hope the owners can bring back more of a focus on what made Bayleaf more than just a late-​night diner in the first place.

I’m going to forego my usual wordiness, because most of Bayleaf can be summed up in a few words:
Creative southern recipes (the sides are awesome… make a meal of them) +
Crazy bad for your breakfast treats +
Some asian influences +
Strange drinks (grape mind erasers, anyone) +
Decent patio in good weather +
Giant crane games.
The menu’s changed a little recently, but it’s still a great place for late night food, Sunday brunch, or soul food sides.

Hey Owners? did you fire that pissy boy tatooed drama queen waiter?
The one the that the cook staff wanted to punch?
jebus. came in for breakfast and the guy claimed he had been working 12 hours and was just one miserable human being. that sure made for a fun meal

I like eating breakfast/​lunch at Bayleaf. It’s a special treat (in UTAH) to be able to order alcohol with my breakfast food. My favorite order is the chicken and waffles but I’ve also tried the chicken fried steak, eggs benedict and «big bubba» (biscuits and gravy + eggs + fried chicken breast, stacked like a sandwich). The waffles are not fluffy belgian waffles (check out Bruges for that!) but a thinner (but still fresh and tasty waffle) that pairs quite well with their awesome fried chicken (I like dark meat). The atmosphere is very laid back and less stressful than a typical breakfast place like Ruth’s or Eggs in the City. The service is a little slow, but it hasn’t stopped me from going back multiple times.

We stopped in at the Bayleaf a few weeks ago after a late show at Urban Lounge. It was near 2am and the placed was PACKED which totally surprised me. But as my friend Ben explained, it is one of the few places to get some decent food late at night. Since I’ve never been a Village Inn or Denny’s kind of guy, late night grub has always troubled me. In some ways I’d rather starve then lower myself to eat at Village Inn late at night — the food is just not good. So finding myself at 2am at a place like the Bayleaf was a relief…
Despite the crowds at the front I think we waited no more than 20 minutes for a table and after looking over their extensive menu I ordered my typical breakfast of two eggs over easy, hashbrowns, bacon, wheat toast and orange juice. Our food was served up a short while later, hot, and ready for our hungry stomachs. I’m pleased to say the food was good and it really hit the spot.
The Bayleaf seems like a great little café and has a lot of personality. I hope to come back here again because I really liked it.

Gave them a whole extra star because of their hours of operation. I love that I can find good, greasy food after a long night of bar hopping. The catch is that the wait is insane at that hour on a weekend (even for take out), partly because it’s the only place open and partly because the service sucks. Don’t get me wrong — The workers are really nice and personable, however they are SLOW. I was there just the other night at 1:30am and was told it would be over an hour wait. When I made my way into the restaurant to use the bathroom in the back, there were at least 3 tables open and the entire back part of the bar was empty. Ergo my party of 4 decided to take it upon ourselves to seat ourselves at the bar.
The main reason I keep going back is because of the Big Bubba. Biscuts, fried chicken, egg, gravy, and cheese = heartattack heaven. I can never finish one by myself so I’d recommend sharing this dish. I’ve also been meaning to try the fried pickles and fried twinkies, however I can never manage to stray from the Big Bubba and am always too full after devouring the gravy-​covered goodness. One day I aspire to try other things on the menu… one day.

Hungover Kate C. visited Bayleaf one Sunday in the afternoon. From her perspective, the food was very satisfying! At least in that greasy, overly-​filling sort of way that any hangover needs. I must admit, a second visit is in order. My hungover opinion can’t always be trusted.
I thought the atmosphere was fun enough. Relaxed. Lazy. (Sunday afternoon, remember.) We sat at the bar and ordered never-​ending coffee. They came in cute little kitschy mugs with roosters on them. I appreciated that. For food, I chose the Second Coming, despite my first instinct to order the Chicken and Waffles (which my friend ended up ordering.) The Second Coming was pretty delicious, I must say! I’m not sure I could eat it on a regular basis, given the huge portions and gravy blanket. However, I sure do like it for an occasional breakfast gorge-​fest. The Chicken and Waffles were also pretty good.
500 bonus points for being open ²⁴⁄₇ on the weekends. In that way, you’re a gem Bayleaf! I just decided that two more visits are in order. One for when I’m needing a fourth meal on a Friday night (Drunk Kate C.) and one when my body is completely void of any alcohol, a la «Sober Kate C.» I will report back to you with my findings from said perspectives.

Either I was being very nice about Bayleaf when I first wrote this review, or things have really gone down hill in a year. I hadn’t had a good reason to be out late downtown Main Street in a while and last night after hanging with some friends at a bar across the street we stopped in so they could have some Chicken and Waffles.
We arrived just before 11 pm and were able to get a seat rather quickly. That was about it for anything quick at Bayleaf. Way in the back of the restaurant there was a very large crowd cheering some guy who was trying to kill himself eating the kitchen sink. All eyes, ears and servers were overwhelmed by the show. The kitchen staff who, when we arrived were trying to keep their eyes open, were quickly overrun with orders. Trying to feed the guy in the back became the goal of the entire place. So, it seemed we waited an hour for our paltry peach cobbler…
Let me pause here for a second and tell you that a year ago when we came here, the cobbler was served in a rather large wide dish so there was ample and equally tasty dough crust, peaches, sauce and flavor. Last night’s version was served in a tall round mug. The peaches were canned by Del Monte in 2009 and served to us in 2012. They were as good a canned peaches can be in a cobbler. Thank heaven this little dessert was only 4.50 because it wasn’t worth much more.
…and our friends’ waffle and D-​cup sized pieces of fried chicken. The waffle was uninspiring, but the chicken was crispy on the outside, tender and hot on the inside and full of flavor. Good fried chicken isn’t easy to make, and they do a pretty good job here.
In my last review, I said it was nice there was somewhere other than Dee’s to go to for late-​night dining, but really, I would have been happy at Dee’s. The service might have been faster and more attentive.
So, you ask, why the two stars? That’s because after watching the plethora of service staff walk past us for the hundredth time without ever stopping to refill our water, I finally yelled at one of them to get our check. Her response was, «What was your server’s name?» Uh, it was «Honey, where’s the check?!?»

Great little find. Service was excellent. Food is really good. The fried mac and cheese took me back to my days when I worked in Atllanta. Fried pickles were yummy. I had the chicken and waffles. Chicken could have used a bit more seasoning but was cooked well.
My friend had the meatloaf and succotash and loved it. Will have to go back!

I would give this place 5 big and busty stars for the MEATLOAF alone cause it just rocks my tastebuds. But I will be thorough of course.
I’ve been going to this funky little café for a good while now and it’s become a favorite. Here’s the breakdown for you foodie freaks:
The Goodness:
+24 hours of deliciousness on weekends. Gotta get some grub after the club? Skip the stale limp flavored fare of Denny’s, Dee’s, and VI, and treat your tongue to some soulfood here.
+Cool as sh*t tables — this is a wonderful upgrade from when I first started coming here. This makes just getting seated ultra fun as your host leads to a colorful table decoupaged with cool printed paraphernalia (see photos!). Bring a date to geekily reminisce about your childhood. Popular spots are the DnD table and Voltron table!
+Exotic Soul Food. Other than the 5-​star meatloaf (I HEART YOU!) the menu has a familiar and intriguing mix of Asian and American foods that are just plain yummy.
+Cool Staff. I like how real and friendly the peeps who work here are — they greet me when I come in, and say goodbye when I leave. Makes it feel homey here :)
+Easy on the wallet. The price is just right for the quality and experience!
The Funkyness:
–Late night rowdiness: 24hrs of food and frolic can get a little hairy when the clubs let loose their drunk and loud patrons and they stop here. Better to enjoy this place long before or after 2am otherwise you may get noisily slammed with an ambiance that is trying to recreate the dance club.
–Um Restroom? Like Joshua said getting to the restroom WAY in the back is a little weird. It’s kind of dark and scary back there and you may end up in an Employee room before getting to your actual destination.
–It’s a semi-​dive, but hey that also kind of adds to the allure and makes it feel even more authentic and down homey :)
–Parking? Since it’s on Main Street you may be swooping around the block a while to find a place to tie up your horse. But walking downtown can be a nice experience :)
Overall this place is more cool, fun, and tasty than it is weird. So check it out with a friend or a gang!

Bayleaf has changed. They added the words «Bar and Grub» to the name and it’s very fitting.
Last time we ate at «Bayleaf Café,» the food was the star of the show. This time, the «Bar» was the main attraction and the gourmet comfort food was relegated to the role of «grub.» Sort of an afterthought.
It’s clear that Bayleaf has, sadly, become a bar with food, rather than a restaurant with drinks. As a bar, it’s pretty cool, but we went for dinner, so this review is about the food.
We ordered: Fried pickles, which were great! again. Fried mac and cheese had good, tasty, breading. Fried to perfection, but the mac and cheese inside was bland, not cheesy, borderline flavorless. Rice bowls — Jamaican jerk chicken was super dry and lacked heat. The bulgogi was really good, the best dish we had, by far. Skewers were meh. Meat was really dry. Blackened catfish had to be sent back, since it was served way undercooked, raw in the middle. It had a mushy texture, rather than flaky. Fried twinkie tasted «fishy» like they fried all the foods (fish, pickles, mac and cheese, etc.) in the same fryer. Ick! Peach cobbler was mushy. Good flavor, but no texture and no crunch.
I hope the «Bar and Grub» aspect thrives and survives, because Baylef Café is dead.

06.18.10 midnight, first visit
ambience: B+
seeing as it’s an old location that has been refurbished, bayleaf café has done a pretty good job of updating this locale… until you walk past the kitchen bar area and look into the back hallway. i’m supposing the restrooms are back there, however, don’t be surprised if you accidentally walk into a break room, or manager’s office. maybe it’s just me, but it looked weird back there. there was live music the night i went (friday).
service: A–
very friendly. i ordered a lot of food thinking the appetizers were going to be small. the server commented, «wow, you must be really hungry!» my bad for not picking up on her tip (it was midnight after a long shift), but it would have been nice if she could have directed me a bit more by saying, «that may be a bit too much food for one.»
food: B
great for light night eats. just not mind-​blowing.
fried pickles with sriracha aioli
i’d never eaten fried pickles until that evening. a pleasant surprise to have a nice pickly bite after the initial kentucky fried flavor wore off.
filipino veg spring rolls with sweet and sour chili sauce (mild)
the highlight of the evening. however, not the best spring rolls in slc by far. it’s great to be able to get some asian food late at night.
short stack of pancakes, sausage, eggs and toast
i’m not a huge fan of pancakes, but, for some reason, i’m on a mission to find pancakes that i DO like (the original pancake house and IHOP). the pancakes were kind of disappointing. not much flavor, and a bit on the dry side. nothing special. eggs were done perfectly, and the toast was decent. the sausage, however, was slightly burned on one side, and not even browned on the other. so the chef placed the burned side down, thinking i wouldn’t notice. disappointing, but i was too tired to care. tasted ok.
overall: B+
service and ambience were this restaurants strong points on the particular evening i dined there (i’m anal about ambience, don’t worry about the back hallway). and even thought the pancakes were a disappointment, the late night eats aspect of bayleaf café overshadows its lack of flavor refinement.