Every town has a flavor of its own, a patina, a local milieu. A sense of self, and a sense of style.
We’re proud to call Salt Lake City home … and as a fiercely local business, Tailor Cooperative went in search of some of the best places in town for dressing to the nines.
With camera in hand and a few good suits on our backs, we found a thriving appreciation for all things dapper. Here are a few of our favorite haunts, and the looks they inspired:
Like any great city, SLC has a healthy brunch culture and one of the very best places to get a plate of hash is the illustrious Park Cafe.
The Park Cafe has been serving diners from its vaunted Liberty Wells location since 1952 (originally dubbed Kay and Reds). The highly trafficked dining room serves 300 to 400 hungry souls per day, moving fast and offering stellar views of the crown jewel of SLC green space: Liberty Park (more on that below).
Its casual dining atmosphere sees joggers, kite-flyers, impromptu family reunions, and close-huddled friends sharing a few laughs over biscuits and coffee. Its ‘50s heritage is apparent, and it echoes back to a time when even casual clientele wore a two-piece suit whilst bent over a newspaper and buttered toast.
We’d like to think that old Coupe de Ville spirit will never fade.
See our Park Cafe Photoshoot HERE
Visit the Park Cafe HERE
Born in 1881, and the one-time home of Hogle Zoo, Liberty Park is our 80 acre answer to the undeniable need for urban greenspace.
Second only to Sugarhouse Park in size, it’s certainly tops in style. Between Tracy Aviary, a sprawling array of tennis courts, a couple of picture-perfect islands, and even a few rids, Liberty Park has turn-of-the-century charm in skads.
One might feel perfectly comfortable paddling the pond on a summer’s day, bedecked in a tailored linen jacket and a straw boater, if one were so inclined.
And who wouldn’t be?
We’re all drawn to authenticity, whether we realize it or not. There’s something ineluctable about the genuine, the real, the bona fide.
And City Barbers embodies all of the above.
For owner Johnny Cook, this is a conscious and ongoing effort: his barbers are natural storytellers, all of his chairs are legitimate old-school antiques, and even the bricks were imported from Europe. Best of all, none of this is gimmickry. There’s a story behind absolutely everything.
Ask any of his barbers about the shop and you’ll hear a devilish yarn. That cafe racer in the window? Johnny used to park his bike out front whenever he was in the shop. And the buffalo head there on the wall harkens both to Utah’s heritage, and to the storytelling traditions of old English barber shops. Those imported bricks on the wall can also be found in Johnny’s favorite pub in London, which he frequented while training at the nearby barber academy. And one of those antique chairs that line the counter was, hand-to-god, manufactured on exactly the same day that Johnny’s father was born.
It has the original tags to prove it.
This devotion to authenticity shines through in everything, especially the experience of the barbers’ craft … another value to which City Barbers is completely devoted.
Just look to any one of their many happy clients for proof positive.
See our City Barbers Photoshoot HERE
Follow City Barbers on Instagram HERE
Set on the ground level of the vintage Warehouse Condo building near 2nd South and 3rd West, Bar George opened in late 2018, brought to life by the team behind Finca, Pago, and Hub & Spoke.
It’s a beautiful space — one of a handful in Salt Lake City that somehow echoes the mid-century, marble-and-brass attitude more commonly found in the financial districts of much older cities. It would be well at home near Wall Street, or Chicago’s Loop, or nestled opposite the Sazerac Bar in New Orleans, sharing echoes and lost jazz.
Specializing in natural wines, Bar George is a connoisseur’s oasis … with exquisite food pairings aimed deliberately at making the most of each vintage and varietal. The menu features poutine and empanadas, Swick Chenin Blanc and Redentore Raboso. And many other fiendish surprises.
It’s a fine list and a fine space for those with an appetite for Gatsby-level nights on the town.
See our Bar George Photoshoot HERE.
Visit Bar George HERE
Tailor Cooperative opened its doors at 335 Pierpont Avenue in early 2016. We still call that space home … though we’ve expanded over the years.
Our Pierpont community and the block it bisects represent a nicely burgeoning patch of SLC.
Flanked by Pioneer Park, the Rio Grande, and The Gateway, it has a storied past. In Pierpont’s early years, a rail-spur backed to cellars and dock, offloading produce and cured meats to the booming farmers market that once occupied these exposed-brick storefronts.
Now the Downtown Farmers Market is just a block away, at Pioneer Park. And with well-appointed anchors like Caputos, Pallet, Bar George and Chile Tepin, our little block still carries a craftsman, artisanal spirit that is just about as philosophically distant as one can get from a McDonalds.
Culinary heritage aside, we must say it’s the perfect place for a custom suit tailor.
While big tech corporations capture most of the Utah economic headlines these days, small startups are appearing in droves, and they’re flourishing.
Salt Lake City is good to entrepreneurs … and one of the best places to collaborate, sync with a co-founder, and get your business off the ground is at Impact Hub SLC.
Recently relocated, revamped, and re-polished on State Street near 200 South, Impact Hub offers a stellar environment for creative thought and no-holds-barred, bootstrapping work ethic.
In fact, it was in these hallowed halls that Tailor Cooperative first came to life. We can think of no better place to make miracles happen … all the better if you’re wearing a three-piece tailored herringbone suit while you do it.
See our Impact Hub Photoshoot HERE
Visit Impact Hub HERE
Salt Lake City is a great place, and we believe it’s even better when you’re dressed well … no matter what that means to you.
And if you’re not certain what it means to you … a skilled Personal Clothier can help you zero-in on your own, personal style.
Sign up here to enjoy the 5-Part Tailor Cooperative Style Series -- a primer on the history and the nuance of tailored clothing past and present, with our style recommendations throughout.
