The Judge Cafe & Grill

Salt Lake City, United States

3.8

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 385-715-5127
Website:
www.judgecafe.com
Address:
8 E Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT, 84111
Salt Lake City, Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
410 ftGallivan Plaza
0.2 miCourthouse
0.3 mi100 S / 55 E
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Garage, Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (Salt Lake City) 08:24 Sunday, 29 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 7:30 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

For over four decades, The Judge Café & Grill has been a hidden gem in Downtown Salt Lake City. Where quality and affordability meet, The Judge, as locals affectionately call us, is home to fresh, made-​from-​scratch food with a menu so diverse you can eat here every day and never get bored. Our premium hot or iced coffee/​chocolate drinks might be what you need; or maybe you’re craving one of our famous fresh-​baked cookies, triple chocolate brownies or any of our other scrumptious house-​made dessert specials. Come and visit us for breakfast, lunch or grab a bite on the go. Need takeout, delivery, boxed lunches, or catering for any event, we got you covered. Come savor the Judge experience. It’s our pleasure to serve you!

History

Established in 1950.

The Judge (Roman Jvdge) Café and Grill is a bustling neighborhood eatery in Salt Lake’s downtown district. The café features a diverse menu of carefully prepared classics and just enough unexpected twists to keep the meal — and the dining experience — interesting. There are many choices for dining in downtown Salt Lake but if you are looking for authentic, great-​tasting food in an elegant, turn-​of-​the-​20th-​Century environment, this is your place!

The café is a graceful and charming place on the ground floor of the vintage Jvdge Building on Broadway Street. The historic building was built in 1906 by Mary Judge, a business-​savvy widow who commissioned the internationally renowned David C. Dart as chief architect. Mary Judge was married to John Judge, a partner with Thomas Kearns and David Keith in developing the famous Silver King Mine in Park City. Originally known as the Railroad Exchange Building, by 1909 twenty– two railroad companies had their Salt Lake offices here. The buildin

Meet the Manager

Joe E.

Manager

Long time businessman and entrepreneur. Greatest desire is to create lasting memories for customers and build greatness in each business he operates.

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20 reviews of The Judge Cafe & Grill

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Salt Lake City, UT
Great food at good prices. Glad I stumbled across you when I was hungry.
Place rating: 1
Salt Lake City, UT
Well, I used to love this place. Then they started implementing a «no answering the phone» policy of some sort. I’ve tried several times over the last few weeks to call them for a delivery and they’ve literally never picked up or called me back on the message i left.
Pretty much unacceptable. vOv oh well. on to the next joint.
Place rating: 2
Salt Lake City, UT
I had the chicken pasta in the light tomato sauce and I had to add quite a bit of salt to the dish. After the salt was added though I thought it was pretty good and filling. I would say my biggest complaint would have been the service. To put it bluntly it sucked. Super slow, I bet we didn’t get water or even order our food for 10 minutes. It was not busy at all. Our server seemed oblivious to the fact that we were on our lunch break and wanted to hurry. Also, our glasses were never refilled unless we asked and that opportunity only came one time in the hour we spent at our table. The food was good but there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to how you serve your guests.
Place rating: 2
Salt Lake City, UT
This is based on a catering experience I had this week. I ordered breakfast items for a 3 day conference my work was hosting. Since I used to love The Judge (read my original review!) I was thrilled to see that they could work with my measly $ 4/​person per diem. The first day, they were 30 minutes late. I wasn’t concerned because the scones and pumpkin bread they provided were delicious. The catering manager promised they would be on time for the next two days. The second day, they were 30 minutes late again. On the third day, they were 20 minutes late. The cinnamon rolls were served on an old beat up plastic tray (think of the kind you used in elementary school), which was embarrassing.
I was excited to bring The Judge Café into my catering rotation, but I need caterers to arrive on time.
Place rating: 3
Orange, CA
Food… four star.
Atmosphere… 2 star.
Service… 3 star.
This is a fairly large restaurant, and it was completely empty. It had sort of an awkward feel to it and the whole time I was eating it just was a bit weird. Like the workers could hear everything and it was just odd haha. BUT I got an omelette and it was very delicious. It was a decent price for the omelette which came with hash browns and toast if you want it. The omelette was a good size and really filling. I enjoyed the food!
The atmosphere was just really weird. And the bathroom was like down the stairs, down a hallway, and pretty much in the basement of a different building. It was pretty weird not going to lie.
The service was average, nothing amazing but nothing bad either.
I would recommend the food, maybe take it somewhere else? Or maybe I was just there at the wrong time of day…
Place rating: 5
Sandy, UT
Met my friend here on her lunch break because she recommended it. It was my first time here. It has cute diner decorations. Their menu is very diverse and they come out with about 8 weekly specials. So they are always changing it up. My friend ordered enchiladas they looked amazing! I ordered a club sandwich with no cheese. My sandwich Came with no cheese which tells me they pay attention to detail!
Place rating: 5
South Jordan, UT
Always use Judge Café for catering because every person is completely happy with their restaurant. I have never had one complaint after all these years of ordering catering through their company.
Service– what I like about their company is they deliver straight to the business for me set everything up, which includes plates knives utensils napkins, plus uses heaters to keep the food warm. They will come back and clean up everything up and provide to go boxes if needed. They have always been on time never late and works around the business schedule.
Menu– all the times I’ve ordered catering I have either gotten pulled pork sandwiches or the chicken enchiladas.
Recommendations– either the chicken enchiladas or the pulled pork sandwiches. Seems like everybody’s favorite is the chicken enchiladas. It comes with a mexi salad that is delicious with the sauce that comes as a dressing.
Place rating: 4
Salt Lake City, UT
I came here for a business lunch and it was perfect. The food was so good. I had a wrap because I was trying to be healthy even though wraps are not my favorite, but I needed something other than salad. And I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The servers were great, they act like you are a regular and expect to see you back. It has that feel of being the place everyone goes for lunch. Lots of business people and has a small town kind of feel. Loved it!
Place rating: 3
Ann Arbor, MI
Had breakfast. Omelette was ok, nothing to rave about. Not remarkable except for the ambience and the history of the building. Service was pleasant. Convenient for the local office goers I guess.
Place rating: 5
Salt Lake City, UT
I’ve been to Jvdge many times over because I work down the street.
The bad: honestly, I’ve only had one item that I wasn’t impressed with and it was some pork/​ham Panini.
The good: I just had their Baja Jalapeño burger sans jalapenos (cause I’m a wimp) and I seriously wanted to marry my burger — it… was.that.good! Their burger tastes like they grinded it themselves from a good cut of beef and fried to perfection. An easy standby menu item I get if my bf Baja isn’t on the special is their Ranchero Salad. The chipotle ranch is a thing of beauty. Service is pretty great too — Stephanie who usually takes the phone orders and is the cashier most days is sweet and professional.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that they have an actual chef in the kitchen and not just a cook which is why their food is classic, interesting and delicious.
Place rating: 4
Ogden, UT
I ate at Jvdge Café and Grill yesterday for a quick lunch with my husband. I work across the street so I constantly see people coming into the office with their breakfast and lunch to-​go orders and every single time the office ends up smelling tantalizing and delicious. So FINALLY after a year of people telling me to try out this place, we decided to go for it! I had the Sesame Chicken Salad — everything was fresh, the dressing was very light, and it had a nice balance of flavors. My husband had the special chicken wrap with sweet potato fries. Honestly, the sweet potato fries were the best thing that we ordered. No question about it. They were PERFECT! Crispy, tasty, not greasy, mmmm soooo good. Our only complaint about the meal was that we felt like we could have made it at home, everything was so simple. There was no special flavor that I couldn’t replicate. I realize that we did try two basic items though — so when I go back, which I WILL BE BACK, I will update my review if I find anything different.
*Currently* If you check-​in you can get a free sugar cookie which is supposed to be amazing! Everyone at work talks about how perfect they are. We skipped the cookie because our bodies didn’t need the added sugar (just got back from vacation so we’ve been staying away from sugar/​junk/​etc to reboot). But definitely a bonus. Unilocal Check-​In Bonuses are always nice!
And the final note. Catering. We’ve had them cater for us at work a few times and I’ve never been disappointed. I don’t order the food — just partake in it! My work generally goes with sandwich platters from various nearby businesses and Judge’s are amazing! The sandwiches are always fresh and not soggy (don’t you hate when the sandwiches get soggy!?). Plus they are flavorful! Geez… now I want to head to Judge’s for lunch again…
Place rating: 4
Sandy, UT
Nice service, I got the chicken wrap and was perfectly wrapped tight. And there cookies are very freshly baked and delicous.
Place rating: 5
Salt Lake City, UT
I’ve heard so much about this place, so I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed at all! I got the salmon BLT with fries and it was so good. Their fry sauce is different, very tangy. I got a free chocolate chip cookie for checking in, and it was delicious! I don’t know what it is, but there’s kind of a unique taste in their cookies. I’ll definitely be coming back to try other things.
Place rating: 5
Salt Lake City, UT
Excellent café and grill, perfect combination of a café, and authentic food. Try the enchiladas, ranchero, or any of the weekly specials. This last week was salmon tacos, along with 6 other dishes. Mmm gotta say absolutely fantastic, fairly fast as well for lunch. So if you’re working and would like something quick, also won’t make you too late for your shift, eat at the judge. :) a lot of the dessert, and pastries, are baked in the morning and a lot of the recipes are homemade or made in house. Extremely authentic, and very delicious. Give it a try im sure you’ll enjoy :)
Place rating: 4
Salt Lake City, UT
Stopped in for breakfast before work. Their breakfast menu is small, but everything sounded so good I still had a hard time deciding! I went for a frittata and my friend had the Denver omelet. It’s recently under new ownership, and they have plans to eventually open for dinner and on the weekends. It’s currently only open for breakfast and lunch on week days. So if you live or work downtown, be sure to stop by and try this place out!
Place rating: 4
Salt Lake City, UT
I enjoyed my trip to this place. I haven’t been for a long time and now I want to go more often. I had the cobb salad and it was great. The service was quick and friendly. I will be back again soon.
Place rating: 3
Salt Lake City, UT
This was my first time there, ordered a cheeseburger, and it was pretty good. The fry sauce was a little too spicy, but over all good burger. Price is ok for a burger!
Place rating: 4
Barrington, RI
Great sandwiches and a superb welcome from the staff. Tried this place upon entering town on a recommendation from a local and was not disappointed. Ordered the pulled pork which was tasty. I recommend this place for a quick lunch, dine in or take out.
Place rating: 5
Tulare, CA
Checked this out for a quick lunch before continuing on our Roadtrip. Nice place, plenty of indoor/​outdoor seating, nice quiet atmosphere.
I had Corn Potato Soup with pasta salad and my friend had the Chicken Wing Burger. The soup was very good and the pasta was great. I tried my friends burger and it was delicious! Our server Chris was very friendly and helpful! Thank you for a great meal!
Place rating: 3
Santa Monica, CA
Don’t be fooled by this Unilocal listing. This place does not spell it’s name correctly. The sign says JVDGE. I’ll let you… do that word… and decide who is wrong. Unilocal?Or the sign? You be the… that word.
Breakfast was decent here, though now that I think about it I may have had lunch. The waitress spilled a drink all over the table, so that was a slight bummer. No biggie, though. She was nice.
The bathrooms here are very strange. You have to walk past a mini-​gym in the basement of the building to get there. Like there’s a treadmill, a lat pull down machine… it’s weird.
Or, maybe that’s normal in Utah. I don’t know. I don’t want to… that word… anybody.