The Shooting Star Saloon, since 1879 in Huntsville, Utah is a tourist attraction for its history and famous Star Burger.

Restaurant Review / Editor’s Pick

Approximately 15 miles and 30 minutes away from O-town, through beautiful Ogden Canyon and into the charming historic town of Huntsville there happens to be the longest continuously running saloon—even through Prohibition it is rumored—west of the Mississippi, est. 1879, that happens to have Utah’s Best Burger. Or, so say the locals who devour such things.

The place is Shooting Star Saloon located at 7350 E 200 S Street. And this is our Editor’s Pick for August dining.

It’s a cozy, cash-only joint with a juke box and original bar. Booths line the side leading up to a pool table, bathrooms with must-see “artwork,” and a back patio.

The menu is lavishly simple; burgers and chips. You have a few choices in varying degrees of girth but definitely go for the Star Burger or Star Dog, with Polish Knackwurst, for the all-out experience.

What makes it so good is a mystery, and it’s not a sauce. These burgers are minimalist. I suspect a starry seasoning blend of some sort; or maybe the magic is in the stories, and the family hands, behind the grill.

I am profoundly thankful for the veggie burger. And ATM.

Good beer. No liquor. And it’s 21+.

A surprise “Buck” adorns the wall: it’s not a deer. I’ll save that story for you to read on the newspaper clippings on the wall, or ask the bartender.