Tin Roof Grill

I'll be honest, it took me a while to try this place. Not because I wasn't curious, but because I was angry. You see, my wife and I used to LOVE to go to Little Italy, which was the building's previous occupant. It was our favorite Italian place in Salt Lake. We went to visit it for dinner one night and found that it had turned into Tin Roof Grill, and were so upset we vowed to never give this evil place that stole our Little Italy so much as a single dollar.
Well, time heals all wounds, and eventually curiosity got the better of us, so off we went. We were pleasantly surprised and have been back once or twice. My most recent visit was sans wife. I had been talking with a couple of my favorite guys, both of whom I used to coach, and we decided that we ought to grab a bite sometime. Since this place is so close to my house, it was a nice convenient meeting place.
The inside is very cozy. It has a sports bar feel while still feeling like a restaurant. The TV screens are usually tuned in to the big sporting event of the day, so it's a nice place to kick back for that action. Here's the thing though: This is, like, borderline gourmet-quality food at cheap prices in a chill kind of setting. It's just unique that way. I'll be honest, I was surprised how good the food was. Small plates (tapas) are getting much more popular, and are a specialty at Tin Roof. There are two you HAVE to try. The first one is the flatbread. Not quite as exquisite as Trio's, and sometimes a bit oversalted, the bread is nonetheless very yummy. The star of the three spreads is the White Bean Puree. Sounds boring, but it's not. Creamy goodness would be a better description. The Basil Pesto is strong but great flavor, and the Tapenade is solid but comes in third behind the other two. The other item you must try is the croquettes. These are deep fried balls of goodness. The filling changes by the day, so look up to the chalkboard for the latest. On this day it was sausage, mushroom, and cheese with fantastic spicy marinara and aioli for dipping. Healthy? Hardly. Delicious? Hell yes! If you cannot find culinary enjoyment from a Tin Roof croquette you need to please leave the country, cause we don't want people that weird. Among other menu highlights are the Pulled Pork sandwich (don't expect authentic BBQ flavor, but the pork is plentiful, moist, and sweet due to the spicy asian BBQ sauce, and the bun is very nice), the Chicken Pesto sandwich, and the Patatas Bravas, which accompany the sandwiches or can be ordered from the Tapas menu. Pizzas, pastas, and noodles are also available, but again seem to go more the gourmet route than the sports bar route - this is a good thing! The best thing: Every single thing on the menu is under $10. Can you say the same about Applebee's, whose food is dismal by comparison? Thought not. Oh, one more thing...along with a nice selection of beer, this place has a better wine selection than a lot of much fancier places I've been. That's right: Good food, good wine, unique menu, all in a sports bar-type setting. Who knew?