A ‘MERRY’ TIME IN COLORADO CITY
By Cami Cox
When people drive through Colorado City and Hildale, they’re usually on their way to somewhere else. You can’t get to Lake Powell, for example, without passing through Colorado City (or taking a really, really long detour). But has Colorado City itself ever been your destination?
You might ask, “What’s in Colorado City?” Well, aside from the obvious answer, you might be surprised to know that some real dining delights exist in that little 3-mile-stretch of a town that is Colorado City/Hildale. If the enticement isn’t enough to make you plan a special trip out there, it should be enough to make you stop next time you drive through.
Just on the Utah/Arizona border separating Colorado City and Hildale – on the Utah side – there’s a little café on the main highway – when you first come into town – that is absolutely delightful. It features cuisine that would be delicious anywhere – the fact that it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere has no bearing once you walk inside the doors.
Once you step into the Merry Wives Café, from the décor you could be in anywhere in the country – the café is pristinely clean, tastefully decorated and has two very modern (and large) flat screen TVs mounted overhead. The local roots aren’t entirely forgotten in the décor, either – a gorgeously detailed mural on the wall depicts the restaurant’s namesakes: the “Merry Wives” (but if you didn’t know where you were, you might think it was a painting of three women in the Italian countryside). Small black-and-white photos on the walls show images of local polygamous ancestors.
The Merry Wives Café’s moniker pays homage to the Shakespeare play “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” but moreover it acknowledges (and pokes a little good-natured fun) at the local polygamist heritage. But once you taste the food, you’ll know there’s something to be said for the homemade self-sufficiency the local folks have perfected.
I dined at the Merry Wives Café during breakfast hours, and was it ever scrumptious! I’ve never in my life been served pancakes that were so good they didn’t need syrup – until I ate breakfast at Merry Wives. I ordered multigrain pancakes as part of my meal, and they were sweet and cinnamony and tasted something like a banana nut muffin. Then the waitress brought me two kinds of syrup (maple and blueberry – I didn’t even ask), and let me tell you, those pancakes with blueberry syrup were to die for. The meal I ordered also came with “fresh fruit,” and my expectations were pretty low – whenever a restaurant promises “fresh fruit,” it invariably turns out to be unripe, less-than-fresh fare slightly resembling wax fruit that’s been on display too long; you can almost taste the formaldehyde or whatever it is restaurants put on fruit and salad to keep it “looking fresh.” Long story short, I usually don’t eat the fresh fruit offered in restaurants. But was I in for a surprise. The waitress brought out a little bowl of freshly cut strawberries and ripe, plump blueberries, and they were fantastic! I ate every one. The sausage was also delicious, with just a little bit of spice, and the bacon was good, too – all this for just over $6.
Merry Wives has some surprising lunch and dinner offerings, too. A chalkboard behind the counter (with menu items carefully scrawled in colored chalk) boasts appetizers like asparagus fries, clam fritters and shrimp skewers (grilled shrimp on a sugar cane skewer – yum). There are gourmet salads, seven different kinds of burgers, eight different sandwiches, and a host of tantalizing dishes, including changing seasonal offerings). Dessert includes milkshakes, pie, brownies alamode, cheesecake and cookies – and also tantalizing special desserts that change regularly.
A shiny plaque on the wall humbly declares the Merry Wives Café was named one of Utah’s best diners in 2010 by Salt Lake Magazine. After sampling the cuisine, I definitely concur.
Lest you think your trip through Colorado City and Hildale is finished once you’ve dined with the Merry Wives, think again – have you been to the local dairy?
The town residents are nothing if not self-sufficient, and fresh local dairy products and other goods can be purchased at Meadowayne Dairy. This staple of the town was mysteriously closed down this past fall (rumors abound as to why, but that’s another topic for another article …), but fortunately, it’s up and running again. If you’ve never tasted raw milk and raw milk cheese, all I can say is don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it! I was ruined on “regular milk” forever the first time I tasted that raw milk from Meadowayne Dairy. And the raw milk cheese is just amazing – it’s something that can’t be described, you just have try it. Also, a little side note for those of you who have tuned me out because you’re lactose intolerant: Raw milk is easier to digest. My husband is lactose intolerant, but he can drink the raw milk from Meadowayne without any side effects at all. It could be magic. It definitely tastes good.
So by all means, don’t pass through Hildale and Colorado City the way you used to – both hands on the steering wheel, counting the seconds until the speed limit goes back up to 65. Do yourself a favor and stop in for some of the most delicious homemade goodies you may ever taste. And just smile at the locals – they’ll smile back.
