St George-What do you do on 'date night'? (St. George, Sunset: trip , work)

[alicenavada]

Just wondered what couples do for 'date night' in St. George. I hear alot about proximity to Vegas but surely you guys don't go to Vegas for every night out. So what is there to do for fun at night in St. George? I know there are movie theaters but what about good restaurants? Are there any places that offer live entertainment in the area?

[NearlyNative]

I'll start with the theaters. There are several movie theaters, most are fairly new (or renovated) with surround sound and stadium style seats. One of the older ones has been purchased by the local St. George Musical Theater and is being renovated to be their performance venue. Another theater was purchased by an indy movie group and they show only indy films.

For live theater, Tuachan has a great outdoor theater next to Snow Canyon that does very high quality shows, Seven Brides and the like. Tuachan also is a performing arts HS, no sports. As I mentioned above, the SGMT does live shows also. The Dixie Center is a city/county owned facility that hosts concerts and events and festivals like the Jubilee of Trees around Christmas time, the 'What Women Want' show and home improvement fairs, etc.

The restaurant selection includes most of the large chains; Chilis, Applebys, Outback, Olive Garden, blah, blah, blah. There are quite a few very good local spots that we like. My favorite is the Gun Barrel. Great steaks and western type food; buffalo, chicken, elk. The Gun Barrel is from Jackson Hole WY, with the St. George location being their second restaurant. In the same area (Sunset and Bluff) as the Gun Barrel is Marv's Drive-In. Marv had a hamburger drive-in in Enterprise, about 40 miles north of St. George, then moved to St. George a while ago, although not exactly sure how long. The Pizza Factory (Ancestor Square) has the best pizza, Cafe Rio (St. George Blvd and 450 east) has good Mexican food. Paulas (400 North and Bluff) also has good Mexican food. If you don't mind a little drive, 50 miles or so, Milt's Stage Stop and Rusty's are up Cedar Canyon and both are great steak/seafood places, both owned by the same family I think. We save those for the summer when the weather is much cooler up the canyon. The road up the canyon closes right after Milt's during the winter months. Springdale is east of St. George by Zion Natl Park and there is a few good places there also. A friend of ours sells wholesale food to restaurants and took us to a place in Springdale but I can't remember the name. A new BBQ place (can't remember that name either) just opened up in the old Tony Roma building (South Bluff and Main) and we went there 2 weeks ago. That was pretty good also. Samuri 21 is a sushi place that does a good Benny Hana type show with the cook in the middle cooking the food. Benji's Thia and Sushi, also in Ancestor Square and same owner as Samuri 21, does Thia food there. I'm not a fan of Thia or sushi, but my wife likes them both and enjoys them with her friends when I'm at work. There is a French restaurant on Main Street between SG Blvd and Tabernacle, but I haven't been there. It's called Siorre or something like that.

For ice cream, Frostop (750 East SG Blvd) is a local drive-in with car hops that bring your food to your car if you don't want to go inside. The Larsen family sold it to a new guy after 30 years and I don't think it's the same, but good ice cream and shakes. Blue Bunny Ice Cream (Main and Tab) has a mfg. plant in St. George. They had a ice cream restaurant for a couple of years, but they sold to a group of investors that promised to carry the same theme. I was never a fan of the place. Seemed to always be kind of dirty and the service was slow and they bring you a water glass the size of a thimble, so the kids were constantly refilling your glass. Didn't make sense to me why they didn't just bring a 20 oz glass to begin with. I liked the ice cream but the rest was a turn-off. Charlies, on the west end St.George Blvd, has good ice cream, but his real deal is his catering. He did my sons wedding and the food was outstanding.

There are other chains and more local places, but these are a few of the places we go to and I know a little about. You won't be lacking for food or entertainment in St. George.

[dogmom]

We like to go to Mesquite to Los Lupes for excellent mexican food. We have found the mexican food sorely lacking here, and the margaritas there are excellent! We like Cafe Rio, but I wouldn't call it authentic, but it's excellent for the type of food it is..its fast food style. Marv's has good, good onion rings, don't care for their burgers, now In n out is here in town the rest of the burger joints can just forget my business

We tend to spend time at friends bbq'ing and pot luck type meals...oh for good bbq go to Famous Dave's, very good! And don't forget Iggy's sports bar.

Now there are several private clubs you can go to for a drink, a real drink, there is one at the Hilton that I know of...like I said we do our entertaining at home mostly..

That's about it for the nightlife restaurant end of it. Tuacahn theatre is awesome, and Saturday nights out at Kayenta art village they have music to dance to, it's free.

Have fun..

[dogmom]

Oh, we do go to Vegas quite frequently...it's where we can do real shopping like at Macy's, etc...shopping, in my opinion, is still extremely limited here. I do a lot of online shopping still...we call our trips to Vegas 'field trips' lol

[alicenavada]

Thanks for the input. I get the impression that for bands, my husband and I will have to make a trip to Vegas-a bit further than Nashville-where we're used to going to see live music or a theater show...but Vegas has some of the best theater shows in the world so I'mnot complaining.

Hey, where in Vegas to theater company's perform...like national tours of Les Mis or CATS?

[Roarkx]

Is dog mom a Mormon? She sounds like fun? What kind of dog?

[dogmom]

Dogmom is not mormon...dogmom is mom to 3 dogs...2 adult sons in CA and a hubby here lol...

[inventme]

One of the best ideas I have come across for date nights is to go through the alphabet. Each night gets a new letter, but all the activities (i.e. restaurants, movies, bowling, etc) have to start with that letter. It makes you think and prepare a bit beforehand, but it will be well worth the diverse fun you'll end up having.

[dogmom]

Originally Posted by inventme

One of the best ideas I have come across for date nights is to go through the alphabet. Each night gets a new letter, but all the activities (i.e. restaurants, movies, bowling, etc) have to start with that letter. It makes you think and prepare a bit beforehand, but it will be well worth the diverse fun you'll end up having.

Now THAT is a great idea...