Formerly: Ruth's Hamburgers
Salt Lake City, Utah · Founded 1930
A Salt Lake City diner whose history runs from a downtown hamburger counter to a trolley-car restaurant in Emigration Canyon.
Ruth's Diner traces its identity to Ruth's Hamburgers at 120 E. 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City, which the diner's own history dates to 1930. In 1946, Ruth Evans acquired a Utah Light and Traction trolley car after the Meredith Building was slated for demolition, first reopening at 1511 W. North Temple. She had the trolley hauled to Emigration Canyon in spring 1949, creating the basis of the restaurant that operates there today.
Ruth's Diner's official history dates Ruth's Hamburgers to this year at 120 E. 200 South in the Meredith Building; Ruth Evans's obituary gives a conflicting account in which she began working at Hap's Hamburgers there in the mid-1930s before renaming and operating it.
Source: Ruth's Diner, "Diner History"; Deseret News, "Diner's founder, Ruth Evans, dies; services set," November 14, 1989
After the Meredith Building was sold and scheduled for demolition, Ruth Evans bought a Utah Light and Traction trolley car and moved the business to 1511 W. North Temple.
Source: Deseret News, "Ruth's Diner is Salt Lake landmark," December 30, 2005
In spring 1949, Evans bought a vacant lot in Emigration Canyon and had the trolley car hauled there on a flatbed truck.
Source: Deseret News, "Ruth's Diner is Salt Lake landmark," December 30, 2005
Ruth's Diner's official history says Ruth Evans sold the diner to Curtis Oberhansly, who owned it through 2001.
Source: Ruth's Diner, "Diner History"
Ruth McAuley Evans died at age 94.
Source: Deseret News, "Diner's founder, Ruth Evans, dies; services set," November 14, 1989
Erik and Tracy Nelson bought Ruth's Diner, according to a 2026 Salt Lake Tribune report.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, "Tracy Nelson, co-owner of Utah landmark Ruth's Diner, dies at 67," March 15, 2026
Salt Lake Tribune reporting described Ruth's Diner as a Utah landmark and reported the death of co-owner Tracy Nelson; the current legal ownership structure after her death requires confirmation.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, "Tracy Nelson, co-owner of Utah landmark Ruth's Diner, dies at 67," March 15, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Ruth's Diner's official history calls it Utah's second-oldest restaurant, but that is not independent proof of the ranking or of uninterrupted operation across every move and ownership transition. Utah's oldest-restaurant discussion is complicated by questions of what counts as a restaurant, early business identity, relocation, renovation closures, and surviving continuity records.
The Deseret News reported that Ruth Evans bought an old Utah Light and Traction trolley car in 1946, adapted it for the diner, and had it moved to Emigration Canyon in 1949. The exact streetcar fleet number, construction details, and surviving original fabric were not established in this review.
Ruth's Diner's official history says Evans performed as a cabaret singer in Salt Lake City bars from about 1912 to 1916. This is a business-history account and was not independently corroborated in the sources reviewed.
A 2026 Salt Lake Tribune report says the Nelsons bought the diner in 2006. Tracy Nelson died in March 2026, so the current legal ownership and operating entity should be confirmed before naming the present owner in future updates.
Ruth's Diner moved directly from downtown Salt Lake City to Emigration Canyon in 1949.
After the downtown Meredith Building faced demolition, Ruth Evans bought a trolley car and reopened at 1511 W. North Temple in 1946. She moved the trolley-car diner to Emigration Canyon in spring 1949.
Source: Deseret News, "Ruth's Diner is Salt Lake landmark," December 30, 2005
Ruth Evans definitively founded Ruth's Hamburgers in 1930.
Ruth's Diner's official history gives a 1930 founding date, but Evans's 1989 obituary says she began working at Hap's Hamburgers at the same downtown address in the mid-1930s and later renamed and operated it. Primary sources are needed to resolve the sequence.
Source: Ruth's Diner, "Diner History"; Deseret News, "Diner's founder, Ruth Evans, dies; services set," November 14, 1989
The trolley car was purchased and taken to Emigration Canyon in 1949.
The available Deseret News history says Evans purchased the Utah Light and Traction trolley car in 1946, first operated it at 1511 W. North Temple, and moved it to Emigration Canyon in 1949.
Source: Deseret News, "Ruth's Diner is Salt Lake landmark," December 30, 2005
Ruth's Diner endured by turning a relocation crisis into a distinctive destination. The trolley-car setting and Emigration Canyon location gave the business a physical identity that survived ownership changes, while former staff Erik and Tracy Nelson eventually became its owners. Its historical appeal rests on the layered story of downtown hamburgers, the intervening North Temple stop, and the 1949 move uphill to the canyon.
Ruth's Diner traces its stated origin to Ruth's Hamburgers at 120 E. 200 South in downtown Salt Lake City in 1930. In 1946, Ruth Evans moved the business into a Utah Light and Traction trolley car at 1511 W. North Temple after the Meredith Building faced demolition, then hauled the trolley to Emigration Canyon in 1949. The exact 1930 founding sequence is disputed because Evans's obituary says she began by working at Hap's Hamburgers at the downtown address in the mid-1930s before renaming and operating it.
No verified record establishes Ruth's Diner as Utah's oldest restaurant. The diner's own website calls it the state's second-oldest restaurant, but the statewide ranking depends on how researchers classify early candy-and-ice-cream shops, restaurant relocations, and interruptions in operation. Ruth's has a well-supported historic lineage, but its precise statewide rank remains unresolved.
Ruth Evans had the diner’s trolley car moved to Emigration Canyon in spring 1949. The move was not directly from the original downtown location: the Deseret News reports that she first moved the trolley-car diner to 1511 W. North Temple in 1946 after the Meredith Building was slated for demolition.
A 2026 Salt Lake Tribune report said Erik and Tracy Nelson bought Ruth's Diner in 2006. Tracy Nelson died in March 2026, so the restaurant's current legal ownership and operating entity should be verified through current business records.
4160 Emigration Canyon Rd, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(801) 582-5807
Confirm current hours, reservations policy, patio availability, and menu offerings directly with the diner before visiting.