My mom, visiting from Texas and luxuriating in the cool of Utah's mountainside shade, had the portabella mushroom sandwich, which got the same loving attention as the meatloaf with its balsamic-marinated portabella cap perfectly grilled and topped with caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, fresh spinach and Swiss cheese on toasted pesto focaccia bread. The concentrated flavor of the mushroom, onions and tomatoes made it at once rich and light.

My brother had the Cajun bacon bleu burger, a superior rendition of its kind with a big, well-seared patty topped with crisp-chewy bacon, loads of crumbled bleu cheese and Ruth's kicky barbecue sauce. I found the bun just a little over-toasted, but it didn't crumble like I expected it would.

I expected kick from the gazpacho that started my meal, but it surprised me by tasting beautifully mellow, smooth and elegant, with a bottom full of fresh and crunchy carrots, onions and celery and sweet little shrimp. It was such a perfect summer dish that I wished I'd had a big bowl of it.

Instead, I had a big plate of pot roast, mashed potatoes and sauteed veggies. I know, it sounds like a winter meal, but heck, I was at Ruth's, and it's classic diner food. It was worth it, too: juicy, falling-apart meat with a perfect browned outside, simple mashed potatoes that hardly needed gravy and onions, summer squash, zucchini, peppers and cauliflower beautifully cooked to just-tender doneness.

I really wasn't hungry for dessert after all that, but you'd have to be dead not to want a taste of the most wonderful chocolate pudding imaginable, silky and sweet and just a little earthy.

By contrast the dessert of the day, a fruit tart, had a nice crust and decent filling but also fruit that seemed a little too withered to serve.

But it was still a sweet ending, at one of Salt Lake's most unique dining treasures — one that still seems inhabited by the spirit of Ruth.

Dinner: appetizers $3.99-$8.99, salads $9.49-$11.99, burgers and sandwiches $6.99-$8.99, entrees $10.99-$18.99, kids' meals $5.49, desserts $3.49-$6.49.

Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret News.

If you go...

Ruth's Diner

Rating: ★★★1/2

Where: 2100 Emigration Canyon

Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

Phone: 801-582-5807

Payment: Major credit cards accepted

Wheelchair access: Patio accessible around the side of the building; dining room accessible but has short stairs leading out of original trolley car structure

Web: www.ruthsdiner.com

e-mail: skratz@desnews.com