Black Sheep Cafe - Provo, UT

Black Sheep Cafe in Provo Utah – contemporary southwestern Native American food.

As much as I love to discover new cities through their restaurants and food, I recently realized that I don’t even know my own city or state through it’s food. I had a few people ask me where to find the best donuts in Utah, and while I could tell you my favorite donuts in Portland, San Diego or New York City, I couldn’t even tell you where to go in Utah.

So I have decided to change that. I don’t eat out a lot here at home, mostly because I’m too busy in my own kitchen. But I’m wanting to branch outside of the few places that I do know, so along with my food truck adventures, I’ll try to bring you some great Utah eats every now and again. (And yes – I am actively searching for the best donuts in Utah. I’ll keep you updated!)

Today, it’s all about Black Sheep Cafe. I’ve actually been wanting to eat here for a very long time. My sisters and mom had a girls night out about a year ago that I wasn’t able to go to, and they ate at Black Sheep Cafe. And I was jealous. So when it was my turn to choose the restaurant for girls night out, I begged them to go back. And they gladly said yes. 🙂

I grew up in New Mexico, in a town that was right next to a Navajo reservation. So Native American food is not something new to me. But at Black Sheep Cafe, they are taking that Native American food and giving it a very contemporary spin – creating dishes that are downright delicious.

Black Sheep Cafe is located in historic downtown Provo. We arrived right when the restaurant opened, so we were seated quickly, but the restaurant was full by the time we left. It was a weeknight, so I know they have to be pretty busy just about every night. We were advised by our server when we sat down that everything was made to order, so sometimes it might take a little longer to get our food. I’m always ok to wait if the food is worth it, and let’s be honest – we were there to chat anyway, so we didn’t mind a wait for our food at all.

Our server told us about the specials for the day. I had looked at the menu before going, and had wanted to try the Green Chile Frites as an appetizer, but she told us about some nachos that were on special that day. I couldn’t resist – I had to try the nachos. (I’ll have to go back for those frites one of these days!) It was not a bad decision in the slightest. I got the plate for all of us to share, but I think I ended up eating half of them myself. They were that good. If they had them again, I would order them as an entree and be completely happy.

I wish I would have taken notes, because I couldn’t even tell you now what all was on the nachos. I know there was chicken and a green chile queso. But if the nachos are on the menu, I highly recommend them.

I couldn’t decide what to order for my entree, but all of my sisters, my sister in law and mom had all tried the Navajo taco in the past and loved it, so that’s what I ended up going with. It wasn’t huge, but after eating nachos, and with the rice and beans that it comes with, I wasn’t even able to finish my whole portion and I was completely stuffed. The fry bread was awesome, and I don’t think everyone can pull off a great fry bread. I would definitely recommend it! Also recommended by others in my party were the burgers, Bleu Fire Shrimp, and the salads. I have also heard great things about the Hog Jowl Tacos and kind of want to go back just to try those.

I didn’t actually try any of the sweet potato fries, but my sister in law and sister both raved about them.