Just realized I dealt entirely with alcohol and never touched the cigar question. My quick answer is that this is a full non-smoking state as far as restaurants go, and I think there's only ONE private club that allows cigars. Craig is definitely the one to ask on this one. The State is absolutely focused on liquor control, I don't even think they acknowledge cigars.
Oh, my! I hardly know where to start....Craig, back me up on this one, willya?
First off some definitions:
1. Bar: in Utah, bars only serve beer; some can serve wine, but not all.
2. Private Club: what everywhere else would call a bar, except they usually have a full menu as well. Temporary memberships require a current member to vouch that they know you. Used to charge for this, don't know if this still happens. This used to be fairly easy (i.e. "Hey Frank, you know this guy doncha?"), but rules have changed/tightened so I don't know how this works now.
Let's see....you can only have one glass of alcoholic beverage in front of you at a time so, at dinner, you need to finish your cocktail before your server will pour your wine. You can bring your own wine (if you can find a state liquor store) corkage generally goes between $10-20.
Liquor stores aren't open on Sundays, holidays. Most close at 7 PM, or used to, a few stay open later. Decent wine selection only available at a couple of them. Prices are generally reasonable, set by the state, usually only a little higher than you find in other states. Imported/microbrew beer the exception, you really take a hit on these. One plus is that restaurants/clubs with full licenses are viewed as mini-state stores, so they can't mark up their wines, they sell them at what they paid for them, which is what you would pay as well.
Craig probably can add to this, I don't belong to a club and don't generally drink outside the house. Oh, BAL limit is .08, which you can get to fairly quickly, so don't plan on driving right after imbibing.
On a brighter note, are you going to have an evening free? Tuesday or Wednesday would work for me, I've got surgery scheduled for Thursday so that's out. Would enjoy getting together and herfing a couple or four!
