Nah, it’s changed. The only weird thing is if they serve you a drink they won’t bring you another without picking up the first. To be fair, I’ve only had drinks in restaurants in SLC but they are like anywhere. Bars don’t have that membership thing anymore either, although they may have to serve food.
You can only get low alcohol beer and wine at a grocery store, but there are state liquor stores everywhere so it’s not hard to find one. I’ve even seen drive-through liquor stores, which I’ve never seen anywhere else.
SLC is a lot more cosmopolitan than one would expect, as long as you are downtown. Out in the places Russ lives, it’s probably different.