red iguana

bleh. really hated this place and was disappointed bigtimebecause i'd heard and read so many great things. the food was just straight up weird and not good. the chocolate/ground nuts mole was a good example. i had carnitas which were just "ok" and my friend had an enchilada, and actually threw it up in my car on the drive home. fun times.

the popular original red iguana and the red iguana ii located a couple of blocks away share recipes and quality of the menu items. both are very popular but valet parking and tables are often more available at the larger second location which has a few streetside tables for warmer weather. both locations are single story. there's a lot of choices on the menu. the mole' dishes are not available at most competitors and are excellent. other menu items are universally good and you often have a choice of heat in the dishes. liquor is available. there is a party room adjacent to the iguana ii location for private parties and corporate events. lunchtimeand dinnertimecan see some short waits and lunch groups of 8 or so are common. prices are modest. we go here for both lunch and dinner.

visiting salt lake city & saw the red iguana was highly rated. it's pretty amazing. the food is spectacular, and the service is upbeat and attentive.
i'm in slc for a conference and visited red iguana on a wednesday; there was a 30-min wait! of course the actual wait was shorter, that's a good sign for a restaurant (don't go to an empty restaurant). since i was alone, i was seated in a little alcove between the main dining areas. it'd be great for a couple, but a little odd for me. also, i didn't get to experience much of the restaurant's ambiance.
my server was tony, and if you visit, ask for him. i could not have been happier with the service. he was polite and attentive, yet patient with my questions about the menu and their signature moles.
i ended up ordering the enchiladas amarillas. they're pork carnitas enchiladas covered in the mole amarillo, which is sweet and spicy due to both habaneros, raisins and bananas. it's complex and balanced with the sweetness of the fruits countering the spiciness of the chiles. you won't be disappointed if you give it a try.
i only wish i had moretimein slc to try more of the dishes.

delicious food.... valet parking??? that's weird.. the atmosphere is fun, and the food is delicious. some of the best guacamole i have ever had (and i eat a lot of it). i have been to salt lake city 4 times, and i've eaten here almost every trip, sometimes twice in 3 days. i definitely disagree with another reviewers assertation that the food was "bleh" or "greasy." i certainly would never recommend someone leave here to go to chipotle. ever. ever.

i've usually eaten here for lunch, and dinner twice. this lasttimei arrived for dinner (yesterday), i encountered something odd, and out of place. a gaggle of high school boys holding a sign that said "free valet parking."...

valet parking? why? in my many travels, i've never encountered anything like this from this type of restaurant...so i was confused and suspicious. we drove around them and parked ourselves. we were approached by a teenage boy who told us it was "valet parking only"... listen, this is suspicious. nobody wants to turn their car over to a teenage boy to drive it to a parking spot 20 feet away in an empty lot, and i was driving a rental car, so i sure as heck wasn't going to.

besides, a big sign that says "free valet" seems like an optional service to me. why can't i just park my own car, like i have the other 5 times i've been here. his answer was that "they are responsible for the car if they park it, but if they don't park it, they're not responsible." ok.... i'm ok with that. i have insurance, and i'm responsible for my own car literally every other place i've ever been. i can handle that responsibility. i am comfortable with that responsibility. i am not comfortable with a 16 yr old boy driving the renal car that i'm liable for. no thanks.

if he had pushed, we would have left. and we would have been tremendously disappointed to miss out on the food, and an opportunity to support this local establishment, which we love. as it is, he got frustrated that i was questioning the valet arrangement, and he gave up the fight and allowed us to stay parked there. we had already parked. what were we supposed to do, drive back and let him drive the car to the exact same spot we had already parked in and then feel obligated to tip him for it?

anyway, i still gave the restaurant a 5 star rating, because restaurant experiences are all about the food, and this place has it covered!!!

i would definitely share with the owners though, that the akward valet arrangement makes customers feel sort of taken-advantage of. it's not necessary, and i'm not sure who those boys were, but it felt sort of "fund raiser-y"... first, i have no cash, ever, and it's an awkward position to put the customer in. i would expect it at a fancy dining place, but i was really thrown for a loop here. and second, if it's some sort of fundraiser or donation program, it should be completely voluntary, and it should be very clear what that money is being collected for. this may be part of some weird utah parking sub culture, that locals understand, but the establishment is a huge draw to out of town visitors, who are very put off by this.

smooth. i have not been here in years!. as a vegetarian i am used to having a limited assortment of extraordinary dishes on a menu. i love that the vegetarian dishes have all been clearly marked (making mine, the kitchen and the servers life easier). today i brought my parents who have never been here and are very much carnivorous. we were immediately greeted when we walked in and seated without a wait. our server who was taking care of us was adam. he was knowledgeable of the specials and drink availability. more importantly he made us feel welcome and comfortable. our meal was paced perfectly, receiving appetizers first and with enoughtimebefore the entrees. literally everything on our table was prepared perfectly. on the table we had the hongos al ajillo-
mushrooms sautéed with garlic, butter, white wine and crushed red chile
encurtidos-pickled jalapenos filled with shrimp and queso fresco, dipped in egg batter, fried and topped with salsa espanola, served with guacamole
enchilada poblanos, the red iguana and fish tacos.
i've ran several very successful restaurants for years and with how happy me and my family (who want to go back tomorrow) were after we left i must give a cheers to the staff here. keep smiling :) you're doing it right.

really really good enchiladas verdes!! not been here b/f, and will absolutely come back nexttimein slc! immaculate, colorful, great & friendly service, fast, authentic...and the list goes on. yum!!!!! :-)

1 word - delicious! great service and even better food. the place was packed the wholetimeand i know why.

i'm not a huge fan of mexican food, but i really enjoyed this place and would go back in an instant. the place is kind of small and crowded. and sometimes you have to wait outside for a while, and in utah in the winter, that can be cold, to say the least. but they have large heaters outside and i think that the food is worth the wait. plus, the atmosphere is very social sotimeflies. yelp

repeat and repeat customer. wow - what can one say about this place! excellent service and outstanding food. took 2 friends there for the firsttimeand they are hooked. their moles are the best ever, and they gave my friends the sampler plate.
even the construction on north temple did not stop the red iguana from packing in the place!

too big for their burritos.. the lasttimei ate the red iguana was in 1994, it was wonderful! a nice out of the mainstream mexican restaurant with authentic moles and mexican food that was to die for.

as always word gets out and places become victims of their own successes. that is what's happening with red iguana, it has become almost unmanageable.

the lines are long to get in, and they now have three different places to eat at. the kitchen is overwhelmed trying to serve too many people. i found the moles to be as wonderful as they were in 1995, but the pork in the mole was dried out an tough!! the mole coloradita would have been much better with succulent juicy pork.

i can only hope this is not a sign of the iguana going down hill from four stars to three.

bueno. took my brother (who has spent a lot oftimein south america) and mom (who has not) and we all loved this place. it was a weekend and we had a pretty long wait (outside, ugh) i had a veggie chimi- which was muy delicioso- my bro had a mole dish, and my mom the fish tacos. all were great (i know because we are the kind of family who shares germs).

best mexican ever. seriously, i read a bunch of reviews for this place before we went there and when we pulled up i thought, wow this can't be it because it is a hole in the wall joint, but it was awesome! we didn't know what type of mole sauce to choose so the waitress brought us out samples and we each picked a different kind to go with our meal. seriously the best mexican food i have had in a long time! i still crave this and it has been a year since we've been to this restaurant! the nexttimewe go back to slc to go snowboarding, this is where we will eat every night!

disappointing. being that i am a southern california transplant i was hoping to find a decent mexican place here in salt lake. i have heard that the red iguana was fantastic, so i had some high hopes.

we were the first ones there when they opened at 11, and the hostess seemed snotty and we had a waitress that wasn't friendly or even seemed to speak much english until it cametimeto pay the bill.

my husband had the chili verde chimicanga and i had the ramon quesadilla con san francisco and a cup of guacamole.

i make better guac then this place does actually. very bland.

it took forever to get our food and the people that came in after us were getting there's a lot quicker than us.

the bill (just for lunch), came to $40. are you kidding me?!

needless to say, i think the owners/employees have gotten a bit "big headed" being voted best of the area. unfortunately they feel that they can charge an arm and a leg for a simple quesadilla and chimicanga and lack good customer service.

bummer.

we will stick to guadalahonky's down in draper.

don't bother.... my wife really wanted to try this place for her birthday.
we went with a hungry 3 year old and one person meeting us there. thetimewas 12:30 on hot august day. one member of our party was a few minutes behind us. they would not seat us, so we could feed our hungry child. they also tell you to wait outside in the hot noon sun. we didn't wait to be allowed to eat.

the food may be good, but it does not justify treating your customers poorly.

we heard all kinds of good things - maybe we had bad luck with this place but it was not good. might try anothertimebut only because there are so few mexican places in slc.