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NOW
THREE LOCATIONS!
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FAX: 801-322-4834
¡Bienvenidos!
Hours
We Specialize in several South of The Border Flavors, from all regions of Mexico, north to south, from burritos to a smoldering collection of mole sauces.
DAILY SPECIALS continuously surprise and expand the rich and varied menu full of Cardenas Family recipes
Coming to/from THE AIRPORT (map)? We're on the way. Come Visit us at The Red Iguana. You're always welcome, luggage and all.
famous moles

Click to Enlarge
specialties












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| Red Iguana Rated "Best Restaurant in Salt Lake City" on Urbanspoon | ||
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August 17, 2011
THE NORTH TEMPLE VIADUCT IS NOW OPEN!
- RED IGUANA OPENS 2 NEW RESTAURANTS -

NOW OPEN!
Taste
of Red Iguana - 3rd Location Now Open!
City Creek Center Food Court -
Downtown
28 S. State Street, Salt Lake City 84111
CHECK OUT THE NEW
TASTE OF RED
IGUANA WEBSITE!
BEST MEXICAN! SALT LAKE CITY WEEKLY 2011
Red Iguana
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For many, the Red Iguana and North Temple, the street where the restaurant grew its following, are practically synonymous. North Temple TRAX construction work, however, has made driving to the Red Iguana a steeple chase. Faced with such obstacles, you'd think that the Red Iguana, legendary for its mind-blowing moles and seafood dishes, would shrivel up and blow away. And you'd be wrong. It's hardly missed a beat, and not just because it preemptively opened up two more accessible restaurants downtown (866 W. South Temple, 801-214-6050 and 28 S. State, City Creek Center Food Court, 801-214-6350). Red Iguana is proof that a family-owned "dive" known for killer Mexican food can squeeze a juicy lemon over all manner of ripped-up asphalt and make a tasty guacamole out of it. 736 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City, 801-322-1489.
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“From hidden-away restaurants to can't-miss museums, Fodor’s Choice selections recognize the top sights, properties, and experiences our editors and updaters have found in their travels,” says Fodor’s publisher Tim Jarrell. “These places are the best of the best, providing a remarkable experience in their price range or category.”
Q SALT LAKE - "Fabby Award Winner 2010"
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Most Faaabulous Mexican Food
Red Iguana
Obviously, Red Iguana has won just about every food award in existence, so why
shouldn’t it retain its 2009 Fabby title? Salt Lake residents have been
gobbling up the Cardenas family’s “killer Mexican food” for
40 years now. And if the lines that stretch around its two locations are any
indication, Red Iguana will be doing booming business for another 40. Their molé is,
indeed, holy. ![]()

NEW!: The Wolf and the Iguana: A Love Story: Los Lobos’ Louie Perez recalls the band’s experiences at the Red Iguana.
Salt
Lake City Weekly, by Randy Harward
Posted 01/22/2009
Every Red Iguana patron has seen the jaunty cholo script on the restaurant’s Wall of Fame that reads "Los Lobos." Maybe you’re one such diner, and a fan of the band? If so, you might have zoned out over your food and imagined the band members, themselves high on the Iguana’s killer mole dishes (¡y cervezas, órale!), whipping out Sharpies and making their mark, which has become the cool nucleus of the green Red Iguana wall.
It must be analogous to Zorro carving his trademark Z, a monument to some mythic moment in time. Alas, Los Lobos aren’t swordsmen or banditos or even mariachis. In fact, the way Louie Perez tells it, they were just another band from East Los Angeles, rolling through town when their hunger led them to the restaurant that has become Utah’s home for "Killer Mexican Food."
"Oh yeah!" says Perez while noting that the Santa Ana winds
have cleared the skies to reveal the mountains near his California
home. "We’ve got a lot of history [at the Red Iguana]."![]()
By Valerie Phillips, Deseret News, Nov. 3, 2009
Fans of his "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," series have likely caught the segments featuring the Utah places he visited: Ruth's Diner, the Burger Bar in Roy, Moochie's Meatballs, Lone Star Taqueria, Blue Plate Diner, Red Iguana and Pat's Barbecue.
Four of these spots are featured in Fieri's new cookbook travelogue, "More Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (William Morrow, $19.95).
You'll find recipes for Smoked Barbecue Meatloaf from Pat's Barbecue;
Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich from Moochie's Meatballs, Carne Adovada
Tacos from Lone Star Taqueria and Red Iguana's Mole Negra with Chicken. ![]()
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Best Mexican 2007
BEST MEXICAN- READER'S CHOICE AWARDRed Iguana
You just have to see the crowd waiting outside for a seat to know this perennial favorite doesn't disappoint its legion of fans.
Inside, the conversations are loud and the décor is bright, but it's the food that's the draw. Nachos, chili verde burritos and moles too numerous to mention are all stand-out menu items, as are the margaritas. When they're in town, Tex-Mex band Los Lobos eats there. If that isn't a recommendation, what is? 736 W. North Temple, 322-1489, RedIguana.com
Best of Utah 2006!
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BEST MEXICANRed Iguana
The Cardenas dynasty lives on. With the passing of her mother and brother, Lucy Cardenas came to Utah two years ago to carry on a four-decade run of second-to-none Mexican food. Trading on the family's stockpile of distinctive mole recipes, Red Iguana would have to start serving Chalupas to fall from its lofty perch. And if you ever wondered why God found swine fit for this earth, just try the carnitas.( City Weekly )
Singer Imogen Heap: "Music has
been a great ride for Heap,
but it's not the whole enchilada"
When British indie pop princess Imogen Heap isn't recording, writing or performing, she's thinking about bike riding, Wikipedia and Salt Lake's own Red Iguana.Tonight's show won't be Heap's first trip to Utah. A particular Salt Lake eatery left a spicy stamp on her memory: The Red Iguana. It's such a good place!" she says. "Every time I'm in Salt Lake, I stop there. We get cabs and haul our luggage and everything; the whole crew." Salt Lake Tribune, 12/07/2006
in the news...NEW REVIEWS!
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the experience of authentic Mexican food and drink...the one and only home of killer mexican food. we now sell alcoholic beverages such as maragaritas, tequila shots and wine.
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