Red Iguana 2

Reviews 3

MA

Marko Bravo

Firstly I must mention to you that my family and I, we like trying new restaurants  we go out for food at least twice a month and we usually dont pay over 20-25e per person. I must also declare to you that we dont have strange willing on food. We decided to go to this restaurant "red iguana 2" we wanted to eat traditional mexican food and we were recommended this place for the great food. It is located in the west side of salt lake city you kinda have to gps it but not to bad to find it,- limited parking so you might want to car pull. Theres no valet. We reached the place at about 1:00 pm  and as we have made a reservation in advance for my grandmothers 70th birthday so we had no worries on waiting for free table. However the place was packed... strange and unusual thing for a sunny Sunday but then again the area is full of free living people. When you walk in, theres a hostess (I believe its the manager ) and an assistant hostess who helps you find your reserved table. They were kinda friendly, they brought us to our table and we sat down we had been sitting for about 3 min and the assistant came back and asked us if our whole party was here we informed her we was waiting on my aunt to bring my grandmother in, she ask kinda like they were annoyed that she wasnt here ( we had a reservation) so I dont understand  why is was an issue. Then the manager came by and asked again. By this point I felt like I hadnt even looked at the menu and they were trying to kick us out. The place has bright colours and well   decorated and it looks clean and tidy. I would sayits family-friendly. The place is a very big room, it is full of tables and theres a bar. The first thing that you will notice is the cashiers desk and then the bar, which really isnt an eye sore, the music was the right volume. The menu is very long with the usual (appetizers beverages soups and salads.) And then they have all kinds of classics and specialities. With a selection of Mexican liquors and beers as well as the usual domestic beers. In My family we had 12 people at our table we all ordered their own plates from ceviche, boritos, tamales. The FOOD IS FANTASTIC!!!!!  All the food came out in a timely manner all of it was hot and great temperature high props to the kitchen crew. Only one down side which was ok with my aunt the steak was under cooked and she ask if they could cook it more and they did what Im not sure about is they took the steak off of her plate back to the grill, not sure if thats a health code violation or not, ( Id think they should have just replaced it with a new one, but Im not sure.) The service was absolutely disappointing. The waitress was nice and kind but she lacked charisma and sounded very rehearsed and robotic I couldnt tell you if she was in a extremely good mood or bad mood it was very awkward.. at one point i had a question and she gave me the "one second and the pointer finger ". We also had my uncle bring my grandmothers favorite dessert and they informed us theres a $2 charge per person to eat it here thats a $18 dessert and $2 per person x12 people that turns it in to a $42 dessert (Thats absurd to do that to your customers.) in addition they did fill our drinks regularly before we had to ask. We spent about $20-30 a couple. (a little more than $10 per person!) The price is slightly higher that wanted due to the service. In conclusion the whole experience was just plain and sometimes rude and uncomfortable, the only reason Id come back is literally just for the food and at that i think your pulling teeth to get me to come again to this place for it and I might recommend just the food to go from this restaurant, thats about it. In a few words... the only reason Im giving this place 2 stars is cause of the food. Just get it to go and enjoy your food.

ZA

Zachary Prater

WHY LATINOS DONT EAT AT THE RED IGUANA AKA LA ROJO BANDITO: The wait is obscene, the food is mediocre, the price is reasonable and the atmosphere is festive. The wait is actually worse than obscene - its flat-out criminal. And I mean that quite literally. On Friday evening, when I went there with my girlfriend, there were tons of people waiting outside and we were told that the wait would be approximately 35 minutes. After waiting for 45 minutes, I asked how much longer and they said another 15....so I waited and started talking to the other parties that were waiting. And guess what? Of the 5 parties I talked to, all had waited more than 20 minutes longer than told. One party of 4 had been waiting for an hour and 45 minutes. Even though the wait time was running excessively long for everyone, the maitre d kept telling new parties that the wait would be approximately 45 minutes.....So this means that they knowingly and willfully engaged in deception for the purpose of financial gain. This is textbook fraud. Fraud is theft. Red Iguana stole from me and stole from dozens of other customers that night. Oh and heres the real icing on the cake. Their food is MEDIOCRE. Everyone raves about their sauces but no one tries their sauces - everyone still gets fajitas and burritos which are like every other fajita and burrito in the world. I again made the mistake last night of trying one of their sauces. I even went so far as to try the recommended daily special: Spicy Mango sauce on Pork Carnitas. It ended up being a soup of disgustingly sweet sauce. Really, it was shameful. Their spanish rice is sub-par and very much appears to pre-packaged and pre-made. The re-fried beans are good as is their salsa but thats it. The atmosphere and servers are great. Even if they hadnt defrauded me and stolen an hour of my life, I still would never return to Red Iguana. Their food simply isnt worth paying for not to mention all the bullshit you have to go through just to get to the point of paying them. Sad too - I used to love Red Iguana but that was many years ago.....Theyre too big now and really only rely on their recognizable brand name and the stupid local hype. Seriously, think about it: we have an ENORMOUS latino population here in the valley yet they avoid Red Iguana like the plague and for good reason.

RO

Rod Schiffman

We went past the original. Its Wednesday night. It cant be that bad! Boy was I wrong. Its been years since coming. Our last trip was before "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and all that. While we wrent regulars in those days, wed come every now and then. After the place became a mecca of sorts, I just knew it was going to be busier than I wanted, so no trips for ages. Over to see if the new place was mobbed. It was busy; not mobbed. We still had a wait, but it was reasonable. Its been so long I had to go for the Mole Negro. It was very good, but Id like it more with thigh meat, not breast. As said elsewhere, its on a par with what I had at Frontera Grill in Chicago. The obligatory beans and rice were not sugared up like so many places. Good on them. The margaritas about as good as you can legally do in Utah. I made the mistake of getting the Flan to finish. It was WAY overcooked. The consistency of hard boiled egg whites. Thats just wrong. The flavor was good, but it wasnt a highlight to finish the meal on. Our server was a west side kid and did us proud. Somehow sitting out on the patio as the sun was setting, having freight trains rumbling though somewhat regularly seemed to make sense. I like that better than the original. This is the place for me. Plus, now I know the traffic, I may venture back much sooner. The biggest change will be going with some of the other dishes that looked really good. Im OK without mole for a while. By 8:30, the place was pretty full and chill. There wasnt a wait. On the way out, we went past the original. There was still at least 50 people waiting to get in.