Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

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RED IGUANA
Below: Red Iguana founders Maria and Ramon Cardenas, Sr., came
to the United States from Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi, respectively.
The menu the couple offered diners when they opened the Red Iguana in
1985 is very similar to what is served there today: authentic, savory Mexican
dishes created from the heart.
Right: Red Iguana co-owners, Lucy Cardenas and Bill Coker, take their
stewardship of one of Salt Lake City’s most iconic eateries very seriously.
They look forward to enriching and enhancing the Red Iguana experience for
many years to come.
Opposite: The Red Iguana menu is as much an anthem to ancient
Pre-Hispanic cuisine as it is a Cardenas’ family legacy. Each item, from the
popular moles to this mouth-watering Chile Relleno, is a delicious riff on
traditional Mexican food you will not find anywhere else.
Describing the Red Iguana’s place in the Salt Lake community
is no easy task. Iconic, homey, cool are all apt descriptors.
None alone, however, completely encapsulate the Red Iguana’s
truly inimitable vibe. “It’s like being at a wedding reception,”
Co-owner Bill Coker says. “Everyone is a different age and from
often wildly different backgrounds but they’ve come together
for a singular event. But rather than celebrating a marriage,
they’re celebrating Red Iguana’s food and atmosphere, together,
in close proximity, like extended family. Regardless of who
they are, or who’s sitting at the next table, that shared purpose
gives them permission to thoroughly enjoy themselves.”
Stop by the Red Iguana any day for lunch or dinner and
you will see what Coker means. The crowd assembled outside
waiting for a table is made up of equal parts suit-and-tie clad
convention goers, twenty-something hipsters and families.
Inside, Red Iguana’s colorful atmosphere reflects its homespun
yet complex family dishes—somehow comforting and a bit
edgy at the same time. Diners leave feeling like they have
visited a friend’s home, rather than a restaurant.
Maria and Ramon Cardenas, Sr., opened the original Red
Iguana in a tiny space at 300 West and 300 South in 1985.
Serving up an endearing mix of original Cardenas family
Mexican food and their larger-than-life personalities, the couple
quickly gained a loyal following in the eighteen seat eatery.
When a fire destroyed the building after just a year, the Cardenas
moved the Red Iguana to its current location on North Temple.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the Cardenas’ son, Ramon,
Jr., played a pivotal role both in the Red Iguana’s operation and
in defining its incomparable culture. “Ramon, Jr., was very tied
into the local music scene, hosting many musicians at the restaurant
as they passed through Salt Lake, helping shape the place’s
funky, alternative personality,” Coker says. One look at the front
door, covered with stickers from every corner of the world, is all
it takes to get a sense of how far and wide the Red Iguana’s reach
is felt. Over the years the Red Iguana has received dozens of
awards and recognitions, including a feature on the popular
Food Network program, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives in 2008.
Today, the Red Iguana remains a family affair. Lucy
Cardenas—Maria and Ramon, Sr.’s daughter—with her
husband Coker, run the original Red Iguana, Red Iguana 2
(866 West South Temple) and Taste of Red Iguana (City Creek
Center). “Both Lucy and I feel it’s an honor being the
caretakers of such a wonderful community experience. We
look forward to preserving and enriching that experience
for many years to come,” Coker says. For more about the
Red Iguana, please visit www.rediguana.com.
S A L T L A K E C I T Y — L i v a b i l i t y i n t h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y
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