Who Went: Owen & Chelsey
Number of Visits: 1
What We Ordered: Chicken Burrito Ahogado, Horchata & Fajitas Gringas
What It Cost: $37.00 (including tip)
What We Thought:
The battle of the "iguanas" in Salt Lake is a showdown of delicious Mexican food - Red vs. Blue with plenty of supporters on both side. Being true lovers of the Red Iguana, we decided that we needed to be fair and test out the Blue Iguana as well. Though I think we may still be on Team Red (awkward thing to say for a blog that's got BYU in the title...), the Blue Iguana proved to be a delicious alternative with shorter lines, a fun atmosphere, and tasty authentic Mexican food.
Normally chips and salsa aren't that exciting, but I think that we have decided that the Blue Iguana has the best salsa of any Mexican restaurant we've ever been to! It has incredible flavor, with a great texture that isn't too thin or too chunky. They give you a huge bowl of the salsa, and we were tempted to lick the bowl after inhaling it all in 5 minutes. I only wish that this salsa was available for purchase or something, because it really was the best salsa I've ever had.
While placing our order, we were surprised to find out that the menu here at the Blue Iguana seemed to be nearly identical to that of the Red Iguana. Many of the moles were the same, they had a huge menu as well, and lots of the specialty items were really similar between the two restaurants. We decided to try to order foods that seemed unique to the Blue Iguana menu.
Our second favorite part of the Blue Iguana was the huge pile of guacamole, sour cream, and fresh pico de gallo served on the side of each entreé. Owen's chicken burrito ahogado was smothered with a chile colorado sauce and cheese, which was incredibly tasty. It wasn't too spicy or too salty, and the free sour cream and guacamole were necessary and delicious compliments to this appetizing dish. There was pretty much just meat inside the burritos, but they were rolled loosely enough that you could add in whatever lettuce, pico, rice, beans, etc. that you wanted inside.
The fajitas were served a little differently than I've had before - rather than serving the tortillas separate from the meat, the two fajitas were already assembled for me. Though this in theory could save some time for those who are super hungry and potentially prevent burn wounds from the hot, hot food, I actually had a hard time figuring out how to eat them, since the back side of the tortilla was covered with beans and rice, and they were hard to pick up. The flavor was really delicious - the "gringas" fajitas were full of savory charred steak, flavorful grilled peppers, and sweet tangy pineapple. But I couldn't figure out if I should use a fork, or just dump out the meat and roll it up like a normal burrito, hoping not to get refried beans all over my hands.
What You Should Do: If you're not interested in waiting in 45-min+ lines at the Red Iguana, the Blue Iguana is a gratifying substitute that usually is less busy. We liked the salsa and restaurant environment better at the Blue Iguana, but preferred the unique flavors (and those freakin' Tacos don Ramon) at the Red Iguana. Nonetheless, the food was still tasty, similarly priced, and they make a mean horchata as well!
I agree with your review on the Red Iguana being slightly better than the Blue Iguana and normally the preferable place to go. I would give the edge to the Blue Iguana's enchiladas over the Red Iguana enchiladas. Their mole, verde, and amarillo enchiladas are all very good. I like to special order a mole and verde enchilada together. Make sure they do not skimp on the sauce and ask for a little extra.
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