Red Iguana

My parents migrated to Chicago from Mexico back in the 80s. I have a deep love for my culture’s culinary and am very picky about Mexican food. I have gone to many Mexican joints here in Utah and I will say its very disappointing but one stands out. I heard about this place called the Red Iguana. To me it sounded like some sort of club or bar but I was told and have read it has been continuously been rated the number one Mexican restaurant in all of Utah. I went for the first time a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. The atmosphere is pretty loud and I have never been there when it wasn’t packed. For me a good Mexican restaurant has to have two good things. The agua de horchata has to be amazing and their tortillas must be good. The Red Iguana has the best horchata I’ve come across here in Utah! Now I wont lie, I have tried about everything on their menu and I have not been disappointed by anything. A couple of days ago I ventured into their mole section on their menu. This is another area in which Im very picky about since I consider my mother’s mole to be the best mole around (like most Mexicans feel about their mother’s mole). I highly recommend their black mole which is the classic mole of Mexico. They serve it with a fried plantain which I found interesting but gave the mole a good taste when eating the two. You can ask for either turkey or chicken mole when ordering. I went with the chicken since its always how I have mole. I also tried their mole Amarillo. Now if you like to get spicy food over and over in your mouth then I recommend this mole for you. It was a little bit smoother than the black mole but like I said, it is on the spicy side. I personally didn’t enjoy it. I like food to be spicy where it actually gives it flavor. This mole I couldn’t taste its flavor because of how hot my mouth kept getting every time I put it in my mouth. I was a little disappointed that there tortillas are not homemade. Maybe im just too picky but I think it would enhance their already famous restaurant by tenfold. My mother makes awesome chiles rellenos back home. If you are not familiar with what they are they are peppers stuffed with cheese and fried in an egg batter. The Red Iguana impressed me with their chiles rellenos very much that I’ve had them twice already. If tacos is your thing, try the tacos Don Ramon. Its there house tacos which were the very first things to catch my eye. They actually fry the corn tortillas so it gives it a good crunch to them. I usually get beans and rice on the side. As of right now this restaurant stands as my favorite restaurant in all of Utah. Great food great atmosphere with great music! I joke with my friends when I go there that I feel like cleaning since the music that is playing is the music is the same music my mother listens to when its time to clean the house! I recommend this place for a date, family outing, anything. It looks like you cant make reservations but I may be wrong. Check there website at rediguana.com for more info on that. Their main location is at 736 West North Temple in Salt Lake City.

The Pie Pizzaria

I am from Chicago. We "Chicagoans" love our pizza and I think its safe to say that we know what good pizza should taste like. Arriving in Utah I wanted to find the best pizza out here if such a thing existed. My friends introduced me to The Pie Pizzaria which boasts "the best pizza in Utah." I was very intrigued by the atmosphere at The Pie when I first went. It was located underground and you order your pizza upon entering and wait to be called on when your "pie" is ready. You are allowed to write on the walls as long as its brick which i found very unique! They are usually open very late so they cater well to the University of Utah students. OK enough with the ambiance and on to the food! The Pie makes what they call "Cheese Pull A Parts'" which is basically bread sticks stuffed with cheese. By far one of the best things Ive ever eaten at a pizza joint. You can ask for ranch or marinara sauce to dip your pull a parts into. I personally am a fanatic for ranch (as you will see later on) so i recommend the ranch dressing but both make the pull a parts very delicious! I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend having their Root Beer! It is the best Root Beer I have ever tasted in my life! It taste like it has a hint of black licorice to it but not enough to make it taste bad. My dad and I used to drink Root Beer a lot and when he visited Utah I took him here to try it and he was also very impressed and agreed that it was one of the best Root Beers hes ever had. Ive eaten here very often so its safe to say Ive had my fair share of the pizza here. I will start of on the very few cons of the pizza. I did not like how greasy the pizza was when i first had it. I had some peperoni and sausage pizza and when lifting up my piece I found the pizza saucer to be a pool of grease. Yes I recognize the fact that Chicago style pizza is very very different but I felt gross seeing the amount of grease. The pizza itself was pretty good. I suffer from heart burns so it was another reason for not liking the greasy pizza. Others may enjoy it but not me. Ive had the Buffalo Chicken Ranch pizza which I thought hey if its ranch, Im all for it! WRONG! I actually had this pizza twice just to make sure it wasn't just me getting sick from it. The spicy buffalo sauce they use totally takes away from how awesome this pizza could actually be. I acutally became annoyed trying to eat it which says a lot because I love food! How can i be annoyed by eating something!? Well this pizza was it. I do not recommend it. On the other hand they have the Chicken Ranch pizza. This I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend! In my personal opinion nothing will ever top Chicago style pizza but this pizza comes very very close! The mixture of bacon and ranch and chicken and the cheese they put on blends perfectly! They also put on onions which i hate on pizza but on this particular pizza I love! They also have desserts to enjoy after stuffing yourself with their pizza. I have tried the "cinn a part" which is the same thing as the cheesy pull a part but cinnamon bread with some frosting on top. I suggest if you dont get cheesy pull a parts before your pizza, save room for the cinn a parts! I also fell in love with their Chocolate Caramel Sundae. This is a good size dessert to split with a date or someone. I had a big smile on my face when they called my name and went to pick this up because it looks so good! The pie in my opinion has it ups and downs but that's only because Im very critical of pizza as I have stated before. Ive mentioned the different types of specialty pizzas but you can also choose your toppings as you wish. They have a large variety of toppings but the price changes as your "pie" is bigger so I suggest getting the specialty pizzas. I recommend The Pie to anyone looking to go out with a large group of friends. I do not recommend this place a a good first date place. The music is somewhat loud and the television is always on ESPN. Ive been to two of their locations one next the the University of Utah and one in South Jordan, Utah. I feel the one in South Jordan is more family friendly than the one near the university. I do recommend this place to people visiting Salt Lake. Its really a unique atmosphere and kind of one of Utah's little secrets as far as pizza since you really don't think Utah equals pizza. They have about five locations in the Salt Lake Valley. You can check out their website at www.thepie.com

The Training Table

Ive always heard that Utah specializes in good burgers and ice cream. Arriving here I wanted to try out a burger joint that is 100% Utah. I was told by a friend about a place called The Training Table where you sit down and order food from a phone located close to your table then you go and pick it up. I thought it was pretty unique so Ive checked it out, many times. They specialize in gourmet burgers sandwiches and salad. The Training Table boast that their cheese fries are one of the best. I will have to agree that their cheese fries are in fact DELICIOUS! I myself am not a fan of the "fry sauce" that people eat in Utah. At first I thought fry sauce was another name for ketchup but instead it is usually a mixture of ketchup, mayo, and mustard. Like i said, usually. The training table has its own fry sauce that they call "dipping sauce" which contains mayo and a hickory sauce. You cannot eat the fries with out it! I was very impressed with combination of the two sauces and went very well with the cheese fries. Now on to the burgers. The menu contains about 15 or so gourmet burgers and a couple of sandwiches. I have tried almost every burger on the menu and have never been disappointed! The Blue Bacon Burger has just enough blue cheese dressing that even the person who may not like blue cheese would still find this burger very tasty. Not too much and not too little. Just the right amount to give it that unique flavor that blue cheese has. The Ranch Burger is another burger I could also argue as being one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life. As a burger joint overall, I say this place ranks as number one on my list. At first I did not like their prices on their meals and thought it was a little expensive for a burger and fries but recently they have lowered their prices which is very good for a man addicted to food like me! This is a good place to hit up after a Saturday morning football game at the park or taking the family! The Training Table has proved to be "A Utah Original." indeed and has made me a fan!



The Training Table has various locations located around The Salt Lake Valley and Utah Valley. The best way to find the nearest location to you is checking out their web site http://www.thetrainingtable.com/

Food!

My name is Pedro Moncada Jr. and I love to eat good food! I am originally from Chicago Illinois and am very proud of it! In the great city of Chicago we have many different cultures from all over the world thus giving many of the city's residents a great variety of food to eat. I myself miss my city a lot and now find myself in Salt Lake City Utah as a student at the University of Utah. I must say this place is unlike any other place I have visited in many ways. I was reading a local newspaper one day and read some reviews about local restaurants here in the area. I thought to myself since I like to eat, why cant I start my own blog about restaurants that I eat at out here? So here it goes, hopefully people will read and when and if they decide to visit Salt Lake City, they can enjoy the places where I have enjoyed as well!