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Ramon and Maria Cardenas shared a passion for fine Mexican cuisine. They created recipes and dishes proudly served as expressions of their cultural heritage, from San Luis Potosi and Chihuahua, Mexico. They've owned restaurants in Salt Lake since 1965, but their culinary dreams truly reached fruition in 1985 with the opening of the Red Iguana.
Ramon single-handedly opened the restaurant with no employees. However, the eatery quickly gained a loyal customer base that was drawn to its authentic Mexican cuisine, particularly the selection of house-made moles. The location on North Temple expanded throughout its original building from serving 150 customers per day to an average of 750 customers each day.
Today, Red Iguana is operated by Ramon and Maria's daughter, Lucy Cardenas, and her husband, Bill Coker. It has 98 seats, 120 employees and serves more than 275,000 clients per year. The restaurant has grown to include an active catering business and a second location that opened in December 2009. Lucy and Bill created a new business model, opening Red Iguana 2 just two blocks from the original location, to accommodate dedicated customers frustrated with long wait times.
The hostess at Red Iguana 1 now directs clients to Red 2 by reserving their table on a new centralized VOIP phone system. This month, a quick-service version, Taste of Red Iguana, will open in City Creek Center Food Court. It could provide a model and platform for potentially franchising the Red Iguana brand nationwide.
The Red Iguana has won many awards over the years including the Governor's Culinary Artist Award for 2006, City Weekly's Best Mexican Restaurant for several years running, Men's Journal Best in Country "m" for Moles and inclusion in Salt Lake City Magazine's Hall of Fame. Most recently, Red Iguana was named as the "Minority Small Business of the Year" from the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
