Lone Star Taqueria - Salt Lake City

The atmosphere at Lone Star Taqueria was pretty cool. They had Mexican music playing in the background. The first thing that you see when you drive up is an old station wagon with dozens of snowboard and skateboard stickers on it to remind you that you are very close to some of the best skiing in the world in the winter and of their edgy attitude. Of course all of this takes place with the incredible Rocky Mountains in the background.

I had the fish tacos. Usually, you don't know exactly what kind of fish are in fish tacos but they had a sign up telling you. They were really good; light and fresh with a citrus undertone. I went pretty light on the avocado dressing but, it was equally good.

Some of the people working there didn't speak very much English. It was almost like a place that caters to local South Americans except all of the patrons there looked and sounded gringo to me.

I'd give lone Star Taqueria a DDD score of 9.2. Well worth a visit.



Lone Star Taqueria
2265 EAST FORT UNION BLVD.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84121
801-944-2300

lonestartaqueria.com

The Red Iguana - Salt Lake City

The Red Iguana was everything that I am looking for in a triple-D restaurant.  The food was original and amazing and the atmosphere was really enjoyable.

The service was exceptionally friendly even though I showed up during their peak dinner rush. I came in and got seated up front.  I initially thought that the restaurant was really small because I only saw about eight tables.  I later found the other 80% of the place.  There was even one table for two wedged into a former closet big enough for 1 1/2.

The mole plates caught my attention.  I had never heard of it before.  A quick wikipedia search says that mole is "Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mulli or molli is the generic name for a number of sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces."  They had seven different types of mole plates.

They let me try a dish with a sample of all of the mole sauces. They were all quite excellent.  The yellow Mole Amarillo sauce was kind of hot, the mole colaradillo was kind of nutty-chocolatey, the mole poblano was more like regular mexican sauce, the mole verde tasted like avocado, the mole negro had a banana chocolate taste, the red pipian was pumpkin and the lomo de puerco en mole de amendras tasted good but like 
The pumpkin sauce was the most original to me so, I tried it

The pumpkin red pipian mole was really excellent. It is tough to describe the taste because it didn't really taste like anything else I've ever had.  The pumpkin flavor was really evident but, not like pumpkin pie or a pumpkin muffin either.  You'll just have to try it.

The place seemed to be a hit with the locals because it was pretty much packed and there were people flowing through for their take-out orders.

I'm giving the Red Iguana a 9.8 on the triple-D scale.  I liked it that much.

The Red Iguana
736 W N Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
(801) 322-1489
www.rediguana.com

Burger Bar - Roy, UT

The burger bar was a little out of the way,  29 miles outside of Salt Lake City. It is across a parking lot from a trailer park and about a mile from the gates of Hill Air Force Base.

It looked like an old dairy queen with only a walk up window. The only outside seating were a few cement benches. The employees shout your order number out over a much too loud loudspeaker.  Still, there were people lined up deep to wait for their food. The sign said "since 1952."

I got the elk burger. They claim that it is locally grown along with the buffalo that they also serve. The elk was really good. It comes on a single patty with their special sauce.  I found out that the special sauce was just mayonnaise and catchup. They also give you two little containers of the sauce to dip your fries in.

I showed up in mid September. They already had their seasonal pumpkin shake out but, I didn't notice the sign in time and just had vanilla. It was really more like soft ice-cream.  They piled it about three inches above the top of the Styrofoam cup.

I thought that Burger Bar was a 9.6. The food was unique and good and the atmosphere was sufficiently eccentric.

Burger Bar
5291 S 1900 W
Roy, UT 84067
801-825-8961

Ruth's Diner - Salt Lake City

Ruth's might be a diner but it is definitely not a dive. The first thing that hits you is actually on the drive up. Ruth's is situated out of town up in the mountains. It is gorgeous!

There is a large outdoor seating area. You sit under the canopy of some large trees with the majestic Rocky Mountains poking through.

Maybe as a tribute to the Rockies, they bring you out a "mile high" biscuit. It is probably about four inches square. They serve it with butter but, it is so good that it doesn't need it. Looking around at the other tables, it doesn't remain a mile high for long.

I got the tilapia sandwich with onion rings. The sandwich was nice. It had the fish with some Cole slaw and cheese on it. The bread was disappointingly ordinary after having experienced the biscuit.  The onion rings were good but, not great.

This was the most upscale triple-D restaurant in Salt Lake City so far. It was nice but nothing special despite the framed napkin-note from none other than Betty Crocker to Ruth raving about the biscuit.  The service was okay.

I'd give Ruth's an 8.3. The scenery on trip up the hill alone was worth checking it out, so I was not overall disappointed.

Ruth's Diner
2100 Emigration Canyon
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(801) 582-5807
http://www.ruthsdiner.com

The Blue Plate Diner - Salt Lake City

I'm starting to understand the Salt Lake City vibe.  It's kind of a funky, hippie, sporty, chilled-out attitude.  I think that I understand what John Denver meant by the "Rocky Mountain High" that he sung about years ago.  The Rockies hang in the background like a tapestry to remind you where you are.  There are relatively few overweight people walking around and a lot of people with backpacks and riding bicycles.  They seem to be connected to the earth and like their food to be natural, too.

I went to the Blue Plate Diner for breakfast.  I don't think that I've ever reviewed a restaurant for breakfast.  So, another DDD review first.

I ordered the verde chili breakfast burritto.  The plate came out absolutely piping hot and the waitress with the asbestos fingers moved it over to me.  It looked appetizing enough but, the verde sauce didn't look very green to me. It was more of an earthen brown. Not sure what was up with that?

Once I dug into it, any previous hangup was gone.  It had a nice initial spicy hot kick to it that didn't persist.  It was really tasty and damned large.  You could have split it between three people.

I liked the fact that you could substitute egg beaters© for eggs, which I did.  The taste really didn't suffer because of it.  I think that it might have been too heavy cooked with real eggs.  Real eggs also have more of a dominant flavor to them.


I've just recently discovered that I like avocado sauce.  So, I'm a poor judge of avocado dips or anything but, this avocado sauce was pretty good.

The atmosphere was that vibe that I just mentioned.  The crowd leaned more toward hippie. There were normal neighborhood people mixed in with lots of tie dye, tattoos and dreadlocks. I could smell
Marijuana in someone's clothes as they walked past me.  They had an old Honda motorcycle and some old bicycles chained to the building.   It was classic diner with the old fashioned soda fountain and stools around a Formica bar with stainless steel piping. I counted seven pictures of Elvis Presley.

I'd give bps a 9.3. I liked it and I think you would, too.

The Blue Plate Diner
2041 South 21st East
Salt Lake City, UT 84108

Pat's BBQ - Salt Lake City

This was the first time that I'm reviewing a restaurant that I only did take-out with.  I did walk into the restaruant and even sat down.  The only thing was that I did not have a lot of time to spare and this seemed like a kick-back and take it easy type of place.  There's nothing wrong with that.  It just wasn't something that I could do today.

When you walk in you are first in a hallway.  It is unclear where the actual restaurant is.  There are signs pointing you in the direction of whatever you are looking for.  The first door on the right is the take-out window room.  Down the hall and to the left is a bar area.  Straight ahead and outside is an outdoor area with picnic tables set up.

 I sat down at a picnic table and judging from the cadence of the conversation that the only waiter was having with the only other people in the restaurant, I figured that I had better just do take-out.  So, I went back inside.

The meatloaf was one of the specials.  So, I went for it.  They used a BBQ sauce on it and the meat itself had a smokey BBQ flavor to it that was really good.  It came with cornbread, mashed potatoes and I ordered some coleslaw. The coleslaw was fresh, crispy and nice.  The mashed potatoes had a regular meat gravy on them.  I thought that the gravy and BBQ mix didn't quite work well together.  It should have been one or the other.

Overall, I thought that it was very good though.  I liked both the food and the atmosphere.  I was chatting with another guy waiting for take-out also.  He had been here many times before.  I got the impression that it was more of a night-time place when Pat's becomes alive.

I'd give it a 9.5 and would suggest anyone to try it out.

Pat's BBQ
155 W. Commonwealth Ave
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Phone (801) 484-5963