Main St. Mexican mainstay, Iguanas Ranas has moved (albeit only a couple blocks) to nestle up next to their chief competitor, La Boca. No longer the cramped, budget taqueria where you paid at the counter and bussed your own table, the new Iguanas Ranas is enormous, full-service, fully-licensed, and now has its own cantina-styled bar. Iguanas Ranas 2.0, owned by Hipólito (Polo) Martinez and his family, boasts attentive service, multi-colored piñatas, and an expanded menu. This writer set out with a group of intrepid Wesleyan students to investigate. What we got:
Nachos for the table to share ($6.00) – Student review: “Salsa was aight, sour cream was dank, wish we got guacamole.”
House salad with chicken and cilantro dressing ($8.00) – Student review: “I’m pretty sure that dressing is Italian.”
3 tacos with rice, beans, cheese, and lettuce ($2.00 each) – Student review: “I really like the double tortilla effect to avoid over-stuffing. The extra tortilla means you can make two smaller tacos instead of one over-stuffed one.”
Vegetable quesadilla ($6.00) – Student review: “It was a quesadilla. Average.”
Carne asado taco, chorizo taco, tacos al pastor ($2.00 each) – Student review: “Tacos al pastor are my favorite.”
Vegetable Chimichanga ($11) – Student review: “The menu describes it as fried to a delicious golden brown. I can confirm that yes, this was the case.”
As an international student not entirely familiar with Tex-Mex renditions of Mexican cuisine, I decided to order the chimichanga. It was roughly the size of a newborn (or football, depending on your frame of reference) and very cheesy and very fried. I enjoyed every minute of it, but afterwards I felt like I was going to die—in a very full and satisfied way, of course. Needless to say, walking back to campus was a difficult and arduous process. At $11, it was the most expensive item we ordered, definitely not a bargain like the $2 tacos.
Most of the other similarly enormous burritos on the menu fall within an $8-11 price range. I recommend the Ahogado burrito and a takeaway container. Emily Ibarra ’13, on the post-nachos, pre-main course wait: “My mouth tastes so good but now I have to wait, like, another twenty minutes to eat!” Unfortunately, our mains took over 40 minutes to arrive, and there was a slight mix up with our order; but to be fair, we were a large group, and Iguanas Ranas has only recently become a full-service restaurant since the move.
Anna Swartz ’13 recommends the grapefruit flavor Jarrito, the Mexican fruit sodas that come in cute retro glass bottles and a multitude of flavors. Tobias Butler ’13 momentarily confused our server with a request for “Mexican Coke,” but when it arrived, it was indeed Mexican. We could tell because it was in a glass bottle and said, “Refresco.” Lila Murphy ’13, who holds a certificate in mixology from Columbia, approved of the house margarita, even though the glass was not garnished with salt as is traditional.
As we left, we saw a chalkboard advertising watermelon margaritas made fresh in-house—something to contemplate for next time. Iguanas Ranas ought to get in on Bar Night with some Wednesday night drink specials!
Standouts and recommendations: While Iguanas Ranas may have moved up in the world from its origins as hole-in-the-wall taqueria, their tacos remain the standout, and at $2 apiece, the best value for money on the menu. Special mention to the delicious salsas and hot sauces—I’ve heard rumored that they’re made according to a special Martinez family recipe.