Red Lizard (Cebu City): A Mexican Restaurant by The Abaca Group

This article is part of my Cebu Food Trip 2023 series. Check out the installments so far: Abaca Baking Company (Bakery and Brunch) | House of Lechon | Johnna’s Liempo Haus (Balamban Liempo or Pork Belly) Plus Balamban Food Park | Parr’t Ebelle Tinola (Seafood)

Last week, I wrote about the Abaca Baking Company (read it here), the largest brunch and bakery chain in Cebu City. In this article, I’m featuring another concept by The Abaca Group which is Red Lizard.

Red Lizard is a Mexican restaurant that offers tacos, burritos, and other Mexican food, though they also serve some American food such as burgers and Nashville Hot Chicken. They currently have three branches: Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu I.T. Park (where we went), and SM City Cebu.

We started our meal with Red Lizard’s Tres Diablos Nachos Machos. It’s loaded with Texas-style queso (cheese), refried beans, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa roja (red salsa), sour cream, and pickled jalapeño.

Tres Diablos Nachos Machos (Regular: PHP199; Regular with Meat: PHP269; Mucho Grande: PHP 349; Mucho Grande with Meat: PHP479)

The chips are crunchy, the flavor profile is spicy, and its overflowing with meat and other toppings. You can’t go wrong with nachos!

We next tried their Texas Tacos, which are made with soft flour tortillas and have five varieties: Carne Asada, Chili Chicken, Pork Belly, Pork Carnitas, and Spicy Chorizo. Each taco has double tortillas, which is common in Mexico.

Left to Right: Spicy Chorizo (PHP199/2 pcs.) and Carne Asada (PHP229/2 pcs.)

We got the Carne Asada, which has flavorful and slightly spicy beef. The cilantro adds freshness, the calamansi some acidity, and the pickled carrots tang and sweetness. We also tried is the Spicy Chorizo, which has flavorful chorizo. I think there’s garlic, cinnamon (or nutmeg), cumin, and maybe even sage.

Finally, we couldn’t pass on the Luncheonette Cheeseburger!

Luncheonette is another concept of the Abaca Group, serving diner food. However, it recently closed its brick-and-mortar stores and transferred its operations online.

The Luncheonette Cheeseburger has a beefy and juicy patty, sandwiched between two soft and moist buns. The veggies add crunch, and the dressing is sweet and tangy. It could be Cebu’s best burger!

Some from our group tried Red Lizard’s Chipotle Chicken Taquitos and Los Tacos Originales (made with crispy corn tortilla), which are also good.

Chipotle Chicken Taquitos (PHP259/3 pcs.)

Los Tacos Originales (1 pc.: 139; 2 pcs.: PHP249; 3 pcs.: PHP299)

We washed down all our Mexican food with Cuba Libre and Mango Aguas Frescas!

Left to Right: Cuba Libre (Glass: PHP179; Pitcher: PHP549) and Mango Aquas Frescas (PHP139)

It’s quite hard to find a good Mexican restaurant in the Philippines (my favorite one—Lo de Alberto—which was headed by a Mexican chef, closed down). But Red Lizard (along with its sister Abaca concept Maya) is among the good few ones. I highly recommend it to you!

What dish above have you tried or would like to try? Are there other Mexican restaurants in Cebu that is worth visiting? Comment below!

For Red Lizard branches and operating hours, visit their Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as their website.