Iguana

My husband, daughter and I went here Saturday evening for a post-​theater dinner. The place is very large, especially by NYC standards, it has plenty of seating which is nice. We didn’t order drinks, but at $ 11 a pop I wasn’t really in the mood to indulge. We were very hungry since we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we ordered quickly. We devoured the chips and excellent salsa and waited for our food. My daughter ordered the steak fajitas and my husband and I both ordered a house special, stacked enchiladas with chicken. The fajitas came with a decent piece of steak but the vegetables accompanying it were decidedly steamed, not grilled. They could have used more seasoning and a better hand on the grill. The stacked enchiladas came lukewarm, not hot, as I would expect. My husband’s portion, for some reason, was about 50% larger than mine — no idea why. The chicken was mostly dark meat, which is not my favorite, but the sauce was good. I was still hungry after I ate mine as it was more the size of an appetizer and not an entrée. My daughter gave me her last tortilla with the fajita, but the waiters swarmed on our table, clearing all the dishes and basically taking the food right out of my hand while I tried to finish.
The service was very uneven. A nice young lady kept our water glasses full. I really do not like the practice of clearing the table before everyone has finished eating. We never saw our waiter again after he took our orders. He never came by to ask us how the food was nor after we ate to ask if we wanted dessert or coffee. After waiting a considerable length of time without any attention from the staff, I finally asked the young lady filling our water glasses if we could get the check. Another waitress gave us the check, also without any niceties — just tossed it on the table.
This is a convenient place for a pre or post dinner meal if you are above the main theater area, but I can’t really recommend it. The food was mediocre at best, the service was pretty poor, and the prices were pretty high, given how small the portions were.

YUMMO made fresh at your table guacamole! And the margaritas are AWESOME! We had the shrimp enchiladas, they were AHMAZING! Not bad for Tex-​Mex in the NYC! Us Texans were impressed!!! Will definitely recommend & come back!

Iguana was recommended to me by a friend who lives in town. I liked being able to make a reservation and when we got there early we were seated immediately. However the service was less than satisfying. It was over 10 minutes before anyone brought us water and another 5 before our drink orders were taken. I didn’t get the right margarita which was sad since it was $ 11. The food was decent. I ordered a lump crab quesadilla appetizer and the portions were great. However it came with black beans and all I got was a cup of bean juice. The check came quickly and we needed to split it so they said give them both cards. They only charged on card and said it would take 2 days for the charge to come off my card so I went with it and left. Good food but everything else will keep me from not going back.

Came here on Friday night with a few of my friends, music was popping!!! Loved that they have different sections and you choose which floor you want to be depending on your music taste. I actually loved the fact that they play hispanic/​/​latin music, not a common thing in bars, nightclubs or restaurants in Midtown.
I had plenty of fun and the drinks were madd good. I had mojitos, cause you never go wrong with mojitos, but they were pretty incredible.
Come by and rate by yourself! ;)

i can’t stop talking about Iguanas’ New York City on 54^th Street. I’ve been going to this Restaurant since 2001. It was a nice little enclave which only a few «notables» would know about. I’ve always heard of Iguanas since the late 90’s but for some reason or other, I never got to «experience it». Most restaurants in which I enjoy eating in are usually on the Upper West or East side of Broadway in Manhattan. Columbus Avenue also has some very good restaurant cuisines, as well as Amsterdam Avenue and Lennox Avenue. Downtown Manhattan never «called my attention» when it came to dining, let alone have a «dining experience».
What finally go me there was an article i read in the New York Times’ pleasure and leisure column; and they mentioned that Iguana was NUMBER in NEW YORK CITY for their MARGARITAS. Anyone who knows me knows I love Mexican Food and Margaritas-​and Iguanas has BOTH! I went and, like a «crack head», became immediately HOOKED to those margaritas! I would every weekend to IGUANAS for those Margaritas. Their secret? THEIR MARGARITAS ARE MADE WITH REAL FRUITS INSTEAD OF SYRUP FLAVOR: Now, however, due to their IMMENSE SUCCESS AND POPULARITY they had no choice but to use syrup-they’re still good, thou, but not like BEFORE…(I remain loyal and still patron the establishment).
Their CUISINE FOODS are EXCELLENT! Not enough can be said…
The SERVICE IS AMAZING and the WAITSTAFF is warm, engaging, and always professional. They really enjoy their jobs.
In addition to GREAT FOOD they have a SPORTS BAR, and DANCE FLOOR both downstairs and upstairs.
The MUSIC is SENSUAL, INTOXICATING, and RYTHMIC (Latin, of course!). Everyone is ELEGANT, ATTRACTIVE, and DRESSED TO IMPRESS!
Thrice the YOUNG (20’S), MIDDLE AGE (40’S), and SENIORS (60’S) are in equal ATTENDANCE to this most entertaining place!

Managers not that nice. Too old school. Sometimes there is no air at the bar but managers do not care. They only care that there is AC in the dining area. If you are hot by the bar oh well. Which makes no sense. People at the bar pay money as well and need cool air to drink and spend money. I do not recommend the chorizo taquitoes. The meat is very mild and no flavor.
The bartenders are friendly and besides management good vibes. If there is no air you can always go to Cancun as well.

Admittedly, this review is really only for the mojito. Get the mojito with the sugar cane stick in the drink (Iguana Mojito). It is all about the sugar cane.
The guacamole, décor, and dancing are all a plus!
I can’t otherwise speak to the food because I am a vegetarian, and they do not have veggie options. I normally remove stars for this, but the mojito makes up for it. (Make sure you get it with the sugar cane, though.)

I came here before with a few friends for dinner and drinks. (I wasn’t a Unilocaler then when I came here)
Anyway, the food was good and we had a nice dinner. After dinner we we went downstairs where a bar was located. I was surprised when my drink cost a few dollars more downstairs then upstairs. Wth… Really? Same drink… same establishment…
I smell: BULLSH#T!!!
This place was a cool place and I would have given more stars if they didn’t play themselves with my $ 15 mixed drink that they had nerve to put in a plastic, clear cup!
(The cheap cups you find at a da#n deal store… But even the deal store has better cups then what the bartender gave me)

The food was really good. The price description in Unilocal was off. The steak in my enchilada was very good. I ordered it medium rare and it was awesome.

Went with a girlfriend. Beautiful place, but due to the huge bar it actually smells like a bar. Food was yummy, but the meat was cold. Friendly staff. Guacamole was good, but not as good as mine lol

Food was served cold. I guess their microwave was not working well.
Their cheap margaritas use cheap tequila (not unexpectedly).

Came here for my girlfriend’s 21^st birthday. Had a great dinner with friends and then went downstairs with more friends and danced the night away. Expensive drinks ($ 13 jack and coke) but we had a great time, great music playing, etc. So why the 1 star?
At about 2:45am, our group was nearing the end of our night in the downstairs club. Half of us were sitting, getting our last drinks, and waiting for our van to pick us up at 3am. One of the bouncers, who clearly has power issues and uses his job as a bouncer to make himself feel better, comes over to my buddy and says he looks too drunk (he was fine). After talking a bit he goes away and then comes back with two more bouncers. They start yelling at my friend telling him he has to leave, meanwhile he’s having a perfectly fine conversation with them. Us being good friends, get involved and try to calm the situation down, as it was my girlfriend’s 21^st and we just spent the whole night here and had a great time.
While I was talking to one of the bouncers asking what my friend did, they decide to get physical with all of us. The rest of us try to get in between and split it up, next thing I know, I’m thrown into the bar and dragged up the stairs by two of these goons (apparently by my throat, see exhibit A attached), my friend behind me doing the same, and the rest of our group soon to follow, including one of the girls in our group.
At this point we’re all pissed off at how horribly we were just treated, especially after spending hundreds of dollars at this place between all of us. I refused to leave until I got my jacket and my girlfriend was out safely, as well as the rest of our friends. Once everyone was out, the arguing continued with the rest of security. Half the staff is telling us to leave, the other half is still egging us on to continue the fight.
Look. You may be thinking,“Oh im sure you all were just drunk jerks.” Were we drunk? Yes. But we’re also all young professionals and students just going out to enjoy a birthday. We got downstairs and spent almost 5 hours there without a problem. We’re the last group to start trouble and the first people to tell one of our friends that they’re in the wrong and to shut up. That wasn’t the case here, we were completely wronged and every one of us knew it.
We were wronged and disrespected by a bunch of power hungry bouncers after spending the money to pay their $ 10/​hr paychecks. Anyone with any self worth would be upset and stick up for themselves, which is what we did. These guys were clearly having a bad night and took it out on us.
If any manager or owner reads this, I recommend taking a long look at your staff. The reason there were a max of 30 people in the club on a Friday night may be right in front of your faces.
PS: your spicy margarita is horrible

Not so great. Grilled chicken sandwich with fries just ok. Atomsphere is lively, drinks just ok. Pre mixed mostly. Probably won’t bother for a trip back. Forgettable

Very nice security, nice environment, good drinks!.. The place is nice and I had a lot of fun. I didn’t eat there but I danced with some friends. Although I don’t give them more stars because the DJ didn’t want to Play Chino y Nacho saying that is not popular in NYC and the music he played was kind of old fashion I think if he could play more new music would be better. That is my only Con to the place.
I hope the DJ play more updated music for the next time and don’t say «I know what I do».

I came here with a couple of coworkers for happy hour! Their drinks are strong but they are tasty! We all just got fries because we weren’t that hungry.
We got the Steak Fries and Avocado Fries — both were regular but portions were a bit small for the price. On the other end, they do give you complimentary tortilla chips and salsa which is good!
The main reason for the 3 stars was the service. The employees behind the bar were super unattentive and gave off a really rude attitude. It took me 15 minutes to get my check because he forgot it (mind you, the bar wasn’t even that busy). Overall, I don’t think I’ll come back.

Unprofessional staff all around. This place seems sketchy– stay away!
This review is only for the bottom dancing lounge which I came to on 2÷19÷16
Music downstairs was great– the only downside is that staff doesn’t even let you sit down for a second because they have this rule that you have to order drinks at the table to sit. So after dancing a little too much we got tired and decided we will order drinks at the table with the waitress.
When we ready to go, we asked for out check and the waitress named Erika brought us our check. Our check had things crossed out and handwritten items on them… After looking at the check I realized that although my friends and I ordered the same drinks they were all priced at different rates. Spoke to Erika about it and she said to give her less money. But she didn’t give us a new check, with a new amount or tax rate –whatever– we paid and we left.
When I got up the next morning — my debit card was charged for the $ 24 that my drinks came out to but I also had an additional charge of $ 59. So I called Iguanas and asked to speak to the manager. The manager said that he wouldn’t be able to help me because he didn’t have access to the safe– yup that was his response! He took my number down and said he will call me back in 30 minutes– he never did.
If you come to this place bring cash– spoke to other friends of mine that have come here and 2 of them have had issues by being charged more.

Great Mexican place! There are 3 floors, middle floor is a restaurant, upstairs is a club with a Latino music mostly, which is cool. Salsa, bachata. People who like this music will definitely enjoy it. And a downstairs club with all kinds of music — hip-​hop, electronic, top-​40, soul, and some awesome tracks from 90s. I really enjoy it! Food is good. Maybe best Mexican I ever had. Staff and service is great. Very friendly. Especially downstairs. Strongly recommend!
P. S. Those clubs might be closed on a weekdays

Had an awesome time with a couple of my friends on Saturday night! Went in around 5:30pm so no wait. However, the entire restaurant got packed within an hour. For that reason service got a little slow towards 6:30−7pm but overall, loved it.
Passion fruit margarita pitcher, nachos, table side guac and quesadillas were delicious. They also did everything vegetarian for us which was great. Only complaint was they didn’t have happy hour deals at all.
Desserts were even better! We ordered fried ice cream, chocolate mousse, tres Leches and brownies and we ate every last bite. Also got serenaded by live musicians!

Service: top mit 5 Sternen. Außer die Dame die einen an den Tisch bringt. Aber ist nur ein kurzer Moment. Vielleicht war sie schlecht drauf an dem Tag.
Essen: Vorspeise Guacamole wird direkt am
Tisch frisch zubereitet. Entsprechend super frisch und sehr lecker. 7 Sterne.
Bestellten Hauptspeisen waren optisch gut angemacht. Wie überall gibt es umsonst Eiswasser zum Essen .4−5 Sterne. Sind satt geworden.
Lokalität: Nett eingerichtet. Etwas laut. Im Keller gibt es eine Disco.
Lage: U-​Bahn 7^th Ave in der Nähe .
Preis-​Leistung: 100 $ mit großzügigem Trinkgeld. NYC ist halt teuer.3−4 Sterne

My girls and I found this place to be pretty solid. The margaritas are strong and plentiful and the nachos are delish. There are three levels, the first level is the restaurant, the basement level is a hip hop dance club and the upper level is a latin dance club. It’s a really fun place to let loose and get your salsa and bachata on.

Oh my god! What a fantastic place. Don’t believe I didn’t find this earlier.
We were there on a Friday evening for a colleague’s birthday and who knew Friday was a ladies night. (Naice!)
It’s a 3 floored place where the basement has a hip hop dance floor and the 1^st floor has the exclusive Latin dancing floor, leaving the ground floor for the dining. It’s a fun place and I am quite assured that it is beaming with people at all times.
The iguana nachos, pastel of shrimp with corn and avacado and the fresh guacamole is a must try. Their wine collection is just ok but they have an unending list of margaritas and cocktails.
I am definitely going back.

Passez une soirée à l’Iguana, un restaurant mexicain accompagné de musique latine toute la soirée.
Des menus de groupe sont prévus si vous venez à plusieurs avec des musiciens qui passent jouer de leurs instruments pendant que vous dinez.
Enchilladas, burritos et surtout les Frozens Margharitas à toutes les saveurs à né pas louper !
Si vous diner vous né payer pas l’entrée pour aller danser.
Un bon endroit pour passer un samedi soir !

one dude was like, «DIABLO, QUE MALDITA BACHATA!!! LA VOY A LLAMARRR, COÑO!!!» BWAHAHAHA, Bachateame mamaaaaaaaaaa!!! (El Torito voice)
Went on a Thursday night and it got pretty good! So just imagine how Friday/​Saturday nights are!!! My legs were actually hurting more than my head the next morning lol! That’s how you know it was a very niicee/​good night.
Like I said, this place was fun but sadly we had to leave early to catch the last train. Right when we was about to go up the stairs, some really good bachata song comes up and we like O_​O!!! It was pretty funny cus the bouncer was like, one more! This was the hardest decision of my life, stay for one last song or catch the last train… eff it, YOLO!
Cut it close, but the train was not missed.
Def recommend it. The mojitos were on point and the music was greattt. Music was mostly spanish (duh), bachata, merengue, salsaaa. even some spanish rock up in hea!
PS: Had a drink in honor of all the girls that say jajajaa when texting instead of, hahaha.