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Ratings and reviews

RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Details

PRICE RANGE
$15 - $38
CUISINES
Fast food, Bar, European
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
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meals, features, about
Reviews (577)
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Reviewed 1 week ago via mobile

We dined with you this evening a table of 6 costing us well over 300.00 in total and to be quite frank the service the food and the atmosphere was below average. We came to your restaurant as the menu seemed appealing and nicer than...your standard burger and chips . You also advertised that you were less of a bar and more of a restaurant. After nearly one hour we had not received our round of drinks despite the table next to us having received two rounds in the same time frame. When I asked I was simply told well that’s the wait because we have 50 People over there, I waited a little Longer still no drinks or food so I asked again and explained this wasn’t good enough she then spoke with the manager who then didn’t know what drinks we had ordered so we had to explain again. They eventually arrived shortly after. Some time later the food arrived. The pork belly was not crispy at all on the top was fatty in the middle And dry at the base. I am qualified chef and this was apauling. The pizza was undercooked, the steak was over cooked the mushroom pasta was under cooked and was meant to have streaky bacon as per your menu which it did not have. The only mains which were eatable and remotely ok was the lamb shank and salmon. However we had waited so long we had no choice but to eat it. The drinks (Jamison and vodka and lemonade were flat no fizz at all) Further to this the group you had were yelling, banging on the tables and were very intimidating. So Intimidating that two of the females in our group did not feel comfortable using your toilets. Not something you expect in a restaurant to not feel safe to use the toilet, this was pub behaviour and your staff continued to serve alcohol which would be in breach of a license given the state he was in. Overall I’m disgusted with all of it. Was not worth the money and I feel the only thing we should have paid for was the bottled drinks the salmon and the lamb shank. Ryan whoever he was is the most helpful person there.More

Date of visit: December 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 1 week ago

Sorry to hear this feedback, but thanks for bringing it to our attention. We're unsure what's happened here, but our senior management is investigating. We sincerely apologise for this experience.

Reviewed 28 October 2023 via mobile

Every bit of information Iguana includes through the booking process says under 18 year olds must be "accompanied" by their own parents. We had a 6.30 booking to celebrate my wife’s birthday - Iguana was her choice as we have just moved back to Hamilton...and she had good memories of dining there last we were here over 20 years ago. At 7 a booking for over 40 arrived, apparently a children’s water polo end of year, and half the group were 10-12 year olds. The group was ‘curtained’ off at the front of the restaurant with the children all at one table on one side of the room, and the parents on the other side of the room. You could not hear yourself think for the noise the children proceeded to make. We said how noisy it had become to a couple of the serving crew, one of whom said "yeah I’m not loving it either", yet nothing was done by the staff, or indeed the self indulged parents of the group, also shouting at each other over the din. We got an apology when we paid for our mains, but only for the fact we didn’t enjoy the experience. Never before have we had to change restaurants mid-celebration! The food was good which was the only saving grace. Children are not "accompanied" if they are collected together on one side of the restaurant, removed from their parents, and left to cause a cacophony. If a group of adults were causing that sort of disturbance for the rest of the restaurant I’m sure they would have been spoken to by staff, but apparently as the child/parent boxes had been ticked, it was ok for ‘unaccompanied’ children to disturb the evening for everybody else.More

Date of visit: October 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 20 August 2023 via mobile

Very friendly wait staff and a nice selection of options for food and drink. Entrees and my dinner was delicious & when my friend was a bit unhappy with her meal they resolved it very positively. This is great service and response.

Date of visit: August 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 21 August 2023

Thanks for the review, Cate. We appreciate this excellent feedback and your understanding. Please visit again soon to sample more of the menu!

Reviewed 5 July 2023 via mobile

First time here. Asked to be seated near the fire and was accommodated as we had a 5pm booking. Loved the self serve using a tablet. Had to ask waitress to slow it down as she explained it soo fast. We got the hang of...it. Asked for starter and main to be combined. Food came out quickly. It was delicious. Steak and chips was cooked to perfection with Hollandaise sauce. Children enjoyed items from the kids menu. Feta, walnut , onion and crispy salmon salad was fresh and well seasoned. Brownie, poached pear and brandy snap with Chantilly cream all yum. What let this place down was the service. We had to wait ~ 25 mins (chasing twice) for the desert. Not acceptable with only a handful of tables in the room at 6pm. No-one was looking after our table. Come on front of house, you are letting the food side down! Congratulations to the chef, fantastic food.More

Date of visit: July 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 6 July 2023

Thanks for taking the time to place your review; we appreciate the feedback, which helps us keep service levels high. Please visit again soon.

Reviewed 14 May 2023 via mobile

We booked Iguana for a Mother’s Day lunch, We got a 2pm booking and the restaurant was not as busy as what we were expecting, one of our friends had arrived early and was seated already. We chatted for about 20 minutes when my wife...asked one of the waitresses for our menus and if we can get some water for the table. They bring you these tablets where you can order whatever you want off the menu. We had ordered our food, 1hr and 30mins had passed and we still hadn’t received our meals, a table that had arrived later than us received there meals before us. There were waitresses chilling in the open seats against the wall doing god knows what, we sat directly opposite the kitchen so we could see food been sent out, 2 of our meals had been sitting on the counter for more than 45mins, everybody at the table was getting annoyed because we were starving, I asked the waitress where I food was as it was almost 2hrs since we arrived. They quickly hurried and shuffled in the kitchen to get our meals. They took the 2 meals that were sitting on the counter and just served it, it was cold asf, because my mates kid was starving she cbf and just ate it. There was no excuse for late food because it wasn’t busy at all. The food was nice but they service was bad… I won’t be coming back here again And I’m bit apprehensive to recommend this restaurant to anyone,More

Date of visit: May 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 17 May 2023

Sorry to hear this feedback. We are used to receiving positive customer feedback on our generous portions, value for money and excellent food, so we're unsure what happened here. Please always bring an issue like this to the attention of a front-of-house manager so that...More

Reviewed 4 May 2023

Went with my wife for our best friends wedding Amazing food awesome service, Variety of menus to choose from . Our server jasmine was Amazing during the function helped us a lot to event go smoothly.

Date of visit: May 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 10 May 2023

Thanks for the review, Trent; we appreciate this excellent feedback and hope to welcome you again soon 😉

Reviewed 28 April 2023

So the experience with catering was no good at all. I went to a wedding recently and there was 1 bar staff a guy bringing food out and no service to clear tables. Food ran out quickly even though they stated it was buffet to...the point some people missed out on food. They stated they came out four times for each dish when infact it was twice. wasn't enough kai to feed approximately 50 people provided. Tables were left to pile up with dirty plates so whanau stacked and cleared themselves. Had sore gut after the foodMore

Date of visit: April 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 10 May 2023

Sorry to hear this feedback. We are used to receiving positive customer feedback on our food and service, so we're unsure what's happened here. Our manager will look into what occurred.

Reviewed 10 April 2023

My partner and I spent an evening out with our children and we all enjoyed every bit of our food that we ordered. We had the most amazing meals and drinks and we would definitely eat here again. The waiting staff were also excellent to...deal with.More

Date of visit: April 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 12 April 2023

Great review and we appreciate this feedback 😊. Children are undoubtedly the most honest critics; we're stoked to hear their ratings. We hope to see you again soon 👍

Reviewed 27 March 2023 via mobile

Been a couple times for lunch, food is delicious, service is efficient and excellent. Really good daily deals. I would highly recommend.

Date of visit: March 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 29 March 2023

Awesome to hear! Thanks for taking the time to place your review, and we hope to see you again soon 👍

Reviewed 16 March 2023

Went there for a quick bite with some drinks. Had the chicken wings and pesto pita bread. Both the flavoursome.

Date of visit: April 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 19 March 2023

Awesome to hear! Thanks for taking the time to place your review, and we look forward to your next visit 👍

Reviewed 12 March 2023 via mobile

Long wait to get food, when there weren’t many people in. Staff standing around and only one person in kitchenMore

Date of visit: March 2023
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 19 March 2023

Sorry to hear this feedback. A huge percentage of our customers have provided positive feedback on our generous portions, family-friendly atmosphere, value for money and excellent food, so we're still determining what's happened here. Please always bring an issue like this to the attention of...More

Reviewed 1 February 2023

By the time we were shown how to use the tablet to order our drinks and meals the waiter could have done this much faster and way more effectively. The menu was varied and well priced, the food was delicious and the servings were generous....A great venue for a wide range of occasions.More

Date of visit: January 2023
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 3 February 2023

Thanks for the review; we appreciate this excellent feedback and hope to see you again soon 😉

Reviewed 24 December 2022

Had dinner with my wife, we had the pork belly, delicious, I even liked the vegetables. Chicken creamy pizza was also tasty. Nice atmosphere, I like Guardian of the Galaxy’s music playlist, happy and friendly staff. Was a little warm inside, we should have sat...outside. We will be coming back next time we’re in Hamilton.More

Date of visit: December 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 5 January 2023

Awesome to hear! Thanks for the review, and we look forward to your next visit 👍

Reviewed 8 December 2022 via mobile

I gave 1 star because no stars was not available. Shame on you Iguana We were a group of mature, professional, community minded people who were hoping to have a collegial pre christmas dinner and those hopes were dashed. A number of the cuts of...meat were of dubious origin: huge, supposed “lamb shanks “ with a large amount of fat; supposed “eye fillet” that also had a large amount of fat; almost cold ribs and fries; and the list could go on. To add insult to injury we had to wait well over an hour and a half to be served the food, so that we could establish how unappetising so much of it was. Worst of all, a senior and respected member of our party appeared to have been “profiled” and told they had to wait outside. On finally being allowed to enter, that person was the first to order and yet their meal got forgotten: they were very upset, and we as a group were bitterly disappointed with the entire experience. All I can do is share my experience, so that you can choose to go somewhere else and not have to endure a visit like mine. I will never return and I am sure that is true for the members of our group.More

Date of visit: December 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 13 December 2022

We're sorry to see this review. Your "profiled" comment can only be seen as uninformed, though. A member of your party tried to enter through a privately booked area and was asked to wait while a newly employed, young staff member sort to rectify the...More

Reviewed 5 December 2022

Really enjoyed the meal. Staff took us to our table and then we were given a tablet to order from.........really??????? I go out to get away from technology. The tablet was confusing and actually not well laid out. My meal came with veg, but on...trying to confirm the order there was no veg shown, but it was shown on sides - confusing. Finally gave in and had to call the wait staff who took a manual order. I told them what I wanted and it took about a minute to order two meals and drinks. Oh and the staff were really nice and super helpful. When the food arrived it was really nice, and plenty of it. However the whole "tablet" gimmick does nothing to "sell" Iguana. You really are missing a trick when you have such great staff who do "sell" Iguana as a place to visit.More

Date of visit: December 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tim Greaney, Marketing at Iguana Bar & Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 13 December 2022

Fantastic review and we appreciate this feedback. Great to hear that you enjoyed the meal and service. The tablet service has worked well for some but not others and this kind of feedback helps us tweak how we can deliver the best service for all....More

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IGUANA BAR & RESTAURANT, Hamilton - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews

Frequently Asked Questions about Iguana Bar & Restaurant

Iguana Bar & Restaurant is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travellers:
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 4
  • Value: 3.5
  • Atmosphere: 4