Green Iguana Bar & Grill

I had some time to kill before a movie, so I stopped in for a cocktail. It was Happy Hour and they have some great prices on drinks and appetizers. I parked around on the side like I normally do, to go into the Tiki bar and it was chained shut and had a sign to use the front door, so I go in the front door and set at the inside bar. It was a curious night that was particularly good for people watching! I wanted to stay there and watch and forget the move, but I kept my initial plans.
This is the type of place where you find all walks of life, ages, gender and personalities, thus there is always someone there you can relate to! I tried their $ 5.00 pot stickers. I received 6 perfectly t fried pot stickers, they were tasty, but the flavors inside were really muddled and hard to separate the flavors, nothing really stood out. They were served on a short skewer, on a bed of shaved lettuce in a martini glass. When it was presented to me I inquired if a sauce was to accompany the dish and I was told no, but they could get me one. I decided to try them in their naked glory to see how they actually tasted as they were meant to be served. Even a little Soy sauce would have given it that something extra. They were good, but unremarkable.
I noticed how many patrons were dining and finally looked at their real menu, not just the bar menu.
I was really surprised at the variety and low cost of the fare they offered. I decided to return after the movie and have my dinner. Alas, when the movie ended and I got in my car to return, the car drove to Boston’s instead! Oh well, maybe next time, but I am looking forward trying the dish I had picked out.
What’s a girl to do? You gotta follow where your car leads you.

This is a popular place to go for us students after exams on Friday. They have an excellent burger selection and the out door patio is now open for business. They have done a great job fixing it up. Live music outside and a decent selection of tap and bottle beers. Enjoy

This a plain review from a first-​timer to Green Iguana. If you never been there before, definitely read this first.
I looked up a few salsa/​bachata (or latin dance places) online. Being a dance lover, I go out to dance places in Tampa whenever I am around town: Blue Martini Tuesday, Hype Park Café Thursday, Whiskey North Friday, Kennedy Saturday. Decided to go here one Saturday for something new. Turned out to be one of worst dance nights ever.
True latin music in the first area and hiphop-​like on the outside. But, goodness, the music was terrible. I was mostly in the salsa/​latin area. The girls… younger girls (20’s) where not cool at all and sort of pretentious. The older women were nicer and real. I asked a couple to dance with me and had fun dancing with them. While the younger girls are feeling «fake» classy. On one occasion, I asked a girl to dance, all she said was, «No». I moved on. Very rude response and not in a nice way/​tune at all. Most guys were just standing around the what-​seemed to be an extension of the dance area. A couple of times while dancing, two different guys literary walked into and across the dance area, bumping into me and my partners dance without being concerned at all. Like dumbly. Was a bit weird to me that most standing and much few dancing. I know latin (salsa and bachata) actually means you dance or, not just stand and walk around the area where few others are dancing. It was kind cliquey (people with their friends perhaps sitting together and stuff) — but why come to a loud dance place to sit and yell at your friends just right next to you. perhaps a bar or lounge would be a better option for that setting? The setting/​scene wasn’t just right at this venue for the theme night advertised.
While dancing with one of the older women, the DJ would scream into the MIC for prolong period of time that you couldnt here the beat of the music you are dancing to. grrrhh so irritating. Then step outside? even worse: finally a good dance (not grinding) hip-​hop or contemporary reggae finally starts to play, but then the DJ their also yells into the MIC 30 seconds into the song and viola, another song starts to play!!! Annoying. this DJs I think lack musicality and sense of good music/​dance vibe. My short description for this particular area is simply ghetto.
Parking and cover? was surprised they owned the entire large parking lot and still require you (their patrons) to pay $ 5, then get down from your car and go pay 10 box at the door! Most venues dont do this. But hey, Disneyworld does! ;)
Bouncer? hmm. While initially ‘standing’ (like everyone else) and observing area and potential dance partners, bouncer walks past me, stepping on my toes, without looking back! oh boi. I am done talking.
Went with my brother and his friend (who where mostly in hiphop section). We all in our 20’s. Neither going back nor telling anyone I know to.
Friendlier club-​goers and a more serious management will greatly improve this place.

Fun atmosphere with great music on saturdays

Disclaimer: my boyfriend and I are vegan and would never have chosen this place ourselves; we went for an office Christmas dinner. We were excited that we could get a portobello mushroom cap instead of a burger. But then the waitress informed us there was only one left. I chose to get sautéed mushrooms instead with the same toppings I had picked. They left at least one topping each off of our sandwiches. Also, the service was ridiculously slow. The waitress hardly ever came back to refill drinks. And for a Thursday night, which was slow, it took around 40 minutes for our food to come out.

Fun, Fun! Best place to dance, drink and just have a great time. I ate here but, that’s not why you come here, it’s after work socializing !!! Ah Patron Tequila — you are my best friend! Very clubby without the pretentiousness!

The final stop on my Saturday night «Hot Date Trifecta» — dinner, a movie, and dancing at the Green Iguana.
Green Iguana is a chain of restaurant /​club/​bars sprinkled around the Bay area, and this one is located on Anderson Road, near the AMC 24 Veteran’s Movie Theater. Look for the monstrous thatched hut with the gigantic green reptile climbing up over the front door, and then listen for the pounding bass rhythm and you’ll know that you’re in the right spot.
The Iguana is a great place to stop for Caribbean food, cold drinks, and hot dancing. On Saturday night you have your choice of two dance areas. Inside is salsa, merengue & bachata, while outside is reggaeton & house. Terrific music in both locations, and the energized crowd was having a blast letting off steam after the RNC had finally left town.
We had some appetizers (Key West Shrimp and Calamari) both were excellent — and some frosty cold adult beverages (Frozen Margarita for me and a Watermelon Vodka Martini for my lovely date).
A great night, and a lot of fun thanks to the Iguana!

Hit Green Iguana up on Wednesday night with some friends for Latin Night. Their early power house deal was pretty amazing. $ 2 Patron shots and $ 2 Patron cocktails until 11pm (really it was $ 2 whatever you want — but I chose Patron). $ 1 wells after 11pm. We saved a killing getting there early and I don’t think I would ever show up late to Green Iguana on a Wednesday. The DJ was great and played tons of great Reggaeton, Latin, and Reggae songs — many that I know from years ago, but was happy to hear again. We had a blast at Green Iguana and I will definitely return for their drink specials and music in the future.

I hate to do this. My coworkers and I ate there this past Thursday. The service was slow and horrible. The one thing that topped it off was a burnt hamburger. I really don’t understand I’ve had very good service every other time I visited this place.

Good place for appetizers & drinks. Very good atmosphere esp. out back.

Lunch Jan 2
Have eaten there about once a month for a while know. It is my go to place for a really good Fried Grouper Sandwich. It is very large, always fresh and well worth the money. Don’t be fooled, this is not imitation Grouper or «grouper’s friend», it’s the real deal. The bun is toasted & very tasty and the tarter sauce is their own, not Kraft in a jar.
Substituted a side salad for fries. Salad comes with the usually (cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons) but surprise! You will also get sliced olives and quartered boiled eggs… very interesting and good!
My health conscious companion enjoyed the Turkey Burger Greek Style. The burger tasted very fresh and came with all kinds of Greek flavored add ons that were very fresh and added a real uniqueness to this sandwich.
Overall, I have always had very consistent food and good service here for lunch.

Best Burgers in Tampa. Love to sit outdoors and listen to the band play.

I was skeptical about this place. I have a gluten allergy so there weren’t a lot of options for me. Don’t order a mojito its all syrups and they don’t taste that great. I ended up getting the mahi mahi, I was surprised at how fresh the fish was. It was really really good. I went for lunch on a Saturday and they had guy playing music, he was really good. Overall I was impressed. But with only 2 options to eat that are gluten free I don’t see myself coming back to be honest. Unless I just want salmon or mahi mahi.

Happy hour is good. Its kidn of very complicated deals, like buy one get one few select beers and such. But who cares, I just asked them togive me anything on the food and dirnk hh deal, so that took care of it. Food was like any other bar food, nothing too crazy. We had few vegeterians with us when we went here, and after combing through the entire menu, they decided to order bowl of fruits. Yep! gotta love bars that makes a vegeterian life harder. I did. :) I cant remember what I ate, some fried chicken and sangria and something something. it was like that kind of food. not so memorable.

Food was good but nothing special (had nachos and a sandwich) though, to be fair, we didn’t really try a few different things.
Went for dinner and stayed for when it switched over to a dance club. Music was really good. I wasn’t in the mood to dance but if I was looking to shake it, I would check out this place. Will definitely try again when in the area.

Drove around looking for a place to eat before our meeting. Some of the places we found were a bit shady looking. Drove by this place and saw the huge Iguana on the roof and was drawn in. We were the first people inside at 11am. We were told that they just opened, so we needed to wait a bit before they can seat us. A huge group came in and said they had reservations. Then other parties trickled in.
Finally, a waitress/​hostess comes by and asks us if we wanted to sit inside or out. It was a nice day out, so the answer was outside. She then paused and told us wait as she wanted to seat another 2 person party inside first, since it was a shorter walk. Then she said that she would seat both parties at the same time. She changed her mind when I didn’t respond immediately to her question about minding to wait longer since we wanted to site outside. I was just a bit shocked that she didn’t want to walk an additional 50ft and back in doing her job.
I didn’t really want a burger, but they had signs that say award winning burgers in the front, so I went for the Baja burger. Wish I didn’t see the brownish avocado slices on top of the burger. The burger was good, but I’ve had much much better at a lot of other places; places that didn’t boast award winning burgers. Maybe best burgers for when you are completely drunk at a club in Tampa?
The fries that came with the meal were probably the Ore Ida Crinkle Cut fries.
For dessert, I got the coconut flan. As you can see from the picture, the presentation was exception. Tasted really good too. I enjoyed it more than the burger.
The service earned this two star rating. Our ice teas were never refilled. Everything was slow to arrive including the check when we asked for it. My coworker asked for a cup of coffee with dessert. It didn’t come for at least 10 minutes. When she dropped it off, she said she had to make a new batch. When his coffee arrived, I changed my mind about coffee and I asked for a cup as well. I get it five minutes later.
We also two waitresses to turn on one of the TVs that was facing us to get SportCenter on to check on the NFL draft and other sporting event results. Both just said that they didn’t know how to turn it on and left it at that.
Probably won’t be returning to this place for a meal. Maybe at night for some fist pumping.

Went here for lunch with hubby and ordered the nachos as an appetizer. Holy moly are they delicious!
Then, he had a burger, which was a monstrosity and he only ate 1 patty of, because it was so huge! I had a bite and it was tasty!
I had the coconut chicken & shrimp (I asked them if I paid for the more expensive one if I can get some of each and they were happy to do so).
I really liked the shrimp better than the chicken, but hubby liked the chicken better!
I like this place because they have a covered patio, so even if it’s raining, you can sit outside, which we did, and it was nice! I’ve been to another location of Green Iguana and I haven’t had a bad experience yet! You should try it!

Good burgers. The shrimp and Jasmine rice makes a good lunch, too.

We headed up here one Sunday night a couple of weeks ago to see dad-in-law’s hair stylist play with his band. Unfortunately, because we had to pick up another friend of dad’s at TPA & drop him off way the hell up in Lutz, we didn’t get to the Iguana till at least a half hour into their show… which meant that we couldn’t get a seat outside for at least TWO HOURS.
…ummmmmmmmmkay. So we decided to take a seat inside, eat, & then go stand around & watch the band. They sat us near the open doors to the patio, through which we could hear the band over the music playing indoors. Why the hell don’t they have the place wired so that people inside can hear the band, too? It can’t be that hard… I guess it’s so that if patrons don’t wanna hear the band they can avoid it. In that case I say they should go you-​know-​what themselves.
Anyway. I had my first grouper sandwich ever, blackened, & … *shrug* I wasn’t all that impressed. I thought it’d be this amazing thing because it seems like everywhere you go in Tampa or St. Pete or FLORIDA they’ve got grouper sandwiches. It just tasted like a generic fish sandwich to me. I guess I don’t have a very discerning palate.
So I drowned it in hot sauce & sipped my mojito (which was BOMB) while listening to the music. When we finished eating we did head out to the patio to watch & listen. By then (well past sunset), everyone had pretty much moved to the indoor patio.
Which I DON’T GET AT ALL. The weather was clear & crisp & glorious & there was NOBODY sitting or lying on the outdoor beds that overlooked the lake (okay, retaining pond, but let me keep my romanticism). So I took full advantage of that & lay down & looked at the stars & listened to the band do their wonderful thing. I would argue that I had the best seat in the house.
The Green Iguana is a chain, so you can’t expect much from their food. It’s decent but it’s never gonna wow you. The drinks are great & the patio’s fabulous (if you can get a seat). Our server was the sole & lonely server for the WHOLE inside of the restaurant & she was GREAT, so major props for having beyond competent staff.
I’d head back here in a heartbeat for some drinks with live music, & maybe an appetizer of fried gator.

Definitely a great place to relax and trill for a drink or go wild during happy hour or on the weekends. The outdoor patio is very spacious and is the ideal spot to dine as it’s shaded nicely, TV’s all over the place, and a very relaxed outdoor lounge feel to it.
The food is standard bar and grill type food. Ribs, burgers, fries, salads, is the standard fare here. Nothing really stood out, but the food is decent enough to stomach amongst friends. The lava burger provided a decent kick and had a nice bold taste to it.
I’ve only been here for lunch but supposedly it gets packed on the weekend and it’s very lively with a great party crowd. Happy Hour on Wed night’s are jam packed and there are plenty of people around, just note that it is primarily a sausage fest. But for cheap booz, would you really care?