This restaurant was in our hotel, so I wanted to try the margarita trail margarita they offer. We grabbed seats at the bar, and the server was not happy. We were told they were extremely busy, but we'd get service eventually. Once the bartender came over, we explained we just wanted 1 drink, so he made them quick and tabbed us out immediately. The margarita was tasty. The food looked pretty good, but we didn't eat. It's a cute little restaurant inside. read more

Iguana Cafe - Margarita trail! - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

We had a good time here. We had a party of about twelve people.They had very good service and they were very accommodating to everybody. The food was good came out quick.They had really good sofa.Pias, I'd recommend anybody that is staying at the buffalo thunder to go try the food here. read more

Delicious Breakfast, Mixed Service Experience The breakfast food here is excellent. The pancakes are light and fluffy, and the simple two-egg breakfast is surprisingly well executed--especially the eggs, which were cooked to a perfect medium. The pork sausage was flavorful and satisfying. We had the pleasure of meeting Jimmy on our first day at the resort, and he was a bright spot in our mornings. Friendly, attentive, and consistent--he made us feel welcome every day. Unfortunately, the front-of-house experience was far less pleasant. The bartender/hostess/supervisor left guests waiting at the host stand for over ten minutes without acknowledgment. When people politely asked if they could be seated, she responded curtly, insisting there was a waitlist--even though more than ten tables sat empty. We experienced this ourselves and watched it happen to others throughout our hour-long breakfast. It created an uncomfortable atmosphere that detracted from an otherwise lovely meal. read more

The servers were fantastic--friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, the food was a major letdown. We had breakfast here twice, and both experiences were disappointing. None of our dishes tasted fresh; it felt like they were just microwaved before being served. We tried a breakfast burrito and a simple eggs and potatoes meal, and neither was enjoyable. We even sampled other restaurants within the hotel, but none of them hit the mark. I had high hopes for southwestern cuisine, but sadly, this place did not live up to expectations. And it was only eggs, after all. Quite disappointing--I didn't think anyone could mess up eggs. Definitely won't be returning. read more

Food was okay, service was horrible. We waiting in line for over 15 minutes for a table and nobody came to address anyone in line. I also noticed the waitress (Leslie) was overcharging the tables next to us, giving them incorrect information for how much their meals cost. Another table called her out on this, but she continued to charge them anyways. there is automatic gratuity included in the check so it was obvious she was doing this for a bigger tip. Once we got our bill, we noticed we were also over charged for items we did not order. Please be aware of this scam! read more

Food is mediocre. Ordered the French dip and it was way too salty! Tacos were gross, Spanish rice was hard and cold. Service was good, ordered at the bar and took to our room. The bartender was really sweet, older lady with black hair. She's always there. Bar was clean. read more

Ate here before a show at Buffalo Thunder. The service was awful - waiter kept squeezing between my husband and the wall rather taking 2 steps to the left, forgot to write down the sopapillas for our order. Food was less than mediocre - chimi was barely fried, tacos fell apart as tortillas were raw, everything lacked seasoning. As we left, I noticed that many other diners had left lots of food on their plates. Except for the host, not a single staff person looked like they cared. As for ambiance? Didn't matter because everything else was so bad. read more

Food was damn good. Red chili was delicious. Would come here again when we come back for anything. Service was fast and it wasn't that busy. read more

Iguana Cafe - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Honestly I expected more. Nachos over done. Kids fruit w aas s amazing though and saved the day. Waitress was sub par, she was sooo slow. Macaroni and cheese was tasty for kids but it was so little I will have to take them to eat again. Jalapenos were cooked into the.nacho cheese, so no option to reduce the number of jalapenos Sigh.... read more

Iguana Cafe - Seating at the Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

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I'm so glad we ate here before reading the reviews or we might not have chosen the Iguana Cafe. We had lunch here after checking into the hotel. Service wasn't excellent but it wasn't bad. Our beers were cold and we were both given large glasses of ice water. I ordered the Poblano Relleno and it was very good. The portion was generous enough that I wasn't able to eat it all. My husband ordered the Carne Adovada Plate and it was excellent! He loved it. He of course gave me a taste. It was so delicious, I helped myself to two more bites, LOL! As a hotel guest, it is frustrating that the restaurant isn't keeping regular hours. We wanted to return twice these past two days, but never hit the open hours. I think that is a result of staffing issues resulting from the pandemic; hopefully, it will eventually resolve itself. read more

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Service is amazing; super friendly staff. However the food is mediocre, just regular coffee (not espresso) and regular American menu, very mild food. read more

We have a love/hate relationship with Iguana Cafe! First of all, this is your best breakfast option when you stay at Buffalo Thunder. They have an amazing breakfast buffet that includes coffee and juice as well as a gourmet omelet station with chef. They also have scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, waffles, a huge variety of pastries, and so much more! BUT it comes with a hefty price tag. If you are like me and just want eggs and coffee, you are better with sticking with menu ordering - which is totally an option! They also seem to have recently expanded their lunch and dinner menu, which is primarily New Mexican fare. It's pretty tasty and my husband LOVES the nachos. Note: if you order nachos, this is where the food comes from! So save yourself some cash and just walk down from the room to grab it to go. It will cut the price tag down to 1/3! They also make their own margaritas and Bloody Mary's from scratch! However, the service is horrible no matter what time you go. We have been on at least 12 occasions and the staff from hostess to waiters to managers all suck. Be prepared to constantly wait for them to pay attention to you - even when no one else is there - and get used to being ignored! read more

We usually stay away from the hotel restaurants however we didn't want to drive anywhere and just wanted appetizers and beers. We ordered the nachos with steak and were pleasantly surprised... they were delicious. Our server brought out a huge bowl filled with chips, queso, pinto beans, and lots of fresh tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños. The steak was plentiful and very tender. The nachos were tasty and filling. Everyone we encountered was friendly. No issues for us. read more

Ordered the Steak & Eggs and I was pleasantly surprised how good the steak was. I didn't even need to add any steak sauce with it. It was perfectly seasoned. The hash brown was a little under cooked. Service was great. I did wish they had extended hours. Currently, they are only opened for breakfast and lunch read more

Food is below average, service is an absolute nightmare, who cares about ambiance when the experience is so bad

We stopped here on Saturday early evening to grab a bite to eat before the Berlin concert. Normally they are only open until 2 p.m. for lunch but they decided to stay open for the pre-concert crowd. I'm so glad we ate here! Our server was Jeremy and he was so friendly and checked in on us. We just ordered something quick as we weren't super hungry so I had the bean and cheese chimichanga topped with green chile and my husband had the nachos. It was the right amount of food and so tasty! The place is your normal stop in and sit down type place that you would see in a hotel, which is where this is located. Casual but nice enough. I would recommend. read more

Excellent breakfast burrito with green chile sauce. The portion was generous and tasted great! Service was excellent as well.

The food here was disgusting. Everything tasted like it came from a can. The 17$ burger was charred and dry. The chimichanga was just a bean and cheese burrito fried. The Green Chile stew was inedible and the pork tasted reheated. The only good thing is Jimmy the server. He was wonderful. Don't waste your money on this food. read more

Good food with generous portions and reasonable prices for a casino. I would highly suggest even if you are passing through or want something to go. I had the Indian taco which I cannot resist when in the area and it was excellent and so much. I was a happy girl. Everyone on my party enjoyed their lunch. My father wanted a burrito bowl that was on the menu online which had not been updated since Covid. The in-house menu did not have that offering any longer. I don't know if it was a cool or manger but a very friendly male staff member stepped in when the hostess did not know what we were talking about (she was new so she just simply didn't know) and said we can do that no problem. After the hostess took our order he put it in the computer for the kitchen and made sure it was accurate and all our needs were met. It was a super lunch exactly as we had wanted. Good job and I will dine here again on my next visit and can highly suggest. read more

Iguana Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

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BEWARE! I believe my husband and I got food poisoning from the loaded nachos. The cheese sauce looked off in color, we should have known. I have never been that sick. read more

I have a hard time giving any place a 1-star review, but this place was pretty cool. Being the only place that offers brunch in the area, I was surprised it ended brunch so early on the weekends (11am). Also the service was horrendous! It took 10 minutes for our waiter to greet us, 40 minutes to be served our food and not once were we checked on to make sure we had everything we needed. We ordered the carne asada tacos, which seems pretty simple, and were shocked by how lackluster they were. Completely bland, dried out meat and wasn't even hot when it finally got to us. If you're going to spend your time and money at the Buffalo Thunder Casino, don't do it here! read more

Open walking in I was greeted promptly with a smile and was seated right away. The host took her time to talk to me, cracked a few jokes, and made sure I was in a good mood. My waiter took my order and was gone in flash, lol. The restaurant was not packed don't see where the rush is at. I order the SteakHouse burger Medium with sweet potato fries. My sweet potato fries were on the soggy side with and coat of salt. My burger was ok. They gave me a well done burger I asked for medium with the lettuce, tomatoes and onions on the side. Overall, if wasn't for the good service I would have gave this place a one star. I'm sure this place can invest in some fresh food instead of prepackaged so called fresh frozen. read more

Iguana Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

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This was my first time ever eating here and I actually thought the food was good! I got the tacos with steak meat which came with beans and rice, all tasted great. The meat wasn't chewy and just perfect. What I did not enjoy was the rude male waiter I had. He was really snobby and inconsiderate. I was talking to him and he just left halfway through me talking with no care in the world... I felt awkward after that.... I had also asked for a house margarita and they forgot to bring it so I asked him about it and he rudely said " I didn't hear you ask for one" in a really annoyed tone of voice and then walked off quietly to make the margarita... I've never had a waiter be this snobby towards me, I honestly didn't feel like tipping him after experiencing how awful his interactions were... The host that sat us down was friendly, idk what my waiters issue was... read more

Our server was slow as molasses. They weren't that busy. The omelet station had veggies and olives with fresh cracked eggs. The buffet had plentiful carbs, bacon, sausage links, enchiladas, scrambled eggs. Breakfast potatoes, oatmeal and bagels too. Toast with jelly. When you order hot tea they bring several selections. Mint, chamomile and chai. Hot chai the highlight of my morning. read more

They got my order wrong. The staff I dealt with were miserable. Food had no taste. Over priced in my opinion.

Probably closer to a 3 and a 1/2. The chips and salsa is good, but not great. The guacamole is a better choice. The wings were good but a little too crispy. The 17 dollar steakhouse burger was the best of the bunch, but I'm not sure what makes it a 17 dollar burger. read more

Iguana Cafe - The buffalo wings. - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

I live in Florida and thought I'd try a legit Fajita. The beef was tough and over cooked ( burned really) and nothing tasted fresh. Hugely disappointed with this place. If you can't get a Fajita right you ought to do something else! read more

Tried the bar at night first and their cocktail menu was quite vast. Flavors of all kind ultimately mixed with a sweet and sour splash. I asked for "the Italian Job" but the bartender blatantly said he did not like that and would not suggest it. I didn't care much for his opinion as the ingredients listed seemed enticing to me, but he was adamant, so I tried the Buffalo thunder Margarita - it was too strong for me and I really don't care much for tequila. The shrimp cocktail (cocktail de camarón) was served very different than I had in California and Texas, but it was utterly delicious! The mix on a bowl and cucumber added was so good. Add a bit of salsa and your spiced up and golden. The pepperoni pizza was average. Pan crust and cheesy The chicken tortilla soup was really good and full of vegetables. Breakfast buffet was average but not the best. You can order your preferred style do omelets. Service during breakfast is shamefully slooooooow. The worst I have ever experienced. read more

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The food here is gross, and the staff are either clueless or rude. Also, vegetarians beware. This is the conversation I had with the manager. Me: Hi, do you have any vegetarian menu items? Him: Absolutely, we have a veggie burger! Me: Great! Is it cooked separate from the regular burgers? Him: No, they're cooked on the grill with the meat. Me: Then they're not vegetarian. Him: Oh no, there's no meat in them. *sigh* read more

Food was just okay but found big long hair in my salad. Even now, just Thinking about it, I'm going to barf.

This place has a good atmosphere but the food and the service is very bad. The person who gave us our food was very rude and when we were asking her a question she just decided to ignore us completely. The food was pretty bad too, I got the steakhouse burger which was really dry and had absolutely nothing special about it. Overall the place is not great at all. Our waitress Melissa also put herself a higher tip to try to take more money from us. We had to talk to the manager about this as well and eventually we settled it out. I hope all these feminist assholes are fired! read more

We had seen all the bad reviews, but we didn't want to drive into the city for breakfast. We figured: how bad can breakfast be? And maybe we should have just stuck to eggs and bacon, and everything would have been fine. But Michelle got the chorizo and egg tacos. They looked (and tasted) like the eggs had been scrambled hard and then microwaved for five minutes to get any hint of moisture out of them. Both the eggs and the chorizo...as dry as the Santa Fe climate. Jeff ordered the huevos rancheros with the green chile and eggs over-easy. It was an eggy, green chile soup on a plate. He used the small piece of sourdough toast to scoop up what he could from the goo onto his fork and mixed it in with the hash browns to give it some consistency. Not good. We're bumping it up to two starts because the waitress was pleasant and efficient, and they kept the coffee (which wasn't too bad) full for the whole time we were there. read more

Sometimes we forsake privilege as a right. Salsa y tortilla chips gratis, for example; that New Mexican play on the Italian table side breadstick. So I was prepared to be displeased. $2 for this assumed inalienable "right" of the New Mexican restauranteur? However, the $2 became a rewarding experience. The salsa was made to order (spicy to your request) and was a generous, delicious appetizer. Tortilla soup was spot on Scoville and salinity-wise. Friend's pork enchilada with egg was "best" he'd ever had. Not a perfect rating as the service was very poor, initially. The manager aggrieved this issue eventually. Hopefully it was a rare hiccup. read more

Tacos came out cold (two orders) and one order was not correctly made...a medium burger was served rare (still red inside) and with the wrong side dish....so get all of our food back the second time, burger was cooked but had no side with it, the tacos were hot but neither order prepared correctly not even the one that was correct the first time. Service was horrible, had to wait forever and repeatedly ask for drink refills. Don't waste your time. read more

Waited an hour for a green Chile enchilada... when I got it it was cold and didn't have any green Chile and maybe 3 oz of chicken. read more

Iguana Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Poor service from the start. The shrimp cocktail had to be sent back due to questionable quality. The tortilla soup was terrible! I would describe the soup as vegetable soup. PS the bartender was great! read more

Good food, bad service. Never refilled my drink. Never stopped by to check on us. My husband order came out wrong but I liked my smothered burrito read more

Iguana Cafe - Good food, bad service - Mexican Near Me - Santa Fe, New Mexico

This place is useless, terrible service. High prices for bad food. If your looking for food in the hotel, do Red Sage or the sandwich shop in the casino read more

Not great but not bad either.....it's convenient if you are staying at the hotel otherwise I wouldn't make a trip to visit

Our group of six stayed at the hotel, and chose to have dinner at the Iguana Café. Thanks to Francisco, our questions about the menu were answered, and our drinks were served quickly. We enjoyed a large bowl of Caldo de Mar (seafood soup) and a Farmhouse Salad. So good! The soup was more like a stew, and was loaded with all types of seafood. When we are back in the area, we will definitely eat here again! read more