La Iguana Azul

Great authentic tacos. Try the al pastor, barbacoa and chorizo. Definitely a new go to spot. Very nice people as well.

I ordered delivery from here and it was great! all of the food was hot and everything tasted extremely fresh. I ordered chicken enchiladas, chorizo quesadillas, pork tacos, and a chicken burrito for 2 people. We ordered it online also which was very easy and everything came correctly. It is also very authentic tasting– not an American Mexican place. Will definitely be ordering from them again.

Atmosphere goes from fully stocked deli to a small cozy dining/​bar area in the back. The service, and who I imagine was the owner were all so nice.
Most importantly. Food was delicious! We had the el pastor and the bandera tacos! Give it a go. What a lucky thing to have in Great kills!

I have ordered take out here twice, the owner is friendly and curtious. The first time I had a chicken torta which was very good, the second time i ordered chicken tacos that were great. I’m looking forward to trying more of their goodies.

Traditional Mexican food with different moles and all reasonably priced. I’ve ordered the chicken enchiladas with green sauce at least 7 times. Its always the same quality and I enjoy it very much. After lunch the place can have lots of dishes that need to be cleared but generally the service is good. I’ve only had bad service one time when I had to wait at least ten minutes for a menu. Otherwise the staff is friendly and courteous. With very few good food choices in Staten Island I’m glad to have found this place!

I’ve only ordered takeout, so I can’t comment on cleanliness. They are traditional Mexican, not Mexican American fare. They are reasonably priced, however, inconsistent. Their food is flavorful and always cooked correctly, but the portions have differed. I’ve ordered the steak burrito twice. First time it was hearty, and with the ingredients distributed. Nothing worse than biting into a burrito to only get sour cream your first bite, and only lettuce your second. Second time, it was literally half the size and I was still hungry after ordering. Totally disappointed. I’ve also ordered tacos countless times, usually with a nice helping of meat. There have been occasions, though, were it looks as if the meat is particularly scarce. Considering traditional Mexican tacos only consist of meat and a sprinkle of raw onion and cilantro, with little to no meat, I’m paying $ 2.50 a taco for a corn tortilla.

We have been on a localized mission to find some good Mexican and Hispanic places around Staten Island of late. Having sampled so many other types of cuisine in the NY/​NJ area, we have returned to looking for some good value, tasty, and fresh, South of the Border fare that fill me up without breaking the bank.
On Staten Island, there is a quickly growing, Mexican population that expanded throughout the North Shore, but that is now growing further out on the South Shore of SI. With diversity I hope comes great places to eat, so we search for something more authentic, & a cut or two above, Pico’s, Chevy’s, or Moe’s!
Enter:
LA IGUANA AZUL (The Blue Iguana) of Great Kills!
We ate here 2X (with unfortunately, two much different results, which made for deciding on a rating, difficult, so I averaged the two ratings.
It is great to have a fairly authentic Mexican in Great Kills & in all fairness, both times we came here for dinner, it was instantly clear that they are a work in progress (attempting to expand from a Hispanic run grocery store/​deli, to a real attached restaurant in the back!) If they wish to do more than provide a lunch stop for mostly hard-​working Mexican brethren, they will definitely need to fine-​tune their dining protocols!
I order for 2, what most would order for 4 (I like to sample as much of what they have to offer, as possible!)
1^st. time we swung in, at 7:30 PM for dinner, 4 weeks ago. This was the good experience. There was a little parking lot adjacent to the entrance that we pulled right into. A young man from the deli-​side sat us right away & made recommendations. They were still doing work on the place (tools and loose hardware about) but again, a work in progress. The place could have been a little cleaner (there were still crumbs & dirty napkins on some of the tables from the prior lunch crowd & floor needed to be swept. The large flat screen was on blaring cable news, I tried switching to a music channel that played Latino, for a ambiance, they didn’t get that.
We asked for some Guacamole (which came out, 1^st visit, chunky & fresh as it should be.) When we asked if it came with chips, he brought some out, no additional change. Many small Mexican lunch places, when asked for Guacamole, give you a green blended avocado sauce that workers drip over their lunch, but when ordered on its own for dinner, any better, real restaurant will serve a barely mixed, fresh chunky style (a little onion, cilantro, perhaps salsa, sea salt, pepper, a dash of lime juice.) Don’t need it mixed in a Molcajete stone (but that would be nice!)
Marie had a chicken Burrito (first visit: nice amount of tender chicken & overall very large size) & Grilled chicken with sides, all not bad.
I had 3 Tacos (chicken, tongue, & steak) all authentically done, with meat fairly good. I also had my favorite:
De Mole o Verdes Enchiladas, I truly love a well made Mole sauce & this one was not bad! I ordered a side of Quesillo (I love cheese) & a large portion was brought out to me (really a great deal for only $ 1 extra.)
We had 4 entrees (I wanted to order the Pechuga de Pollo-​chicken breast for Marie, but he said it would take an hour, so she went for grilled cutlets.)
Everything came with much rice & beans. I ordered Flan (which I could have skipped, from deli fridge & not fresh) The 1^st visit, we spent about $ 50 & were happy.
WE RETURNED YESTERDAY AROUND 4:30:
This time, the private lot had cars in it from people hanging-​out in the deli-​side & we had to feed the meter, we walked in, the place was filthy. with a couple of girls on scene & 3 guys plus kitchen staff, but nobody cleaned the crumbs, dirty napkins, & filthy assorted items left over from prior dinners. TV blaring, we sat ourselves & nobody came over for quite awhile, even though a couple of times, staff came out of the kitchen (whose door was propped open with a fire extinguisher so that one could see into a dirty kitchen right next to the dining room tables) and walked passed us on the way to the deli side.
Finally a friendly young man with black glasses, offered us paper menus (that had food stuck to them) & asked if we wanted something to drink (I found out last time that they do not offer diet versions of their Snapple & other drinks, so since I am diabetic & don’t like diet cola, we ordered two waters.) He brought 2 bottles (we asked & got some glasses/​ice.) The Chicken Mole was still good, but the Guacamole was a runny sauce (when we asked for chips, they came, a few greasy chips, when the meal was over & they charged us $ 6.95 for a «Guacamole platter!» Marie’s Burrito was smaller & hardly had any chicken in it & all the chicken, including the grilled, was very dried-​out & overcooked. The guy with glasses was very friendly, but we should have told him the truth, that the food was mostly lousy this time!) Again came to almost $ 50, but we were not happy & only ate it all because we were famished! It’s a shame, so much potential!