Las Iguanas - Basingstoke — Restaurant in Basingstoke and Deane

Sean's the best bartender I've ever had!

I'm specifically writing this review so that I can get to praise Sean as the best bartender I've ever had because I genuinely think that he is the best bartender I've ever come across - he's good at serving people, knows all the drinks on the menu inside out and is just an all round authentic, humble and down to earth in nature guy. His recommended non-alcohol orange drink for me and mentioned caipirinha plus brahma for other people have never let me down (I appreciated him having taking care of the fact that I don't drink alcohol).

I came in last week for an unplanned catch up with two people and we were looked after by Sean from the bar who was very quick at making our drinks, Louise from the main restaurant area who made us feel special and the manager James who dealt with all our queries. Nothing was too much trouble for them so to speak and I appreciated James genuinely putting up with all my fussy requests e.g. he went to get me ketchup and mayonnaise bottles even though I'd already been given a whole collection of sauces.

I personally had chicken burrito with curly friends and the boys I came in with had tapas foods (prawns and pork) with cocktails. All three of us were super happy food, drinks and service wise - the food tasted great, the drinks went down a treat and the orders arrived without me even realising. I appreciated us getting the undivided attention especially as the restaurant had quite a lot of people inside at the time. I'm a big fan of the fact that the chicken here's halal! I also like the fact that Las Iguanas has made the effort to cater for people with sensitive stomachs with a big selection of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free food menu range.

I've been here before and can honestly say that the guys who work here have been consistently good to me e.g. I've got great experience with Alex and Bozena from the managers team as well (it was great to hear that they've been offered their well deserved promotions recently). Monica, Alysa, Jordan, Charlie and Neill from the bar have always been great to me. Katie, Alissa, Darcy, Michael, Alesha, Feo and Tyrell who've been working as servers have also been lovely. I sincerely appreciate the kitchen guys always saying hi to me through opening above the kitchen counter. The DJs have also been friendly to me in general. The new manager Ross has also made a good first impression on me. (sorry in case I left anyone out by accident).

Something else I appreciate it is that I've never once felt judged for any of my regular but specific chicken burrito (cold), curfly fries and regular french fries (all in double portions) orders (thank you to the whole kitchen team for having taken such good care of me all those times I felt hungry). I've also tried the cheesecake with chocolate sauce which I felt tasted delicious.

Thank you for your time guys - I appreciated...

Spent an hour in there. Food was great and the cocktails we ordered were fantastic but when it came to paying the trainee waitress just couldn't get us through the pay at the table QR code website, for some reason it wouldn't bring up our table order even though she'd done everything she needed to. We did ask to pay by card but was told, by the young lady, that she didn't have a pin to get into the machine. So we were forced to try again with the QR code on the table which wouldn't load properly, even though we were connected to the WIFI. After at least 20 minutes of trying, the young lady went to get what we assumed to be a manager who sat down and tried again with our phone. After explaining to her that we'd been trying for between 20-30 minutes whilst on the WIFI we were told in a very condescending way: "no you haven't you've barely been here half an hour" - this person had also admitted they'd been in a managers meeting prior to this, and were sat away from all the tables of customers - so how were they to know?. We questioned that by them we'd been in there coming on to an hour and had been trying for a good twenty minutes to get the pay at the table function working, to which again we were argued back against. We then asked why we couldn't use the card reader to which we were told "I'm not allowed to give my code to her as it's got managerial functions on it". So we questioned that to which the team member then put our phone down on the table whilst deciding to tell us "I'm sorry but I'm not going to be dealing with you since you're being condescending and difficult" and then proceeded to give the card reader to the young waitress, ready for us to pay up and use. We could have gotten there had the manager, who was very rude, sarcastic and condescending, to us at the table, had just given us the card reader to use and watched us use it. To make our point even more valid there was a couple sat a few tables down who also couldn't get the QR code working on the table and also had to use the card reader. Why did we have to have this attitude from management when they could have just taken card payment? Needless to say we won't be going back. We're thoroughly disappointed with the way we were treated by a manager of all people, absolutely appalling behaviour. AVOID.

Add-On: 21/7/2023 - It's been 5 months since the initial review has been left, and there has been no response from Las Iguanas regarding the way we were treated - even though this review is now public on google under their name. AVOID - there are far better places in Basingstoke, such as Nando's next door to it, or...

Well, what can I say. My daughter chose Las iguanas for her 15th birthday. It started with ordering an alcoholic drink for my other daughter who was 18. After a small request from a waitress to show an ID, the things went downhill. My daughter who is 18 had a photo of her ID on her phone, which would not be accepted by the manager on duty. He did not even try to look at the photo on my daughter's phone, trying to tell me that it's the law in the UK and the restaurant's policy not to accept a photo of an ID to buy an alcoholic drink. I asked him to show me something written, where on their policy it says, that they do not accept a photo of an ID. He nearly laughed into my face, as what I was requesting. Obviously, I wasn't happy and I understand that they have to follow their rules, but could you please, you, the management of the Las Iguanas tell me where does your policy say that, or is it because the manager on duty just felt that he could act the way he did? The manager on duty knew that we were there to celebrate our other daughter's birthday but the way he chose to manage the whole situation was disgraceful. Just to add, that I did let my daughter to drink her cocktail. When the manager saw that the cocktail glass was empty he went to see their camera and when he saw that actually my 18 year old daughter did drink that coctail he politely threw us out of the restaurant. And what a cheek, not only that he literally threw the bill on our table but also added a service charge on it. The girl who served us was lovely and I did apologise for the situation but how can you pay or demand a service charge if the manager's management skills are not existent plus the whole experience was just horrific. You are paying not only for receiving your plate on your table but the whole atmosphere. Whatever you lot say, my daughter was 18 and there isn't any law that says that you cannot use a photo of your ID to buy an alcoholic drink. Dear management of La Iguana in Basingstoke, If you demand that this is your lovely policy, why don't you have that written somewhere on your website or in your restaurant so when requested you can show that to your customer that you do not accept a photo of any ID. Thank you for making my daughter's birthday so special, you really do employ the best...