Las Iguanas - Peterborough — Restaurant in Great Britain

This was a truly bizarre experience. We walked in at 15:40 for a quick bite to eat. The manager on the door told us he had a table for 1hr20mins which was fine as we were only looking for a quick meal. He was pretty pleasant, he sat us down, cleaned our table, left our menus on a different table but not a problem. Our waiter arrived, and this was when the weird and infuriating began. He started my clapping his hands above shoulder level as if he was going to launch in to a flamenco and announced 'we aren't doing walk ins' to which we replied 'it's okay, we sorted it at the door' Him: 'you have 45 minutes' Us: 'we were told 1 hour 20' Him: 'well if you are ready to order I can get the food out in 10 minutes' gestures at my wife, myself and a large M&S carrier bag 'is it just the 3 of you?' Us: 'just two...... that's a carrier bag' So we order and off he trots, 10 minutes later our drinks are ready and a different waitor is bringing them over when our Flamenco bag server intervenes and snaps 'do you even know where they are going?' Causing other waitor to return them to the bar, confused we speak to our guy and say Us: 'they are our drinks' Him: 'yes he knows that' Okay then..... we say nothing and sit and wait for our drinks which are eventually returned. Our food arrives and is perfectly edible, halfway through I order a diet coke and your man asks 'did you get your vanilla martini' I point out I didn't get it and hadn't ordered one. He immediately wanders off without response (presumably to try and work out where the vanilla martini should be heading). Nevertheless my drink eventually arrives so we eat/drink up and are ready to pay the bill when the question comes Him 'how was your visit today' Us (awkwardly British but truthfully) 'it was fine thank you, please could we grab the bill?' Him: 'fine? Why only fine' Us: 'the food was nice' Him: 'so why was it only fine? It doesn't sound like it was only fine, if you enjoyed it then it was good not fine, why did you say fine?' Us: 'actually, we weren't keen on you' Him: 'in what way?' Us: 'well you weren't very polite when we arrived' Him: *huge description of why he wasn't expecting walk ins finishing with 'and THIS is MY section' After a subsequent 3 minute defensive monologue about the internal politics of las iguanas peterborough which still did not include an apology, I suggested he was making it worse and should maybe grab the bill. He returns with the bill - it has an extra diet coke on, which we raise with him Us: we only had 3 diet cokes between us Him: well let's walk through it, all 3 of you had one when you arrived and then you ordered an extra, that's 4 Us: there's only 2 of us (the carrier bag, is still a carrier bag) Him: well I will need to see if my manager is okay if I remove it

He disappears and returns billess but with a card reader ready to go, we ask for the bill.

Some time later we eventually leave, infuriated but humoured. My summary remains that it was fine but with the caveat that the one member of staff was...

If I could rate this restaurant zero stars I absolutely would. Due to the incompetence and attitude of the manager Andrew Taylor I will never be stepping foot in here again. I had arranged our team Christmas meal here and it said nothing about all having to order off the same menu we had people there who were unable to drink to either dietary restrictions and religious purposes. However the server first explained to us that it would not be possible for some to order off the a la carte menu and some to order off the bottomless menu. If this was explained in the t's & C's we would've never gone she wasn't 100% sure why but said the bar staff would get confused and it was busy bare in mind the restaurant was empty at the time. I politely asked to speak to the manager Andrew as I wanted to understand the reason for this and why we were only being told this now rather than upon booking. This is where it gets worse instead of the manager politely explaining the reasons for this which I am still awaiting. He began to raise his voice pointing and shouting in my face with the whole restaurant turning around. I suggested if we could split the table to make it easier he said no. We also suggested if we could have a walk in table which he refused even though it was empty. He then started shouting at me telling me he didn't need to give an explanation for this other than "MY RESTAURANT MY RULES". I personally believe the reason for this was to make more money out of us however we could not justify paying £15 extra than the meal alone which is a measly option of chips or avo on toast hardly a meal in my opinion and unlimited soft drinks he clearly wanted to make more money out of us. If you want to be belittled, embarrassed and brought to tears due to the manager having an absolute god complex then please book in if not I wouldn't waste your time and money. Luckily we were able to get a last minute table at Prezzo next door and I highly recommend. I will never be returning to this establishment and have never been treated so poorly by an absolute jobs worth of a manager...

Oh, let me tell you about Las Iguanas in Peterborough. This place... it's got a special spot in my heart, and I'll tell you why. As an Uber Eats cyclist, you know, my day's all about speed - getting from A to B, delivering hot food while it's still hot. And Las Iguanas? They've got this hot hold area that's, frankly, a thing of beauty. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's one of the best in town.

You see, often, I'm racing against the clock, and every minute counts. But at Las Iguanas, it's like they've got this sixth sense for timing. Most of the time, the order's ready to go the moment I walk in, or I'm just cooling my heels for a brief spell. Time is money, friends, and Las Iguanas respects that. They respect it well.

And the staff? I've got to hand it to them; they're top-notch. Always serving up smiles with the orders, they're friendly, they're helpful, and they've got this dedication to their work that you can't help but admire. Hospitality, in their eyes, is more than just a job; it's a lifestyle. And the way they live it, you can tell they're not just going through the motions. They embody it, and it makes my pickups from there a real pleasure.

Let's talk about the restaurant itself for a sec. Spotless. Every time I've been in, it's like they've got cleanliness down to a fine art. It's something I take notice of, you know? Because it's not just about the food – it's about the whole experience. And I've never, ever had a complaint from a customer about Las Iguanas. Not one. That says a lot, doesn't it?

In a nutshell, we're talking a solid 5/5 for Las Iguanas. They make my job easier, they make our customers happy, and they do it with style. It's about that connection, that chain from their kitchen to the customer's table that we create together. And it's strong, believe me. So here's a big shout out to the crew at Las Iguanas in Peterborough: Thank you, guys. You're doing it right, and together, yeah, we're making every customer's day just a little bit brighter. Keep up the...