Iguana Joes

For every week we are on the island, we tend to spend part of one day downtown.

We always have lunch at Iguana Joe's, partly for the food and partly for watching the action on the street below.

The drinks are great (love the Pink Iguana!) and the portions are BIG so plan accordingly. Try the Keshi Yena (a local specialty) which they do beautifully well. Delicious! I also enjoy the Palm Beach Salad. The best - for me - is if I'm with a friend and we split the salad as a starter and then split the Keshi Yena as a meal. For lunch, this is the perfect amount of food.

Service can be a little inconsistent but never enough to really bother us .... and sometimes it's actually extraordinary.

Decided to stop in for lunch as we had been in there before and had enjoyed ourselves. The place was busy but we got a table by the railing. It seemed extremly noisy with very dirty air coming from all the traffic this time.
The waiter was grumpy with not a single smile. The food, chicken tenders and fries, TERRIBLE. The fingers were over cooked, hard to cut and not that warm. Should have stayed with the chicken wings which were good last time. Would have been better off at Burger King. A shame to waste your money here.

This is a fun casual place right downtown. Grab a seat outside on the deck by the front and people-watch. My wife and I ate there twice, something we try never to do on vacation. It's reasonably-priced and the food's good. The coconut shrimp appetizer was killer. Their ribs ("Best in the Caribbean!") really are pretty terrific. Portions are ridiculously, obscenely huge. I think you get 18 ribs. I ate so much I thought I'd have to be hospitalized and I still left an entire rack. Both times, we didn't make it to dessert. Our server was (I'm going to massacre the spelling) Miragellique, though she goes by "Suri" because she's from Surinam and no one can spell or pronounce her beautiful real name. She was the sweetest, cutest girl ever. We loved her. The only way you'd be disappointed by this place is if you didn't know what to expect, which, after dining there, I find very difficult to believe. Casual dining in a festive, resort-y atmosphere and the food is better than it has any right to be.

Good for people watching and drinks and snacks. Hot sitting here.

We went here on a Sunday night, because 2 other choices we had were closed. Seem like most everything is closed on Sunday. My husband had the west coast curry it was and I had the chicken fajitas they were okay. They taste like what you would get from a chain restaurant. I don’t know if this place is a chain but that is the feel that it had. It was busy.

We went ther on our first trip years ago and it was great. Went back again this year. They tried to pass off their nachos and authentic, NOT! My hubby orderd the Calaloo dip. They brought the dip along with the Nachos, accompanyments for the dip. They tried to tell me that the nachos, sour cream and quacamole were for the dip. The waitress said we had to pay. And she argued with My son and myself. I don't usually care, but when we brought the error to her attention, she said they were really busy in the kitchen, turned and walked away. When our bill came we called for the manager, as she didn't take off of the bill the missing items. Needless to say I didn't leave her a tip (which I never have done! ) I was just really upset. I won't eat there again. So don't waste your time on the food. For Nachos I would rather go to taco bell!

We ate here after reading several good reviews. I thought the food was average and the service was painfully slow. The restaurant was not even crowded and the service took forever. I had their signature nachos which were nothing to write home to mom about. DH had the best burger in the caribbean which was far from that. I did like the atmosphere which was open air in downtown Oranjestad.

Nice restaurant in itself on a hotspot, but if you don't really like a lot of traffic sounds then we wouldn't recommend going here. Service was so-so, a bit hasty and not too interested. My mahi mahi fajita was very good but my husband's steak not that special. Fries with the meals were not particularly good or bad, but the guacamole and sour cream were actually served in an nice way.
My little cousin kept wandering near the balcony which made us feel quite uncomfortable, hence the grade for childfriendliness.

It's a good place for people who like to be in the middle of everything. But I suspect there are other, better places to eat on Aruba...

Good for 'people-watching' down below, but I concur with 'Diane...Victor B' (see below): There are too many quality restaurants on Aruba to waste time & money here. Mediocre food, mediocre service, ok drinks. Ultimately, a 'tourist trap'.

Very disappointed in this restaurant. Service isn't bad, but average. Food was average to slightly below average. Worst margaritas we've every had. Too many quality restaurants on the island to waste time and money here. Casual atmosphere makes it a good choice for kids.