Iberia Tavern & Restaurant

I gave it 1 star but I would give it a negative if I could ! Everything was over cooked and dried out. The only thing any good was the wine ! Even the Crème Brûlée was frozen ! How does that happen? Kitchen nightmare should come here and straighten it up ! Nothing worse than paying for a dinner when you are so disappointed!

Wow, mom always told me to be nice. What I can say is that before going to Pru for a concert, we had dinner here. they have parking which is validated after dinner. Lot easier than parking close to Pru Center and $ 10 parking was rebated after dinner. Five minute walk to the arena. If I say more, mom wouldn’t be pleased. :)

Iberia Tavern & Restaurant is OFF THE HOOK!!! My girlfriend suggested coming here because she thinks they serve some really awesome lobster.
My girlfriend and I both ordered 2 lb. lobsters. I got mine with garlic sauce and she got hers steamed with butter on the side.
OH!!! My Lobster with Garlic Sauce was AMAZING!!! The 2 lb. Lobster was huge. Big huge pieces of lobster meat. It was juicy, plump, and the flavors were melting in my mouth. It also comes with a side of rice. The rice itself is very flavorful, but if you dump some garlic sauce on top of it… oh boy. very good plate of rice. It is a messy dish, but I didn’t care because I was loving my lobster and determined to eat all of it.
My girlfriends Steamed Lobster was just as amazing, but less of a mess. Her lobster was very delicious, huge, juicy, plump, and flavorful.
We also shared a Portuguese Broiled Sausage, which was had a good savory flavor and taste. Not overly salty. Just the right amount.
For dessert we had the Cantaloupe Sorbet. I liked how it’s served on top of an actual cantaloupe. Very good suggestion of a dessert to end your meal. I like the natural sweetness of the cantaloupe.
Steamed or with Garlic Sauce. You could not go wrong with it. Both equally was amazing and delicious. Huge plate of lobsters. You will be so satisfied with your lobster meal. For the price you can’t complain about it. Our 2 lb lobsters were $ 27.95 and $ 24.95 each. WHAT!!!
Now my review sounds like 5 stars and the lobster were 5 stars, but the service was a bit so-​so.
Parking is $ 5. Bring your parking lot ticket to the restaurant and they will deduct $ 5 off your bill, so basically the parking is free.
LOBSTER HEAVEN!!! I am DEFINITELY coming back here.

This place is filthy and disgusting. I was there two weeks ago the food was gross we had the rodizio what they brought out I wouldn’t serve to a dog. The meet was old and over cooked my sister-​in-​law I had the paella it was dry and disgusting. This place is a roach infested disgusting restaurant never again!

I went last night with my boyfriend around 10pm. We ordered a clams in garlic sauce and the chicken and ribs special that came with shrimp and garlic sauce.
The chicken special was delicious and a very nice serving. We took some home.
The clams were Terrible. I really did not want to send them back because the server was already so rude to us. I am a bartender and know it has to suck to be In your fifties and serving twenty somethings.
So when he came to finally ask us if we were ready for our bill, he didn’t ask about the full plate of clams still sitting untouched. I said the clams weren’t good you might want to tell the cook– they’re not fresh. He looks at me and says this is what you ordered. I replied listen I’m not asking you to take it off the check– I could but I’m not. I’m just telling you they are NOT fresh, they are rubbery and uneatable. He didn’t take it off the bill and we still tipped over 20% because it has to suck to be in your fifties and serving me on a Friday night at 10 pm.
Stay away from this restaurant. It’s hit or miss and it’s not worth the money.

Awesome place awesome food! We went here fir a Sunday brunch, actually traveling from New York to go here because we heard it was really good. I had the steak and shrimp lunch special and my parents and their friends shared the seafood platter. The food was so awesome and the servings were crazy! I couldn’t even finish the steak. It was good but nothing special, the seafood were really delicious tho and the service was pretty awesome.

Amazing atmosphere! The portions are huge! Consider sharing something so you can have room for desserts and coffee afterwards. We came in on a Saturday it was crowded but very good service. No rush to feed you and put you out! We will most assuradely be back!

We enjoyed our time here. Red sangria was delish! We always order garlic shrimp to compare and we loved the fact that iberia’s garlic sauce was very garlicky which was really good! But, the shrimp was overcooked. We also ordered the lobster in garlic sauce and the stuffed salmon — both great choices and delicious. Would’ve given 5 stars had the shrimp were cooked perfectly and if one if our waters didn’t come with a bug inside. Other than that, will probably come back again.

Love this place! For price, quantity, and quality it’s a home run. Chilean sea bass absolutely delicious — you can ask for it pan seared. Great ambience and friendly wait staff. Dessert menu is varied and delicious. Sangria is decent. Great place to bring a date on a weekend night.
Only down side is you need a car to get there.

Always great food here and I’ve been here twice now. Got the Ribeye the first time and Lamb Rack this time. Came on a Monday night and there was no wait to get in. There were a few other parties seated so it wasn’t dead. Service was good and attentive. Meat was made right to perfection since I ordered medium. The food isn’t too salty and they give you loads of food.
Ribeye — 24 oz is good enough for two people at a reasonable price too. The center is meaty and towards the fat is where the flavor is at — smokey, juicy, loads of flavor.
Rack of lamb — 6 pieces of lamb made medium just right. Loads of flavor right to the bone and it comes with a bunch of rice and fries as well.
Overall, I’ll come back for parties or for a nice dinner. They have parking across the street for free too.

This was one of the best dinner date experiences of my life!
We began with the white sangria and the raw clams which were beyond fresh in the off season.
The service was amazing as soon as we finish the last piece of bread that was a server was the new basket waiting for us!
The Rodizio is a MUST! One would be crazy not to order this for only 27 $ you get endless meats cooked to perfection. The lamb was the best I have ever had, followed by steak, chicken, sausage, roast beef, prime rib. On top of all these high quality meats they give you a large portion of rice beans collard greens and french fries!
Let’s just say I was in a euphoric food coma! I cannot wait for an occasion to come up so I can experience this amazing place again!

This was the worst dinning experience I have ever had. My food never came out after waiting for 1 hour
The sangria was watered downed, the service was terrible and very slow I had to ask for the waiter several times and the service was not on point. They never checked on us to verify if we received out meal.

I have been eating at Iberia and Iberia Peninsula since the latter was called Costello’s back in the early 80s. These are massive, kitschy restaurants, decorated with nautical tsotchkes and serving very pedestrian Portuguese fare in massive quantities. Service is fairly attentive but if you’re looking for warm and friendly waiters, you should probably look elsewhere. They are, however, very old school and wear tuxedos.
Went there last Friday and their food, the only reason I make the trip there, has gone downhill in a very big way. I ordered the stuffed lobster platter which formerly consisted of twin lobsters stuffed with lobster and crab meat but has now moved on to a single lobster stuffed with mostly bread crumbs. But where they really lost the ball was on their potatoes. Portuguese restaurants are famous for many things, among them are their homemade potato chips. I look forward to them and have for many years. Needless to say, I was more than mildly surprised when my lobster was accompanied by french fries, and not very good ones, at that.
There are many, many massive Portuguese restaurants in The Iron Bound. All of them exist on a simple premise. Offer really good food, in massive quantities at decent prices. With so much competition, I am really surprised that Iberia would mess with the formula in such an obvious way. I think next time, it’s back to Fornos. Oh well…

This used to be my favorite restaurant but over the years their quality has gotten worse. The paella I had the last two times I ate here was sub par and had lobster which was inedible. Mixed with the rice were guts from the lobster and bones making it one of the worth paella’s I have ever had. This is the place that made me love Portuguese food growing up so it makes me very sad to see the place go so down hill.
Their portions have shrunk also.
The outside atmosphere is great but you can get better food on ferry street.

Average as far as rodizio is concerned. Best part of the meal was the price.
No free refills, which in my cheap opinion is absurd. All you can eat meat and wash it down with… water, unless you want to pay out the nose for anything else.
3 stars for the particularly rude wait staff. Our waiter acted as if we were bothering him every single time we asked for anything, and that wasn’t much.
I once made direct eye contact with him and he turned his back on me and continued talking to another waiter. I had to get up and approach him to ask for water, which we had all been out of for at least 10 minutes. He acted again as if I was bothering him. Then the bus boy paced behind our table until we were finished eating and the restaurant wasn’t even closed.
The food was not good enough to bring me back. Probably won’t return.

went here for a friend’s birthday. ordered the seafood combo which was very good. came with a side of yellow rice which was also good. The portions are huge.
According to the Unilocal reviews the Sangria is a must have so we got the white and Red Sangria which was good.
the staff was very attentive being that it was Saturday night and the place was packed.
They have two different rooms. One seems to be for more intimate dates and the other is for larger groups.
Parking: They have parking which we paid $ 10 for but at the end of your meal just give them your parking ticketing and they will remove the $ 10 from the bill.

This place is completely overstaffed. The staff was hovering over me like hawks. They weren’t rude or anything but when you overly try to make your guests feel comfortable, we start to get a little … uncomfortable.
The food here is okay. I’d stick to the seafood when ordering. The prices are more than reasonable for the seafood dishes and its cooked rather good. The other dishes, in my opinion, are average and overpriced. My point: don’t order chicken. On the bright side, the portions are generous and the sangria is great. I just personally think there are better places to visit in the Ironbound for the price you pay at Iberia.

Great food and great environment
Diego was a great waiter and made sure everything was at our likings

I’ve been coming to the Iberian Tavern for 25 years and it has never let me down.
Way back when; this was my date destination where you could get a cozy table for two and find privacy in the crowd. Now I come here every time I travel east, usually with my kids in tow; what a funny twist!
Décor is old school and has changed very little in all the years I’ve been visiting but it works. Brick walls and rough cut wood beams give a cool authentic feel.
Everything here is good. My go to appetizers are the Mussels in Marinara and Steamers both are absolutely huge, fresh and delicious (use the Portuguese Bread to soak up the broth… OMG!). My go to entrees are the Mariscada in Red Sauce and the Clams & Pork. But honestly everything here is great.
Service is good although slow but there is no reason to rush at The Iberia, order some sangria and chill.
Cheers,
Jim

Bottom line? Our party of 20 enjoyed huge platters of seafood, rice, pitchers of white and red sangria, glasses of port, and Spanish coffees for about $ 40 a man.
I thought the service was pretty good –our server was very patient when we asked him about the different sauces on the Mariscada platters, he recommended some dishes and steered us away from others. I had no complaints about the service at all.
So now on to the food –the portions really are huge, as so many reviewers have noted. I had a Mariscada Em Salsa Verde –a green pesto sauce. Clams, mussels, shrimps, scallops, and lobster. No veggies here– just a huge platter of mixed seafood served with an equally huge platter of rice.
I was satisfied with the quality and taste of my dish. Was it the greatest seafood I ever had in my life? No, but at $ 22.95 I thought it was a pretty great value. My wife had the Camarao a Guilho (Shrimp in garlic sauce) for $ 20.50. The shrimps were on the small side, but there was a ton of them and she said they tasted fine.
Dinners are served with nice loaves of soft bread and a nice green salad.
I’ve never been to Newark before so I can’t comment on the relative quality of Iberia compared to the many Portugese restaurants in the Ironbound. But I thought that Iberia gave us a solid meal and a good value.