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Evolution of the Iguana

The Green Iguana has expanded to the beach, sort of - Courtney Campbell Parkway - and it's a good good place for a good drink. Food is another matter.

TAMPA - I've always been partial to bars with decent food. Not great food, and even good food would be beside the point.

But food - a menu at least as long as the vodka list - is what gives a bar longevity. Any time you find a bar older than the legal drinking age, say, El Cap in St. Petersburg or little VIP Lounge on Treasure Island, you can bet that the nourishment isn't all liquid.

Maybe it started as a way to build midday traffic, although years ago, many folks weren't shy about drinking lunch. For whatever reason, there was a corner or back room where a cook and a dishwasher knocked out burgers, chili, fries and eventually chicken breast sandwiches.

The Green Iguana started out that way almost 15 years ago in a divey spot on the lesser reaches of West Shore Boulevard. The guys who put it together followed the old formula: food as well as drink at modest prices. The cheeseburger was a half-pound of ground beef with three slices of cheese. Plus, there was live music, good, bad and ugly.

By 1995, the Iguana had expanded into a choicer location, Ybor City. This spring the Iguana evolved further and made a home for itself on the beach.

Well, it's actually that little stretch of sand off the Courtney Campbell Parkway, but Rocky Point has counted as a waterfront pleasure for a long time, with old-timers such as the Rusty Pelican and the newer hot spot Bahama Breeze.

The newest Iguana is a casual homegrown bar that fits into the neighborhood fine, and if you can fit in, you're darned lucky. Technically, the Iguana's space is the thatched roof beach bar for a Days Inn, but it sprawls over enough space for two more bars and another stage inside, probably room for 250, and it's all packed. On Wednesday night, the weekend has started, half a dozen valets are jumping, and security's got its headsets on. On Friday the crowd starts building at 3 p.m.; Sunday, it's earlier.

Some folks show up with sand in their flip-flops, but much of the casual is carefully studied: the men in fitted ball caps, some of the women in the kind of newsboy caps that J.Lo favors.

The scene behind the bar is just as frantic but always friendly. This is not the spot for single malt tastings, but the imaginative mixology goes all the way to Red Death shooters.

The Iguana doesn't juggle food as well as its drinks. Some great beer food is here; the onion straws are world class crispy strands of batter around a sweet onion. And the burgers are monstrous. But three slices of processed stuff melted together only proves how tasteless this kind of "cheese food" is. The "stank" burger with blue cheese and onion is more like it, but even an ordinary cheddar would have three times the flavor. Despite its size, lettuce and tomato (good ones, hooray), the burger still lacks a piquant punch: Put a pickle in it. The Iguana's chili is an old bar standard, too, a sturdy bowl of red that tastes as if it could have been simmering for days.

The Iguana loses its way when it dabbles in tropical fern bar fare. For carbophobes there are various "bowls" of greens and proteins. Plus, there's a bizarre rule that that tuna and steak in the salads must be cooked to medium doneness, according to the menu and the servers. Where's the thrill of the grill in that? If it's a health worry, I'm back to a steak sandwich, which the kitchen will cook the way you like it.

I'd like to see a a few more sandwiches, and they needn't be fish or even warm; a stack of ham on rye with some fries is always welcome.

Descriptions are more ambitious than the plates, with promises of mixed greens and fire-roasted tomatoes that don't always show up. There is mango mayo for the mahi mahi and Caribbean fire in the sauce for the conch fritters, but the flavors could be more pronounced. The best mouthful of flavor is the black bean salad dressing: beans, sour cream and vinegar pureed. Have it on anything you can.

The Iguana is making a valiant attempt at vegetarian options, such as a mushroom wrap with wild rice, hummus and balsamic vinegar, as well as a hummus appetizer.

As for desserts, the fried cheesecake in a tortilla is too much like an egg roll. Better to stick with a cobbler; the apple came with plenty of cinnamon and caramel.

So it may not be easy, but you can teach an old Iguana new tricks. I just want it to remember those perfected in barroom kitchens for generations.

7627 W Courtney Campbell Parkway, Tampa

(813) 288-9076 Also 4029 S West Shore Blvd., Tampa, (813) 837-1234 and 1708 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City, (813) 248-9555. Hours: 11 to 3 a.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 3 a.m Sunday.

Prices: $5.95 to $8.95.

Details: Smoking outdoors; credit cards taken; live music.