I usually have the Malibu burger because I'm boring but it's tasted amazing every time. I'm not a burger person and I'm pretty picky about them - but these ones are amazing. I've been here a few times and they've never been below par.
Also, THEIR FRIES ARE AMAZING. I made the mistake once of substituting for onion rings but they only gave me four so...... never again.
The special Heat Wave burger is awesome, the chilies have a spicy bite to it. Seriously, two hours later and I'm still tasting it !!! It's like this constant sensation that's hard to place. Nice touch
The Kilauea burger is wonderful too, less spicy but still a little kick to it.
Sweet potato fries were nice and crispy
For $1.49 extra I substituted normal fries for onion rings and got 4. They were good but seriously ? That's it. I asked about more and our waiter brought 4 more about 10 minutes later. Kind of annoying.
My friend ordered "medium well" for her burger and it was - pink. Hmm
Poor Service Starts at the Top at Islands Restaurants
After experiencing poor quality food and even worse customer service at Islands Restaurant in Irvine I took the time to share my family's experience with the management of the chain on their website. Â I informed the chain that we had experience incompletely prepared salad that when attempted to be corrected still was poor. Compounding this error, the Store Manager never returned to check to see if his 'attempted' corrective action was satisfactory. Â It was not and to add insult to injury, I was charged for a meal that was left un-eaten.
I received an email in response to my contact from the Regional Manager. I provided my cell phone number, expecting a call within 24-48 hours. Â In fact it took many days in fact to be contacted by John Ladd. Â He stated that he set aside time in his schedule to reach out to quality issues raised by customers. Â I think he caught himself when he realized he had taken a long time to respond to me and he stammered for several minutes as to his busy schedule. Â However, he eventually apologized and stated that he would arrange for the Store General Manager to send me a gift card.
Several weeks later, I am still waiting for a letter from the Store General Manager. We used to visit Islands weekly, but for over a month Islands has not received a  visit from my family or friends in the area.  After all does quality service not start at the top?
3 weeks later no further word from our good friends at Islands. Â Great news though, Islands can finally learn how to make fries! All they have to do is go across the street to the Veggie Grill -,amazing quality and does not seem like you are eating old twigs.
Islands is always a good bet if you are in the mood for a burger and fries. Their french fries have yummy seasoning and they have lots of burger options. I also love the passion fruit ice tea that they have.
The little gremmie menu for children is a great value. Overall...a good place to go for inexpensive food.
They have some great M-F lunch deals where the Big Wave with Cheese (their original hamburger) is $7.50 instead of $10. Also, all burgers and sandwiches come with unlimited french fries. YUM!
I hadn't been to Islands for a while. Â After last night, I can't for the life of me figure out why. Â The burger I ordered was prepared to perfection. Â I was in the mood for onion rings and they did not disappoint.
The service was awesome. Â Ashley D was my server. Â I like a lot of ice with my iced tea. Â She not only brought me an additional glass of ice but a glass of just the tea so I could refill as I wanted. Â I drink a lot of iced tea so it probably saved her some trips but I really appreciated her thoughtfulness.
My Mom and I went here for Lunch on a Saturday, was too busy, we sat at the bar. We had their nachos and skinny margarita. The nachos were perfect, sometimes there isn't enough cheese and Islands nachos had enough cheese for every chip, yum. The margarita was good too a little sweet but not too bad.
Review Source:I had one heck of an awesome chicken sandwich.  The TOUCAN is a Grilled chicken breast, pineapple, teriyaki sauce, swiss, lettuce, tomato & mayo on an Islands whole wheat bun and it comes with fresh cut fries.  WOW!  Add a couple large Islands IPA beers and you have my  perfect lunch. Â
I absolutely loved the atmosphere. Â Felt very tropical and inviting with many LCD TV's displaying the surf and snow channels. Â The service was fantastic. Â I wish I could become a regular. Â I love Orange County and I loved Islands!
The server we had was fantasitc. Â The mixed drinks not so much, we even sent them back because the were poured/mixed horribly. Â The server said NP and brought us some beers instead. Â I didn't try their beer because I was so unimpressed with the mixed drinks. Â
The food was very good.  I had a burger (I know not hard to mess up), but this  one was cooked perfect and juicy.  My GF had a salad, that was large, freash and very good.  Forgot what dressing she had but it was very tasty.
WAAAAAAAAY over priced for the quality and the service...I went to the Irvine location off of Barranca. I showed up kind of late 9:00pm to be exact, put my order in right away, I ordered a beginner  salad which was this tiny little salad with wilted leaves for $5...when My $10 burger came in i had to ask for more veggies, they gave me the end of a tomato, just one..a few slivers of onions. For the price I expected more, and when I had come there before last night I had always been really happy with the quality of the food. But after last night you get 1 star. Just one because I will definitely not be back!!!!!! Servers were nice, kitchen kinda sucked.
Review Source:Islands is my favorite burger place in Irvine. Not saying it's the best burgers I've had, but I really like the environment there. The waiters are usually pretty nice and though the service isn't extremely fast, the food is good! I've tried two of their burgers (which are decently sized), the spinach dip, and the chicken tortilla soup and all of it has been enjoyable. I also really like their fries, which are endless (if you get a burger). Islands is good for relaxing weekends, I wouldn't come here for a quick lunch/dinner because the food does take a little while to arrive.
Review Source:I love Islands and the burgers at this chain but I have to give some stars off for the horrible service we received recently. In the past, the food has been pretty consistent. Wait is usually about 10-20 minutes, which I will acknowledge is relatively average. Two stars down for coming in on Valentine's Day at 8:30 PM for dinner and when the restaurant was half empty, still had to wait 30 minutes to be seated. Once we were seated, we sat there waiting for 15 minutes waiting for our server. We figured by then it wasn't worth it and headed to Lucille's at The District which was when our server finally came walked by and said 'Are you sure you want to leave?'
Review Source:I wish I could rate this location less than 1 star, but I can't.
I had a bad experience with them, with their online special things going on. I had a online coupon that was emailed to me since I'm a member of some island club... Brought the digital copy in to show my server and she said she'd have to ask her manager if we could use it.. I went to the restroom for a second and the manager came out, and basically talked down to the other person I was with.
It's not nice when you feel as if you're being talked over or spoken and lectured to. My friend was VERY upset, not because she couldn't use the coupon, but because the customer service was not up to par with any other restaurant. If we wanted to be lectured, we'd call our parents.
Islands management you suck! BUT your servers and food are GREAT! If i could tip the manager or person in charge that night, I'd rate you guys a 0.
DON"T GO HERE.
You can't go wrong with this place. The service is great and there are sports that you can watch with buddies. I also like the environment and I come out satisfied whenever I go here. However, do not get the bleunami burger...they put way too much sauce on mine and it was just not enjoyable...other than that, I feel like the menu is pretty solid. I wouldn't say that the food here is CRAZY good but it's definitely a good bite. I would come here regularly.
Review Source:I had been to Islands numerous times but never realized how good it was. I think fries are really important to me... if a burger joint serves soggy fries, I'm pretty unfavorably biased. And Islands serves soggy fries. Boooo. But the burgers are really yummy!
The one I like is the Kilauea. The meat was really juicy and well cooked. The Island reds (crispy onions strings) and chipotle aioli is what makes the burger. I thought it was a little overly peppery, but it was still very good.
Portions are HUGE, and fries are bottomless. If you get onion rings instead, you get about 4 giant rings.
Stopped here last week for lunch during the week....
We ordered chips and salsa and the chips were a little stale and the salsa was a little... different. Â Not really in a good way, exactly :-/
Our burgers and chicken sandwiches were good... the fries were good... we went a little after 12 noon and there was about a 10 minute wait which can put a snafu in your eating time when you are on an hour lunch break.
I've driven past this Islands soooo many times and finally got to try it last weekend. We walked in and was greeted by a friendly hostess, who asked us to politely told us we could seat ourselves anywhere we'd like. We chose to sit at the bar to watch the Giants game and ordered a few beers to start. The server was nice and pretty attentive, so we ordered some appetizers to go with the beers.
The buffalo wings comes in a chipotle sauce, which was a little too spicy for my taste. It went great with ranch though. And I loveeee how it came with carrots and celery sticks. Yummm!
The onion rings were so bombbbb! They came in a huge portion and were cooked perfectly - crispy on the outside but still onion-y on the inside - just the way I like them!
One of my roommates actually works at this location and brings home food all the time. The onion rings are my favorite, but the cheddar fries are just as amazing. I can't wait to come back to try their burgers!
I know people like this place, but the atmosphere was getting old in the early 1990s. Â Not even trendy tiki, just sponge bob hawaiian stereotype lite. Â
Somehow the servers here are not that friendly. Â Food is just okay. Â I've actually been here 4-5 times and the service has been from poor to just being ignored for long stretches.
So yummy!
I got the Maui burger, medium well, and it was so good. It comes with guacamole on the burger and cheese so it was creamy and delicious every time I took a bite. I asked for no mayo since I figured cheese and guacamole would be enough to make the burger tasty and not dry. Plus, all burgers come with refillable fries!
My boyfriend got the Hawaiian burger and that was good too. It has Teriyaki sauce on it and gives it a unique flavor. For his side, we asked for steamed veggies instead since I got fries already. Other sides you can substitute the fries for include two different kinds of salads. So if you want to cut out the fries, you totally can.
As for the service, it was okay. We were seated right away but our server seemed to space out sometimes. It also took us awhile to find her so we could ask for our bill. Nothing major, we still had a good time and couldn't complain about anything. Overall, a causal and laid back environment.
In conclusion, Islands is a very good restaurant with quality made burgers!
Overpriced but, McDonald's isn't cheap either and the quality & taste of the burgers at Islands is so much higher....The Toucan Chicken Sandwich is the Bomb!
Worth every dollar as far as I'm concerned.....the only complaint I have about the place is the lettuce they use in the salads....get a clue! Iceberg with big chunks of cabbage and carrots? At least throw in a little spring mix and perhaps even some butter lettuce for $11 bones.......lol Overall- I'm hooked on the happy hour cocktails in the bar and my favorite chicken sandwich.....been going there for over 15 years and plan on continuing, lower your prices or come up with some good specials please!
Islands
PROS:
1. beer in nice frosty glasses
2. friendly service
3. TVs everywhere--great for watching sports
4. my fried potato addiction loves endless fries
5. Islands' lunch specials are a good value
6. Right next to the bike trail
CON:
The flavors are a bit unimaginative and boring
As far as chains go, this is one of my favorites and better than most.
I'm giving it four stars because all the times I'v been, I've had great and friendly service. It's also one of the few places where you can get a fix for your pineapple craving!
The burgers are all big and really flavorful. Endless fries is always a plus. The salads are also great if you want something lighter. I also love the passion fruit iced tea and the mixed drinks.
Islands is pretty righteous!
Out of the countless times that I have been here, I have never seen someone finish their entire meal (burger and fries). It doesn't look too big but the food is super filling. I've tried many burgers here: the hula, maui, big wave, Hawaiian, and maverick burger. My favs would probably be either the maui or the maverick burger. The maui burger is super delicious with ooey gooey guacamole goodness and swiss cheese, while the maverick burger is good if you enjoy a bbq burger because it's got the goods with BBQ sauce and onion strings. The maverick burger is probably my favorite BBQ burger because normally other places put way too much barbeque sauce but Islands does it perfectly.
The drinks look really good, but I personally have never tried one of their smoothies or specialty drinks (except for their frozen coke with lime which was amazing!) because they're all around $5-9 which is kind of pricy. Plus I need to save my calories to devour this meal. I've tried their chicken strips and nachos. The chicken strips were your typical pieces of fried chicken strips. And the nachos were good - came with melted cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, and we paid extra for guacamole. It's a super big appetizer, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend getting appetizers because your meal is so big already you won't be able to finish it. I wouldn't really recommend getting their other entrees besides their burgers. I mean you should get what this place is known for! But I heard that almost all of the burgers at ISLANDS are over a thousand calories or near it. YIKES!
So come here when you want a big, hearty meal. I normally get my burger medium well, cut it in half as soon as I get my food, and am full with half of that burger and some of my fries. Their onion rings and fries are endless and both are delicious! I always have a hard time choosing which to get. When you get onion rings though, you only get a few but they're gigantic! And I guess you can always ask for more if you want but usually everyone's too stuffed to ask for more onion rings or fries. The burgers are all unique and great tasting! It's usually never busy.
I even came here yesterday when they were giving free mavericks burgers if you brought a picture of a maverick wave, and we were still seated right away. However, I went at 4:30pm and some of my friends who went at 6:30pm were turned away because it so busy and full that they wouldn't get their food before closing. But whatevs, everyone went because it was free yesterday and they only give out free burgers once a year so there most likely won't be a wait! So go ahead and try their delicious burgers. Just make sure to wear sweatpants or something because if you finish your meal you're definitely going to need to unbutton a button or pass out in food coma once you're at home!
The fries here are better than their burgers. I mean I'm giving this place 1 extra star because of the sheer awesomeness that is their fries. I usually prefer the thicker fries, but if I have to eat thin fries, Island's fries take it all. Their Island Fries are ENDLESS. Totally crispy and with ketchup or ranch you really can't go wrong. I could make a meal on just these fries.
I find the burgers to be way too big and a little too greasy. When I'm feeling like I need to eat massive loads of meat with my hands, I come to Islands with my siblings. I get the Hula burger and it comes with lots of sautéed mushrooms, tomato, lettuce, lots of swiss cheese and mayo. But I've tried a lot of the other burgers here too and they are all pretty tasty.
The service is a hit or a miss. Sometimes it's really great, and other times it is just plain terrible. Sometimes you're going to have to wait a LONG time, other times you don't have to wait at all. It fluctuates quite a bit. But in the end you're going to get a big, thick, juicy burger and delicious fries. Yum. 4/5
This place serves up some real solid burgers!
I usually get the Maui burger (medium well please). It's always cooked the way I want and the guacamole and Swiss cheese makes for some seriously burger-gooey goodness. I love the fries when they come out piping hot and the side of ranch makes it so hard not to eat the entire basket!
My husband and I recently went for their Happy Hour and the cheese quesadilla was a real treat for only $2.95. The sliders were meh. If you aren't into their burgers, try to go to Happy Hour so you can nom on their fries or quesadillas!
Boyfriend SWORE by their fries so we went. I haven't been to an Islands in a LONG time. Looks like they rid of their tacky Hawaiian shirts/khaki pants combo. But the kitsch hawaiian decor still remains. I substituted my meat for turkey on the HULA
(Sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, swiss & mayo). Huge portions. Lots of mushrooms. Yum.
And the verdict on fries? BOMB. Only 'cause they're really crispy. I still like my potatoes with a more potato on them (aka fat fries).
Service wasn't too great. I saw everyone else's server at least 3 times more than I saw our server.
I probably won't be back because there are other places with amazing fries/better burgers.
I love Islands!! Â They make delicious burgers ... nice, greasy, and fatty :)
I normally get the Bluenami (blue cheese hence the name) or the Kilauea  which has jalapeno jack cheese!  Throw in a little of their bottomless fries and I am a happy camper.
I've had both the Kona Pie and Chocolate Lava... both are yummy.
My regular burger places are Islands (greasy) or the Counter (healthy grass fed)
I met a bunch of co-workers at this Islands. There were 13 of us and, knowing this was a rather large party, I called to let them know we'd be coming at 1:30pm as a courtesy "heads up" (they don't take reservations). The fellow who answered the phone told me that it wouldn't be a problem, the crowd should be cleared out by then and we shouldn't have a wait. We arrived and - surprise! - were told it would be at least half an hour. Â We discussed possibly going to a different nearby restaurant but decided to stick it out for a little while. Fortunately they called our group in only 10 minutes.
We stuffed ourselves into the clown-car-booth. It was tight yet comfortable (just barely). Our server was very efficient and friendly. Each order was taken and delivered in a timely manner. I got a burger special: the Point Break burger which had gruyère & bleu cheeses, caramelized bacon & onion relish, lettuce, tomato & mayo on a wheat bun. It came with fries.
I enjoyed the burger a lot. The cheeses were subtle did not overwhelm the burger flavor. I also liked the fries which were crunchy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside.
It was a fun meal with lively conversation. I really felt the attentive service we were provided contributed to the overall good time.
This place has been around for a looong time. Â It has nourished me at times during my college years, and now it nourishes my 2 kids when I'm feeling lazy (hot diggity damn, I'm old).
I mostly order takeout now, so I can't comment on how their service is nowadays, but their food is decent. Â I really like their Wiqui Waqui BBQ Chicken Salad. Â Who would've thought that BBQ sauce and ranch dressing go together? Â Sometimes I get a half order of this salad and add a small tortilla soup, or just do the salad alone. Â The Yaki soft tacos are good too. Â It's Japanexican. Â Or Mexicapanese? Â I don't know, but somehow the teriyaki sauce and pineapple work as a soft taco. Â Their cheddar fries are also good (get it with ranch dressing), and the portion is pretty generous that you can split it between 2~4 people (depending how much your party eats). Â Sometimes, they overcook the fries though. Â Their burgers and chicken sandwiches are decent as well. Â I wouldn't say the kids' menu is healthy, but you can choose carrot sticks or apple sauce as a side instead of fries.
If I had to choose a family-friendly restaurant, I'd probably go with Red Robins or Ruby's, but this place offers slightly different menu items that make me detour from time to time.
I'm surprised people crap on this place. Â Who cares what the attire is.
Is it authentic Hawaiian food? Â No. Â They don't represent themselves as such.
This place has a good selection of  burgers, tacos, and salads.
My kids love the Yaki tacos. Â I love the North Shore tacos.
Who doesn't like the Island Fries?
It's a convenient place to get a good meal. Â I've probably eaten here 100 times over the years, and I've never had a bad experience here.
Is the best food, no, but it really serves us right.
I like the ambiance in any Islands and the somewhat funny staff uniforms :-)
I also like their wheat buns, but the burgers are a lil too oily sometimes and not consistent. The fries is mushy and doesn't taste as good, I like MC Donald's fries much better.
Their salads are just OK and the service needs a big improvement. But maybe we shouldn't expect more of a burger chain?
3.5 stars
Islands is strange to me, because they don't include fries with their burgers, and that is really upsetting... but I've been here far too many times, it's like an Irvine/ Woodbridge staple food, so i can't help but attach good feelings to this place.
I went here last night with my friends family and got the Chicken tortilla soup, which I hadn't had in years, and I loved it just as much as I remember!!!
Pretty decent service, except the awkward host who said "wait here, follow me"
but it was funny nonetheless...
Don't recommend the turkey burger, it had a very strange taste!!!! Nothing to do with the taste I flung up the ketchup bottle knocking the turkey burger into my friends plate, and the mustard on my lap and purse. Fun
For years, I have heard from friends about how good Islands' burgers are. Â For years, I just never had the chance to try it for myself. Â I told Dr. P that I really want to try Islands, and he took me there for lunch on a Wednesday. Â The restaurant has a tiki style decoration. Â Cute!
We studied their menu online before heading over to the restaurant. Â But they never mentioned anything about lunch special on their website. Â Lunch special is $7.95, which also include their Endless Mug drink. Â That's a deal!
Right after ordering, our waiter started bringing us our drinks. Â I got Passion Fruit Iced Tea, which is an unsweetened tea. Â Dr. P got Nestea Raspberry Iced Tea. Â I love my passion fruit iced tea. Â Our waiter just kept on bringing the ice tea mug after mug. Â It was a hot day, and we both had 4 mugs of iced tea!
Dr. P loves Tortilla Soup. Â He started the meal with a small bowl of it. Â I had a sip and it was pretty good.
Dr. P got the Big Wave Burger. Â It was a simple cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. Â He ordered the beef patty to be cooked medium, on wheat buns. Â The meat has to be super fresh for them to offer it medium. Â The burger was simple, but really good.
I got CA Flyer Chicken Burger. Â By the way, we love their endless fries. Â It was crunchy with perfect seasoning. Â The best part, it's all you can eat! Â The grilled chicken breast was so tender and juicy. Â I always wonder how restaurants cook their chicken breasts so perfectly. Â But a lot of times when I cook it at home, it turned out to be dry, or undercooked..... Â The chicken burger was very good. Â I like the texture of the soft chicken meat with crunchy onion string. Â Just half a burger, I was already really full. Â Or maybe it was that 4 glasses of iced tea that got me full?
There are so many different burgers I want to try from Islands. Â I'm sure we'll visit again real soon.
Went here over the Xmas holidays with a few friends. Â They used to like the place but hadn't gone here in awhile. Â You go in and it's that cheesey Hawaiian decor, but they know it. Â It's like the Elephant bar in the late 90s when they were too gimmicky and had all sorts of weird jungle crap.
The burgers are pretty good and large.  The three of us got a Hawaiian, a Rincon, and a Kilauea (kill-uh-WAY-uh).  The Kilauea is a jalapeno and  black pepper crusted burger w/pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli, lettuce,
tomato & seasoned red onion strings. Pretty good and pretty bad for you.
The place is definitely for groups and families and the service is nice. Â It's definitely up there on the high 3s, but it's certainly not a 4.
Come here at least once if you're in the area. Â All in all a good experience.
I'm always happy after a meal at Islands! Â Tonight we went and used my birthday coupon good for a free entree and dessert. Â I got the yaki soft tacos (teriyaki chicken with pineapple, tomatoes, and lettuce in flour tortillas), and of course, a basket of fries. Â No one can resist the fries. Â The server asked if we wanted Ranch dressing, and it was a tasty combination.
For dessert we got the Chocolate Lava. Â A huge chocolate brownie covered in hot fudge and topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream...what's not to like? Â I let BF eat the dairy products, and I was in heaven just eating part of the brownie with fudge. Â YUM!
If you haven't signed up for Tiki Link, what are you waiting for?  Go to <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islandsrestaurants.com&s=94c8411b600ef698f780837d7d14961ab3026345c4325b592e5121f345d9dc06" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.islandsrestau…</a> and sign up yourself and your whole family.  Free food for your birthday can't be beat!
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