Arrived and waited over 5 minutes for someone to even come to the front to be seated, I had to flag someone down to check us in. Waiter was horrible and food came wrong, and cold! Child's drink was wrong, this was a VERY unpleasant experience and I would NOT go back. Did ask to speak with the mananger, who was somewhat helpful and did say he was sorry, but I would never go back to this location
Review Source:Food = 2 stars. Â Service when correcting the problem = 4 stars. Â Average = 3 stars.
I had been craving a burger for some time and finally decided to indulge the craving with an order of mini-sliders. Â My husband opted for the pipe-line burger. Â Both were ordered as a carry-out (which greatly increases the opportunity for disappointment). Â Anyway, the sliders come with ketchup and caramelized onion. Â When we got home I found 4 sliders with ketchup but no onion. Â When a menu item has only 2 ingredients, it's kind of a big deal when one of those ingredients is left out. Â In addition, my husband felt that his burger was just "whatever". Â Islands used to be his favorite spot for burgers but the quality is not as it once was. Â
I called the restaurant and the manager offered to remove the charge for the sliders from the bill. Â I do appreciate that and it did happen so kudos to them. Â
Sadly, I'm still craving a burger that will satisfy.
Decent.
Meh beer selection. Very lacking vegan menu, but they were very nice about trying to help me navigate through the menu. I ended up with the veggie tacos, no cheese. They were pretty good.
We were of course on our way to a movie and late. They got us our food and bill pronto.
I don't see myself going back because of the lack of vegan options, but they tried for what it's worth.
As a note to vegans, if I remember correctly their veggie burger has egg in it.
Five Stars goes out to Islands Restaurant - mainly for one reason - Server Rebecca!!!
I came here for lunch with one of my lunch colleagues today. Â We walked in the door and Server Rebecca greeted us with huge hugs and well wishes. Â My table mate knew her well and they made us feel like family!
I again, ordered the Hula Burger with cheddar cheese. Â I ordered it medium rare and it was perfectly cooked! Â It was pink/red on the inside and charred on the outside. Â It was served with mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese. Â Delish! Â The order came with AYCE fries. Â Recommendation: Â GET THE RANCH DRESSING!!! Â Fries with ranch is the bomb here at Islands! Â Food Grade: Â B+
My biggest hollah about this review goes out to Server Rebecca. Â WOW - she demonstrated that there are friendly, helpful, courteous, warming, and smart servers in the restaurant business. Â She was the BOMBSHADIGGITY when it came to customer service! Â The Islands Restaurant management needs to give this lady a raise! Â I really appreciated her going the extra mile for service! Â THAT in itself made it a great restaurant experience.
Food Grade: Â B+
Service Grade: Â A+ Â (Rebecca ROCKS!)
Worth the Money Grade: Â A-
Overall Impression Grade: Â A-
I just  want to make sure i leave a review for this great server i had last week when i went in to eat. Elba was great!! her service was amazing and it def. makes up for the bad servers i have had to experience with in the past. She was really quick and always attentive to what i needed. I didnt even have to ask for refills, she already had it ready!! Great Service!
Review Source:Waiters and waitresses were nice and fast. It's quite a great place for happy hour drinks.
PINA COLADA **** creamy
MAI TAI *** light and fresh
ONION RINGS **** my favorite appetizer here
CHEDDAR FRIES *** crispy and fatty
Chicken Quesadilla *** tasty and flavorful
Cheese Quesadilla *** smelt good
Tortilla Chips & Salsa *** not too bad
LOL, an other place with 5 stars, oh well, what can I say. I love to have fun and this place delivers that. I go there at least once a week after the gym with my girlfriends to have a beer and some snacks. Their servers are always in great mood, they are fast and their snacks are Yummy! there is not much to review here because is a sports bar-restaurant, great for everyone and easy food to get.
Review Source:Kind of like a Hawaiian-themed Applebee's. Â In a good way. Â Definitely had that chain restaurant feel, but no complaints on food or service. Â I enjoyed the clips of surfing and snowboarding on the tvs too!
Being from Philadelphia, I'm not used to seeing calorie counts right on the menu. Wow. Â If you want to eat your entire day's worth of calories for lunch and then some, come here. Â Most of the burgers, sandwiches and even salads were close to or over 1000 cals. Â Not that this is unique to Islands, I'm just not used to seeing the numbers on the menu (and typically try to eat really healthy... don't order burgers, fried foods, giant fat-laden salads). Â To be fair, the burgers were colossal.
I was happy to see "skinny beach" options for under 500 or so calories. Â I opted for the beach bowl with mahi mahi. Â Delicious! Â Huge bowl of fresh fish, grilled veggies, hoisin sauce and brown rice. Â Definitely healthy and tasty - perfect lunch.
Wouldn't necessarily opt to eat at Islands again, but wouldn't complain either if the group decided to go here.
Oh no, I have to remove Islands from my Happy Hour List. They've changed the prices and it's no longer the deal it was. Might as well eat in the dining room and save yourself the crowd and hassle. No more half priced appetizers, now a buck or two off, no free chips and salsa (only a $1) and No Discounted Onion Rings....Ayeee!
The Margaritas are a buck (or 2?) off and always cool as a slurpee delicious. The sliders this last time were better. You have to pay $2 to park at Howard Hughes, grumble grumble.
I have to say, the place is what it is. The atmosphere and staff are comparable to most chain restaurants that are family oriented with a sports bar touch. The food is just as much so, with all menu options on the traditional side.
Far as taste goes.....average at best, but that doesn't mean it's bad. I finished my entire plate.
I love this Island's. I came here with my husband on our first date... and we've come here often ever since.
The Bluenami burger is to die for. I also love the Kilauea burger... nice and spicy. We usually get both and split them, since it's hard to choose between the two. All burgers come with endless fries... yum! There are so many other good menu items.
They have great drinks, and I love that they use Cruzan rum for a lot of them :)
Good place to watch sports too, if you're into them. Great customer service. The servers are always super friendly, helpful, and everything is served in a timely manner.
I work across the street from this place, so I'll visit about once a month.
Staff is friendly but service is hit or miss.
I order the tuna wrap and am a very happy camper when it comes to the endless fries with my side of ranch dressing. However, I do leave feeling quite guilty... their food is pretty unhealthy.
I've tried their veggie burger and it was average, but their salads have been awful.
A lot of my colleagues convene here for happy hour. They seem to enjoy it!
Souplantation was busy, so we went in.
This burger joint needs to be included in the top 10 unhealthiest burgers list. An order of Kilauea burger will set you back 1410 calories! Sure it's good burgers, but why does it have to be so enormous?
Service was mediocre at best. Base on the location, I'm sure patrons don't tip that well..
I'm such a hater...
Reggae and ska music played a little too loudly, semi-tropical décor, fake thatched roofs wherever they can be used without interfering with diners or employees, lamps that may or may not be made from actual puffer fish, a bar that looks like it was transplanted either from the Caribbean or Disneyland's Jungle Boat ride serving tropical drinks, and with supposedly tropical plants virtually everywhere, Islands certainly does try to live up to its name.  Of course, in all likelihood, the only person in the place who had actually lived on an island was my wife, but that's just splitting hairs.
Here's the negatives: they served ranch dressing with the Buffalo wings instead of blue cheese dressing (a major and common faux pas), and the dressing was too thin, almost watery. Â The Junior Tiki Tenders were moist and tender, but slightly bland and didn't come with any dipping sauce. Â That about covers the negatives.
I started off with the aforementioned Buffalo wings. Â Despite their gaffe with the dressing, the wings were terrific; the second best I've had. Â They were not as crispy as the best (which used to be served at the Mad River Brewery in Humboldt County, but that was before the original owner--Mario Celotto of Raiders football fame--sold the place), but the sauce was perfect, the chicken was tender and flavorful and the pieces weren't tiny. Â They came with celery--of course, and it must have been organically grown, because it had actual flavor--and several carrot sticks, which is not standard with Buffalo wings but came as a pleasant surprise. Â
My main course was the Big Wave burger with cheese; I asked for it medium rare, and that's how it came.  It was exactly as advertized, tasty, juicy, not nearly as messy as a Carl's Jr. Superstar but just as succulent, perhaps even better--and for ten bucks it had better be!  The fries were crisp and flavorsome, not as delectable as the limp but fabulous fries at MacDonald's, but considering you're entitled to endless refills, who's complaining?  They also have endless refills on soft drinks if you order an entrée, certainly a point in the restaurant's favor.  In addition, the kid's drinks came with tight lids in spill-proof containers... smart!
My wife had the chicken quesadilla (which always means that I ate half, as she is tiny and I am humongous), which was fabulous--one of the best quesadillas I've ever had: juicy (actually, it dripped all over me, and I couldn't have cared less), exploding with flavor, especially that of the green chilies (Anaheim, I believe) and cheesy without overdoing it.
As a natural born pig, I used this excuse: "I need to sample everyone's food so I can write a Yelp review" in order to beg a part of everyone else's meal. Â Fortunately, I have wonderful and obliging friends, so I overate to my heart's content.
One friend got the Hawaiian turkey burger. Â Fortunately, the teriyaki sauce was on the side and the piece I had contained no pineapple, as I am a fan of neither. Â Like all turkey burgers, it was a bit dry (because it has to be cooked completely and it contains virtually no fat, all turkey burgers are by necessity a bit dry) but otherwise very tasty, worthy of begging a second bite. Â She also had the sweet potato fries, and although I have never liked sweet potatoes as anything more than ammunition for my potato canon, I actually enjoyed them, too.
My other friend ordered the soup and salad. Â I didn't sample the salad (Italian dressing is somewhat boring to me), but the tortilla soup was surprisingly appetizing and seemed close enough to real Mexican food to please even me.
The service was superb. Â Our waitress showed up often to refill the drinks and see that we were enjoying ourselves, present enough to be very helpful but never smothering; always smiling, eager to please, gracious when accepting praise and always courteous. Â Some other guy--who may have been a waiter but I suspect was actually a hands-on manager--also dropped by frequently, seeing to all our needs and desires. Â And when our food was brought out, a small army of employees served all eight of us simultaneously, and everything was exactly as we ordered.
The prices were a bit high, but considering the quality of the food and service, I found it extremely reasonable, so reasonable that I left a 25% tip, which I don't do often.
This was our first time to Islands, and we already plan on returning in two days. Â It's a comfortable, relaxed place to eat; it isn't garishly trendy (thank God!) and is perfect for gatherings with friends or a meal out with the family.
Endless fresh cut fries. Â Soft toasted bun. Â Grilled mushrooms, thin friend onion strings. Â Patty cooked medium. Â Islands knows how to make a good burger.
It is difficult to find anything wrong with this place. Â The presentation is all there. Â The decor is nice. Â The place is clean.
I can find no fault. But why am I trying to find fault at all? Â It's because there is no wow factor to bring it to the next level. Â
The decision, then, is easy: Islands is a 3.5. Â Since it's short of being very good, I round down
Islands is probably the best place to alleviate your french fries fix (endless baskets when you get a burger!). It's also a fun place to kick back after work for a few drinks even though their happy hour only consists of $1 off drinks (and you have to be at the bar so count on standing if you're in a big group).
Other places I'd consider before Islands: Red Robin, TGIF
I met a friend who I hadn't seen in years for dinner here. I probably haven't been to Islands for just as long.
The host opened the door for me as I walked in and was very congenial and sat us right away. I ordered a Malibu burger (essentially a bacon burger with cheese) and a chocolate shake. Both the burger and shake were above average but not amazing enough to make me crave them. The fries that came with our meals were very hard and barely edible but our server was quick to bring us a new batch when we pointed this out. Island's fries have a crunchy exterior and soft inside which I liked. Before I came here I had decided not to eat any fries but they were too addicting and I finished every last one. Not a place to come if you are watching the waistline.
This place has seriously gone downhill in the last couple of years and it continues to trot down and down and down..
I'll be honest, the last time I was here was nearly 2 years ago and since then I haven't had much of a reason to go back until recently. Since the movie theater is conveniently located in the same center, my family and I decided to grab dinner here before our movie.
There is ALWAYS a wait of more than 15 minutes, and the most irritating part about this is that after our name is called to be seated and as we follow behind the hostess leading us to our table, I can't help but notice the random empty tables that are not being used. Uh, ok? The service is sub-par, similar to the service you'd get at a Denny's (do I really have to explain this?)
The food really isn't that bad but oh my Lord...did the menu get cut in half?? There's literally 20 things on the menu now which is a little ridiculous since there's no reason for this restaurant to be selective. At least they still offer bottomless fries, which really come around only once or twice unless you're good about bugging your waiter for them.
Fantasic happy hour! We came here before a movie, and since Kabuki's ended at 6 (what the hell, man!) this was the place.
We sat in the bar area and spent $23 on 2 strong cocktails, chicken nachos, chips with guacamole and salsa, and sliders, which I think is a pretty damn good deal. The sliders came with melted jack cheese and crispy fried onion strings on the side. The nachos were your average nachos, but generous with the toppings and good for the greasy, fatty bar food that they are.
Parking was only $2 flat rate, which is decent for LA. Service was fast, and we were in and out within 40 minutes, to catch the movie. Everything that a good happy hour should offer!
Oh dear. Oh my!
the fries are so addicting here!
I came here this past Wednesday with my biffl for lunch. and my oh my, it was pretty damned good.
I haven't eaten at an Islands in over a year, so it was nice to hit this one up.
I love the fries because they are so damned crispy.
we got the spinach and artichoke dip to share (while it was good, we sorta regretted it because it was so heavy and creamy that we were too full to fully enjoy our burgers). She got the big wave with cheese medium and i got the shoreline chicken burger, both were from the lunch special menu! yayyyy! They were both good, and I especially loved the juiciness of my chicken pattie!
I like Islands because the booth walls are really tall and it gives me a sense of extra privacy.
The food was good and the service was pretty good. (our waiter's name was Chris and he was nice. It was a teensy bit slow.) I even asked for a children's menu coloring page and it was no problem (don't hate, haters!)
I like Islands' burger. Period.
And during lunch, they serve ENDLESS fries! How awesome is that?? =D They come out fresh & hot when you order. I love crispy fries!! And Onion rings are super crispy as well, and can be replaced for your fries. A good burger and a side for about 8 bucks.
On a side note, they display the nutritional calories next to all food items on their menu. I don't think anything (yummy) is under 1000 kcal. Ummm.... yea. But it's good!
Burger #166: Ugh
I remember when I first moved to LA, discovering Islands was very exciting! A burger place with lots of exotic sounding burgers and I'm pretty sure it was the first time I had pineapple on a burger. Oh the memories! Well now that my palate has grown up a bit, I can safely say that Islands is pretty terrible and I'll do my best to avoid them for all eternity.
Skipping the fact that they refuse to cook burgers under medium... no I can't skip it, that pretty much seals the deal for me. How can they even attempt to serve a juicy burger if they cook all the meaty love out of it? Grease? Oh of course! They'll soak the burger in grease and oil and then serve it! I should have known. The Kilauea burger I received was dry and shimmering at the same time. The burger was covered in so much seasoning it was almost too salty even for me (I love salty).
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7vRPO5gjGp7LSQuSTQoqpA?select=yFG3j-ZtUjyDIWUuc7Yxog">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
But what really did it for me was when I found the nutritional info for that burger:
SERVING SIZE (oz)______18
CALORIES____________1560
CALORIES FROM FAT___1030
TOTAL FAT (g)_________115
SATURATED FAT (g)____40
TRANS FAT (g)_________2
CHOLESTEROL (mg)___220
SODIUM (mg)_________2100
CARBOHYDRATES (g)__79
FIBER (g)____________4
At least it had fiber?
Because I work across the street, I have lunch here a LOT and it is among my favorite places at Howard Hughes. Â The service can be great. Â 3.5 stars.
Recommendation #1: Tiki Tenders with dipping sauces of Ranch and Buffalo Wing Sauce. Thanks to Jean K. for introducing this to me!
Recommendation #2: Kilauea Burger cause it comes with Jalapenos, Pepper Jack Cheese, and Chipotle Aioli. Â (Makes me hungry just typing this)
Recommendation #3: The big cold mug of beer. Â The mugs are ICED and the beer just tastes better really really cold. Â
Recommendation #4: Â The Kaanapali Kobb Salad with Avocado. Â Big portion and usually the right amount of dressing.
Recommendation #5: The Bleu-nami Hamburger. Â Bleu Cheese on a juicy burger with choice of white or wheat (go with white for this one).
Lunch Special Recommendation: Â $7.95 CA Flyer on Wheat Bun with BBQ sauce on the side and extra sides of Ranch and Jalapenos includes all-you-can-eat fries and a drink (my favorite is the Passion Fruit Arnold Palmer). The fries are absolutely fantastic when warm because of the salt/pepper seasoning.
Avoid the following: Â Nachos, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Ice Cream Sundae, Greek Salad, and Cabo Loco Tacos.
Islands is a guilty pleasure of mine that I get a craving for on a very frequent basis. Â It is also my son's favorite restaurant, and he always wants to eat here for pretty much every special occasion. Â In other words, we eat at Islands a lot!
Islands is mostly known for their hamburgers and fries, both of which are very good. Â My favorite burgers are the Big Wave (their standard hamburger) with cheese and bacon, the Hawaiian (a pineapple teriyaki burger), and the Pipeline (a chili-cheese burger). Â There fries are some of the my favorites, and they now come with every hamburger order with free refills. Â I also LOVE their tortilla soup. Â In my opinion, Islands has the best tortilla soup that I have ever had. Â
What I like about this specific Islands is the service. Â The staff have been helpful and friendly every time I have eaten here. Â The food is consistently good, and similar to the other Islands locations that I have been to. Â
What I don't like about this Islands is that you have to pay for parking in a lot that can sometimes be hard to find parking in. Â I have also found that this location either has a very long wait or no wait at all, and you just don't know how it is going to be until after you have paid for, and found, parking. Â It is basically a gamble on if it is going to be packed or not, but Islands is typically worth a little bit of a wait.
I think that Islands is one of the most underrated hamburger places around.  It  is one of those places where basically everything on their menu is tasty, but maybe not so healthy.  There are tons of great Islands locations in LA, and this location is one of my favorites.  If you like burgers and fires, Islands is a great place to eat.
I'm not really a chain restaurant guy, but their food is fairly consistent and good.
I had a Mushroom and Swiss Cheeseburger with Onion Rings and a Chocolate Milkshake, all of which were good. Â The burger was cooked medium-well and, while just a tad bit too salty, it was very much a good burger - it was seasoned well and came with a side of good fries. Â The onion rings weren't as good as some other locations I've been to, but I wasn't all that disappointed...I guess it's hard to go wrong with fried onions, right? Â The milkshake was good too, although not as chocolatey as I'd like.
The service was attentive and friendly. Â While I may not make this a destination, I'd make this a solid option if you are at the Howard Hughes Promenade.
Being a native Angelino, I was rasied on Island's burgers.  Growing up he family would frequent the local Island's at least one Saturday night a month.  This was before my tastebuds had reached puberty, and I religiously ordered the same old thing - A simple "big-wave burger  with cheese."  And of course, I devoured their fries with seasoning salt.
Fast forward twenty something years, and here I am, still enjoying a good Island's meal...athough my pallet has matured --considerably.  Although I now relish numerous items from their menu, my recommendatio is the sandpiper chicken sandwich.   Mmmm mmmm  MMmmm!!
Oh, I must add that I have matured in other ways too. Â I have changed from the innocent boy of my youth that was fascinated by the Hawaiian themed decor, surfboard tables, and thatched roofs, to a shamefully corrupted "so-called adult" that found more interest gawking at the perfectly shaped breasts and toned body of our waitress. Â I would be ashamed of myself, however she was flaunting it and seemed to enjoy the attention of my non-eye contact stares. Â Besides, I was sure to provide ample compensation in the tip for the visual services and stimuli she provided. Â Oh yeah, it was worth every penny.
This Islands truly SUCKS. Â I really like Islands. Â Its one of my favorite chains. Â But this one is realllllly bad.
Friday night, the hostess told us it would be a 15 minute wait.  That turned into an hour, which is ok - crap happens.  But the fact that the hostess  was a real bi*ch, that sucked too. Â
We had to practically BEG for a refill - and we got only ONE. Â The food took FOREVER to get to the table, and we had to wait for over 20 minutes between our appetizer and the main course.
Horrible. Â Just horrible.
My experience with Islands left me rather underwhelmed. Â It'd been hyped to me as a very good theme restaurant with good drinks, and it only partially delivered. Â Don't get me wrong, the food was pretty good, the drink very good, and I found myself endlessly entertained by the many TVs showing 'extreme' sports like surfing and skateboarding, but I found myself very disappointed with the selection of the menu. Â Most people who say 'burger joint' don't mean it quite as literally as Islands; there's practically no choices on the menu that don't involve ground beef. Â Additionally, a 'regular' burger has to be special ordered, it's impossible to order straight off of the menu and not have blue cheese or pineapples or other less traditional burger fare on your patty.
In the end, Islands is good in a pinch, maybe for business meetings, but not any place I'd take anyone on a hot date. Â Sort of mediocre and far, far too focused on the 'theme'.
it's TGIFriday's in a Hawaaian shirt. Known for it's burgers I suppose but the only notable item is the fries which I find delicious. This location has some nice patio seating.
I had a BLT that had absolutely nothing to do with B, L or T. If someone serves me a hamburger bun with orange cheese flowing out of it, I'm not thinking, 'hey, here comes a great BLT.' Yeah, there was bacon, lettuce and a small, red, round item which I took for tomato, I would have called it a 'cheese and bacon' or a 'can I please have an extra order of fries and can you please scrape this into a trash bin.'
If anyone I know ever claims Islands as their favorite restaurant, I swear I will promptly cut all ties with them. Â That said, I like Islands. Â Like its neighbor On the Border, it is decent food.
Their fries are pretty damn good. Â And when they are hot and dipped in Ranch and ketchup, they may well be unbeatable.
I consistently get their BBQ chicken salad, and have only ever had a bad one once. Â Tacos are good, too. Â Burgers are alright. Â They do that completely absurd thing wherein burgers don't come with fries, tacos don't come with chips, it's all a la carte, which is annoying and sort of expensive. Â Tortilla soup is also very, very good.
Service is "eh," this location has lots of college kids on staff who don't necessarily care either way, but I can't think of a time where I had BAD service. Â Wait is longer than On the Border, but I think I might prefer the food anyway.
The atmosphere is nice. I can't really compare to other Islands restaurants since this is my first one. Very tropical, trees hanging, wooden birds hanging from the ceiling, very cute. You choose between a white bun or a healthier version of the wheat bun. I had a Hawaiian burger (which i highly recommend) on wheat bread. (Burger patty with teriyaki sauce, pineapples, lettuce tomatoe onion and swiss.) my date had a Pipeliner (which is also good, all meat chili cheese burger) and we split a huge basket of fries.
The fries are good when they are hot and the basket is good enough to feed 3 or maybe even 4.
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