Islands Restaurant

I’ve dined here so many times, and never had a bad experience. I love the décor, love that they have TV’s that play extreme sports videos that practically hypnotize my kids, and love that it’s always clean and service is good. (And their wait staff is always young and good-​looking somehow too.) Lots of options for kids and adults, no matter what your preference is. I always get the Shore Bird (hold the pickles, no mayo). Their chicken breast always is cooked perfectly. Fries are awesome, especially with the seasoned salt on the table, plus a little side of ranch for dipping. Great family friendly restaurant with good food at decent prices.

So impressed with this restaurant.
We ordered a burger and it came out with a simple mistake, so we kindly asked for them to fix it (for medical reasons). They were genuinely sorry for the mistake. The waitress (Hannah) had already apologized, even though it wasn’t her fault. Then one of the managers came by our table to apologize for the mistake. Hannah then came to our table after to give us a basket of fries. Minutes later, another manager had introduced himself and sincerely apologized for the trouble (even though there was no trouble at all). We kept telling them not to worry about it. We proceeded with eating our meal, and when we received the check, they had taken the burger off the check.
The service was incredible here, and we won’t go to any other Islands restaurant. Thank you for giving us such a great experience!

I especially love this islands! The food always comes out hot and fresh! This one server Tara pronounced TAR-​AH, is always such a pleasure, and is so pleasant. She’s a great face to represent Islands, and really makes you feel like she is happy to serve you. I get take out a lot here at this location, and I look forward to her working when I come to pick up my order. I hope she gets the recognition she deserves, she’s great. Shout out to this location, I’m pretty hard to please but they never fail!

I went here after a Super Bowl party at 8:50 pm and all of the doors were locked despite Unilocal saying they were open until 10 pm. Very disappointed!

Sometimes it’s more than just about the food, or the $$ or the ambience. When a food server gets that a meal is an experience, a respite from the madness, a moment to enjoy. These are the true professionals in the food service industry. Thanks Katie! You get it!!! 5 Star service! And the food, as always was great! Aloha!!!
And you’re right, it is all about the BACON!!!

Just came in for the second time ever and am right away blown away by the abolute cleanliness of everything in sight. It actually brought my mood up from a long day at work to come into such a clean establishment. Oop, food is here looking picture perfect! Staff is on point! Time to dig in!

You really can’t go wrong with Islands. Someone told me this was the original Islands. Not sure if this is true but what is true is, like any other Islands I have ever been to, this place is just as cool. The surf videos will always make any crap from the day wash off and bring out the stoke inside. Add a couple of icy cold happy hour beers and life starts getting really good.
The bartender is a Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings fan so we got along well. The staff is friendly. The basket of fries could feed 4 or 5. The sliders were Ok and enough for 2.
I love what the Island restaurant chain does and this one is no different.
Mahalo Islands.

Huge shout out to Chris the manager!!! I had my order done a few times wrong (no big deal I worked in restaurants and islands before) stuff happens. I wasn’t angry but called back one time because I do have a tomato allergy and did express my concern of writing down orders the right way because it is a worry I have. He was super awesome remembered me and my husband. Of course I had a craving for another toucan sandwich made my super plain way just chicke pineapple and sauce on the side. He remembered my order and made sure it was perfect… And it was!!! Thank you Chris and the chefs and entire islands staff for making my dinner to go so enjoyable. Can’t wait to come back

Second time here at Islands and decided that i wanted to come here since I was craving burgers. Honestly I would’ve given this place 5 stars but I can’t cuz the service is sooo bad. The food on the other hand is delicious. I’m not really a huge burger fan and I hate when burgers get really soggy. But their burgers don’t get soggy and the flavor in general is good. I got the Hawaiin burger and added jalapeños to it. I just wish they hadn’t added too much teriyaki sauce on it. But it was still yummy. Fries are crispy.
Ok now let’s talk about service. Walked in and was greeted and sat right away cuz it was empty but nobody came up to us for a good 5 minutes. I’m in a rush to get to work so i got impatient and asked the hostess if we can get our server to come up to us, she arrives in a few minutes with a grumpy as hell attitude. She apologized and said that she thought she got sat on the other side of the restaurant. I looked over to the table next to us and saw that they were looking pretty impatient too.
She took our order but she wasn’t friendly and looked miserable working there. We got our food and a decent pace and our server told us she was heading home so our new server will be Alex .? I think that was his name. He was more attentive than she was but in general none of the servers here seem to have experience at all. They lack customer service.
Good food, bad service.

Came here with UCI famous Smash Player Boyo after our Java final. Our 7−9pm final. xD I asked Boyo to choose a place, maybe with burgers and Boyo recommended Islands! Yay Boyo! It’s on Barranca and Culver; you should be able to see it from the street.
Came in to a couple people in the restaurant– we were seated in the area where we didn’t have any other customers so yay for privacy. The workers there were really quick in refilling water (they brought another glass over each time) and taking our order.
I ordered a hula:
Sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, swiss & mayo. On the side with it came with fries. TIP: They have endless fries so make sure you definitely get more if you’re a fan of their fries. Endless fries. Endless fries. Endless fries. Endless fries.
The burger itself was alright– nothing amazingly special here :(They put a good amount of mushrooms in it though– on top of the patty (medium rare) were a lot of mushrooms. Get it medium rare or else you will get a cooked patty and sometimes you fear that it’ll be hard! Medium rare is best xD. Boyo got medium rare but it got cooked a little bit more to the done side so there is a bit of an inconsistency there. The cheese mixed with the mushrooms taste good :3
Fries– another story. They are good when they have just come out. They aren’t as good when they’ve been sitting out sigh u_​u. Our first batch was warm and it wasn’t as good as the second batch (which had just come out). totally use their sauces if you like to quell the heat from the hot fries.
It came out to about $ 13 per person for a dinner, so it’s not too expensive.
And thanks for your Christmas present Boyo.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Islands restaurants! Fortunately, this restaurant added to my love and high expectations of this business. Every time I have been to this particular location, I have been treated with nothing but upmost respect and as if I am a guest of honor. I absolutely love love love their nachos and recommend him to anyone who loves food in general! My favorite burgers to get have been the Maui and the Hula. Their root beer floats are also to die for! Great service, amazing food, what else can you ask for?

I pick up food from this location for our office often, they are always on top of it, always on time and great service. JJ at the to go counter is amazing!!! Coolest dude! great attitude, very knowledgable and very friendly.

The take out guy JJ or Jordan is awesome! I usually call in my lunch and he knows exactly what I am getting and gets it perfect every time. His customer service is off the wall. I will be coming back

I have been a quiet regular dining at this Islands location for almost two years with multiple visits per week, and my father also took my family to Island’s frequently while I was growing up; I am very familiar with the standards that Island’s uphold and want to take this opportunity to give this location the recognition I think it has earned.
The servers and bartenders here are kind, professional and knowledgeable. I am most familiar with Darren, Vera, Chelsea & Cameron. When I arrive, they will always have my drink order at my table before even asking me what I want. Because I can be highly selective with my diet, I usually modify my order: my food will always come out correct, and I am grateful that the kitchen and staff can accommodate me with such accuracy and excellence.
Friday and Saturday evenings can be busy, and while it may take a little longer for an order to arrive, the entire staff hustles to get their job done– this is an excellent example of the high level of dedication and professionalism of the bar/​lounge staff.
Lastly, I would like to discuss management. The managers at this Island’s have graciously authorized multiple gift card donations to a 501©(3) not-​for-​profit dance company that I serve as an Education Director. With the past generous contributions from Island’s Restaurants, they help us raise the funds necessary to bring community arts and dance education to underserved families in Southern California.
Bravo!

They changed their ingredients.
I wouldn’t even pay a dollar for their burgers anymore. Their burgers taste just like whoppers from burger king. Wow! Shame on you, Islands management!!!
Two stars because the service was decent.
All they have going on is just some cool surfing clips.

Chips and salsa. Veggie taco (with grilled chicken. Because, well, chicken). Tucan chicken burger. We paid a bit eve’s fir the sweet potato fries. I highly recommend you do the same.
Service was excellent. They even went out of their way to accommodate one person in our party with food allergies.
Loved every bite of our dinner.

So this review is just for the awesome customer service that we experienced yesterday! My husband surprised me with some Nachos at home. I had been dropping some hints that I think that Islands has some really great Nachos and since it was Cinco de Mayo yesterday. Although as we dove into our appetizer, we noticed there was quite few elements missing, so my husband called to complain but I mentioned why don’t we eat there and just let them know so we can get the correct order and have some dinner there. Well he spoke to the Manager, Bob explained the situation. Well @ the end of the meal. Bob came over introduced himself and apologized for the error and for the inconvenience, then charged us one cent for our meal!!! Awesome gesture… now that is customer service!!!

I think theres some kind of management issue at this location because when I went we had a lot of issues. We waited a good 40 minutes after our appetizer for our food because waitress «forgot to put the order in». The manager ended up comping our dinners which was nice but the way he spoke to us about it was almost like he didnt really care and was just doing it because that’s what you do.
Waitress was slow to bring water and check up on us when it wasnt even that busy, and even a batch of french fries was soggy and not well cooked. If you can just choose another location!

Love the staff, the foods great, and you can’t beat the casual atmosphere.
The China Coast salad is so large that I order it with the dressing on the side. When I get it I put half of it in a to go container for a later meal.

Great service from the start. The greeters at the entrance are extremely pleasant and quick to get you seated. The atmosphere of the restaurant and the high back benches in the restaurant allow for well lit private conversation.
Although the place was slightly packed, our server was quick to take down our order and offered suggestions on the menu. My brother is a vegetarian so he went with a veggie patty that he said was pretty good tasting (in comparison to others he’s had in Irvine).
The burger selection is good. If you’re into BBQ try the Maverick, nice BBQ sauce and good crispy onions. Their fries taste good and are bottomless, meaning ask for more fries if you feel like it.
They have an average alcohol selection and many good brews if that’s what you are looking for. I went with soda and got refills as soon as my glass started looking on the empty side.
Pricing here is good for the service and quality of food your recieve. The average burger is $ 12 and comes with fries. They also have salads that looked good and wraps for those in search of slightly healthier options.
Parking at this facility is well lit and pretty big. Restaurant is good for groups but best if your with a party of 5 or less. Enjoy!