Island Style B.B.Q.

Big portion. Food is decent but I don’t plan on going anymore because it’s not the most healthy choice.

they dont deserve any stars first off. then i am SO GLAD that they are closing down. Finally !!! the food WAS great until i found out that they hired druggies (who were still USING) and they dont clean that well after cooking or anything, i stopped going-​that was 3 years ago. the owner is a B****.
again SO GLAD they are shutting down!!!

This review is about 3 months in the making.
I live very close to this location, but for the longest time have driven past the strip mall it is in and never see it. In fact, after researching online for a Hawaiian BBQ place in the SW part of Las Vegas, and getting all excited that there might be a decent restaurant within 5 minutes drive I hopped in the car to go check this place out. But my first attempt was a dismal failure, since I wasn’t able to find the restaurant even after standing in the middle of the strip mall, and thought maybe they too were a casualty of the economy. I looked everywhere in the main part of the strip mall, but not the small building that is closer to the street and between the gas station and Taco Bell. There were no signage in the side of the building, so when I was looking at that building and seeing the drive-​thru pickup window, I thought it was part of Quizzno’s.
Anyway, a few nights later after getting craving for Hawaiian mixed plate kind of food, I decided to call the restaurant’s number of Unilocal to verify if the business is still opened. A friendly female voice answered the phone and confirmed that they are indeed still in operation and confirmed that they are still opened. So I excitedly hopped in the car again and went to the restaurant. (Yes, I get easily excited over Hawaiian food)
The restaurant must have been some sort of fast food place in its former life, And since being taken over by Island Style BBQ, not much in terms of redecorating has been invested in that department. But I wasn’t here to dine-​in and soak up the ambiance, so I didn’t really care.
There were no one else at the restaurant at the time (weeknight after 8pm) placing my to-​go order was quick, and I sat at one of the small tables watching a DVD that was playing on their TV.
For this first successful visit I decided to try their BBQ mix-​plate, which I think is a easy way to compare their food to all the other restaurant in this category. The portion is comparable to the others. Price is a bit higher than I am used to in California, but par for the course in Las Vegas. Flavor of the Mac Salad was not great, but it wasn’t terrible, just ehh so-​so (ma-​ma-​hu-​hu = Chinese expression for I can’t decide if I want to like it or dislike it). The BBQ Chicken was good. The short ribs were way overcooked, and I think they just gave me whatever is left near the end of the day’s service. The BBQ beef was likewise less than stellar, but had average flavor. Overall, up to this point I don’t have high opinions of this place, but i am willing to give it another shoot.
So a few weeks later, I came back and this time studied their menu more carefully and order their Kalua Pork and BBQ Chicken. Yes, they were both all for me!
The Kalua Pork was again, average to not all that. Portion of rice is par, but the Kalua Pork was skimmy. My old housemate made better Kalua Pork, and she is not even Hawaiian and have only visited the islands on vacations. And of course I made way better ones at school based on the recipe given to me by a Chef that originally was from Hawaii. The BBQ Chicken was good and I have nothing negative to say about that.
On my latest visit, I decided to check out the short ribs again. It wasn’t as overcooked as the first time I tried it. But whoever was in charge of preparing it can really get additional lessons.
So, I really want to like this place a lot because it is so close to home, but there are just so many little things that adds up to tiny voices in my heard that urges me to «drive to Sahara for the real Island Style». And here is the bullet point break down for the review scores.
Great:
1) Very very close to home. Convenient location for me in the SW part of Las Vegas.
2) Ample parking.
Good:
1) BBQ Chicken — good flavor and cooked right (not under or overcooked).
2) Decent size portions.
3) Friendly staff, at least on my visits.
Room for improvement:
1) BBQ Short Ribs — the cook is killing a perfectly good ingredient, and I will not want to be invited to one of his backyard BBQ party.
2) Mediocre Kalua Pork and rather stingy on the portion.
3) BBQ Beef — Should be easy to make, but have fallen flat as an item that should be the foundation that the menu is built upon.
4) Signage at the side of the building.
So 2.5 stars from me, and one of the star is for being so close to home.

Food is hit and miss.. . seems like everytime I go there lately there’s a different person working. When I first started eating at Island Style the food was always great, but lately things have been a little off. Now I only come here when I’m REALLY craving my local food and am too tired to make the trek across town to Aloha Kitchen or any of the other places down Sahara. Still better than L&L though.

this place was alright
Was disappointing that they didn’t have any rice to go with my food… and the rotten smell when I walked in… but the food was tasty and plentiful.

After a long night of gambling and drunkeness, we rolled in here for some almost afternoon breakfast fare. I went with the Portuguese Sausage & Egg Breakfast, a side of Mac Salad, some of their Fried Chicken Wings, and a Spam Musubi. I tend to overdo things in Vegas, and breakfast is no exception. The Portuguese Sausage wasn’t in link form, or patty form. Instead, it’s in a compressed can form ala Spam. It made me raise an eyebrow, but it tasted good so no worries. Fried Chicken was decent, but a bit overfried so the meat was on the dry side. Spam Musubi was okay as well, but the rice was a bit hard so that sucker kept wanting to break apart when I bit into it. All in all, not too shabby.