Islands Restaurant

I came here for dinner on Saturday around 7, and there was a 15 – 20 minute wait to be seated, so we sat at the bar.
The bartender immediately came over to us and asked us if we wanted anything to drink. We ordered water and a vanilla milkshake. The vanilla shake was super tasty!
The food took around 20 minutes to come, which sucked because we were starving. I ordered a Big Wave burger, and my girlfriend ordered the Malibu burger. The burgers were delicious! They also give you a free refill of fries, which is cool.
The parking is kind of pain especially when it’s cold out. You have to park in the parking structure and it’ll probably cost you $ 3-​$ 4, and then you have to walk to the restaurant. It’ll probably take like 3 – 5 minutes depending on where you park.
Overall, the service was good. The bartender didn’t give us her name. I just know she was blonde. I’d give this Islands 3.5 stars just because the food took a long time.

I rarely eat at chain restaurants and wouldn’t normally think to review one. In this case though, the staff was worthy of a shout-​out. The hostess at the front held the door open for me coming and going and the waitress (sure wish I could remember her name) was helpful and pleasant.
Truthfully, the food was better than I expected, too. My sandwich was done just right and my fries — which I always ask for «extra crispy» — were delicious.
So occasionally you can get a good meal at a chain restaurant for just a few bucks. I guess it depends on the location and the staff. This Islands was good on both points.

On this visit I ordered a meal and a drink the drink was excellent quality but the meal was mediocre. the fries are very hard but the service was good so I would come back but only for drinks.

Do not order guacamole to go! They give you a very small 1inch container and charge you $ 2 for it! It’s not worth it. Your better off with only the salsa which the container is a little bit bigger.

This is the place we come when we are tire, do not want to drive far and can’t think of where else to go. We know that we can come here relax, eat and go home happy.
The servers are nice. They don’t know us by name, but they definitively recognize us. There is something for all of us here. I wish their healthy selections were a little better. But, over-​all its a good hamburger place.
The parking is easy. I don’t like having to pay $ 3 to park — but, I guess I am now used to it and its ok. After-​all its cheaper than valet parking.
The hamburgers here are a good size and the regular fries are bottomless. They have sweet potatoe fries and onion rings as options.
Their drinks are served in large mugs and they keep them coming (for water, ice-​tea and sodas).
They have booths for all sizes of parties. I have been there with 10 friends and we were all able to sit comfortably at one booth. I often come here with my family of six and we are able to sit comfortably at a booth.
They have TV high enough where they are not a nuisance to the few of us who could care-​less about sports. However, it is great that they have them — because the boys in my family care about the scores on the various games that go-​on on a Sunday afternoon when we usually come here.
The wait is never long at this location. Its always busy, but they are always attentive.

The team at Islands ended up reaching out to me to resolve this issue and express their apologies. A lot of times this stuff is beyond their control and I appreciate the follow-​up and concern!

As always, you can’t go wrong with Islands. Had a burger earlier in the day but my Fiancé and I needed somewhere to chill before our movie started. Although Islands Restaurants are known for their burgers, don’t be hesitant to try their Fish Tacos and their Tortilla Soup. The Fish Tacos are some of the better tacos I’ve had and their Tortilla Soup is better at Islands than anywhere else! The service was great and ambiance was fun.

Meh, I’ve had better burgers and fries pretty much everywhere. The burger just sort of fell apart as I was eating it and everything was just blah. Not terrible but not good. My little sister likes to go to Islands so I’ll probably still go once in a while, but I might order a salad or something other than a burger and fries next time. Totally underwhelming and left me feeling kinda grossed out like I just ate something super unhealthy without any payoff.

Islands is as good as I remember! Their burgers still have that greasy goodness and the restaurant has that fun atmosphere I loved when I was in HS. The burger I had was very good. The service was a tad slow (however that was not the fault of my server – there were 2 waiters/​waitresses and a ton of customers). I really liked my burger (I forget the name) that had chili and pickles. I first thought it sounded weird and I took a chance but it turned out great! One small negative is that in one part of the burger there was an extremely bitter flavor (like ¹⁄₈ of it). I’m guessing it might have been one part of the onion than went bad? Not quite sure what that was.
The shakes were as I remember but they aren’t the best I’ve had. I’d pass on the shakes and just go for regular soda. I’ll be back next time I’m in the area.

Dined at Islands in Culver City yesterday and had a great experience! It was my first time here and will not be my last. We had a lovely waitress who was super attentive and gave us some tips and tricks while navigating the menu. It was really a great experience overall.
I got the Toucan which is a grilled chicken sandwich with teriyaki sauce and a grilled pineapple. I added island reds and avocado slices. We also shared an order of buffalo wings which were crispy and sauced perfectly.
I would recommend this place, great service and great food!

This is an old lunch stop of mine back when I worked nearby. I was in the proximity of this place, so I decided to stop by for some food.
I parked in the lot within the building, which has a $ 2 fee. From there, it was a short walk to Islands, where the host politely held the door for me as I walked in. I was seated immediately and handed the lunch special menu. I ordered a glass of water as I pondered my choices. After a careful look-​though, I decide on the spicy chicken tacos.
The wait was not long, and before you know it, I was munching on my two tacos. They came out pretty good, had some red salsa on the side, and a small dish of beans. The beans were tasty as well, especially due to the cheese they sprinkled on top. The meal was pretty light, but healthy and left me satisfied.
The staff was friendly all the way, and the experience removed the stress of the long day I was having. Thanks for making it a good lunch!

Chicken wings + fries + beers is my type of meal when I am alone. They also got a nice place so congratulations to the owner for maintaining the place like this. I thought they lack cleaning but when i checked out their place thoroughly, I cant find any so I really like this kind of place. Will come back.

Great atmosphere n great service. My girlfriend and I were just here for our 1^st time as a couple n loved it. She had a strawberry margarita n a burger and I had the Big Island Iced Tea n Fish Tacos. We both agree that the drinks were right on point n food was amazing. Thanks for the great time. We’ll definitely be coming back

Endless tortilla soup was delicious. One bowl is enough, so I’m not sure if it’s worth $ 9.
Service was good, nice music and atmosphere.
I’ll be back for more soup, yum.

I guess if you like overpriced burgers and chicken sandwiches that fall apart with not much overall flavor and fries that are just so-​so, you’d agree with many of the reviewers and give this place four or five stars. My husband and I have higher expectations for a burger place.
I ordered the CA Flyer™ (why the heck is that name a trademark, but not one they are bothering to register?) I wondered what «Island Reds» were so asked my dining companions (after doing a Google search and discovering that it is also a breed of chicken) who raved about the fried red onions. Well, they are drenched in so much BBQ sauce that they weren’t crunchy and had very little flavor Ditto the chicken. The BBQ sauce was sweet and tangy but not good enough to make this a good sandwich. I just looked at the description of my sandwich and noticed that it had pepper jack cheese in it. There was cheese in the sandwich but it had no flavor. The husband ordered a burger and said it was just so-​so. Now, on to the fries, no flavor and they got soggy much too quickly.
It is rather annoying that the only parking available is paid.

Went here to meet friends.
Pros:
Good service. Abundant staff, seating, and smiles.
Delicious Tortilla Soup.
Spicy chicken Quesadilla was very good.
Cons:
Parking in structure. (–1)

As a fan of the franchise in general, I’ve been to many Islands locations in my day. Because of the service, cleanliness, and generally feel good atmosphere of this location, I think this Islands is a notch above a typical 3-​star location.
Like every Islands, the fries are flowing, the burgers are a step above Red Robin, and there have an ok selection of brews on tap. Even though the restaurant is generally busy, you rarely have a long wait for a table — making for a good night with friends. The restaurant is always clean and isn’t filled with crazy characters. I really like that each booth kind of has its own space, so you never have issues having a conversation here. If you’re on your own, it’s kind of nice to just take a seat at the bar, watch the game in peace, while you pound a few servings of fries.
You do have to pay for parking at Howard Hughes, but you have to do that for everything in the shopping center. Personally, I would rather park my car in a huge parking lot instead of circling looking for a metered spot or waiting for a valet at a different LA-​area Islands.
Make a whole night of it and go to a movie afterwards to stretch your parking dollars!

Islands has great lunch specials for around $ 8… So I like to get the chicken ceasar salad. Bottomless fries are always a hit and they do have sweet potato fries. I like the chips and guac but its a small portion of guac.
The flavored iced tea is the way to go for a beverage.

As a grad student at Pepperdine’s West LA campus, I’m pretty much sick of eating at every single one of my dining options at the Howard Hughes Promenade, except for Island’s. It’s not that the food is better than all the other Island’s out there, but the excellent service at the bar is what keeps my classmates and me coming back.
These 5 stars are specifically for bartender Bryan. Thanks for taking such good care of our motley crew and getting us our food and drinks so quickly every night. We would never make it back to class on time if it weren’t for you!

I came here for happy hour with friends and had a great time! It was a Thursday night and the place wasn’t too packed. With a small, cute and cozy bar area, it was a great spot to catch up with friends and to wind down the week. There were plenty of tvs at the bar area too playing the football game of the night and so all the sport fans in our party were happy.
Service was pretty good. Our orders were served quickly and they were great with asking if we needed anything more.
I wouldn’t mind coming here again to celebrate the end of the week.