La Isla Cuisine

I’ve been to La Isla a number of times and part of the reason I keep going back is because I long for Puerto Rican food, and from what I have seen this is the best you’ll get in Seattle. The food is well prepared and seasoned with tons of garlic (some would say too much so beware… Don’t forget your breath mints and think twice before making this a first date spot). The mofongo is huge! I love the shrimp one — filled with a plentiful amount of large butterfly shrimp and you can choose your flavor… Cajun? Coconut? Spicy? More garlic? Yummmm! The bistec encebollado (steak dish) is another tasty option as are the empanadillas for appies.
So why the three stars? Here’s the thing — the food is good… But I can’t say it’s comparable to what you get in Puerto Rico. Also, I’ve never been impressed with the service. Today especially, our waiter was not attentive — he rarely checked on us and it took forever for him to even ask us if we were ready for the bill. On a busy night it’s understandable but this was a weeknight and not as packed as usual.
Yes I’ll be back, yes I’d recommend it to others. Yes and… Still just a little above average.
Ps. Good happy hour! Can I give 3.5 stars?

La Isla used to one of our favorites in Ballard, but no more! We won’t be coming back. They switched out their buns, which made the sandwiches soggy. There were only two tiny pieces of fish in the sliders, so just bit into bun. We ordered and then 5 min later the waiter told us happy hr just started. It would have been nice to let us know since the items we ordered were on HH. Finally, we saw a weird roach crawl up the leg of a table.

Not sure how I feel about this place. Dinner was really good but after dinner we had desert and ordered the quesito. Cream cheese and puff pastry deep fried. It was covered in salt and I wasn’t sure if that was how it was supposed to be. Asked the server and he said it was supposed to be covered in sugar. Nasty! They took it off our bill but I feel like it wasn’t enough. May come back here again but def won’t have desert!

FanTAStic! Great mojitos (refreshing and not too sweet), ceviche, great empanadillas. Going again soon!

Late night Happy Hour is the best in town… the garlic sauce is to die for. But be careful. It’s easy to get hooked.

Terrible service. More waiters than occupied tables and we ended up leaving after 20 minutes of not even taking our drink order. Will not be back.

Been wanting to come to La Isla for ages so when my 90yo mother-​in-​law came for a grand-​daughters college graduation we went to several different restaurants to show her some new cuisines. La Isla smelled wonderful but we never had an opportunity to find out if the hype was hyperbole or truth. Tonight we visited and were told we couldnt be seated for 20 – 25 mins, would we like to wait in the bar? Sure, fine, the odors wafting were a great indicator (there were empty tables, mind you). The kitchen was slammed and they were trying to catch up. Sure, thats understandable.
So a half hour later I go to check again and ive watched three four-​toppers leave since we came in. Only three tables inside and the outdoor sidewalk tables were occupied. On inquiry I was told the kitchen was still going to need another 20 minutes before they could start taking orders again.
By this time the diabetes issues were too dangerous to wait any longer.
I guess we’ll never know if it’s hype. For now it’s just hyperbole.

This is based solely off of the afternoon happy hour menu. To start, staff was nice but one of them was cleaning drinking glasses with a towel, dropped the towel and just continued using it, bleh (we were outside). Overall the cleanliness felt subpar. Tried the empanadas, not horrible, just kinda boring plus one of them wasn’t the type we ordered but we just let it go. The ceviche was also just very basic, way too much lime, veggies didn’t have that nice crunch you’d expect, and the presentation was poor. The platanos fritos were the best part but way too few, and the tostones weren’t crisp enough imo. Prices for happy hour were good if you’re looking for something cheap.

Its good really, and the atmosphere is authentic. But the wait was super long and the food seemed very Americanized. It’s is tasty just not as authentic as I expected

Got the blackened salmon, it was very tasty and enough for two people to be honest :)
Very generous portions and very tasty. I like the combination of having 3 sides an opportunity to try different flavors.
Will be back!

Unfortunately a sad excuse for a Puerto Rican restaurant. I expected much more after reading the reviews but we were sadly disappointed. My party of 4 did not enjoy any of our entrees or appetizers. The food lacked that latin flavor we were expecting, it was very very bland. Being so far from la isla might be the reason, haha. I am not from seattle, and if this good food according to locals, then I am very sorry. We left here very disappointed after paying a lot for sub quality food.
Mofongo: terribly under seasoned, pork was dry
Pastelon: unless you want a VERY sweet dinner entrée, stay away. Only had one bite then stopped eating it entirely.
Ropa Vieja: again, bland

FIRST I WANT TO TELL EVERYONE THAT THE FOOD IS AUTHENTIC. I AM PUERTO RICAN, RAISED BY PUERTO RICANS THAT COOKED EVERY DAY. AND I OFTEN GO BACK TO PUERTO RICO AND HAVE THE FOOD OF THE ISLAND AND LA ISLA IS THE REAL THING AND NOW… THERE SERVICE MATCHES THEIR EXQUISITE FOOD. SO HAPPY.
Thanks to Kameron in the bar area, we will be coming back more often. From the moment we sat down, he got our drink orders. Soon after, a young bar maid came circling around and was checking in with all of us in the bar area. Then, Kameron was back to get our appetizer order for our favorite Alcapurrias, with beef. I had missed them so much; though I could make them it would take too much time. But the restaurant makes them just like in Puerto Rico. Sabrosa! The food has always been excellent here at least for the 8 years or so that I have been visiting from Renton; I had been coming here often and even brought my clients here for years but had stopped because of the service, lack of service. It was a shame because we loved the food so much. It had been a year since our last venture from Renton because of our last experience. And, I was so pleased so happy, it was what you would expect from a fine dining establishment. I asked the bar maid’s name and it was Lorraine, I believe. If the both of them are in the bar area, you should have a great time as we did. We plan to go back to visit family in Puerto Rico this summer but until then, we will come here again when Kameron is running the place. They even had a hostess! The place was packed and all was moving smoothly. I used to work in restaurant establishments, in Vegas and I can tell you that this place has revamped their service. Thanks! PS: We had those appetizers, the salmon platter, the pork chops and both plates came with authentic (like grandma use to make) rice (so moist) and beans (flavorful with cilantro and garlic) and fried plantain. I prefer the sweet bananas that are called maduro. YUM! We will be sure to ride our motorcycles out for the happy hour. Thanks Kameron!

I love this place. The food is great and the service even better. We had a guy one guy attending 4 tables and he was really attentive and fast. Also made great drink guavarita.

This place was nice. I liked the food. I really wish they had been playing Puerto Rican music inside like most Borinquean restaurants. I also wish they had cola champagne. I did love my tembleque!

La Isla on NW market is centrally located in Ballard. Parking is not particularly convenient as its a main thoroughfare. You will need to find paid street parking behind the building, unless it’s after 6pm.
Entering the building transports you from Seattle to Puerto Rico. The walls are rich reds and blues. The are masks and paintings on the walls and other trinkets that make you forget your location.
I have a toddler, and went with another family with a toddler. We rolled in, two strollers deep. The waiters were extremely accommodating. We weren’t made to feel like a nuisance for a moment.
Now the food. I was a little skeptical at first especially as I am vegetarian. I ordered the veggie Pastelon. It is a lasagna topped with ripe plantains, stuffed with eggplant and tofu. It came with a side of rice and beans and toastones (mashed green plantains) and salad. The beans were well seasoned, the toastones were crispy and came with a side of garlic butter dip. The Pastelon was moorish to the extreme. I ate every off my plate, and the only thing on my mind was — «when can I come back here?.» This place is legit. FYI — the friend I went with is Puerto Rican and was just as complimentary about the food.
I love this place, I’m sure you will to.

Cozy little restaurant in Ballard. It’s alright — some of the dishes are a bit salty. The salmon is usually pretty good though. They have another branch in Redmond which is comparable.

I had Pernil which was a great plate. I really dig the way they combine things on their plates.
The pork was a bit salty… this was the only drawback, but overall a great meal.
The highlight was the mojitos. Excellent and super fresh. The restaurant was super packed at 7pm on Saturday as you could expect in Ballard, but we had a table within 15 minutes. Our food came in a little less than 15 minutes. Service was very attentive and over all everything was good… other than the salt levels.

In the hip and hoppin’ Ballard district, this brightly colored restaurant specializes in the cuisine of Purto Rico. They have a nice selection of cocktails, and an ok selection of beer.
We started with the «pork wings» (had to see what that was!) and the plantain plate. The wings were delicious fried pork chunks on the bone with sauteed onions. The 2 types of plantains were served with 2 sauces, I especially enjoyed the garlic aioli. The blackened salmon was perfect, and the pez gato (cat fish) was also very good. Our party also enjoyed their signature pulled pork entrée. The rice was fluffy and the beans very good. Iwished I had had more of the latter and less of the former, though.
The food was well presented, and the staff was friendly and attentive.

Oh my gosh. This place is crazy delicious. Whether you’ve tried Puerto Rican food before or not, you have to come here! The dirty rice alone is enough to make me come back again and again, not to mention the tostones. That said every single entrée that my girlfriend or I have ordered has been amazing. Definitely one of the top 5 restaurants in Ballard, and one of the top 10 in Seattle, IMHO.

So I went here because I was feeling homesick. I’m a great cook! But, there is nothing like abuela’s and mami’s home cooked Puertorican food!!! I went hoping it was actually going to be Puertorican food and not someone’s rendition of it; or someone trying to make a version of their own.
I literally ordered like 10 things. lol The pork, rice and beans, alcapurrias, Bacalao, mojito, and many more things. Obviously, it will never be better than abuela’s or mami’s; but it was sooooo good!!! The rice and beans were very well flavored and not dry at all. The pork almost made me cry. So tender and succulent. The piqué (Puertorican hot sauce; best ever) made the rice, beans and pork taste even better than it already was.
The bacalao and alcapurrias were super fresh and sooo good. As a Puertorican who loves food and tried everything once; La Isla is a must try. If you want REAL SPANISH CARRIBEAN food this is a must try. The inside is decorated very nicely. Clean, comfortable and great music. Their rum is, of course, Don Q. One of the best rums out there! Whether you drink it alone or mixed it’s great. Highly recommend La Isla! This is where I go when I’m to tired to cook and want great food from home!

The only thing that was bad about this place was my self esteem when I left. I ordered every single fried appetizer possible. The empanadas were a little bite of heaven! There is a garlic sauce that comes with the entrees that makes your breath so garlicy that you could kill a vampire, but is delicious! Their mojitos and margaritas are super good!
Get the tres leche cake for dessert! The strawberries, whip cream and ice cream with the cake make this the best thing ever!
Super authentic flavor and experience

This place is pretty great. My recommendations:
–the garlic prawns are a must (appetizer)
–pionono is the hit, takes about 15 – 20 to make do order early (entrée, Puerto Rican lasagna)
–mofongo de camarones, is amazing (entrée, only served Sunday-​Wednesday)
–tres leches is one of my favorite in Seattle (desert, comes with strawberries and ice cream)
Great atmosphere and service is good!

Finally tried La Isla for the first time. They have two locations, the original in Seattle and a second location in Redmond. Although the Seattle location is out of the way in Ballard, I was in the area so I stopped in for a weekend lunch meal.
Once you enter the restaurant, you need to wait in the front to be seated. There are two dining rooms here. The one where the entrance is strictly for restaurant dining, whereas the second room is a bit more casual as it is where the bar is.
There are a handful of lunch specials on the menu. You can also order from the regular menu. They also have a daily special. I ordered the pollo guisado bowl ($ 9) and a pernil empanadilla ($ 4).
It took quite some time for food to come out, so you may want to order a drink. Not sure if ordering an appetizer makes sense. My entrée arrived at about the same time as the empanadilla. Seemed like the kitchen may have been backed up.
The pollo guisado bowl is basically a chicken stew on top of rice with tostones (fried plantains) on the side with a dipping sauce. I thought it was okay. It was not as flavorful as I expected. The chicken was served pulled style. I think this dish would work better if the chicken thigh was served bone-​in instead.
The empanadilla which is basically an empanada with a different name was a much better selection. I chose pernil as the topping which is pulled pork and that was a good choice. The outside is nicely fried, while the pork inside is very tender. The accompanying sauce mixes well with this dish. In hindsight, I should have just ordered two of the empanadillas instead and made a meal of it.
I thought my meal at La Isla was fine, though this is one of the places you need to try more than once to form a clear opinion of. So consider this review as inconclusive. Though what I did learn from this visit is that the empanadillas here are tasty and worth ordering as a starter.

La Isla is great!
I haven’t had Puerto Rican food before, so I’m a little new to it all — but so far, so good.
I got the famous salmon here that won two awards at some awesome festival. Had to try it once I heard that.
Lively music and ambiance right in the heart of Ballard.
I’m here for lunch, and it wasn’t hard getting a seat at all.
I’m guessing it might get a little more wild at night?
The place is open from 11:30am to 2am every day after all! So also a good late night option!
Friendly service, good food, what’s not too like? Maybe you haven’t had Puerto Rican food before, well, here’s a good first time place for you :)