Islands Restaurant

I visited with a friend before I had to catch my flight at LAX. Overall, this Islands Restaurant chain is a good and affordable establishment that will fill you up, especially during happy hour. Although I believe there are superior burger joints elsewhere, I'd be open to returning if invited by a friend.

MY ORDER
x1 CHIPS & SALSA
x1 KILAEUA BURGER

Chips & Salsa ($2.35 + $1.59 for guacamole): The Tex-Mex styled chips & salsa, while not amazing in taste, will certainly fill you up. It comes on a large plate with beans, chips, American nacho cheese and jalapenos. It's good for its Happy Hour price.

Kilaeua Burger ($16.55): The burger comes with a side of fries, both of which are decent and filling. I made the mistake of ordering whole wheat buns. Don't do that.

ENVIRONMENT: This family-style sports bar boasts a Hawaiian-esque/tiki-bar theme. It appeared clean. I was seated on the upper terrace near the bar, providing a great vantage point for people-watching.

Tips:
- Happy Hour is on weekdays from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- There is free parking, this chain is located in a shopping plaza

When I walk in, it isn't very noisy and they always have a good vibe, good song choices and they always have sports playing on the tvs! The service is pretty quick and I have never had to wait too long to be helped. I love the food from here especially the nachos, my family and I always enjoy coming here when we're craving a nice dinner!

The food was pretty good I ordered a bacon burger with fries which I enjoyed. My wife ordered fish tacos, but she informed me that the fish was bland. The ambiance was fun, it was tropical themed and I sort of felt like I was in a tiki bar. The service was the only thing that could be improved. When we got there we asked for a high chair multiple times and didn't get one till asking a fourth person. Our server was very nice though, I would go back for sure.

Came here for lunch before a flight and we were quickly seated outside. We ordered a salad and sandwich and the food came out pretty quickly. The quantities were large and the food was pretty good American food.

The hostess was inviting and welcoming us as we entered the restaurant. She is the perfect person for that job. This is one hot summer night. We opted for the patio area to enjoy the live music coming from the courtyard.

Our waitress came over within a few minutes of sitting down and wanted to know what could she get started for us. We ordered our drinks. She shorty there after she returned with our drinks. These drink were deliciously crafted.

She came back to get our food orders. Our waitress was fast at getting our food for us. The food was well seasoned and full of flavor. Enjoy our time here at this restaurant.

One thing was puzzling, our waitress never introduced herself. ‍. But her name did appear on my receipt. So with that being said. I say thank you Saharai for being our waitress.

A lot of chains suck. This one doesn't. Such a South Bay hidden gem. Management must be stellar, food is always too good and so quick. Employees are dialed in.

I have not been to an Islands Restaurant in years but on a night out my friends and I decided to come and check it out once again.

Islands restaurant is infamous for tasty sit-down burgers. Their menu has changed since I've been here I ordered the nacho plate to share and we got the big wave which is just a regular burger with tomatoes, lettuce, onions pickles, mustard, and cheese.

Our other friend got a protein-style burger and we had a side of fries and onion rings. All the food came out pretty quickly it did take a few additional minutes to order but they were busy.

This place is an alright place to enjoy a nice and simple burger. Even the nachos were with the right amount of nacho cheese.

The good:
Every server here was really spectacular! Two waitresses in particular were really kind (I didn't catch their names). One saw me holding my two month old when my food came and said "I really wish I could hold your baby for you so you could eat." She must've been a mother herself. Servers also checked in on me at appropriate times and the service was really quick. The ambience was rowdy because there was a football game going on that was being shown on tv. They have an outdoor dining space that's quieter. They're connected to the mall area but you can enter from the outside as well. The interior is themed in a Hawaiian-vibe with tropical bird statues and surfboards. There are also a lot of local Manhattan beach photos. I got the tropical alcohol flight, a lemon slush, a carnitas bowl, mud pie, and the kilauea burger. I liked how the burger was heavy on the black pepper flavor and how the patty tasted like something you'd make at home (with a lot of fresh meat and little to no filler). The coffee flavor in the mud pie was delicious. The lemon freeze is a lemonade blended with ice cream and it was fabulous with only 180 calories. It reminds me of the lemon milkshake at Chick-fil-a. The carnitas bowl was my favorite dish. The bowl was well balanced with different textures. The seasoned tortilla chip strips added a nice crunch. The cheese was gooey. The slipper wild grain rice was cooked nicely. The meat was tender and not dry. It even had fat pieces in there which was great because it had flavor and didn't taste like generic processed meat. The green chili sauce added a subtle kick. I'd order the bowl again for sure. They have happy hour after 3PM on weekdays. I liked how kids got crayons, a placemat they could draw on and a cute sippy cup.

The bad:
The burger would've tasted better with fresh onion I think. The flight was heavier on the alcohol side and tasted like quick and low quality cocktails you get at a dive bar.

The interesting.
The mud pie tastes exactly and looks just like the mud pie from Black Angus except here they sprinkled almonds on top. I wonder if they order it from the same food producer.

1st time I came here I loved the food, so much that I decided to come here a second time within the same week. The burger we had ordered the first time was made differently the second time and whatever sauce they used on my taco made my stomach hurt, I did not enjoy my food the second time.
My boyfriend still likes it, so we may be back soon, hopefully this 3rd time it's better!

We found the perfect place for a true happy hour! Our server was super sweet and helpful. The food was average but the drinks were bomb! I don't know who was bartending but they made some banging cocktails. I would definitely revisit. Sitting on the patio was very relaxing and comfortable.