Islands Restaurant

Spent time with my Father at one of his favorite restaurants. Brooke was our server. She was very kind. This visit we ordered

Northshore Chickrn Tacos
Three flour tortillas stuffed w/spicy chicken, jack & cheddar blend, lettuce & pico de gallo. Served w/a side of salsa.

Classic Fish Tacos ( grilled)
Three corn tortillas stuffed w/fried fish or grilled fish, cabbage, cilantro, chipotle-white sauce & pico de gallo
The tacos were good and definitely shareable. Family was craving tacos so I ordered extra to go meals to bring home.

Before the pandemic, I always enjoyed Islands. The vibe is beach and surf cool, and the food was always good. Unfortunately, I believe COVID took a toll, as some Islands have closed, both in SD and up in Orange County where I now live. The one closest to us has closed and reopened as another brand.

We were back in Poway for a memorial service and wanted to have lunch before the drive back up. I lived in Poway for 27 years and was glad that this location is still open. We went in before noon and were sat at a booth right away.

Our young female server was working hard and did a pretty good job of taking care of us. My strawberry lemonade took a little while to get refilled but I did eventually receive it after the food arrived. My wife had a Big Wave with onion rings and I got my favorite, the Maui burger, with fries well done. I do love their fries and my burger was good. My wife liked hers as well. The only unfortunate thing is that, since COVID, their burgers are smaller but still cost the same, call in shrinkflation. I used to take half the burger home but now can eat it all in one sitting. I don't think the patties are the same quality as well. This is just my perspective about the chain; nothing against this location. We had an overall nice experience today.

First time ordering from this Island location, and it was a take out order and it was delicious.
The time I ordered on line to get the food was ready and the servers and workers were very friendly. The food was excellent.
I would definitely recommend it.

Islands was a staple for me growing up - we'd always go there for celebrations. There's booth seating and also a bar area. The decor is so fun and has always been one of m favorite parts.
Chips and salsa were good and very crunchy. The beer selection isn't huge but great options! The bowls were bigger than expected and were newer to me. The fish tacos were okay but didn't have a lot of flavor. I wish there was just a little something more. The burger with the grilled Jalapeños were delicious.

Solid Happy Hour if you live in the area. I took advantage of the all day version on Sunday due to NFL games.

Mango IPA for $6.85 was the highlight. Not sweet or fruity at all, and seemed like a true 16 oz pint. Happy Hour sized Nacharitos were a good entree size for one and seemed like a popular choice. Spicy Chicken (not grilled) a worthwhile add-on. Chili Cheese Fries next time! Tried the chicken Tiki Tenders out of curiosity. Definitely not hand breaded. More like frozen out of a bag and too salty. Brought half home to my son.

Good service from Austin the bartender. I'll be back!

I met my other half for lunch with the kids just as Islands opened up. We were seated quickly at our booth and noticed they had returned a lunch menu they hadn't offered in a while. Just like the name of the restaurant, this is very much Island-themed. Plenty of booth seating is available and also a bar area that has happy hour times!

The lunch menu was reasonably priced as it offered several sandwich choices, salad, soup and a couple of cocktails. The prices were much friendly on the wallet which is always nice with prices going up all around these days. My husband ordered their double stacked burger, son ordered off the kids menu with the Jr Wave burger and fries, while my daughter and I both ordered their Islands Classic Patty Melt.

The jr wave burger kids combo was the perfect size for my 12-year-old. It comes with a jr wave burger with cheese, fries, and milk but instead of milk, he opted for a soda. He said his burger was juicy and cheesy while the fries were nice and crisp. Hubby thought his burger was surprisingly a good-sized burger for its price. It was also juicy, large and he also enjoyed his fries. Both the daughter and I thought the Islands Classic Patty Melt was a winner. As described on the menu, it has double patties, American and Swiss cheese with caramelized onions on buttered sourdough bread. The grilled carmelized onions were sliced thick and every bite was a little bit of buttery, beefy heaven. It also came with a generous serving of their crispy fries.

Customer service at this Islands was fantastic. Our server was friendly, quick, and on top of her game when it came to filling up our drinks. The restaurant is always well taken care of and those we come in contact with are friendly. Always a pleasure coming to this restaurant and it won't be our last. Two thumbs up!

This review is for an online order. The burger was a disappointment, especially for the price. The meat was very thin and tasteless. We received a Malibu instead of the Hawaiian we ordered. It wasn't wrapped in paper, like other restaurants do, so the burger and french fries were cold when we brought them home.
The desert, lava cake and ice cream, were very nice, although lava cake was really a brownie with ice cream. The cona cake was good too.

I was in the area to go to the movie theater and decided to grab something to eat...still had some time before the next showtime. Luckily, Islands was right there...very convenient. I'm always drawn to anything Island-related since my family is from the Caribbean. I found out, once inside, it was happy hour which made me smile. I was immediatly engulfed in the beachy tropical vibe. I felt laid-back...exactly what I needed after a long work day. I ordered the popular items and knew I wouldn't be disappointed. O-M-G, those mini burgers were off the chain! Sooo tasty and juicy!! It's all about Islands now!!!

Overall we had a good experience at Islands. We sat at the bar on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't too crowded. Very chill laid back place.

The service was ok, where we had to flag the bartender/server down if we needed anything. Seems as though they only had one person working the entire bar area.

We each ordered a burger and both were good. Minus one star since I ordered the Kilauea burger and asked for it well done, seemed like half of the patty was cooked wrong, as it was more of a medium, since it was still very pink.

The second burger we ordered was the Longboarder and it was cooked to the ordered liking of medium. The onion rings and fries were crispy and not soggy.

Absolutely incredible service and food. Our waitress Katelyn was spectacular and could not have been nicer. She even knew to offer us water before we even asked. Oh yeah! This place is pretty bangin!