Islands Restaurant

Food was great! I got the big wave burger with /​turkey burger and wheat bun and added bacon very yummy! Walking in we were greeted but when they asked us how many we said 2 and a toddler and the way the host answered us back sounded pretty rude we didn’t mind waiting but she seemed she was bothered by what my boyfriend was wearing and said «have a seat» like if I’m not gonna be sitting down to eat my food already just didn’t like her tone of voice

I had the China Coast today which is essentially their chinese chicken salad. It has grilled chicken breast, water chestnuts, mandarin orange slices, snow peas, lettuce, fried noodles and carrots in a sesame dressing. It’s good and is real filling for a salad.
You cant go wrong with any of the burgers. Big wave with cheese or Malibu that has bacon are some of my regulars. The hula which has sauteed mushrooms and swiss cheese is also good. I like the makaha as well though its not on the menu anymore but you can still order it. It’s their version of a chili cheeseburger. Good stuff.
Island fries are great. They come unlimited with their burgers now so that’s great. Cheddar fries are really good and the beachside sliders topped with caramelized onions and ketchup are really good for appetizers.
Get a passion fruit iced tea or a fruit punch and you are good to go. Parking is in a typically busy shared lot. We usually get takeout during the work week and call in our order. Service has always been decent. Islands is pretty consistent.

It has been a long time since I’ve been to Islands. They do offer great burgers and fries with new prices, lol. The Hula Burger is my favorite. It just tastes great with the mushrooms and melted cheese on top. Islands also gives you the choice of substituting turkey or veggie instead of beef. The Sweet Potato Fries tasted great too. There is plenty of parking at this location and the service was good too. I would dine here again.

I’ve come to this Islands location about 3 – 4 times and I’ve never left disappointed! Their workers are very quick to serve you/​bring you anything you need.
I love love love the shorebird. Probably my top choice for my entrée. The chicken breast is so tender and delicious! Definitely get the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer. it’s delicious. Their cheese fries are another must-​try. b o m b

Enjoy coming here once in awhile for fries and share a veggie burger Hawaiian style with my lovely. service
Is pretty quick and fries refill is cool.

While the food here arrived fast and well-​prepared, the 5 stars is really for the staff out front and Gene, the manager, in particular. On a very hectic day in Pasadena (Rose Parade), Gene made sure to accommodate my very large group. From Gene’s demeanor on the phone when I called to see if Islands could seat our large group of 15+ to his greeting us with a friendly smile when we arrived, he just really seemed competent and on top of things on a very hectic day.
He and the host and hostess really helped all of us get seated in a timely manner. This was no small feat, with toddlers on the verge of melt downs and certain family members requesting to sit together, Gene handled everyone gracefully and with a great deal of respect. We enjoyed a great post-​parade meal as a result! We will be back!

I came to this Islands with my friend not too long ago. It is located upstairs in Paseo in Pasadena.
When we arrived, the wait wasn’t too bad. Just about 10 – 15 minutes. The restaurant itself has a lot of seating as well as outdoor seating. I love the beach-​like atmosphere of the place. They have several tv’s up playing the surf network as well as hockey. It was pretty entertaining to watch.
My friend and I got two burgers with fries. I don’t recall the name of them, but they were pretty delicious. Five stars for their fries though. One of the crunchies fries I’ve had, and I love crispy fries.
Our waiter was also very nice and attentive. The pricing was average, about 10 – 20 per dish. Not too bad for the amount that they give you.

Says all day happy hour Thursday but its a lie.

I love the food at Islands no matter the location. I usually don’t patron this location, but it was pretty busy for a Saturday afternoon. Parking can be a bit of nightmare so be patient and stalk people who are walking to their cars. The staff was really nice and our food came out quickly, which is always a good thing. I ordered my usual and was happily stuffed when I left. All in all, a great place to eat!

Staff bumped it up to 1 star.
Very simple review. I now realize why I do not patronize Islands. I used to love Islands. Good tasting burgers that were not dry and tasteless like the Sahara Desert. Now the food preparation is controlled by lawyers. The menu is controlled by a tightly controlled focus group. They changed some things in order to chase customers. In reality it only drives people away. Putting the «country style» bun in the rotation. A total mistake. Now based upon the bun I imagine it has a longer shelf life.
The key to having a good burger place is so simple a V.P. can understand.
Use the freshest ingredients all the time.
Have a staff that wants to work, knows what they are doing, and have fun. You have that.
Keep corporate out of the micromanagement and not mess with stuff that works. I fear Islands is closer to death than life.

Came to have a quick bite for lunch today and was very disappointed with the service. I ordered 3 meals and one meal was not brought to the table until the other two meals had been eaten. When I asked why the meal was brought so late, our waitress Cristina responded with «it was left waiting in the kitchen»… and she just looked at me as if that was a satisfactory response and left. I am not sure if this type of customer service is standard practice or bad employee behavior, … I guess I got a «trick» not a treat this Halloween.

I do not think there has been a restaurant I have come across where I can never decide what to eat. I always face a huge battle between the JR Wave and the MAUI.
The food at Islands is delicious and extremely fresh. I find myself visiting here almost once a week. I absolutely love the Maui burger, extremely filling. And if I ever feel like having something light then I would go with the JR Wave. And also you can never go wrong with their endless fries, that’s another reason why I visit almost every week, just for the endless fries.
My favorite part about dining here is that the staff has always been super nice. The food always has great presentation and is never served incorrectly.
If you are ever in need of a local lunch spot then you have found your place.

It has literally been years since I’ve eaten here, and I had a craving for a nice burger so I decided to come for dinner. We waited for about 15 minutes before being seated which wasn’t so bad.
I ended up getting the Point Break Burger which consisted of gruyère and bleu cheese, lettuce, tomato, and caramelized onions. It was fantastic! The patty was cooked very nicely – not too well done. The tangy cheese complimented the caramelized onions perfectly, and the burger itself was huge. The side of fries were alright, nothing too special. I did enjoy the special seasoning, though. For dessert we got the Chocolate Lava which was just OK. The brownie itself was kind of dry and lacked flavor. The vanilla ice cream was good and so was the hot fudge.
Overall, the burger was delicious and the portions were large, but the prices are still a bit steep (mine was a little over $ 12). Also, since it was pretty busy, the service was a bit slow. At least our waitress was friendly. Not a place I’d go to on a regular basis, but I’ll probably be back sometime in the future.

I’ve been coming here since middle school and it seems as though the place has never changed! Which is good, because you can always count on some good food here.
Even though there has been quite a few new hamburger places popping up around town, I somehow always find myself going back to Islands.

Decently sized, tasty burgers with bottomless fries? Gonna be hard to top that!
I live in the same vicinity of two Islands locations (this one and the one in the Paseo Colorado) but I frequent this location because of the ease of access and no limitations on parking.
I never stray from the usual: Big Wave with cheese and the endless side of French fries. To please the inner fat ass in me I always ask for ranch and add plenty of the Islands seasoning salt.
Service is great, for the most part. They are always relatively quick to getting you your refills on the fries. Large parking lot, so parking is not a big issue.

I have loved going to this Islands since I was in high school. I went both just with my boyfriend at the time or in large groups after a football game. It has the perfect casual beachy vibe that is very relaxed. It can fairly loud when a game is loud but not so much that you can’t hold a conversation. The waiters are generally friendly and efficient. I’ve personally never had a bad service experience there. There is ample parking in the lot in front for the restaurant or just behind it. Seating is generally in individual booths but they also accommodate larger groups in clusters towards the back of the restaurant.
My favorite is the China Coast salad and the veggie Hula. Yes, you can get veggie patties in place of the regular beef patties! And they don’t taste too beany like some veggie replacements can be. The Kona pie is a delicious mud pie with a Oreo cookie crust and generous amounts of hot fudge topping.
They have changed their menu so that fries can come with your order instead of needing to be ordered separately. They also serve fun blended cocktails and are reasonable with the alcohol.
Wish they had more branches!

I really like how Islands has been updating their menu. You used to have to order fries separately, and heaven help you if you were eating solo because one order of fries could probably be split among 3 people. A few years ago, Islands raised the prices slightly, but then included fries or your choice of other side, and I think you can get steamed vegetables if you’re staying away from fries. Today I spotted a new item called the Longboarder, which was lettuce, tomato, pickle & 1000 island dressing. A little similar to In-​n-​Out, but a more substantial burger. My previous favorite had been the Sunset burger, but that seems to be discontinued. That’s OK, tho, because Longboarder is better.
Get the cheese fries with ranch dressing if you’re with a bunch of friends. That thing is awesome! Love going to this place!

I don’t know why I’ve been craving Islands so badly. It’s been about 2 years since I last visited, so we decided to come here for dinner the other night. Islands is going downnn!
The burgers are way, way overpriced now and nothing special, really. I’d rather go down Colorado and get Top’s Quarter Pounder Bacon Avocado Cheeseburger. The juicy, saucy burgers I once remembered to be so trademark of Island’s has long since left us.
And while service was really friendly and there was no wait (big surprise there), I’m just not down to spend $ 20 on a burger and drink.

I don’t really come to Islands too much, so this trip was a little out of the ordinary. Pretty random stop.
Big Wave Burger ($ 9.55)
Add $ 1.15 for cheese, but this burger is pretty big. It comes with a side of french fries, so this is plenty of food. The burger is juicy, but note that they don’t cook the burger any less than medium (which is pretty standard in some restaurants).
Island Fish Tacos ($ 9.85)
I wouldn’t order this again. Nothing special. Just some regular fish tacos. Yawn.
The service was great. To our surprise, we got pretty awesome service. You usually don’t get good, let alone great, service at these kind of family restaurants. He catered to us, making the experience pretty pleasant.

I still recall as a child when islands went into The shopping center at Hastings Ranch in Pasadena. At the time, the bowling alley was a hang out for old people and kids, the movie theater was alive and well, as was the movie theater right up the street. Hughes market filled the space where there’s currently at Ralph’s… Or was it Market Basket? And of course, golf Smith had nothing to do with the Scottish sport; instead, there was a giant Warehouse music.
Since those days, my family has been going to Islands. The restaurants menu has remained vitally the same over the years. While the name has changed, I generally order a Hawaiian burger with an extra side of their delicious teriyaki. Since islands has recently implemented their endless fries deal, there’s no need to purchase the giant basket and share with everyone. The smaller amount that they bring with your burger is usually enough, but if you’re feeling frisky, you can always ask for more. No charge for that, and as an added bonus you don’t have to eat cold fries towards the bottom of the formerly giant baskets.
My bride usually gets the wiki waki salad, and it is also good. When we can manage to abandon the kids with Grammy and Pop Pop, we also like coming here and sitting in the bar. Service is usually pretty good, and like most places, a little courtesy from the booth results in a lot of attention from the server.
Really above and beyond: as a middle school principal, I went to approach the manager of islands and asked if they had any kind of promotional deal to reward good students, good student citizenship, etc. The manager gave me a giant stack of certificates for free kids meals. When a company whose goal is obviously profit even possesses anything remotely like this, it’s a good sign of their stewardship within the community. Plus it’s not a dumb thing to do considering that most kids don’t eat alone, And parents get hungry too.
One of my friends who plays the guitar wrote a song called «islands is my home.» The lyrics are simple but heartfelt: islands is my home. When I’m at Islands, I’m at home. Never have truer words been spoken.