Their takeout is just miserable. I ordered online, picked up at the time it was supposed to be ready. Drove three minutes home only to find the fries and hamburger were already cold. I paid $20 plus tax plus tip (because I am nice), for a cold substandard burger and fries. I asked for ketchup and they gave me one little packet. Your better bet is to go to Lalla's. Their prices are the same and the quality is great. read more

Islands Restaurant - Cold fries. - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

My wife and I love going to Island's! The staff is friendly and the food is consistently good. We get great service and love the Tiki tenders, burgers and salads. Happy Hour is especially good and we love getting the spinach dip and Mai Tai's.. the atmosphere is like the name! Being at the beach.... We recently met the new manager, Abass, and he introduced himself and welcomed us. Just another reason to love this place! read more

service is bad, waiting for a half hour for chips. I didn't see the waiter for 25 minutes. don't sit in the outside

We have continued to try and give Islands a chance since they first moved into the mall because they do make great burgers when they are on but unfortunately I think we have hit our limit for failed attempts. The service is always bad. Waiters are never anywhere to be found, forgotten drink orders that never show up despite asking a second or third time, no water refills, impossible to get the check unless we go to the host counter. The last time I came I received a raw chicken sandwich and this time my son was served a burger on a moldy bun. No big, we asked if we could get a new one. Second one comes out after quite awhile and the bun is moldy yet again. We just gave up, paid and left to get my son food elsewhere. read more

Their chicken wings, chile mangorita is really goo.. I enjoyed it so much! Abbas and Casey provided an exceptional great service during our time at the restaurant yesterday!! Abbas was very welcoming and friendly.. definitely me and my friends will come back again for our next get together. read more

Abass was amazing!!! He was very friendly and caring. He remade my Hula burger without hesitation, and it was delicious!!!!! Super friendly staff, they really make you feel like family. The food was fantastic and the servers were on top of their game keeping the tables clear read more

The wings were perfect and really nice waters In general really good and the chicken pineapple burger was great too read more

The food is great here. Staff is friendly and fast despite how busy it gets. Ambiance is chill and welcoming. It is always a great experince at Islands. read more

Trippy place with the shadow ceilings and facade walls. It's like eating in a Hollywood set or something. The food was decent and the price was great. The bar tender (Sydney) was super busy but totally on point. Friendly just enough, pretty quick to provide service and paid attention to my drinks. Well done Sydney! Although, Sydney being a sharks fan while surfing clips play on monitors in the background is a little ironic! Haha read more

Islands Restaurant - a drink in a plastic cup - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

Just came here with my family for a night out dinner after a movie.. it was a big mistake. When we first came there we got seated fairly quickly, but they failed to give us children menus. While looking over the regular menu it took about 30 minutes for a server to even come by. Once he came by, i requested children menus for my kids and he came back with one. When i asked him for another child's menu he rolled his eyes and got them. After that whole ideal, we ordered our food. About 15 minutes later the food came out. We all got burgers and none of them came with fries. I had to ask the food server if these burgers came with fries and they came up a lame excuse of "oh we are cooking them fresh and ate coming out right now"... They spoiler alert, they were not fresh. They were both soggy and cold. Then they delivered our order of chili cheese fries missing the chili. I told the food server again and about 5 minutes later he came back with a bowl of chili and said it was on the house. My family started eating the food. Not going to lie the burgers were juicy and flavorful. Fries sucked. After awhile we started running low on drinks and our server was nowhere to be found. The whole meal we didnt even see him once. This would be understandable if it was super busy but there was probably only 4 other tables in the section. After me and family finallh finished eating we had to wait another 30 minutes before even seeing my server again. I requested boxes, refill on drinks and the check. He then proceeded to walk away into the abyss again. Another 30 minutes later he finally pops up and starts servicing other tables avoiding eye contact with my table. 15 minutes later after him repeatedly doing this he finally comes by and gives me two child cups of drinks and a glass of tap water instead of lemonade my other daughter had and was empty. I then if he can bring me boxes and he walked away sluggishly rolling his eyes. Came back a few minutes later with boxes without a bag. All and all it was terrible service and time for mediocre food. Not coming back here again. read more

Best restaurant experience in a long time. The server JULIAN was amazing. He was so attentive and kept checking to see if we needed anything. That made our dinner that much more enjoyable. Thank you again Julian. read more

We enjoyed our burgers, our fries were good, and the service was awesome. They did a good job and we will definitely go back.

Amazing burgers! They offer lettuce wrap at no additional cost. The truffle fries are fantastic. Service is great - attentive staff. The patio is dog friendly and has heaters which is nice on a chilly nice. Casual restaurant. read more

Went in during a football game, there was a lot of available seating. It was a good atmosphere, even for a family. Not a lot of noise but a good place to watch a good game. The waiter was very nice at the bar. The service and food came fast. I didn't get a picture of the wings, but they were good! They had a bit of a crisp and yet they were tender, they were covered and drenched in Buffalo sauce (which I liked!) The burger I had was so fluffy and very filling, I've tasted many burgers! The thing that makes this burger pop are the crispy caramelized onions...but that would be about it (for me). My first burger there and the waiter said it was the most popular, so I went with it. It was good for me. This place is a perfect lunch spot or dinner spot to land on after you have shopped at the del Monte mall. It's a casual attire, wouldn't say it's for being dressy. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burger sliders - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

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My mom and I had lunch here yesterday and we were surprised there weren't more people dining in.......Great experience started with the manager, Abbas, opening the front door for us. Very friendly waiter was there just a few minutes after we had sat down in the comfy booth, asking for our drink orders, which arrived promptly. Islands has lunch specials starting at just $11. Less than fast food! The ambiance is casual and fun, with lively music playing in the background. There's a big bar in the middle of the restaurant as well as big screen tvs that you can watch your favorite teams on. Great place to go for a casual date night or a gathering with friends and family. Seems like a good place to take kids. They also have an enclosed patio with a nice fireplace. I got the ChopChop Salad that was huge and delicious. I should have taken a picture but I dug right into it instead. My mom had the carnitas tacos that were also tasty and huge and she had plenty of leftovers for later, which she was very happy about. To top it off, we had a coupon for free chips and guacamole AND they have a great rewards program that you can quickly earn free food with. We will definitely be back soon! read more

We came here to Celebrate our daughter's successful Talent Show performance at her school. Our second time and it was alot better then before. Although we waited over 20 minutes for a booth that didnt dampen our night just yet. Service: Hostess was polite and greeted us as we entered and also opened the door when we left.. "awesome". Wait staff was nice..from taking our orders to delivering our foods. Only complaint is, she didnt come back to refill my soda till the end of our meal. Food: Our appetitzer of Nachos (they ran out of Green Bean Tempura but we got the Nachos for the cost of the Tempura) and Spicy Wings were delicious. My burger was okay, a bit overwhelming with the mustard. Hubby's Hawaiian Burger was enjoyable, but the hand cut fries were "Delicious"...I prefer this over In N Out anyday. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

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Used to love this place but I am extremely disappointed and will probably not return after our experience tonight. We were sat and greeted by our server quickly who was super friendly for most of our time here. When we were ordering though we noticed a lot had changed since our last time eating here pre-Covid. First of all, apparently you have to order a side of fries to go with your burger, they don't come with the meal anymore. The fries we ordered to go with my husbands burger were literally so disgusting. Completely dry, crunchy, overcooked for sure, unseasoned, and definitely pre-cooked frozen fries that they dumped into a fryer. We asked for new fries and they came out the same. After we were dissatisfied with something so simple as fries being messed up our waitresses demeanor instantly changed, and she was short and unfriendly and didn't check on us at all until handing us our check. Presumably a manager came out to give us the new fries and apologized for the inconvenience, but then proceeded to blame the potatoes for being dry and crunchy. Like she actually said there was "nothing we can do" about dry potatoes. Which obviously makes no sense and I was just asking for fries that literally didn't make a hard noise when they hit the table. Your kitchen overcooked frozen French fries, it's that simple. Wanted to order just some plain food for our daughter who doesn't like to eat normal restaurant kid meals. Last time we were here we got her steamed veggies, fries, and plain chicken (not breaded) and she loved it. We asked for this same meal and our waitress informed us that they no longer have any vegetables as a side option and there were no other sides that contained vegetables at all. Every side was just fried junk food or a house salad which 3 year olds usually don't like. We ended up just getting her fries and chicken tenders which she ate almost none of and we ended up making her a whole new dinner once we got home. I ordered the Cesar salad which I'm 99.9% sure was served with thousand island dressing rather than Cesar but I had already complained about one thing and I didn't want to make matters worse. My husbands burger was okay but seriously it was so huge and greasy/falling apart that he ended up just eating it layer by layer. I had a bite and was so grossed out that I couldn't even finish it. Overall we were really shocked and disappointed at how much the quality of Islands went down. The menus were just printed papers and weren't even accurate/up to date, the fact that you had to pretty much order and pay for everything separately was obnoxious, the food was very obviously mostly pre frozen/low quality, and the service was super lacking. I'm sure covid hit them pretty hard like all restaurants, but reducing the quality of your food and nickel and diming customers to death for their meals is no way to treat people. Don't blame potatoes for being dry either when you have crap ingredients and chefs. I hope Islands turns it around and goes back to being the same quality it was before. read more

We've always loved Islands and come to this location from time to time. We went for dinner last night and received service from Irving. He was essentially covering an entire section of the restaurant by himself, running back and forth and providing incredible service! He had an upbeat attitude, was king, knew the menu well and made some terrific recommendations. The first two orders of fries that came out with my burger weren't fresh. I requested they be replaced and even in the midst of being incredibly busy, made sure that we received fries that were fresh out of the frier. He really made sure we were enjoying our time and added to our evening with his positive attitude. Will be back for more good eats some other time! read more

I always like to come here when I'm in town for there icy cold mugs of beer.......burgers...... and fries! A must do when your visiting Monterey and need to do a little shopping while in town. Customer service is spot on every time too. read more

Islands Restaurant - That's what I'm saying - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

I've been looking for a great burger in California and found it here. To bad we live in the East Bay. The burger was cooked perfectly and was juicy with great flavor. Very nice burger options as well. The onion rings were some of the best I have ever had. The fries were a mix bag. There were some very good ones and some burned ones. They also had no salt or seasoning. Would love to go there during football season for burgers, cocktails and football. Overall solid A. read more

There was a gay feeling, not sure if this is a gay bar or not--but I won't order the crispy sandwich anymore. The sweet potatoe fries were good. Next time, I'm going to order something different from the menu. read more

Are you kidding me!!! This is the first time I've ordered from this restaurant and I'm extremely disappointed!! I ordered a LARGE tortilla soup and this container wasn't even half full when it got delivered! $10, plus delivery..ended up paying $17.50 for barely half a bowl of soup. Absolutely ridiculous! And I don't know who these people are that are saying the soup is amazing...they must be used to eating canned soup, but this soup was mediocre at best. Avocados!? Nope...didn't get those! Delicious broth? Nope, not at all. I'm sure it would have been good had they given it effort to actually make my meal appropriately and not half-a** it. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

To be fair we only had take out and it seems like the appeal is the ambiance but our food was literally disgusting and disappointing. I don't really understand how you can mess up a burger this bad but some how they did. read more

Nice ambiance! We each ordered a different burger style and we all liked what we got. I substituted mine with Turkey patty and it was tasty. The buns are big. You can get full just eating the buns. Our server, Adrian (excuse me if spelled wrong) was great- he's friendly and efficient. He was nice enough to give us paper menus because we were struggling with looking at the menu on our screens. Try to make room for the shakes or sundaes cause they looked sooo good!!! read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

Great place to go for a quick meal and a break from shopping. I had a mojito and it was very good. I have a food allergy and informed the waitress. They went out of their way to make sure my food was safe for me to eat. The meal was full of flavor with fresh ingredients. I would definitely go back if I am shopping at the Del Monte Shopping Center. Thank You for taking care of us. read more

Visiting Monterey after 6 hours drive from Southern California, thank goodness for finding the nearest Islands. The Mai Tai is strong, Sliders and fries are hot and fresh read more

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We went in and were seated right away. We got our menus and the waitress came by after 5 minutes for our drinks. We ordered our drinks and food at the same time. About 5 minutes later we received our drinks. 10 minutes later we received our food. I had a raspberry tea and the Hawaiian burger with fries. The raspberry tea was sweet. The burger was well done (as requested) with pineapple, teriyaki, onions, tomato, and lettuce. The sweetness of the teriyaki's sauce is overwhelming and made it difficult to finish the burger. The fries were cold, hard, and not fresh. The rest of my party ordered different burgers and they all looked great but none of them finished their burger. The milkshake is very thick. Took a while to get a refill so I requested a water the second time around to wash down the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce. The service lacked attentiveness. We finished our meal and waited about 30-45 minutes for our checks. I was trying to eat my meal and be on my way. But clearly that didn't happen. It seems there aren't a lot of casual burger spots in the area so this place is always full. Wait times can be long specially after events (graduations, etc). After several visits one thing stands out, service is always very SLOW. read more

Horrible service, we were seated and no one came back to check on us or get a drink order ever. All the teens just stood at the front conversating. Worse customer service I've seen read more

Happy hour time. Ordered the sliders, artichoke dip & Mai Tai. Definitely a nice pour. Service was on point & quick. read more

Islands Restaurant - Happy Hour Menu - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

Best food in the city for sure love the service and the decorative placements and yeah it's super good would recommend this all day.

Service was horrible, wait staff walked by us and we were waiting for 15. Messed up on my jungle cesar salad. The rest of the party got their meals but my order I had to wait 20 minutes to be told that there's new kitchen staff and my order was the second one to get sent back. If I can give 0 stars I would but this app wouldn't allow me. I was visiting the area, and I wouldn't recommend this particular location. read more

We normally like Islands, especially since we can sit on the patio with our dog. Tonight they told us to seat ourselves... then we waited 15 minutes at a dirty table without being greeted. Finally got up and left. read more

Always have a great time at islands. Love the burger. Service is always good. And the vibe in there is the main reason I always come back. The food and service are both great or at least food every time and the ambiance is great. Some of the best lunches going there. Important to remember that poor experiences get reported more than great ones do. People are quicker to report the bad than the good. read more

I eat here a lot and I normally love the food and service. But today no bueno. Really not good on the drink refills at all. But food service was ok. Normally a great experience but really slow on some service items. Hopefully things get better. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

Great drinks and food on the happy hour ... Ive been here a few times and its always great.. read more

Islands Restaurant - Big island ice tea - Burgers Near Me - Monterey, California

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I had an amazing experience! The service was very fast and my server Jessica was excellent. The staff seemed so positive, and created a great environment. It was great to have manager check in on me, I love that management was so attentive. And the Kona Pie was delicious! read more

So... Went here a few weeks ago. Either I grew, or the burgers shrunk.... The fact that I have been the same height since high school... Ill say they shrunk. The fries were eh... I have had way better burgers and fries other places. Don't get me wrong, the burger was ok. Just that you claim to have big burgers, but the one I got way the size of a now big mac(which isn't big anymore) Just giving an honest opinion. read more

Chili's like menu with "exotic" sounding names spade is a spade... bacon hamburger is a bacon hamburger no matter what you call it (maui burger my ass). This is like a Crate and Barrel Tiki Bar. Pros- Reasonably polite staff Lots of healthier options (although sodium is through the roof) on the menu Decent happy hour Wait staff is more diligent than other restaurants wait is usually 15-20 on a busy night To go orders are possible. FRIES are delicious! Cons- Turkey burger dry (granted... it is easy to overcook) Are the fries really bottomless? Never got asked if we wanted a refill They automatically serve you the fruity tea.. would have been nice to know there was another option Pet Peeves Is there one overweight server or employee in the place? It looks like an ambercrombie and fitch ad!! Can you wait more than thirty seconds after me getting my food if everything is okay? I haven't even started eating. Basic overview I got the turkey burger with some veggies which were way over salted. Dad and brother got the bacon burger.... Including Kona Longboard, two iced teas and entree it came out to around 40 bucks for three people.. not too bad considering. Decent change if you want a burger or whatever and don't want to go to RG Burgers. read more

Let me just say I'm a big burger person. Got the Malibu and man the bread tasted like it was freshly baked. Perfect patty. It was the best 10/10 going to be going here a lot more read more

The ambience is great and the service is good. Unfortunately the food is terrible. Even their chips and guacamole are bad. How do you screw up chips and guacamole? I take my kids there to eat and I just get a drink! My kids like the burgers, Mac n cheese (Kraft) and side of pineapple. read more