Never really have anything bad to say about this place. Foods always good, service is decent, happy hour is great. If I lived closer I would be here more often so maybe that's a good thing. Lol. The burgers are awesome, the beach bowls are great, and the menu selection is awesome. read more

The manager here is great, and the waitstaff is attentive. Good attitudes, yummy food.

This is our Cheers go to restaurant. Great Happy Hour food & drink prices. Excellent Service.

Yesterday was a bad day ... I needed to get out of the house! Our pup passed away earlier in the week. I couldn't stop crying so I went to grab some lunch. As if the restaurants aren't having a rough enough time staying a float... the manager came by and asked how my day was going (poor guy) I told him not so well our pup passed away he was so genuinely sweet and caring listening to me. When the waitress came by and dropped of my check with a zero balance . She said the manager hopes you have a better day.. In a crazy world we live in he took the time to care for a complete stranger ! Thank you read more

Best serving at this location, Maribel is sweet, and has a servants heart we come every time here

Not close to the usual Islands experience! Waited forever for our cheddar fries and then found a hair embedded in the cheese. They were replaced and not charged to our bill. Both bowls of tortilla soup were luke warm, but at this point we were not sending anything back. I suspect our waitress was inexperienced as she should have been checking on our food, as we had to ask to check on the cheese fries. I suspect our food was done and waiting for someone to bring it to our table. Hopefully our next visit will be better! read more

Good happy hour. I thought it started at 4pm, but it starts earlier. We were a group of 8 and 3-4 items on the happy hour meal seem to be good enough. Service was quick and the drinks came out delicious. A nice spot to gather a good sized group. read more

This is a great place to eat on a Saturday night, there is a lot of seating and plenty of servers and staff so we always get served right away. We arrived there at 6:30 pm. Walked through the doors and we were seated right away( 3 of us) we were asked for our drink order. We had our drinks in 5 minutes and gave them or food order right after that. Not long after the waiter came with drink refills. Our dinner was served 10 minutes later, no mistakes. Just as we ordered it. You cant go wrong with this Islands restaurant! I recommend it. read more

Islands Restaurant - Entrance - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

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I really like this place. The waitress that I always get shes awesome. I forget her name of course lol. She remembers my drink. And she makes it really good. Food is pretty good here. Like their specials. Especially if your just coming here for a sunday get together with a friend or two. Or game time. Place is clean. I love how other waiters/ waitresses will also check in on you and let you know when someone else will be taking over for them. And even when you ask someone on the floor who isn't your server they are very nice and will either help you or get your server for you. It's great. read more

Service quality and attitudes amongst the workers here can vary greatly. Sometimes they're moody like they don't seem to want to be working. Because of this I prefer the Carlsbad locations. But the food here is still solid enough. Though I have been served cold fries, burgers are always up to par. It's worth the occasional stop in. read more

Islands Restaurant - Kilauea burger, added bacon - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

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Islands made right by us. We tried them again and had a fantastic meal. Food was good, service was responsive. We'll definitely be going there again. read more

Came to islands tonight with my friends. The food was sooo good but the service was even better, Emily was our server and she made our night! She was very attentive and personable. Even laughing at my friend's jokes that weren't even funny. 10/10 would come back again thanks to Emily! read more

We went in today, Sunday afternoon, and the place was fairly empty. Huge mistake. $75 down the drain. I ordered my favorite, tortilla soup. Took one look and realized they must have a new cook. There was a layer of oil floating on the top, a small amount of shredded chicken, and one taste revealed that it was over seasoned. Inedible. I sent it back and asked for the chicken wrap. I opened the wrap because I didn't want the tortilla. There wasn't a single piece of chicken in the entire wrap. It was shredded lettuce, tomato, one piece of bacon, some avocado, cheese and a ton of dressing. The others in our party ordered the Jungle Caesar with chicken, the Cobb salad with chicken, and wings. Neither salad had more than 2 bites of chicken and the Cobb was drowning in dressing and Blue Cheese. Most of it was left behind. This location of Islands has been the "go to" spot for our family of six for years. It was hit or miss through COVID, but remained a convenient choice for us. It'll be quite awhile before we head there again. read more

Horrible service long wait time , nobody was there .. had a bug in my food .. sorry no Pic

Paid over $100 for a watered down margarita, Mai tai with 75% ice and 3 cheeseburgers smaller that what you get from a drive thru chain. The quality was not there at all, size or taste. All burgers were over cooked too. Wont be returning. read more

I usually come here at least once a week. I call ahead and come pick it up. This visit however was awful. I called in at 3:20, I was told it would be ready in 10 minutes, I arrived at 3:30, called the location and no one answered, so I went inside, I stood there for another 10 minutes with workers walking past me making eye contact without saying a word. I continued to wait until I finally decided to call the store while I was in there. After a while someone finally answered the phone. Someone finally came to ask me if I had been helped but chose to ask the second person who had only been waiting a few minutes first. Even after specifically stating my name, order and that I'd been waiting for a period of time. Then I saw that my order had been ready for a while and it took another 10 minutes to get 3 sauces. 10 minutes to pour a sauce into a container. Something deliberately done by the person who helped me. She deliberately grabbed one cup, poured and capped. One at a time. It was the same sauce the whole time. Completely ridiculous. read more

Islands Restaurant - Always good food and service - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

First time going in a while and my server Daniel M. Was very attentive and when I accidentally spilled my drink he made to take care of it. Always had a positive attitude and light hearted. I really needed that after a long week. read more

We always have great service at this location. The manager today, was exquisite. He solved our mobile app problem today without hesitation. I've been to the other islands/north locations, and have had very bad experiences, with workers and management (Carlsbad mall location). Thank you to this team, for continually making our Islands experience great each visit! read more

Disappointed. Had a burger here long ago and was really impressed, esp for the FRESH French fries. Got burger to go and the service was nice and it was ready in time but not worth the money or gas to pick it up. Stale, dry, thick bun, dry burger with not a drop of juice and stingy amount of condiment. The fries had obviously been sitting in a warming pan and were far from fresh. They were hard and dry. Stay home and make your own! read more

I must say first off that I did generally enjoy the food. The Longboard burger was pretty good, and I quite liked the fact that they offer the option to switch in a veggie patty for any of the burgers they offer. It's a nice and thoughtful option to have, especially to vegetarians (like myself) and vegans. The customer service was also pretty great, our server was very attentive and nice, and I enjoyed the ambience of the place. Now for the reason I didn't give this place five stars. Although I did like the burger, both me and my mother agreed that it would be 100% amazing if they added just a bit more thousand islands sauce. The fries were good too, though we were surprised to find how crunchy and hard they were. I'm not sure if this is just a stylistic choice to how they cook their fries, so I can't give any fault to that. Just thought I would include that in here to give fair warning to those expecting a different texture if they want to order the fries. Overall, this was a pretty nice place to eat. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't too bad. Thanks Islands for the nice eating. read more

Great burgers ( beef or chicken) but messy which makes them yummy! And endless fries! They also have sweet potato fries (not endless). Bar drinks too. And great desserts! Service is usually great, but it can get busy! TV screens are viewable from most locations showing sports like surfing! Hawaiian theme decor is awesome. Kid friendly as well as us oldies! Great appetizers and and salads too! read more

Met a friend here for lunch and had a really nice experience. My server was Jen and she was really good. I ordered a chicken sandwich and fries....Both were very good. The restaurant was clean and the staff was organized and friendly.....the manager checked in to see that we were happy. Great selection of burgers, chicken sandwiches, tacos and salads...good beer selections (full bar) Bathrooms were clean plenty of good parking and they have TVs. read more

This is an update to my last, not-so-great review of Islands in Vista, CA. We went back to give it another try, because we have always loved islands. This time, everything was great. So hopefully my previous trip was just a bad day. read more

Isabel was such a sweetheart and super helpful! Really appreciate everyone's positive attitude! Love this place, 10/10

We're done with this Islands location for pick up. Using the app we made an order that was missing items that show on the sales receipt and were checked off by the Islands staff. Specifically, no ranch dressing and no grilled onions (which we were charged for) on one of the burgers. It was listed as in the bag, but it's not. Seems like a simple thing to do. read more

picked up a to go order and Isabelle went above and beyond for me! She was so sweet and made sure I got my order as her first priority. Love this location everyone is so nice. Thank you islands! read more

The value at islands has dropes so much. Service is honestly poor and slow. I had to get up 2-3 times to ask for stuff. For the life of me I can't understand how a restaurant could have dollar store ketchup. I will never go again. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

The food is kind of basic, but always tasty! I'm mostly writing because Tiffany was a really nice server. And Brandon is a very personable manager! read more

Great drinks and food is always fast and fresh. Staff was attentive and cleared empty plates promptly.

A great place to stop and catch your breath in a busy part of town. Clean, friendly and fun. Service was prompt (but heads up, we usually go to dinner on the early side). Tired parents, they even have good coffee and kids menus with crayons. The food is pretty good. The kids were trying to lick their plates clean and we left room for dessert. Mmm mini sundaes! A really fun experience. Two thumbs up. read more

I've been here several times, and the burgers have always been good. Some places put all these extra seasonings in the meat, and it sometimes doesn't go with the toppings on the more exotic burgers. That's what I like about the burgers here, they taste like just the meat. I usually stick with the Hawaiian, which is topped with the usual lettuce, tomato, onion, and also has pineapple, mayo, and teriyaki for the Hawaiian theme. Just make sure that you ask for no onions if you don't like them, because they will come on the burger diced instead of rings. You can't really pick them out, and the lettuce is shredded too. The menu says the fries are endless, so you can get refills if you are still hungry. I haven't figured out the fries yet, they seem fried, but aren't really oily. They might be baked, but they still taste ok to me. The drinks are a bit expensive, and happy hour only exists in the bar area. The servers are pretty friendly, and the decor is as you would expect: surfing/tropical island resort themed. This place has pretty good food, and the wait is usually pretty reasonable when there is one. read more

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My son took me for my birthday lunch and I chose Pipeline Burger (Turkey instead of Beef) and strawberry lemonade. Our order came in no time! It was so deliciously good! In fact I think I will reorder it again when I come back. Alejandro was our server. He did an outstanding job! He came twice to our table to make sure if we needed anything else. Loved his customer service. And on top of that the manager came and made sure if everything was ok and if we needed anything else. Now that's service!! I don't know why they only have 3 1/2 stars. Must be on their off days? Anyhow that's still a good rating. read more

Today I want to pick up some food in order to go the staff his name was Daniel was so nice to me he made rather rather bad day better and I appreciate that The food is always good and the weight staff is always pleasant I really enjoy going to Highlands and I want to say thank you to Daniel and to the managers read more

What you've heard is true: the "casual dining" national/regional chains are slowly dying. The real culprit isn't necessarily the food, but proactive actual "management" seems missing, or maybe it's just the current millennial slacker workforce they're forced to hire. Don't these corporations use "secret shoppers" to recognize what's going wrong? Let's face it, the crowd coming in for the Chili's "3 for $10" promotion aren't your big tippers, and given that the intellect and efficiency of your server is directly related to how much they make, many of those that work at Chili's, Applebee's, TGIF, Red Lobster, Outback, Islands, Cheesecake Factory, Yardhouse, et. al., are NOT a particularly motivated bunch. But, if I'm going to see a tab for two that exceeds $50 before tip, I'm still expecting a lot more than what I'm getting these days. I frankly hadn't been to any Islands restaurant for several years, because I just never really understood the concept, nor did the food excite me to the point of wanting to go back regularly--especially at the prices they are charging. Regrettably, none of that has changed, and the service has only gotten much worse. Example in point: Arrived on a late Tuesday afternoon in August, 2019 at 4PM. Almost empty, immediately seated. Server takes our drink order, and comes back about 10 minutes later with the mixed drink totally wrong. Another 10 minutes go by, and the correct drink arrives. BTW, one pint of local craft beer and one Moscow Mule: $18 (!) Our food order was subsequently taken, and the wife decided to try the "Impossible Burger"...one of those new meat substitute patties made from discarded underwear, or god knows what else. Another person (not our server) brings our burgers to the table, and says she'll be right back with the fries. The server who took our order has completely disappeared...WTF? TEN minutes later we've eaten half our burgers, and there's still no fries--I HATE eating a burger without interspersing fries with it. My wife finally decides to get up, since I can't get anybody's attention with a wave, and goes to the area where the server girls are just hanging out idly chatting, to ask about the fries. Finally, a few minutes later, the fries arrive! Shouldn't fries at a burger place be constantly coming out, just like at McDonald's? At that point, I was compelled to tell this "new" server that my wife really hates the Impossible Burger, comparing it to a slab of cardboard with cheese and condiments on it. The girl takes the plate and promises to replace it with a different vegetarian burger option my wife picks from the menu. About 20 minutes later, after I'm completely done, the new burger finally arrives. My wife was commenting: "gee, you don't have to actually cook these things, you just heat them up." Obviously, we weren't prioritized; they just entered a new order and ours eventually got prepared. At least the new girl realized she needed to bring a new order of hot fries after that long wait! The manager did come by to ask (likely per corporate protocol) about my wife's dissatisfaction with the Impossible Burger, and politely listened, but never offered a comp or anything else. I decided not to engage him with all the rest of the serving nonsense, because these casual dining restaurant "managers" (in quotes for a reason) generally become sullen and defensive when you tell them how bad things are in their little kingdom. Been there, done that. My revenge is in writing this review for y'all. Needless to say, Islands Restaurants have been awarded our "no fly forever/never forget" status, just like several other restaurants in the area, including all of those execrable Chili's places everywhere. I think we've given this franchise a fair shake and have never been impressed. For a place that was originally created--so says the menu--for the purpose of elevating the burger in the context of glorifying the surf community--there is nothing notable about their burgers, other than the myriad combinations of condiments with names attached to them. Frankly, there are much better-tasting burgers at sports bars and greasy spoons than what I've eaten at Islands. Food: C-. Service: F-. read more

Love the beach vibe. Got a hawaiian burger that was sooo good and wow the service... Last time i went Maribel was so attentive and made sure i had everything I needed!! read more

I am a fan of all things islands and this location did not disappoint!! Like always, I had my chicken wrap, my friend had a bbq burger, and we finished with the brownie ice cream dessert! Sorry for not knowing the legit names!!hahah everything was super delicious, the service was great... however it's dangerously close to my apartment. Will be there way too often. read more

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Came into this islands to use up a gift card and had a great experience. Me and my boyfriend came in before catching a movie down the street and made it just in time for happy hour. Got some drinks and sliders and had a great time. Food came very quick and our server was super nice! Only complaint is the recently changed their happy hour sliders from four sliders to three, which is always something I find odd when a restaurant serves out and odd number of an appetizer making it a difficult split for two. read more

Islands Restaurant - Happy Hour Bar Food - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

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Mmmmm.. I love Islands. Hands down my most favorite fries EVER! Just don't look at the calorie count.. kills the mood every time. I don't have a favorite entree, they're all pretty good. I am not a fan of their wheat buns; I can't put my finger on why, but I always choose white. Turkey and veggie patties are great options, very tasty too. Onion rings are amazeballs. My newest favorite addition to the menu for summer is the I-Shandy. Not at all what I expected, but amazing! It is part Islands golden ale and part lemonade with a splash of mango.. delish! Very tropical, almost passionfruity with the perfect amount of carbonation. Servers are good and attentive at this location, I'll be back. read more

Hang my head in a bit of shame due to the fact that my signif other and I strolled in around 10:15pm, knowing darn well the place closes at 11pm. The staff didn't seem phased at all by our cutting it close to closing-time! Not a huff nor puff from the young gentlemen that helped us that evening. The service was speedy, but it could have been due to the time of night: kitchen staff wanting to go home, therefore cooking faster? Fewer people in house to have to cook meals for and serve food to? Who knows, but our food was on our table moments after we ordered. Hawaiian burger and sweet potato fries: +Flavorful. Mmmmm, pineapple! +Giant proportions. -Burger became soggy and harder to manager after each bite +Fries were on point! Favorite part of the meal. Mai Tai: -Expected the typical tropical essence of the drink, ended up lacking the fruity flavors I was desperately seeking. -All alcohol. Fine by me in most cases, but not in this instance. I was most impressed by how accommodating and polite the staff was on our impromptu, late night visit. Bummer was that the food didn't exactly WOW me. I'd try it again though. read more

Islands Restaurant - Mangorita. I see what they did there with that play on words :) - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California

I see this chain restaurant all the time but never got a chance to try. Finally, had some time off work for lunch and so happen to be working in the area of an Islands. What better chance to try it now. Walking in, I enjoyed the Hawaiian theme as it made me feel reminiscent of being on the islands. Being extremely hot that day I cooled down with a refillable glass of strawberry lemonade which I thought was too sweet, even for me, so I had them tone it down with some Sprite. Anyhow, looking through the menu I wasn't feeling burgers and fries and the time and opted for their Cobb salad. My mistake. Don't you just hate it when there's no crunch to your lettuce? My entire salad was completely wilted, not to mention drowning in whatever dressing they topped it with. The tomatoes seemed like the tomatoes at 7-11, the ones left out that you put on the hot dogs, just soggy, the avocado gave it an overall smushy kinda taste and lastly, the chicken was overly dry. Maybe salads are not the thing to order here. Considering this was my first time here, I would probably give them another shot if the situation arouse. But next time definitely ordering a burger since that's what their known for. And by they way, the service was perfectly fine, but I couldn't hide from the fact that it cost me $18 including tip for a wilted salad which half I didn't finish and a refillable soda cup. There's a valuable lesson to be learned here. read more

Islands Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Vista, California