Islands Restaurant Chula Vista image

Islands Restaurant Chula Vista

Restaurant Hamburger restaurant Family restaurant American restaurant Bar and grill

Beachy gourmet burger chain also serving beer & tropical drinks in laid-back surroundings. People often mention great, service, good, fries, burger, time, burgers, order, staff, delicious,


Address

2255 Otay Lakes Rd, Chula Vista, CA 91915

Website

www.islandsrestaurants.com

Contact

(619) 397-2643

Price rating

$$ $$

Rating on Google Maps

4.30 (961 reviews)

Open on Google Maps

Working Hours

  • Friday: 11 AM to 10 PM
  • Saturday: 11 AM to 10 PM
  • Sunday: (Easter), 11 AM to 9:30 PM, Hours might differ
  • Monday: 11 AM to 9:30 PM
  • Tuesday: 11 AM to 9:30 PM
  • Wednesday: 11 AM to 9:30 PM
  • Thursday: 11 AM to 9:30 PM

Featured Reviews


Frequently mentioned in reviews: great (22) service (20) good (18) fries (18) burger (15) time (14) burgers (9) order (8) staff (7) delicious (7)
Reviews are sorted by relevance, prioritizing the most helpful and insightful feedback at the top for easier reference.
  • 5/5 julio b. 1 year ago on Google
    Delicious burgers, friendly staff, I love it.
    4 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Michael F. 4 years ago on Google
    Fantastic hamburgers and atmosphere with a great staff and quick service. We had the Island Burger with fried egg and crispy onions along with chips and guacamole. Everything was very tasty and our waiter was on top of everything. Islanders is located close to multiple shopping venues making it a great place to visit. Highly recommended!
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Trevor B. 2 years ago on Google
    Great people and great food here. Look at this picture of my chicken sandwich. It looks like it's in an ad but it's really just right here in front of me. very good.
    3 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Vee S. 1 year ago on Google
    Everything was so delicious. Kilauea burger was bomb👌 Definitely going back again!!
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Shideler B. 3 years ago on Google
    I really liked how crispy the fries were at Islands. The chicken sandwich that I got was also really good but a little tough. I would go back here for dinner next time I am in town.
    2 people found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Jast S. 2 years ago on Google
    All the food tasted delicious. The sweet potato fries were in point must try. Thanks to Alejandro their new employee we had a good talk and wanted to make sure this guy was our star player of the night for his excellent service. I will definitely be back especially if they continue doing great with service
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Roland G. 2 years ago on Google
    What an incredible waiter we had! I was taken to islands by my family because they know I love the burgers there. We were a party of 13 seated at two tables in close proximity . Our waiter (Christein) was exceptional !! At no time were we ever waiting or wanting for anything. This guy was super engaged and always paying attention to our needs. I truly appreciate the awesome service I received on my birthday from this remarkable young man. He has an incredible work ethic and I have no doubt that he will go far in life. I took the time to let his manager, Sandy know how well he performed his job. I can’t recommend him enough to customers looking to go to Islands. The only thing Islands could possibly do to improve our experience, is to provide some larger tables for big parties. Still, amazing food with outstanding service and great atmosphere! Thanks Island’s and especially Christein, for making my 65th birthday one to remember
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 3/5 The Craic P. 9 months ago on Google
    My late night take-out order was a Malibu burger and fries. The burger was good. Fries were great - golden, crispy, and plenty. Location is great and the dining area looked nice. But, the service stinks. I placed my order via phone walked in and two employees passed me while avoiding eye contact and offered no greeting. I waited at the hostess booth for a minute. The place was busy, but at least throw me a smile and a “be right with you.” Finally found the right counter to fetch my take-out and the dude working wore a face like he’d rather be somewhere else. Seemed to me he hated his job. Everyone - all employees - looked like they were very unhappy. Did I pick the wrong day to order food?
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Matt C. 2 years ago on Google
    Long time customer, lots of burger options you rarely find a anywhere, strong drinks, staff cares, a place to slow down and relax
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 1/5 claudia g. 10 months ago on Google
    I understand, we have to go through uber eats for any refund... But it is not uber eats responsibility .. when cooks don't do what they are supposed to do. My son called islands and was told it had to be done through uber eats. Both burgers were turkey patties. My son's burger looks like it was bitten and burnt. My hula burger patty burnt from bottom and falling apart. I understand costs have gone UP but GD....for the price better quality burgers should be produced and cooks should be trained on quality control. Does it mean everytime prices are raised the quality of what you cook will go down. Picture is what we got. Aren't patties supposed to be round? I stopped my son from bitting into it after I saw how burnt it was and the bite marks. Patty on left looks huge.... patty on right much smaller, burnt and falling apart. Even if the restaurant was busy, it does not mean poor quality food should be cooked.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Kim L. 2 years ago on Google
    Outside dining during the pandemic. It's in the middle of the parking lot but they have music playing and a cute little gate around the area so it's not too bad. There's a canopy for shade. We enjoyed lunch with the family here after leaving Speed Circuit, which is nearby. I had the Malibu burger with regular fries. The burger was huge and the fries were nice and crispy. Great service and great food! Visit when you're in the area, you won't be disappointed!
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 4/5 Melissa G. 2 years ago on Google
    Great service, good food!! Nice for family outings and or birthdays!!
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Riza 2 years ago on Google
    The service was great at this restaurant. The staff were wonderful. I enjoyed the Maui burger - the portion was big for me and the truffle fries is to die for! It was delicious 😋
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 R M. 2 years ago on Google
    Great food and great service. We went for lunch and got a Big Wave burger and a Toucan sandwich a side of fries and a side of onion rings. It came relatively fast and everything was hot and the presentation was as expected. It just looked good! It was not very crowded and we were spaced out. The prices have not changed so that was a nice surprise. We have our server a little extra because of her service and attention to all of the details. We had a good time and another great meal.
    1 person found this review helpful 👍

  • 5/5 Daniela H. 10 months ago on Google
    It was delicious and it’s great they offer the imposible patty and being able to eat since I’m a vegetarian

  • 5/5 Speed P. 1 year ago on Google
    Food was amazing, atmosphere is great with a good football game showing, but pretty much almost finished a quarter of football before we got even asked what we wanted to drink (10-15mins) once we got our drinks, instead of waiting for our server to come back after our drinks, we had enough time to read the menu and decide our meal, we then proceeded to order our food. Another 15mins goes by and then our food is here. Our server just took a long time to do anything, our refills, check on us and see if we are good. I'll come back to eat again, but hopefully things are just more efficient and quick. Nothing against the food, just the efficiency of the overall process.

  • 5/5 Elmer E. 10 months ago on Google
    I've heard about this place & I finally decided to go. Oh my God....It lived up to the hype. You can taste the freshness & the unique delicious flavor from the burgers & fries. The Alcoholic drinks actually had Alcohol in them. Not like other restaurants that load it with ice & juice. The attentive service was amazing. I wanted to leave a huge tip & that's that I like to save money. They deserve it. Lots of TV's. No matter where you sit, you got a great view at the TV. I highly recommend this place.

  • 5/5 Raven “Ravenous” C. 10 months ago on Google
    This HuliCrisp chicken sandwich with onion crispy straws was super good. The chicken was breaded and seasoned so well!! Like black pepper and spices. I was surprised! As always the fries were great and the service too. Everything came out quick and was tasty.

  • 5/5 Iliana P. 1 year ago on Google
    Extraordinary staff!! Food was amazing!! Kacie was so friendly and attentive. Bartender was extremely friendly as well. Will definitely come back to visit again.

  • 5/5 Dan R. 7 months ago on Google
    Yeah, I've been driving around the Chula Vista area for a while now and decided to give it a try. The soup tortilla was delicious. The appetizers were great. Not a big favor of the grill taco fish. Next time, I'll try the fry taco fish. But I was happy with the service, Bella the waiters refill my coke 3 times and check on my table every 5 minutes or so. Yeah happy with my decision to eat here thanks to Bella.

  • 5/5 Maritza P. 9 months ago on Google
    Love their burgers (Kilauea is the fave) their fish tacos, and their fries, but bring back the bottomless fries!! Our service is always great here! They have great people working there.

  • 5/5 Tamaki M. 1 year ago on Google
    Very chill and relaxing environment. My 1st time was decent. Food was amazing. Sorry, I didn't take pics but, I ordered chilli fries, 9 piece buffalo wings, Kui Kui Chicken Sandwich ( I highly recommend). The cocktails were delightful! ❤️ Had a little problem with the chilli fries, they were quickly replaced and at no charge. Awesome customer service!

  • 4/5 LittleMiss C. 10 months ago on Google
    Sat at bar area since the kitchen was soon to close at 9:30pm. Sundae was good but didn't have a cherry. Sliders my friend said were probably the best they ever had.

  • 4/5 Veronica P. 7 months ago on Google
    The service is great, good atmosphere 👌 i had the maui burguer was ok, kind of too big to chew. The menu is 850 calories in average. The drink was not my favorite i couldn't finish because it was too sweet and salty, i got the mangorita.

  • 4/5 omni k. 5 months ago on Google
    Good food, reasonable prices with nice portions. Service is hit and miss, but overall, it is good for the most part. Great place to catch games and get some tasty appetizers. There is plenty of parking and easy access from nearby streets. Will definitely be returning for the tasty nachos, onion rings, wings, and burgers.

  • 4/5 Izzy M. 4 months ago on Google
    Great place, atmosphere, and theme. Servers make an honest effort to ensure you're taken care of and have what you need, although they may forget certain small details like not cleaning the seats and no straws and/or napkins. Small things that couldn't be fulfilled upon a simple request though.

  • 5/5 Gabriel P. 2 years ago on Google
    Super friendly staff, and the place is always clean. I feel relaxed the moment I walk in. The food is great, and in particular I enjoy the wings which I asked for 'extra crispy', which made them exponentially better for me.

  • 5/5 Grissel O. 1 year ago on Google
    We placed a large office order. Tuna melts were terrible. Patty melt was terrible. Meat wasn't cooked as requested. Ranch was watered down. AND they forgot to give me an order, even though I gave the waitress a list with all the order names on it. I had to come all the way back to the restaurant after having gotten to the office. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. ***EDIT*** I was immediately reached out to by Area Director. She was genuinely concerned about our experience and ask for a detailed list of the issues that day. She sent some gift cards and a very heartfelt letter to us. I did not expect such a gesture. Or even one at all as most times all you get is a "my bad". SUPER appreciate and will definitely use our gift cards. Thank you <3

  • 1/5 Tempestt R. 1 year ago on Google
    Not the greatest of takeout experiences. Stood in line with other customers with employees walking past us and not even acknowledging us waiting. Finally we stopped one employee explaining we ordered take out and had them address others. A manager even walked past us and didn't ask if we had been helped. I understand being busy buy to not even acknowledge paying customers was inexcusable.

  • 2/5 Alana B. 1 year ago on Google
    I used to come to this spot all the time with family. The quality of the burger is not at all what I remember! I ordered medium and it was still quite dry and very much lacking in flavor. I also ordered the cheddar bacon fries and I kid you not there was like 5 tiny bits of bacon on the whole thing. The ranch is usually yummy but too bad they forgot to put it in my togo order :| Would not recommend!!

  • 3/5 america m. 1 year ago on Google
    The food is pretty good but the RANCH, is so gross and watery! Please thicken the ranch, add corn starch or flour or something. It was like dipping my fries into milk.

  • 5/5 Fudy C. 1 year ago on Google
    The food was excellent as always! Mad props to the bartender for handling all the customers mostly by herself. She was busy but super attentive to all of us. Her customer service was above and beyond!

  • 4/5 Stacy F. 1 year ago on Google
    It was a good experience, the food was good. The wait time for sitting was Longer than normal. Made you wait for 30 but they had plenty of empty tables. Didn't get that. But I waited. I felt we didn't need to wait those 30 minutes.

  • 4/5 David M. 1 year ago on Google
    Table for 8 please!! Our experience was very enjoyable and everything went well EXCEPT for the fact that they no longer offer bottomless fries/onion rings and the servings offered with the hamburgers are small. Bring Bottomless Back #bbb

  • 1/5 anthony d. 2 years ago on Google
    I cant remember the last time we had such a horrible experience at a restaurant 😞. 1st it took forever to get our drinks. We wanted an appetizer but our server never asked us. After we got our food it was an endless wait for soda refills the boxes for taking hm food and the check. We literally had to chase down our server too cash out. We would have spent alot more but it was so hard to get just our food not to mention a refill. Our server was not checking on us at all. It wasn't super busy but the lack of attention to detail made our dinning experience one to forget.

  • 5/5 Kayla C. 2 years ago on Google
    The food service and atmosphere are great here. Fries are especially good and my picky toddlers actually finished their meal which is saying something. Will definitely return.

  • 4/5 Roberto M. 2 years ago on Google
    Had the impossible burger, which is the vegetarian option with fries and it was very tasty and filling. Also had a vanilla shake that was so thick and took me awhile to finish, but enjoyed it while it lasted l. For a 1.50 more you can get all you can eat fries. The service is excellent, they take care of you, and they have TVs all over to see sporting events.

  • 5/5 Elena Y. 3 years ago on Google
    2nd time since the Covid start, DELICIOUS!🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

  • 5/5 Morgan C .. 2 years ago on Google
    This place was fun! Their burgers are really good, I had the turkey burger which was delicious 😋 Also their drinks are pretty strong but outstanding! 😃

  • 4/5 Deborah T. D. 2 years ago on Google
    I've never had to wait in line to be seated. Their chicken and pineapple sandwich is to die for! Service is average wait times .The wait staff is friendly. I come here all the time for a relaxed dining experience.

  • 3/5 Randy Patterson - 9. 2 years ago on Google
    This place is 50-50 sometimes the burger is a 4 and sometimes it's a 3. The first 5 frys are great then they are cold.... the island Reds almost push it to a 4. Yum.

  • 5/5 Keith T. 2 years ago on Google
    Service and food were excellent. The spicey burger was just right in spice. Will return.

  • 3/5 Rory M. 2 years ago on Google
    Not bad, but personally I think there are other places with better burgers.


Call (619) 397-2643 Open on Google Maps

Amenities


  • Parking
    • ✓️ Free parking lot
    • ✓️ Plenty of parking
  • Payments
    • ✓️ Debit cards
    • ✓️ Credit cards
    • ✓️ NFC mobile payments
  • Offerings
    • ✓️ Beer
    • ✓️ Wine
    • ✓️ Coffee
    • ✓️ Alcohol
    • ✓️ Cocktails
    • ✓️ Quick bite
    • ✓️ Hard liquor
    • ✓️ Comfort food
    • ✓️ Small plates
    • ✓️ Happy hour food
    • ✓️ Healthy options
    • ✓️ Late-night food
    • ✓️ Happy hour drinks
  • Popular for
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Solo dining
  • Accessibility
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible seating
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible entrance
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible restroom
    • ✓️ Wheelchair accessible parking lot
  • Dining options
    • ✓️ Lunch
    • ✓️ Dinner
    • ✓️ Dessert
    • ✓️ Seating
  • Service options
    • ✓️ Dine-in
    • ✓️ Takeout
    • ✓️ Delivery
    • ✓️ Curbside pickup
    • ✓️ No-contact delivery

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