Marooned? Not on this Island, please...
Ordinarily, we make a conscious effort to avoid chain restaurants. Not that we are total snobs—heck, there are times when even a Chili’s or an Applebee’s can surprise you with a decent, quality meal. Sometimes though, when you’re hungry, you can’t help but avoid a chain restaurant, even though it may be a lesser-known chain that those mentioned above.
Such was the case recently when Mrs. Eater and I, spending a Saturday afternoon running errands all over town, came down with a severe case of the hungries while cruising through Summerlin. In an area along West Charleston Boulevard near I-215 are a bevy of places to plop your tired bones down and grab a bite; predictably, most of these are chain eateries headquartered somewhere else. Yet because Mrs. Eater had just about reached the point of gnawing off my arm, and I was on the verge of having a nosh on the other one, we chose a place called Islands.
This is the only edition of the Southern California-based Islands in Nevada, which for all intents and purposes does not make it a chain here (and thus, allowing us to justify this review). However, there are several Islands in Arizona and one in, of all places, Honolulu, along with about 50 throughout California.
Now, Islands bills itself as having “fine burgers & drinks.” That should have served as a cautionary tip for us (How does one define “fine”? Why aren’t they great? And if the burgers and drinks are fine, what about the rest of the menu? Is it somewhat less than fine?). But fearing the loss of both my limbs, we meandered into Islands nonetheless, where we were overtaken by a fun yet faux tiki décor inundated with thatched roof hut-like booths, fake bamboo everywhere, surfboards and large, plastic tropical birds. As my arms sensed impending relief for being spared, we were led to a table with a parking lot view, where we began perusing the menu. (Cautionary tip number two: Menus were available on the table, not presented by our server.)
Islands’ menu carries on the tropical theme with silly names for its items. Appetizers include a Moadilla (a barbecue chicken quesadilla) as well as Tiki Tenders (your basic chicken tenders served with choice of honey mustard or BBQ sauce). Salads include the Wiqui Waqui BBQ Chicken, Kaanapali Kobb, Jungle Caesar and China Coast. There also are several choices of soft tacos, including fish, spicy chicken, chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce, fajita chicken and seasoned pork. Other items include rotisserie chicken and three different chicken breast sandwiches, and a selection of gooey desserts.
The centerpiece of the menu is the choice of hamburgers, each arbitrarily named after a tropical locale or feature: Big Wave, Hula, Bleunami, Maui, Hawaiian, Sunset, Pipeline, Kilauea and Veggie. (Well OK, that last one is fairly standard, but it refers to the ability for the customer to substitute a veggie patty for beef on any of the above hokily-named burgers.) For lunch, Mrs. Eater chose the Cabo Loco soft tacos, made with seasoned pork, carmelized onions, cilantro-chili sauce and onions and cilantro ($8.09); I selected the Kilauea burger, crusted in jalapeno and black pepper with pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli and seasoned red onion strings ($7.25). As our server, Mindy, advised us that burgers are not served with sides, we ordered onion rings ($4.99). We also ordered a garden salad with honey mustard dressing ($1.55) plus a couple of passion fruit flavored ice teas ($4.58 total) and a Cool Breeze, a non-alcoholic smoothie made with coconut cream, banana and strawberry ($4.39). Our total tab, including tax, was $35.35.
Mrs. Eater: Disappointing, disappointing, disappointing. My tacos consisted of tortilla, onion and cilantro, no salsa whatsoever.
Mr. Eater: What about the quality of the pork?
Mrs. Eater: The pork didn’t have any flavor to it, it was just meat. The onions rings were Wendy’s quality.
Mr. Eater: That’s not flattery, is it?
Mrs. Eater: I guess not.
Mr. Eater: My burger had too much black pepper. I like black pepper and foods with a bite and a kick, but it was a bit much. It could have worked without the onion strings but with more chipotle.
Mrs. Eater: The salad looked like they just poured it out of a bag. The smoothie was good, but not good enough to make me want to go back. I could make one of those by myself, at home.
Mr. Eater: I agree, the smoothie and the iced tea were probably the best parts of lunch. Lesson learned: We won’t be going back, will we?
Mrs. Eater: No.
And now, The Forks (on a scale of 1 to 5):
• Quality of food: 1.5 forks
• Value: 1 forks
• Cleanliness: 5 forks
• Ambience: 4 forks
• Friendliness of staff: 2.5 forks
• Parking: 5 forks
• Accessibility: 4 forks
Islands is located at 10810 W. Charleston Blvd. in Las Vegas, NV 89135. Phone (702) 360-3845. Visit islandsrestaurants.com.
