661 replies to this topic

[rlsliger]

Tasting today at Islands at 12?

Yuck! My wife has dragged me there 2 or 3 times and I've left each time disappointed. Looking forward to reading the reviews.

[mylo]

I could do today, but Thurs would be preferable.

[Dave Burrell]

I could do today, but Thurs would be preferable.

Thursday it is!

and to rlsliger, my wife and I were just at Islands a few weeks ago too, so although I'm not excited to go back soon, I figured it'd be good to get the groups consensus on that place and give Islands a chance in the "game" - since they do specialize in burgers and all...

we've been there only a few times too over the years too and have never been inspired enough to warrant going back soon (it was my kid's idea to go this last time) - same goes for Red Robbin (IMO) - maybe that's a burger chain thing versus a unique restaurant? they're not great but at least they're consistently decent?

The thing I do give Islands credit for is FINALLY including french fries with their burgers - if any place is going to charge more then 7 bucks for a burger, it sure as heck better be worthwhile...

Overall, I can't say the burgers I've had were bad in anway at Islands, some of their concoctions are rather tasty its just nothing is very spectacular (IMO) - course maybe I also like that they're the only place in town that servers beer in ice cold chilled glasses which for some reason makes beer taste even better...?

I'm going to wipe the slate clean and give them a new look with a positive outlook and see how it goes

stay tuned for that review in a few days...

[mylo]

I think we should start calling and getting our burgers comped. Or perhaps John should be financing all this great review content bringing in the ad bucks (8462 views at time of writing)

[Dave Burrell]

I think we should start calling and getting our burgers comped. Or perhaps John should be financing all this great review content bringing in the ad bucks (8462 views at time of writing)

heheh I'm usually never opposed to not having to pay...

(that's why I only go out once a week for lunch now, it's gotten too expensive to dine out often... and this is why its good to read reviews and find out where best to spend our hard earned money so its not wasted on bad restaurants)

however now, like I've always been saying, I don't even want the restaurants to know we're doing a review there - that way its completely unbiased on all our parts

[Darth Lefty]

It's not like the fries became free, the combo costs more than the burger used to.

[Dave Burrell]

It's not like the fries became free, the combo costs more than the burger used to.

I didn't notice any price change since the addition of fries, how much did the price go up?

[Darth Lefty]

I sure hope you guys remembered not to pack a lunch today...

[Dave Burrell]

I sure hope you guys remembered not to pack a lunch today...

see you at Islands at Noon

[mylo]

Be there, or be

[Dave Burrell]

Today's burger tasting was at Islands Restaurant. In attendance was our regular burger boyz crew: myself, mylo, darth and evader

This place has had mixed reviews and while I can't say I myself was particularly keen on adding this one to the list of contenders, it had to be done considering that burgers ARE their specialty...

We all had the Big Wave with Cheese which came with Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles & mustard - those happen to be my personal favorites on a burger so that worked well for me.



I personally thought it was a pretty decent good burger - not outstanding, but it was worth the price and I had a good time enjoying it while hanging out on their patio with the gang

One thing that I really noticed was that out of all the places we've gone out for burgers over the past two months, this was the most crowded of all, there wasn't a line out the door but it seemed to be fairly full and parking was hard to find. It appears that Islands is a somewhat popular lunch destination



Out of a notional 5-step scale of "Bad, Okay, Good, Very Good, Excellent"

Meat: Good (It was good, I liked it, I put it on par with Red Robbin and Big Dip)

Cooked: Very good (I don't think there was no choice, we got it medium and I particularly liked how done it was done and it maintained it's juicy-ness which I find always to be good)

Bread: Very Good (now that was a nicely done burger bun - nearly perfect IMO)

Toppings: Excellent (the toppings that were included happened to be my favorites - it's rare but I love having mustard on my burgers)

Fries: Good (these were some good fresh fries but they were just at tad overcooked)

Pickle: YES! one was included - woo hoo! (but don't ask mylo about pickles, he hates 'em)

Tea: n/a but the ice cold frosty mug of beer was outstanding!

Service: Good

Ambiance: Excellent (you gotta admit, the ambiance at Islands is cool, they have a nice theme and with TV's showing surf action videos all over it's neat. We dined outside on the patio which was really nice.)

my personal order of favorites so far...

bidwell street bistro
folsom bistro
islands
big dip
balcony bistro
karens bakery
red robbin
carl's jr

[Darth Lefty]

I had mine with cheese but no bacon, no onion, and a Longboard beer. Total $16.

Out of a notional 5-step scale of "Bad, Okay, Good, Very Good, Excellent"

Meat: Good. Shrug

Cooked: Good. Shrug

Bread: Good... I had the whole wheat which is an option I'll take wherever I'm given it

Toppings: Good. Shrug. The cheese was an American single which set Mylo off about how he hates America... ... ...n cheese, but I like it fine and it was melted on the grill which is the right way to do it, and didn't show up looking congealed and wrinkly afterward like some places have.

Fries: Good. Shrug

Pickle: You must understand that when I included this as a separate line item I was expecting a pickle spear, and not referring to pickles on the burger. But no one except FB (RIP) has given me a pickle. The dang old Aerojet cafe can get this right, why can't the restaurants?

Beer: good. Would be very good but freezing of glass was overboard and resulted in a floe of head that took half the glass to stop hitting me in the lip.

Service: Good. Shrug.

Ambiance: Good but only cause we were out on the patio without the stupid TV's and their aimless x-tremity.

my personal order of favorites so far...

bidwell street bistro
folsom bistro
islands
karens bakery
balcony bistro
big dip

[Dave Burrell]

bidwell street bistro
folsom bistro
islands
karens bakery
balcony bistro
big dip

Ya know I hafta agree with you that the Islands burger was even better then Karen's bakery (ooh thats gonna piss of one high and mighty user here)

and since FB is now history, that does move BSB up to the top spot

good notes dude!

[Darth Lefty]

I hate to keep picking at Karen's. I wanted to like it. My burger there was fine though I'd rather have had the other cheese. What really killed it was the fries.

BSB was perfect, an archetype of a burger