The Islander

Relaxing atmosphere, good burger and turkey sandwich. Fries should be cooked about one minute longer — they were a little pale. Great tea. We’ll be back.

Ok. So I’ve been to the Islander a couple times now. And I must say. Although it’s a bit pricy, the food is good. However today is the day that made me write a review because I STRONGLY believe that this should be heard… Today when my coworkers and I visited for lunch, 3 of us ordered shrimp Alfredo which is not on the menu however the waiter and cook confirmed that It could be done. So I crossed my fingers the whole time not sure if what we were gonna get. but OMG! When we got this dish. Not only was it made to PERFECTION (right amount of noodles, sauce and SHRIMP surprisingly and the bread was great!!) the price was even better. I jus knew it was gonna cost every bit of $ 20 but it was only $ 12.99! This Alfredo was soooooo good we told one of the chefs that they need to put it on the menu! I hope the do. Because I would definitely recommend that to anyone… And the Mahi BLT AND SHRIMP TACOS! Needless to say. Please put the shrimp Alfredo on the lunch menu please. Thanks :)

The food here is nothing special. The fish tacos were overcooked as was the grouper, and the appetizers were unexceptional. The service, though, is superb, from the hostess to the waitstaff.
They offer half priced bottles of wine from 5−8pm Sunday — Tuesday which is a great deal. The outdoor patio area is nicely decorated as is the inside of the restaurant. Good place with a great vibe to go to for an outdoor cocktail; just wish the food was a bit better.

Rudest hostess I’ve ever encountered. Very unaccommodating. Did not stand when we entered. Her answers were curt and her attitude was horrible and very unprofessional. Would not recommend.

This review is way over due and is for The Islander’s back Island room which is used for special occasions like dinner parties, corporate dinners and rehearsal dinners. I contacted the restaurant and talk with the assistant manager, Barbara, about my sons rehearsal dinner last sept 5 2015. Again «way over due review». Barbara set up an appointment for us to review what they can offer and pricing. I did look all over Charleston and Mount Pleasant for venues but found The Islander to be the best value for size and food offered. I can not rave enough about what Barbara did. We got to taylor our menu and open bar selections at, what I consider, a very reasonable price. Ok picture this
Our guest arrive and directed at the front to go to the island room in the back. As they stroll toward the room they see a large sign printed by the Resturant detailing our special occasion. As they enter the room that was decorated by the Resturant in a very appealing tropical island theme the guest hear the music of the live steel drums. The tables were decorated beautifully with center pieces provided by the Resturant. The Resturant also had printed menus with our selection of choices for our guest with the names of our newlyweds on the front. They had a separate bar area where guest could gather also decorated to perfection. The Islander had plenty of help dedicated to grant our every need or request. And the kids, wow!!! They set up special tables with special menus and deserts specially Tailored for the kids. The night went off without a hitch. Everyone had a wonderful time. And the most important factor, the food was great. As the parents of the groom you only have the rehearsal dinner to impress and WE DID IMPRESS. I was proud to have held our rehearsal dinner at The Islander. I highly recommend this venue to anyone wanting to have a successful event. I can’t wait till our other son gets married.

Took 8 for post graduation dinner. Very disappointed. Only two out of 8 dinners were good. Grouper and fried oysters. The rest were not good: pork chop, seafood gumbo, seafood pot pie, fish taco and hopping John. Do not recommend. Service was fine.

Well here we go: 3 out of 5 stars and that is because the Fish Taco’s saved the night.
Seated right away. Indoor seating close to the bar and open area gave a feel of dining under the start (a bit). Soup ordered was the Conch Chowder. but if there was conch in there, I sure didn’t taste any of it. Was more like a spicy veggie soup. NOTE TO CHEF… but some darn conch in that there soup.
Sushi, we did a roll. for a $ 9 roll it was about half the weight (short and skinny) of what is comparable elsewhere. Flavor of the roll was just OK, nothing special. Will pass on this place for future sushi cravings.
Best item of the night was the dual-​count Mahi Mahi Tacos. They come as a pair and are packed with fish and accompanying fillers. Must say they were top notch and saved the evening.
Our waiter (Jonathan) was very pleasant, a bit disheveled and scatterbrained when he was unable to find his cheat sheet of evening specials, but he did work hard for his tip.

We have been here twice. Staff all very friendly. Broad menu. Excellent Happy Hour options.
Excellent value. Service is swift.
Salad was great-​fresh and not overdressed. I have had the hangar steak twice and love it particularly because they serve it really rare as I ask. Most places overcook my red meat.
Burger looked awesome.
Specialty cocktail one night was a Seabreeze served up. Delish! Had 2. Not sweet as some are made.
My only negative is the music on Sat night. It
Should be background music! I don’t think he needs a speaker. Music should not compete with my conversation.

What a fabulous restaurant! She crab soup was some of the best we’ve had. Great outdoor sitting. We enjoyed the fried shrimp with blue cheese and sausage coleslaw — so gooood! Yellow fish sushi — amazing! Next visit will be for brunch and shrimp and grits.

Great atmosphere and service! Soft guitar live music added to the island feel. This place has a very pretty outdoor dining area/​deck. When it got a bit chilly, our friendly bartender, Drew put on a heat lamp and pulled down the roll down walls. What a comfy feel! I ate the calamari sushi special and loved it! The combo of the wine, food, atmosphere, and Drew made this place a gem.

First time so will need to go back. But my wife’s entrée ‘steak’ tacos included barely 1 oz. of overcooked meat bits. Mostly cabbage. My spicy steak salad had 3 steak tips that were severed very rare despite requesting medium rare. The ‘spicy’ came from a red pepper relish sauce not actually from how the steak was cooked. From talking with neighbors whove been this is a place to order simple.
It was Happy Hour. When offering HH prices that does not mean the drink should have half the alcohol! Really weak and small margaritas.

Delicious!!! What a treat!!! I had read all the reviews and was a little skeptical about this restaurant, but I’m so glad I decided to go.
Sat at the deck bar. Drew was the bartender and he was personable and informative.
I had the She crab soup. Can you say yum!!! Loved it!
For dinner I had the fish tacos. I had expected them to be mediocre, but much to my pleasant surprise they were delicious. Very balanced in flavor.
Truly enjoyed everything. Will definitely go back.

This place is incredible! We just had lunch there. I had the jerk chicken sandwich which was so yummy! The guava aioli is great! The hubby had the hoppin John sauté. The hoppin John sauté is not even on the lunch menu, but when we asked for it, they happily accommodated us. He said it was probably some of the best food he has ever eaten! Service (Jason) was friendly and the food is worth a trip to Daniel Island!

My husband and ran into the Islander today for a quick Friday afternoon lunch.
Which isn’t my first choice on the island, but we were in a pinch and all other DI establishments were full. Of course, the Islander was empty and my story below tells me why.
We soon realized that this lunch wasn’t going to be very speedy. Two other two tops were seated after us and ordered their meals before a waiter came to our table. Ok, things get crazy. But when the waiter came to the table and asked «what do you want?» we should have gotten up and left. No, «i’m so sorry for your wait, my name is bob, what can I get for you today? any questions about the menu?»
Instead, he wrote our order down, leaves and we see him throw his hands in the air and toss our menu’s on another table!
Then 20 minutes later, the 2 tables that were seated after us have finished and left, another waitress approaches our table and asked us what we ordered. The claim was that the computer in the kitchen was broken and didn’t print the table number with the orders and they were in the back scrambling to figure out who ordered what! Seriously? I saw our waiter write down our orders… wtf?
What really happened– our waiter forgot to put our order in and no one wanted to admit it. I figured this out once the table that sat down AFTER us received their meals before us.
So needless to say, we discussed the quality of service with the manager who had the guts to blame it on the chef!
Our original waiter came back to clean up our plates and said «well at least you enjoyed the food, it will be on us today.» Whatever!
Checking this off my list. Clearly they have issues when Benefit Focus, an office with

Awesome!!! Atmosphere, food quality, selection and service. Great place if your staying at the Hampton Inn or on DI. Atmosphere is all Low Country and the crowd is usually good.

Wow!!! Our Server Melissa was amazing, friendly, and our food was awesome. Our drinks were filled before we knew they were getting low!!! And again… the food was awesome! Had the fish tacos, conch chowder soup, and oysters trio! Mmmmmm
The island theme and weather was beautiful… and within 30 yards of our hotel!!! Beautiful night at the Islander!!!

The décor was pleasant and so was our staff, but overall the food was mostly just okay. It was good but not WOW.
I think a lot of the reviews say the same thing– it’s a very pleasant location and the food isn’t bad but no one said a pep about it after we left. It was perfectly good… and forgettable. Some of the dishes our table tried were: the calamari appetizer, the mussels appetizer, the shrimp and grits, the salmon entrée, the seafood pot pie, the conch chowder, and the steak tacos. Everyone liked their dish it seemed, but no one actually said much about them!
If you’re a vegetarian you have to mention it when you RSVP if you want them to put something together for you– menu options are limited. I managed to get vegetarian sushi on no notice but they seem to REALLY prefer you call ahead if you have any special needs.
The staff do a great job so I almost feel bad for being hard on the food, but I just can’t tell you to go out of your way for this place. If you’re in the area it’s a perfectly good choice though.

While Daniel Island doesn’t offer a ton of options when it comes to great restaurants, I would argue that The Islander is the best option on the island. I love the tropical, beachy vibe of the place and especially love the outdoor patio in the spring and summertime. The menu has a ton of options mostly centered around seafood, in addition to tacos and a large sushi section. One of the best deals are the $ 9 Baja Fish Tacos, which include two large flour tortillas that fill you up. The Island Pork Sliders for lunch are also fantastic, served on Hawaiian rolls with grilled pineapple and a sweet slaw. If it’s your first time to Daniel Island, be sure and walk around the island’s gorgeous walkways and parks. So many hidden spots worth exploring!
Must-​order items:
Baja Fish Tacos
Island Pork Sliders
Island Burger w. Grilled Pineapple

The Islander is a nice restaurant looks great. They have a very nice patio where the bar is located of which ½ is covered and heated during the winter. The bar also opens up into the dining room creating almost a garage door feel. It’s the kind of place you want to bring your friends and have happy hour; problem is that there isn’t really a happy hour for The Islander when it comes to prices. I think they have bottles of Corona for $ 3.00 as their happy hour special; but should be running specials on their limited draft selection.
The service here is great and all the servers are on top of their game. I find it weird that the hostess sits at a table as you walk in the door rather standing at a hostess stand; it just looks and feels weird. The main problem I have with The Islander is the high prices and mediocre food; which is limited in selection. Yesterday I ordered the Grilled Mahi Taco with a side of fries; the tacos were cold and burnt while the fries were also cold and rubbery. I paid $ 8.99 for the tacos and the fries were another $ 4.99; for that they should have been perfect.
It’s such a shame that I have to give The Islander only 2 stars because it has so much potential. Makes me wish Queen Anne’s pirate restaurant was still here.

This place looks amazing. The indoor/​outdoor bar is really cool and I just want to day drink and lounge there alllll dayyyy long. but then I remember how hangovers feel and I suddenly have a change of heart.
Again, the Islander looks awesome and the atmosphere is pretty neat. The prices and the food are another story. It’s clear that this place caters to the hotel and convenience of BF right around the corner, because the prices are high and the food is mediocre and small in portions. My friend and tried their tacos and were not impressed. Bland, boring and not that great. I recommend it for a fun happy hour spot but nothing more.