The Islander

I really like the Islander. I think they have the best burgers on the island. Went recently and had excellent service– The waiter anticipated our every need. I think this is my go-​to restaurant on the island. And All day Unlimited mimosas on Saturday!
I’m taking off one star because the mahi mahi tacos were very expensive and far too fishy for me.

The old Islander had character as a dingy local pub and family eatery. With the new digs, it lost its way. The updated digs would be fine if the food was the same or better, but not the case. Better places to go locally. I will try it again in several months to see if the food has improved, but I am not holding out much hope.

The bar was not busy but service was still slow. When I arrived, the bartender ignored me to do dishes, and I had to wait for him to fill two loads of dishes to get a drink. My drink also went dry every time before I even was asked if I’d like another. I would’ve went back if it wasn’t for the poor service.

Overprice pub food with bad service. Much better experience at the Roanoke on Mercer Island

I have decided that after many visits to The Islander happy hour — I’m not going back. There is only so much indifferent service and awful food I can take — no matter how inexpensive. I’m at pains to figure out why the waitress in the bar area is still employed. She’s sullen, inefficient, and unfriendly. Why should I bother going to a bar made inhospitable by the people working there? I realize we are severely limited in our choice of restaurants on Mercer Island, but there is only so much I’m prepared to take for the convenience of staying local.

Food was great and staff was friendly. And affordable too!!!

Be aware that their hours are not as they advertise. We tried to go there at 10:00 on a Friday night but there staff decided it was too late and did not want to serve another table when there was another party who had just been seated.

I love local places where they not only know the locals but welcome the new comer’s! With a friendly staff you can enjoy and indoor experience or an a outdoor in the stunning sunshine. Great food and an extensive wine list! Check them out!

I just walked out of this restaurant as the food was so bad. I first received a Kobe burger that was cold. The waitress forgot parts of our order but didn’t appear for 15 mins. I asked to have the burger heated and it came back 30 seconds later. It was a whole new plate but the burger was raw. Not rare but raw meat. The tomatoes were hard as a rock and not even red and the lettuce was wilted. Sorry at those prices, I expect better than this. I felt embarrassed for them. The only good thing was the fact that they didn’t make me pay. I know that people have good experiences here but I did not. I am now having a meal at Bennetts which is delicious. I only gave it one star because it would not let me post without giving a star.

The bar is so slow, I keep coming back, because I live nearby and every time I think it was just the server, but the truth is they don’t seem to give a damn about the customer. Pretty sure the staff was chain smoking, because they disappeared for twenty minutes at 9:30 on Friday night; or they were just chatting with staff. Either way worst service on the island beside 7 star on the island. Management needs to clean shop, do a light menu refresh, and choose a style for the bar… Night club or neighborhood haunt, just pick one. …but the wife loves the grapefruit margarita and I don’t have to call an über so I guess next time we’ll go to Earl’s.

We went to this restaurant on a fluke trip to Mercer Island, because we were very hungry, and went in to the first place we saw. I ordered the fish and chips. First of all, the interior and décor is nice, a little swanky, and the prices reflected that. The service was OK, nothing too exciting or too horrible either.
My fish and chips was a little strange. I don’t know if it was underdone or what but it didn’t seem right. The water was obviously put through a brita filter one too many times.
All in all– underwhelming, but not horrible.

Absolute worst service i have ever had at a restaurant. We try all the time, hoping it has improved but it never does. The wait staff is young, which is great. But they can’t balance the amount of tables they will have. We sat for 15 minutes before even ordering drinks, while our waitress walked by multiple times looking at us. We were shocked. Their food isn’t even that good for the price and the terrible service

Lost a receipt I needed for tax purposes, and the manager refused to look it up and find it for me. Told me he didn’t have the time, and didn’t have to, so wouldn’t.

Zero if I could. What on earth led you to believe that a $ 26 ribeye steak should be cut so thin, maybe ³⁄₈ in, that the only option is well done? You should be embarrassed… a basic single malt scotch is $ 12…you should be embarrassed. You deserve to go out of business. Never again! Ugh… as someone who spent a lot of time in the Seattle restaurant business I can only say that you should be embarrassed. Whoever is in charge should be embarrassed.

So disappointed. I used to love this place in the old location. I’ve been back a few times since, mainly for drinks and happy hour at the bar, and it was fine. Last night two of us had dinner, and it was awful. The risotto sounded good on the menu. But it was a yellow gelatinous rice with some flavorless vegetables stirred in it. Tomatoes were cut up sandwich tomatoes, as another reviewer pointed out. I doubt the risotto was made last night but probably pulled out of a refrigerator and heated. Just awful. Rice a Roni would be better than this. The Mediterranean plate was also low on flavor. Remarkably bland spread that didn’t taste like hummus. Bland black olives. Some other thick mushy spread that i didn’t recognize and neither of us could eat. The one spoonful of feta was good. The kitchen seems more focused on piling up large plates than offering up good food. What a shame. I like the ambiance here, but there is no point of overpaying for a mediocre meal.

O.K., I have to admit that I LOVED the old Islander and was a bit put off by the fancier version of the sports bar that was once filled with locals. I shook off my aversion to fancy schmansy décor and gave this place another try. The Islander has what is arguably the best Happy Hour on the Island. My husband loves the Carnitas tacos but for my money, give the Garden Vegetable Sautee a try. Fantastic. If you know the answer to their daily question, you can score a free drink. Give this one a try. you won’t be disappointed.

I hate writing negative reviews but sometimes I wonder how people do stuff like this with a straight face and take my money — I had reasonable expectations (on the low side) because I know this place well enough and I prefer nicer restaurants. But I just wanted food — like TGI Fridays type of food. I asked if I could place a takeout order (it was after 9:00 pm) but I was told the kitchen was open and yes. But this takeaway meal managed to be very «sophomore year» — thrown together and not so tasty. My bland pasta included beefsteak tomatoes chopped (huge) instead of cherry or grape tomatoes typically served in hot pasta dishes — for the record sandwich tomatoes are NOT GREAT with cooked food. I also had lots of asparagus stalks (no tips), sandwich bread torn in half, and a small scrap of paper hiding in my noodles. Classy! I feel like my meal was thrown together. If it was too late and the kitchen was closed, I would have rather been told no instead of served this. I would have just gone somewhere else.

Had breakfast here today. It was my first time here. I had the pumpkin spice pancakes and they were pretty good. The service was good and the waitress kept our coffees full. I didn’t pay for my own food so I can’t say anything about the food quality to price ratio, but I had a good meal and would come back.

Came here on Halloween and it was pretty quiet. The fries were awesome — they served ours extra crispy which we didn’t order but it was great. My spinach salad with warm bacon dressing ended up being strange — the oil/​fat in the dressing coagulated on the cold spinach which was actually pretty gross and was sent back. Lime shrimp appetizer was pretty tasty although too buttery. Kids enjoyed Mac and cheese and hamburger without complaints. They had a good hoppy beer, and the bar had lots of TVs. Pretty much average to sucky.

My friend had 5 fruit flies in his drink and they did not take it off his check. He had to ask and then the server had to get manager approval. It was gross and he was treated like nothing was wrong with the comment «it’s just some extra protein!». Even if it’s not going to kill you it is still not appetizing and was handled in a terrible manner. Fix the issue and keep customers coming back. Well, we are are not.

Not worth the time or money. The portions of the food are small, the quality of the food Is poor.
Not a whole lot of flavor in our steaks, fish tacos, and the salad was just a pile of lettuce with a few strawberries. The server was ok, cleanliness was eh. There was a booger of a table. Gross, not what the website pretends to be. Just a crummy bar with mediocre food,

I’m giving this place two stars simply because I feel bad giving them one. Where to begin, let’s start with the bar, where we ate, it sucks. The food… We paid $ 63 for frozen meatloaf and chicken legs. Apparently two plates that are favorable to the server, poor girl. The beer (Mannys) was the best part. People watching isn’t too bad. The crowd consists of a mixed bag off oddities. The bartender, poor guy, openly commented about how busy he was… But I’m counting 6 people. Placed was much better years ago

I came in with my grandmother for the Tuesday steak special. The flavor was mediocre. They brought our orders wrong (both had things we didn’t request and lacked things we did). The steak knives weren’t actual steak knives and were so dull I swear my butter knife could cut it better. I don’t like to drink so I ordered a soda with bitters and lime and I couldn’t taste the bitters. Finally we got to the car and realized we’d left a to go box and they had thrown it out in the 5 minutes it took to realize.

I’ve had it! The Islander is very close to my office making it our default spot for lunch and happy hour. The food is decent and the service is mediocre at best.
A few months ago, I was in for happy hour and they had a list of drinks on the board in the bar. Most of them were drinks featuring middle shelf liquor so I ordered the Manhattan that was on the board. Upon getting the check, I discovered that I had ordered a nearly $ 25 drink. The waitress had little sympathy for me and didn’t seem to care that it was a bait and switch. After a brief boycott, I returned realizing that although it seemed sleezy, it was my fault for not asking the cost.
What happened last night will ensure I never return. I ordered another Manhattan, this time making sure I didn’t order it with bourbon that cost $ 20/​shot. After enjoying it, I looked in the bottom of the glass and noticed that hidden under the cherry were FIVE FRUIT FLIES. When I alerted the waitress — expecting her to be horrified — she shrugged, said sorry and made some comment about extra protein. She asked if I wanted something else but I was too grossed out to order something else. Asked for my check and was brought a bill with the drink on it. I alerted her that I was charged for the drink and she said she would have to ask her manager about comping it which they ultimately did. That should have been automatic and a shred of empathy would have been appropriate.
It is truly sad that there are very few good food options on Mercer Island and it is unfortunate that The Islander seems to make no effort to be one of them. Stay away!

I just grabbed a burger: kobe cheeseburger $ 12 – 13. the patty was well cooked and a good size. It was an ok experience overall. they hv a good beer selection!

Tried it again as it was our favorite before they moved. Food was okay but the rules are a little crazy. The bar lunch menu looked better but you can’t order from that menu. Unless you are in the bar

The food is ok, nothing to jump thru hoops for. The service is horrible. They don’t have a clue. We really like staying on island but there isn’t a lot to chose from.

Our server was great and very nice but this was a bad experience food wise for sure. Order 6 oz sirloin steaks one medium one rare and when we received our meal it was dry and over cooked.. We brought it up and they took steaks back and I am always nervous what someone will do if you complain about the food but this was bad they were toast so we had to say something. Food came back and my wife and I ate it and it seemed cooked perfectly. I didn’t even make it home before my stomach turned sour and sharp pains and she has been home all day sick with pains in her stomach as well. Definitely something wrong!!! Second time we’ve eaten there in a row and left feeling like crap. Have had the breakfast and it is good but no other luck since move to new building… Would not recommend at all…

I visited the Islander for the first time this week. I ordered the crab & shrimp Louie salad.
The good:
+ Nice big tail-​on shrimp (about as big around as my thumb)
+ Half a ripe avocado
+ fresh crunchy romaine lettuce
+ Good sized scoop of crab meat
+ dressing was nice and tart
The bad:
— The hard boiled egg had a green ring around the yoke meaning it was overcooked or cooked sometime ago
— the shrimp had no flavor or seasoning at all. I suspect they were pre-​cooked frozen shrimp. The tails were also suspiciously uniform like they were factory cut.
— the crab’s only seasoning was salt and it was also suspiciously uniform in texture and pure white
— tomatoes were pale and mealy
When you are charging $ 19 I would expect the chefs to care a little more about the quality. When a hard boiled egg has more flavor than your seafood there’s something wrong.
On the plus side, my draft beer was nice and cold and my server was very nice and attentive. This earned the Islander an extra star.

We love going to The Islander! We frequent it once a week mainly for the salmon and the service. Year round, the salmon is a solid ¹⁰⁄₁₀. The owner tells us he buys his salmon straight off the boat or directly from the fish market himself. It’s better than ANY chain salmon restaurants in Seattle or Bellevue. (McCorm/​Sch, Dukes, Daniel’s, etc…) WAY better. Melts in your mouth!
The service is excellent! Waz, a great server, always remembers what we order even when we can’t remember.
The bar is fun and relaxed with a great energy vibe!
Thanks, Islander!

Very nice and modern space and the food is decent. That being said, the service is HORRIBLE. Came with a small group earlier this week, only one other table in the dining room and we still waiting close to 20 minutes just to order drinks and another 30+ minutes before our dinner order was taken (another 5 mins to adjust the food put in front of all the wrong people). The server was eating dinner at another table while not paying attention to us. Had to get up and ask for our checks (which also all came out wrong), multiple times before getting them — also, never came back to see if we wanted to order more drinks.
Don’t expect a call back from management either — never had my call returned. Won’t be back and given the price, you can go about anywhere else on the Island for a better meal!