Island Style Cafe

This place has delicious food! The Kalbi Ribs are amazing. Tastes like the food I had in Waikiki. Try it. Love the Guava cake for dessert.

Island style café
Korean Mix Plate
Brown rice
Mac Salad
The driveways to get into the lot are semi steep, so not so low car friendly. There are plenty of parking spots, but it’s shared amongst all the other business.
There is plenty of seating inside, there is none outside. The music is low and it’s easy to hold a conversation.
The food is great, the Korean chicken is juicy and very tasting. Had a bite of my friends chicken katsu, it was some what dry compared to the Korean Chicken. The whole Korean plate was more than enough for 1 person and I still had plenty of left overs. I would recommend this place to my family and friends and will be returning soon.

I had been looking forward to coming here for a while because I love Hawaiian food, but I don’t get to eat it as often as I would like. So my girlfriend and I came here for brunch last Sunday, while we were out exploring the neighborhood of Tierrasanta. My girlfriend was a little hesitant at first, she’s not huge on Hawaiian food, but she agreed to go, probably cause I seemed so excited.
We went in and took our seats in of the booths. The interior is pretty nice. It’s pretty traditional, with an islanders touch. Not a huge place, but plenty of seating. After glancing at the menu, I decided on the Kaloko Moco and a side of pancakes. My girlfriend got the Kalua Loco Moco, which comes with pulled pork instead of the burger patty.
Before long, our food came out and man, did it look delicious. We both immediately dove in. It was everything I had dreamed of. The burger patty was well cooked, the rice was good, the gravy was good enough to drink, and the crêpe under mine added this certain sweetness that was delicious. My girlfriend was pleasantly surprised with her meal, she raved about it all morning!
Everything was absolutely delicious, and very filling. I barely got through my Loco Moco, and after two bites of the pancakes, I called it quits. We both grabbed our leftovers and left, fully satisfied. We will definitely be back here to try some more of the menu!

Found this place when my friend and I were trying to find some breakfast. I thought it was just okay. Probably just not what I was looking for. I know people come here for the Hawaiian food which I just haven’t ate much in my life. I had a breakfast sandwich which was nothing special but I was starving! The service was okay. Place didn’t seem that clean. I’m not sure I would come back here

I have ordered lunch from this place many times and any day but Friday I order the Korean Chicken. If it is Friday my favorite item is the kalua pork but they only make it on Fridays. I’ve also tried the bbq chicken and it was okay, but nothing special. What is truly special here is the macaroni salad. They have a very unique macaroni salad is that absolutely wonderful. I would come here just for the macaroni salad. Their potatoes are also amazing. My favorite meal here is the kalua pork with macaroni salad and the potatoes. Order that and you cannot go wrong.
When I order lunch to go I usually call it in, this will save you a good amount of time. If you decide to eat in service is pretty good, I have not experienced any problems.

Came to meet a friend for lunch and I arrived at 11:15. We knew what we wanted so when she got there at 11:20, we ordered immediately. Food came out quickly and we finished our meal around 12. By 12:10, waitress basically told us – sorry we need the table implying we need to leave– even though she just took our plates and returned our credit card. Smh. Never had that happen to me before. Still in shock!

Food is delicious here!
Try the korean chicken. You will not be disappointed.
Come for breakfast, loco moco is what you want to order.
Small ish restaurant. I would call ahead on the weekend to see if there is a wait. It’s a hit or miss.

My boyfriend and I love this place. It is our to go place. I am a lover of L&L Hawaiian and this joint is a more extensive and fancier sit down upgrade to that. Their meat is delicious. I love them all. I usually order the kalbi mix to get three of their meats in my plate. Their macaroni salad is so good. My boyfriend loves their salad and unique house salads. It’s the only restaurant where my boyfriend feels content after eating. They have big servings and their drink menu has many options and most are refillable. Their prices are pretty good for the meal you’re gonna get. I definitely recommend this place. The waitresses are pretty and polite and the venue overall is pretty nice. The cute pineapple lighting is a nice touch. The venue has a nice ambient atmosphere with light Hawaiian music playing in the background. We always have a good time when we go here. It has earned its 5 stars.

I’ve eaten here once and thought the food was pretty good. Went with the katsu and korean chicken with white rice and the mac salad. You judge a Hawaiian place by their mac salad, at least I do, and theirs did not disappoint. The service was good, though they never brought us the poke we ordered, but also did not charge us for it.

I’d gone here in my pre-​Yelping days, but didn’t think very much of it both in terms of the food and the general vibe of the restaurant. And I basically forgot about the place. Then I come back after a few years, and they’ve really jazzed up the décor, which in turn improves the atmosphere. They’ve also seemingly stepped up the quality of their dishes, which means that I won’t forget it again.
We began with the «crispy kalua pork gau gee» appetizer. Based on the menu description, which just mentioned that it comes with «oriental sauce,» I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What we received basically amounted to Chinese dumplings filled with pulled pork, which tasted as great as that sounds.
When our main plates arrived, I was immediately drawn to the side of potatoes, which featured an absolutely perfect spice rub. I wasn’t quite as impressed with the actual entrée, the «island bbq chicken,» although it did its job of satiating my hunger. Regardless, I want to reiterate that Island Style Café really kills it with the sides.
Summary: Now with more Style.

Being that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, I count my blessings when I’m able to fuel up at this cozy eatery. It’s a great start to the day.
I am always pleased with the food, service and atmosphere of this restaurant.
My BF introduced this TASTY place to me a few months ago. It’s a fun place to eat when you want something different. I’ve tried several dishes and have been thoroughly satisfied with each one.
I’m a true believer that when spam is added you can’t go wrong. Today was my first time trying the crepes and have to applaud the chef. It was just what I was looking for light fluffy melt in your mouth texture accompanied by fresh strawberries, bananas, custard and whip cream. Just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth without being incredibly overwhelming for breakfast. Shared my bfs perfectly cooked spam.
Service is always quick and professional. I love that all employees share their smiles and make you feel at home. I’m looking forward to my return visit.

The food is «Meh.» Nothing to write home about. The service is what got me. It wasn’t good. Walk in and get told to sit anywhere we want. We look around, a few dirty tables and a couple of booths (clean). We go sit at a booth and get told we can’t sit there. The woman makes us wait to sit at a two seat table which has to be cleaned first. Then it’s wet from being cleaned. Later, another couple sits there without issue.
Our waitress wasn’t friendly or overly mean, she just had no emotion.

From the moment I typed the letters Hawaiian food into Unilocal,I knew I’d have to sort through the crapola of chains (I’m looking at you LnLs) to find a hidden gem.
I searched far and wide, each restaurant to understand, the cuisine that’s inside. Island STYLE CAFE!
I perused the menu from top to bottom. Reading each description of menu items carefully. I had to analyze, I must overanalyze, and I thought to myself… is this the one? Is this the one Hawaiin restaurant to rule them all? How deep is your love for Hawaiian food? Is it like the ocean?
What devotion, are you? Anyways getting back on track, I don’t want to be labeled as a religion baiter. Continuing with the intense feelings of joy (think rainbows and unicorns with cupcakes) I came across the illustrious Kaloko Moco. Take a second, gather yourself, brace yourselves, because the winter is coming.
By that I mean when you read what’s in it, it’s going to be chilling. Just gonna lay out the cold facts,
Be sure to read this slow, your heart might stop (from excitement and from the ridiculous artery clogging deliciousness, I’d Google a picture if I were you for imagery)
First, the money shot, 2 eggs, and don’t you dare get them cooked any longer than over easy. If you don’t like them cooked that way, move along. Don’t ruin this with your unsightly overcooked huevos. I despise eggs in this setting that aren’t runny. Moving forward,
Then you get HALF A POUND of ground beef, cooked so they’re charred a little which eats perfectly if you gather all the goodness for one bite.
THEN, unlike the lower quality meh eats chain LNLs, you get. not just rice. no no no. But this beauty sports a hot cozy bed of PORK, FRIED, RICE.
I’ll give you a minute. I know I know this can’t get any better… but it does. It definitely does.
Nestled under all of this hot delicious, mouthwatering, mind boggling amalgamation of wondrous food, lies… a crêpe. A CREPE. IS THIS NORMAL IN HAWAII? THIS IS AMAZING. The sweet and savory combination is utterly ridiculous. I don’t know if this is legal. It can’t be, at least not in all 52 states. Will check later and get back to you guys.
OH BY THE WAY, SHOWERED OVER ALL THIS GOODNESS? A gravy that I would bathe in for hours on end. The best part? They offer you extra. EXTRA. and you bet your toosh I get the extra.
To make a long story not so short, order it, eat it and enjoy it. Your mouth will thank me, I will thank you for reading and we’ll all be happier afterwards. So go, hurry and make sure you don’t have plans afterwards. You WILL need a nap. Enjoy fellow Unilocalers.

Ordered The Korean Fried Chicken, Kaloco Moco, deep fried Spam Musubi, and a side of Kalua Pork. Everything we had was so flavorful. It really made my tummy happy! This is a spot I would definitely go back to.
Only negative thing I would like to add, there was a room you need to go through to get to the restroom and the light didn’t work. So I got lost in the dark looking for the restroom lol
But other than that, totally love this place!

We came across this place a few years ago and loved it — specifically their shave ice. Although we hadn’t tried any of their actual food, their shave ice had us coming back over and over again. We recently decided to stop by after being away for so long.
When we got to the restaurant we noticed it had changed a lot. They had gone through a renovation, it seems, as the place now has booths instead of tables and the set up was different. We have to say, the place does seem nicer. But, in a way, we feel like this place lost it’s local feel. It really did feel like we were back on the islands when we first tried this place out. Despite that, the restaurant is clean and the staff wasn’t the nicest, but were OK.
We ordered a shave ice, which comes in one «big» size, with 3 flavors (pineapple, watermelon, and tiger’s blood). We added a scoop of vanilla ice cream, sno top (sweet cream), and li hung mui sprinkle.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the interior that changed. From what we can remember, their shave ice was much better before — the servings were much bigger, the ice more fine, and was overall more Hawaii-​like. They used to be our benchmark for shave ice when we’d try out other shave ice places around SD, but we think we have to reconsider as it has lost its special-​ness.
Despite our disappointment, we haven’t tried the food so we would probably be back to give their dishes a try. Looking at the menu, it did sound tasty. Hopefully we find their aloha again.

Not my favorite Hawaiian lunch spot in San Diego, but since I work down the street I have come here quite often with my coworkers. Definitely gets packed on weekdays at noon so there have been a few times where we had to eat somewhere else because we didn’t have enough time to wait to be seated.
I actually didn’t like the Korean chicken plate that much. The two times I’ve ordered it (had to give it another shot) the chicken didn’t really maintain its crispiness, and there was a noticeable amount of fat in the cuts of dark meat. I’ve just had it so much better at other Hawaiian places. I also tried it with the fried rice, which has pieces of bacon in it. This sounded great, but it honestly seemed like it was made the night before and reheated.
If I were to recommend something, it’d be the CHICKEN KATSU. The cut of chicken served was huge and had a nice crisp to it.
Also, since no one has really reviewed it recently, I tried the chicken quesadilla the other day. It’s definitely a filling and thick quesadilla with large pieces of chicken breast. The sautéed onions and bell peppers inside the quesadilla gave it a nice touch… but MAN was it greasy! This thing was so oily that. The bottom side of the tortilla was pretty much just a soggy oily napkin.
Other than that, I do have to admire the fact that the service is always great and it’s nice to have a Hawaiian place where you have sit down service.

My boyfriend randomly found this place on Unilocal because we were craving Hawaiian food! They are opened early & serve breakfast food.
The service was quick & the staff was friendly & because of that, I really wanted to like this place. Unfortunately, I think the food could have used more oomph to it. We ordered:
Pancakes, side of 2 bacon & 2 eggs for extra — The pancakes were huge & came in 3. However, it was incredibly bland & could have used some/​more sugar. There are toppings you can add for extra that will probably make it more tasty.
Kaloco Moko — Their take on the Loco Moco. Hamburger patty on pork fried rice on a savory crêpe with gravy all over. The dish is good without the crêpe & we pretty much just pushed it to the side.

I REALLY wanted to like this place. Came here bc of the high reviews on Unilocal,but after dining here, I don’t get it! It’s very rare that I rate places low…
Where they get their stars… I appreciate the fact that there’s a Hawaiian place that’s sit down with waiter service. A decent number of tables, no problem being seated. Service was good, they were attentive, friendly, and the food came out within a good timeframe.
But onto the food…
The Kalbi, if not a bit too salty, was otherwise pretty tasty…
The papaya dressing for my salad also had a nice sweet taste, on a nice simple mix of dark greens.
The kids seemed to enjoy their mac&cheese and their shaved ice dessert
Husband ordered FRIED RICE with his meal. It did not taste fresh. Tasted like old rice on the verge of spoiling. And the STEAMED RICE I had was dry.
The DEEP FRIED SPAM MUSUBI crumbled apart the second you bite into it. the rice here was dry too. If people enjoyed it, I think they liked the Spam itself, and not necessarily the dish, just saying.
I was excited to try the KOREAN CHICKEN… Unfortunately, the «crispy» coating was not crispy and did not taste fresh. And it had the look like it was cooked in old oil… Biting into it, it was obviously dark meat, which I don’t mind, but it’s weird biting and chewing on cartilage and other chewy bits. I also didn’t taste anything. No sweetness or saltiness. No really, I actually asked for some of their glaze to use as a dip. Sigh!
The patty of the HAMBURGER STEAK was good, but the brown gravy didn’t have much flavor…
So I definitely wanted to like this place more. Disappointed that I didn’t find myself another go-​to Hawaiian joint. Perhaps their dessert and breakfast menu is better? For now, I will stick to Hawaiian Homestyle, now and forever. (Hehe)
yes, I have been to Hawaii. And yes, I have tried different Hawaiian restaurants near and far.

I’ve heard good things about this place, but haven’t had a change to try it out. I’m glad I did! This place is awesome. I was planning to order to go, because I knew I couldn’t dine in because my gf and I brought our puppy. This place gets busy! So luckily pre ordering my food to go was a blessing in disguise. If it’s a weekend, and you don’t feel like waiting, phone your order in for pick up. While it was a nice day, I found a table over by Dairy Queen and I enjoyed my meal outside with my puppy.
We got the Korean chicken… it was damn near perfect! So good. Then we also got the spam loco moco… Which was so good as well. Then I had to try the deep fried spam musubi. It was really good, but I’ve had it better else where. Da Kitchen in Hawaii was one of them, but Homestyle Hawaiian was also better. Oh yeah I ordered brown rice with the Korean chicken and it was terribly dry, stick with steamed rice.
Overall, I’d recommend this place to anybody. If you’re in the area, check them out!

Im a sucker for hawaiian food! & my brother has been tellling me to go here since he first took me to homestyle hawaiian near mesa college.
So my man and i tried this place today & whats the first thing i see, exactly and acai bowl! Had. To order that & it was a success! I just with is wasnt the consistency like a melted smoothie at the bottom. I like more thick & a little more iced. I couldnt taste as much acai as i could at other places. I really like the toasted coconut on top with the granola though. I really should remember to ask for no honey, but thats not their fault its in the menu i should have seen it.
We were the first ones there so the wait wasn’t long. The portions are pretty big we both needed boxes. & our server was very nice.
My eggs benedict was pretty good. I like the texture of the muffin, the thick salty consistency of the hollandaise sauce pretty good, if i could change one thing though, id do something to the salmon? I wasnt impressed by the seasoning & i didnt care for the texture. Maybe use a smoked salmon?
My boyfriend liked his meal he preserved it throughout the day. But his exact words were, «i like the other place you took me to better» refering to HH. Anywho i love how they have acai bowls and a big menu. Thats awesome i wish i could have ordered a coffee but im taking a break from caffine for now before i start growing chest hairs
I would definitely come back a second time!