Island Style Cafe

9828 Magnolia Ave, Santee
(619) 456-4577

Recent Reviews

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Danielle J

The food is delicious and you can tell it's made with love. ❤️👍😊

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

George Bonilla

Picked up some catered food (entrée: bbq chicken plus Kalua pork, sides: macaroni salad and rice. Also got the green salad w/mango dressing), for a gathering of about 40 people. Everyone raved about the food a lot. The Kalua pork was a hit.
Thanks to Terri, Juan, and their staff and the great food they make.

Food: 5

Service: 5

my45acp1911

Great food and service. We ate in the restaurant a number of times but we usually get takeout. My wife gets the pork fried rice so often I think they recognize her and know what she wants when she walks in the door.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Lynn Eglan

This is a nice clean place.  They have indoor and outdoor seating.  I loved the pineapple light decorations.  The vibe when you enter is inviting and chill.  Rachel, who took my order, was super nice and helpful.
After placing my order,  I couldn't help but look at the pictures and the little sayings decor they had.   The restroom was super clean.
I ordered:

1.  Coconut shrimp:  Crunchy,  delicious, and not too sweet from the coconut.  Sweet chili sauce perfect dipping sauce.

2.  Kalua gau gee:  It's so cute they look like mini empanadas.  The first bite was crunchy,  meaty, and flavorful.  Tried the dipping sauce with it.   It was a match made in heaven.  I couldn't pinpoint what the dipping sauce was, but it was so familiar and comforting.

3.  Loco moco w/ over medium egg:  This was a meaty hamburger patty and well seasoned.  Plating was pretty.

4.  Char siu spam scramble:  This easily reminded me of the egg and beef with oyster sauce that I order sometimes at Chinese restaurants

5.  Lilikoi (arnold palmer) :  I had asked the lady who helped me to make lilikoi tea with regular lemonade.  This was amazing and not overly sweet.

This was a nice find.   It's not the traditional Hawaiian food I'm used to, but it had a nice elevated twist.  I want to say it has a fusion twist, but my husband disagrees.   I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Crista

The food was yummy and the portion size was good for the price. The reason for the one star is because the service was not great, and made the overall experience not good. We asked for some teriyaki sauce for the Spam Musubi and were told it was an extra charge of .50c, after we were done eating we asked for a to go box and were told they don't provide those (only foil) and that it was.50c if I wanted a box... We ended up ordering a shaved ice along with a box to put all the leftovers. The server was literally trying to kick us out as I was packing all of our leftover food because we couldn't have the shaved ice in there. She saw me trying to box everything up and still stood there asking we get out.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 1

Ricky Kolowich

5 stars for food cause we liked it. Meat was tasty and pretty good quality.

1 Star for service because they seemed to want to nickel and dime us for sauces, plasticware, etc. and they gave me a hard time, telling me not to eat the shaved iced that they sold me in their own restaurant? Like what? Confusing. We were packing our food to go and yet they tried to kick us out.
3 Stars for atmosphere cause the music was good but it was kind of cheap in regards to the build quality, but clean nonetheless.

If they fix these things then they could get a tip that outweighs the nickels and dimes.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 1

Scott McCarty

I'm a haole (was stationed in Pearl Harbor back in the day) but the food here reminds me of the food in Hawaii and it's delicious. The portions are big and everything was tasty. I had the spicy Korean chicken with steamed rice and mac salad.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Monte Umphress

Legit HI family run. Portions huge. All good but try Korean chicken. Bring four bowls and four spoons for shave ice. It's excellent but they should serve it in bowls, cups or cones. The line would be out the door. Better than Handel's.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Tara Kerrin

Awesome authentic food! I lived in HI for 6 years and this place reminded me of all the great food I used to eat there. Highly recommend!! The kalua pork is amazing!

Zimitro Perez

Teriyaki beef is amazing, super tender and perfect amount of glaze, friend rice and macaroni sides are a delight.
Very nice employees and clean restaurant. Be back !!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

ChefRayfif5

Everything was delicious!! Nice charbroil flavor on the chicken, ribs, and steak. Mac Salad is always a winner, and the fried rice sooo good!!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Mac Salad, Teriyaki Beef, Macaroni Salad, Korean Mix Plate

Macie Houck

Food is delicious!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

N1926S LJ31A

This used to be one of our fav places to eat from at work but they just lost us today after the crappy attitude we received! I’ll spare everyone the details but it wasn't pretty. And none of us will be coming back.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 4

Service: 1

Alon Banks

We had a large group and we had exceptional service. The food came out quickly and was delicious.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Spicy Korean Chicken

Robyn Abadie

Wow, a new place that was recommended by a friend. The food was so good reminded me of Oahu. I didn't think anyone made the Mac salad with potatoes and tuna it tasted so good. The meats were all Juicy and tender. 🤙🫶

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mac Salad, Teriyaki Beef, Loco Moco with Pork, BBQ Chicken, Chicken and Beef Teriyaki

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