Islands Restaurant - Cupertino - GIVEAWAY

Islands Restaurant in Cupertino is having an NFL promotion during football season. In short, pretty much whenever there is a football game on, there will be a happy hour deal at the restaurant. Here are the details.

Starting September 10, Monday and Thursday happy hour deals are extended from 4PM to close in the bar, with specials available all day long on Sundays.

Additional Sunday NFL specials will run all day and night in the bar, and include the following:

• Coors Light for $2.99
• Featured IPA for $4.59
• Bloody Marys for $3.99
• Island Nachos for $7.95

Signature tropical drinks like the Mai Tai ($4.39) and Hand Shaken Strawberry Daiquiri ($5.59); and food specials including Hawaiian Sliders ($5.99), Quesadillas ($3.79) and Cheddar Fries ($4.85) are available every game day.

What's really great about their happy hour is that the portion size remains the same while the price is discounted!

Islands Restaurant recently invited me in to try their menu and I was extremely pleased with everything we ordered. 

*Happy Hour prices are listed with HH below.

($8.29 regular, $5.19 HH) Mangorita - frozen and blended with Sauza Gold Tequila

Bloody Mary (Happy hour special - forgot the price)

Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point Brewery
We started our meal with these 3 drinks. The blended mangorita was mine and I loved it. It's actually quite strong for a drink that's only $5.19 and that large but the mango mix really balanced it out.
The Sculpin IPA from San Diego was also surprisingly good. Phil and I don't generally like IPA's but this one wasn't as dark and bitter as IPA's usually are. 

ALL THIS FOOD!

($8.95 Regular) Nachos with cheddar and jack cheeses, jalapenos, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, refried beans, and salsa on the side.
The portion size of these nachos is not evident in this photo. It is very large and satisfying. Plenty of jalapenos just how I like it. The cheese is not the melted stadium Velveeta stuff. I have no complaints except maybe there should be an option to add meat and then it'd be even more perfect!

($10.19) Teriyaki beach bowl with grilled chicken on brown rice with pineapples, and mixed veggie stir fry. Also available with hoisin sauce.

This also came in a good portion size and was probably the healthiest item we had. It's tasty and is exactly as described.

($6.95 HH) Nalu Nalu hot dogs with fries - Hot dogs are not on the standard menu. It's on the happy hour menu, but if you ask for it, they might have it.
This tastes much like a chili cheese dog. It has sauteed bell peppers and onion with cheese.

($6.95 HH) Pipeline hot dog with fries - basically a chili cheese dog and it's so good! Great portion size too.

($7.99) Cheddar fries with added chili ($3.09) - These pictures aren't showing you the large portion sizes. This alone could have been a meal. It tasted just as good as the hot dog version.

($12.09) Nalu Nalu burger on wheat buns with sweet potato fries - Even better than it's hot dog version and very filling. The sweet potato fries were crispy and delicious.

($12.19) Kilauea Vegetarian burger - Our friend seemed to really enjoy his vegetarian burger. It has jalapenos!

($9.49) Tiki Tenders - these are breaded and fried chicken tenders listed as appetizers but they are huge. A very satisfying portion.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

I haven't been as impressed with a chain restaurant since my childhood days dining at Red Robin. Islands offers a clean spacious environment that's bright and family friendly. There's football for dad while the whole family can enjoy good food. This may all sound like I'm writing a marketing ad but now that I have a family, I appreciate this kind of environment. They were well prepared with a cradle for me to set the baby's car seat in. 

Let's talk about this food though. Big portions. Good taste. Affordable price. Plenty of choices for happy hour. Options to customize some parts of your dish such as the bun on the burgers, the fries, the sauce in the rice bowl, etc. My favorite items were actually the hot dogs. As much of a health nut as I am, those hot dogs were tasty.

GIVEAWAY

A big thanks to Islands for inviting me in for the complimentary feast. And an even bigger thanks to them for sending two $25 gift cards for me to raffle off. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below. Entries will be closed on 11/6. Winners announced on 11/9. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway