Isla

Seriously the tacos are amazing. Maybe they caught me on a good day but I can’t get enough of the tacos. Beyond the food I have to mention Miguel the bartender. He came from behind the bar asked each person what they would like and proceeded to customize a drink for each person. He is not a bartender but instead a mixologist. Out of ten people only one individual didn’t like the drink they received. That’s not luck that is skill. In short great time great people and will recommend in the future.

I haven’t tried any of the tropical-​themed drinks which seems to be commonly tried here. I don’t like to write reviews for places unless I’ve been at least twice or tried a good range/​number of items.
HOWEVER, their tacos were honestly the BEST I’ve ever had. The tortilla was thick and nutty — it reminded me of a naan or pita, not your typical flour or corn tortilla. The different types of tacos were inventive in their concoctions and beautiful in presentation. The pork belly taco was reminiscent of Vietnamese/​bahn mi flavors, the breakfast taco was hearty, and the fish taco had the perfect texture of battered and deep fried fish with creamy sauce.
The restaurant itself is adorable. The decór really complements the island theme while having a touch of upscale-​ness but also maintaining that cool, down to Earth island vibe. If I lived in Texas, I’d come here with girlfriends all the time.
What really impressed me was the owner or manager who personally came over to make sure that every part of the meal/​experience was going well. He was genuinely interested and welcoming. The waitress was great too. Super sweet and attentive. (Plus your lavender blonde hair is gorgeous) This restaurant further proved the Southern Hospitality that Texas has to offer.

Super cute and good tacos! Smaller portions– also had the chopped chicken salad and it was TINY.

By far the some of the best food we’ve had. We came we ate and almost fell asleep in the chairs. Amazing

One of my favorite dining experiences to date. The food was impeccable, the drinks delicious and the service top notch. I had the lime chicken with sweet potatoes and couldn’t have been happier. Muscles were the special of the day and we had them for our appetizer. Fresh and flavorful in a tasty broth. Try this place, you will not regret it!

This place used to be quite good, but they revamped the food and drink menu, making them both significantly worse, and the service is now terrible. They removed a few dishes from the menu, including all of the roti, which were awesome. They also have a tiny cocktail menu now and none of the punch/​scorpion bowl drinks are listed, and also gone are many of the classic tiki drinks that really made this place stand out.
We had 10 people in our group on a quiet Monday night (only a couple other people in the whole restaurant). We all ordered tacos and a couple side dishes for the table, but it took over 45 minutes for our food to arrive after we ordered. The tacos were acceptable, but nothing special, and the pork was a bit salty. I see no reason to come back here.

Saw the recent chef and bar manager additions, so I decided to come in for happy hour last Friday and tried a couple new drinks and menu items. I’m so glad I did! Everything was great! Love the new fried tamales and tacos on the menu and new drinks. Can’t wait to see what else happens here in the future!

My husband and I decided to stop in here one evening. Sometimes we take turns picking new places on our bookmark lists and this time around it was my turn. I have had Isla booked marked for more than 6 months probably and so did he.
The restaurant is located on west 4^th street right next to Peche and Cedar Street Courtyard. I loved the bright colored décor throughout the restaurant. We started out with a couple of cocktails — I had the the Pearl and husband had the Saturn. I actually did not like my cocktail much at all, but I loved my husbands. Luckily he is a good man and knows how to keep me happy so he offered to switch drinks with me. The Saturn was perfect!
Next up we ordered several items from the menu. We started with the fried plantains and ceviche. I was not a fan of the plantains really. They were more like chips and pretty much flavorless. I did however like the dip that came with them. One of my favorite things of the night was the ceviche. It was shrimp and scallop with lots of citrus flavors. We also had the octopus and the pork empanadas. The octopus was cooked great! The empanadas were ok.
The service was ok. Overall it seemed to be hit or miss during our first visit here, however I would definitely come back here to try more of the menu and cocktails.

Isla took over the space occupied previously by The Pleasant Storage room and didn’t change much. The bar/​restaurant is long and narrow with a bar running along one side and windows overlooking Cedar Street Courtyard. The décor is island/​Cuban themed and is nicely decorated without being kitchy.
My sister was in from Dallas and we had decided to go on a happy hour tour. We started here, mostly because happy hour started at 4pm here. Sister ordered a hurricane and I ordered a specialty drink whose name I can’t recall. The drinks were strong and tasty and served in a glass resembling a tiki for her and one that I was told was Don Ho, but looked strikingly like Robin Williams.
So, why only three stars? The service was a little slow and inattentive. We were sat at the bar and the bartender kept engaging us in conversation, then looking away and not listening to anything we said. That would’ve been fine, once or twice, but after that, it was just rude. Also, the fried plantains were fairly boring and nondescript.
I didn’t really see much on the menu that really appealed. I guess I’ll head back when it becomes it’s next incarnation.

Went to this bar on a Saturday night at around 10 during ACL weekend 2 with 2 other friends. Pretty empty except for 2 other groups and a couple at the bar. We ordered the Chi-​Chi bowl which was super cute but the taste and size wasn’t worth it. It really would be good for just 1 person. The taste was too potent and I would definitely not order this again. Not worth the price.

Cool theme and drink ideas, but my friends and I weren’t too impressed. For the prices, these drinks were not that great though they did come in cool tiki cups. Also, it was quite empty for a Saturday night. 3 of us shared the chi chi bowl– tasty but mainly filled with ice. The restaurant is located in a very good area downtown, but somewhat hidden next to halcyon. Glad I finally got to try this Hawaiian/​carribean themed bar, and maybe I’ll come back for some food next time.

Yass queen.
An UYE at a tiki bar? Sign.Me.Up. There are very few things in life I love with all my heart: Chicago Cubs baseball, ribs, and rum.
Kidding (kind of).
For $ 6 a piece I enjoyed two very strong tiki drinks. The ladies I hung out with had ordered food for the table before I got there and man was I pleasantly surprised! Everything was cooked to perfection and the spices used throughout dishes like yuca fries, curried oysters, empanadas, and so forth were all fantastic.
Service at Isla can’t be beat. There were about 10 of us at this HH and our server didn’t even bat an eyelash at separating checks. Definitely coming back for more drinks and more food!

It’s 3:00, I’m crashing at work & all I can think of is that flashy flaming stream of coffee & alcohol pouring ablaze into a cup, wishing I had a cup to ratchet me up & back down again. (Life’s a rollercoaster… hydrate, dehydrate, nap, wake). Of course it has a proper name but leave it to me to forget it. Clearly, I need to wake up.
I was bummed to see PSR go because of their fabulous cuban sandwich, but if this joint was taken over by Peché then that must be why it’s so cool. They have a pretty impressive array of tiki mugs, though I’m sorry to miss out on the seahorse bowl (pictured below [shrimp?]…do love me some well placed kitsch.)
The Saturn and Bourbon Special drinks were good, the Pearl was pretty tasty (though rather on the sweet side, like many of the others. Can’t drink them as sweet as I used to). The HH prices on the drinks were nice, but it’d really be a deal if they cut back on the ice. Dunno about you but I get panicky taking a long pull from a straw & seeing my drink empty by half. However…
I was pretty impressed by the food. Even some things that sounded just okay turned out to be very tasty — the grilled octopus was just WHAT-​THE-​HELL delicious, somehow. If you’re adventurous at all you should try it, it’s seasoned, tender & scrumptious. The papas, which sounded meh were VERY tasty, as they had some seasoned ground beef hiding within. And the fried oysters in curry (something) were WHOA. I was sharing plates at the time but I wanted to say MINE MINE MINE & hoard the oysters for myself. Nice job, kitchen. The pineapple tres leches wasn’t quite all I hoped it would be, but I’m a snob for good tres leches.
I’d totally come back here — it’s a great hang, spacious & well decorated, offering up good things for my quittin time enjoyment. Being in a charming/​bawdy group of drankin’ ladies doesn’t hurt either. A solid 3.5 at least…

No regrets, ya’ll. Yes, I did wear white pants on the very last (sweltering, but still) day of summer, almost the end of Sept, and I don’t cur. When I’m throwing a tiki happy hour for my B’s, I gotta dress the part. No worries, I think you can wear white in Isla year round, cause when you walk in the door, you’re transported to the tropics, and that’s gonna feel really good in the dead of winter (altho don’t EVEN try to find leis late in the year… leis are out and cobwebs are in apparently).
We ended up with a boisterous bevy of about 10 beauties here yesterday for their Tuesday ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR, and we really enjoyed sampling most of the discounted apps and ALL the discounted drinks. Some of us sampled the drinks a few times to be sure we liked them (we did). Favorite food standouts for me were the ceviche of the day, the grilled, tender, tasty octopus with kalamata olive sauce, and the potato balls… don’t remember the official name but our waitress had me at «potato dough balls»…thanks I’ll have TWO orders of those please.
As for drinks… I’ve never considered myself a rum kinda gal. But when in the islands… you do as drunk tourists do. The Hurricane was pineappley goodness and the Saturn citrusy sunshine but my favorite was the Pearl with it’s potent creamy coconut mix. All being $ 6 on HH and really so very drinkable and derangerous.
Staff here was awesome too. Our waitress, Ellie, was on the ball getting our multiple orders and then split the food bill nicely for us and tabbed our drinks separately, which was a fair way for us all. I will be returning to try more of their entrees, like the ropa vieja or the fish items, and that chopped salad looked WHOA. You know anything owned and operated by Rob Pâté, the owner of Peche, is gonna have quality food and drinks. Plus this gives me a rebel’s opportunity to keep my cute white clothes in rotation!

Have I really not reviewed Isla? What an incredible oversight on my part, though my close friends know I rarely review places I really love or really hate.
Isla is firmly in the «love» column. Oh Isla, how do I love thee, let me count the ways:
1. incredible staff. Chris is tops and Trey is too. I haven’t interacted much with the rest of the staff cause I usually sit at the bar.
2. food: the grilled octopus here is a revelation. The empanadas are divine. The ceviche is delish.
3. drinks: well of course, I love the drinks. Island inspired, rum heavy with a few navy-​strength gin drinks for good measure (Painkiller anyone?).
4. happy hour: I am a self-​professed happy hour junkie. And there’s no 12 step program for me. Luckily, I can get my fix here all day Monday & Tuesdays and 4−7pm Sun, Wed-​Fri. Tuesdays are my jam though. It’s seriously the best night to come here. My favorite drinks are $ 6 and the starred foods are 25% off.
5. music: Chris was jamming the Redbone station on Pandora last week and I seriously just wanted to move in. They have comfy booth seating on one side or maybe I could hand a hammock in the back?
6. décor: the bathroom is like a Florida grandma’s bathroom: island green and pink flowers and matching tile.
I think about Isla when I’m at other bars and I look forward to coming here almost every week.
It’s real and it’s deep.

I like this place! The décor could not be more perfect for the Caribbean-​inspired food and drink menus. I just love all the colors!
Drinks: I had the Blue Hawaiian — looked really cool, tasted pretty good, but was at least 70% ice and had a truly disappointing amount of alcohol in it. There was supposed to be alcohol, right?! I did just pay $ 10 for this drink, yeah? Hubs had the Trey’s Texas Twizzler (sp?) — Hot Damn!!! So that’s where all the alcohol went! They must have put mine in his drink too… there goes star #5…
Food: Pork empanadas are great; albeit slightly hard to dip in the chimichurri sauce they come out with. The shrimp and scallop ceviche was amazing — very nice portion of fresh seafood that isn’t overpowered by citrus. The curried lamb roti may have been the highlight of the night though. Absolutely wonderful, unique, well-​prepared, perfectly blended, delicious!!! Messy and worth it. We also ordered the cubano medianoche sandwich. It was good too and sort of like a Cuban Reuben.
I’d definitely go back again for the lamb roti and gorgeous décor, but I’ll certainly be ordering a different drink!

OMG. The drinks. The décor. The TIKI MUGS.
So the theme of Isla is the tropics. And the drinks are tropical and delicious. And their happy hour may be one of the best kept Austin bar secrets! All day Monday & Tuesday (and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday from 4 – 7) drinks that are starred on the menu are $ 6 and select food items are 25% off!
We tried a couple of the happy hour drinks — the Bourbon Special and the Ankle Roller are good, but the Saturn BLEW MY MIND. Yum. Wish I had one right now while I write this review!
They also have two «family drinks.» We tried the Luau Scorpion Bowl — a big bowl of delicious punch (with rum, gin, cognac, lime juice, orange juice, orgeat, and simple syrup) and a hole in the center of the punch bowl with a 151 flame! It’s hard to explain — check out the picture! Super fun, and very delicious! Plus-​how fun is it to share family-​sized drinks with friends!
Not the most vegetarian-​friendly place, but Isla is all about the drinks!
Heads up — you can ask them to put any of the drinks in a tiki mug! SO FUN.
Great bar!

Went to Isla yesterday for happy hour. The interior has an island feel as you’d expect, but it’s not overdone. We sat at the bar, but there were tables available too. Our bartender was friendly, attentive, and of course, sporting a Hawaiian shirt.
The happy hour specials were from 4pm-​7pm and select drinks on the menu were $ 6. We each started with a Blue Hawaiian (made with their «housemade blue curacao»). They were tasty. Sweet, but not too sweet and even garnished with little umbrellas and orange slices.
Next we ordered food. I had the crab and corn cakes and boyfriend had the chicken empanadas. The crab and corn cakes were good, but they could have had a bit more flavor. The citrus tartar sauce made up for it though. The chicken empanadas were super spicy. However, they came with some sort of cool green dipping sauce.
We proceeded to order more drinks. I had a Saturn, which I think I liked better than the Blue Hawaiian. It had more of a citrus flavor from the lemon juice, and the passion fruit syrup really made it great. Boyfriend had a dark and stormy. Also good.
All in all, the food was pretty good and the drinks were great. I’d go back.

I am not sure why, but Isla seems to be misunderstood by many patrons. Isla is the Cuban Paradise sister of Peche (same owners). Like Peche they have quality drinks and food served up by friendly and knowledgeable staff. They also have two all day happy hours per week, Monday & Tuesday ($ 6 drinks & 25% off starred menu items.
As Isla focuses on a beach paradise experience, they serve up rum focused tiki drinks, and seafood dishes. If you want wine, and something other than seafood, then check out one of the wine bars nearby, or Peche.
I love the fun vast assortment of tiki glasses the drinks are served in, and they even have shareable tiki drink bowls. The ingredients they use are all fresh, and of high quality for both the drinks and food. My favorite food items are the ceviche, grilled octopus app (cooked to perfection — tender not chewy), chopped salad, and fish of the day. The crab corn cakes were just OK.
The interior is cozy, for a more quiet dining experience head to a table towards the back away from the bar at the front entrance. The drinks are a bit on the pricey end when compared to other places, it seems like they should be a buck or two cheaper. However, just come on a happy hour day, make reservations, and you are good to go!

I tried Isla for the first time last night for Melissa A’s UYE! Melissa boasted about their all night Mon-​Tues happy hour and it did not disappoint.
The bar looks pretty similar to the previous restaurant/​bar and in general has the same theme. They are a full bar specializing in fancy rum cocktails but they also make other drinks and have both wine & beer. We ordered beer and wine so we didn’t benefit from the $ 6 cocktails during HH but we did enjoy 25% off food. I ordered the grilled octopus and Jesse had the pork empanadas. First off all their sauces served with the dishes were amazing! The octopus was tender, cooked perfectly and the skewered tentacles were both fun and way to eat. The savory empanadas were loaded with delicious flavors. I had a bite of two of the ceviches with the shrimp/​scallop being my favorite. I also had a bite of the roti Cubano which was delightfully decadent. And those sweet potato chips are super addicting.
Beer and wine is a bit steep but the food and drinks are excellent, so totally worth it! If you’re a fan of Peche (raises hand) you will be happy to learn that Isla is run by the same folks.