Island Hut

Great Hawaiian food on the cheap!
Parking is awkward and the lot can be full around lunch time, so I’ll usually park a little up Pennsylvania and walk.
Inside is bright, with both booth and table seating.
You order and pay at the front and then pick your own seats. Take your plates and empty them in the trash after! Don’t be *that guy*.
I recommend the salmon bowl. Chow mein on the bottom with a fat serving of salmon on top. Simple, and under $ 10.
Island fries! Get these to share. They’re delicious. Ground beef, sautéed onions and veggies with whatever that green sauce is.
In fact, just request extra green sauce and put it on top of almost everything you order. It’s that good.
Shave ice is good, too. They can add condensed milk and red bean at extra charge, but it’s just okay.

Just ordered the chicken plate and was not impressed. It’s a huge plate of food that doesn’t taste too good. It comes with chicken, rice, mac salad, and Chinese cabbage salad. The chicken quality is low and everything else on the plate I can do without. I ate a quarter of my plate and got up and left it was so bad. For $ 10 with a bottled water, I’ll just stick to Maui chicken and Island eats for my Hawaiian fix. 2 stars for the lady at the counter

props to this place for being able to stay in business. I’ve always seen businesses stay and go but they’ve stayed the longest (I hope I don’t jinx them…) but the parking lot is always half filled or filled whenever I drive by, which is pretty frequently.
the employees were very friendly and welcoming. The menu has a wide variety of choices to choose from. I got the chicken plate? which was pretty good. I liked that they didn’t over fry the Katsu… many places fry it too long where it’s a bit too crunchy, but theirs is perfect. it came with a salad which is really good too. like a Chinese chicken salad.
my boyfriend got the beef bowl which was ginormous for the large. he ate half and took the rest home. he really liked that there was a huge tub of ginger next the the soda machine.

This place is just ok. Not terrible but not super yummy either. I’ve not tried anything on the menu that made me excited to come back. I keep trying to really like this place brcause its so close to my house but when I have a teriyaki craving I’d much rather drive the extra distance and go to Rascals. Or for delicious island food I go to Back Home at Lahina.
I ordered moco loco last night just to try something other than the usually dry bland teriyaki. The meat patty was pretty good. A bit overcooked but I could deal with that. Basic brown gravy and two sunnyside eggs. Most places do two eggs over easy (which I prefer over the super runny sunnyside) had I known I would have ordered them overeasy. They give you a lot of rice like ²⁄₃ of the dish is sticky mushy clumpy rice and not nearly enough of the gravy to make that rice edible. Came with a side salad that was ok at best and macaroni salad that I would definitely consider switching to something else (tasted like grocery store deli macaroni salad). My boyfriend got the chicken katsu plate. Was supposed to come with side salad and macaroni salad but it did not. Just a huge portion of dry sticky rice and even dryer katsu with one small container of katsu sauce. He really hated everything about his meal. He got a spam masubi also and his only compliment was that it wasn’t too salty.
I was surprised by their relatively low price points. $ 7.50 for my plate is cheap in my opinion but after eating it I’d say the prices are right on target. If I’d spent more for the disappointing meal I got I’d have been upset.

The teriyaki is thin and overly salty, the chicken is very fatty, rendering large bits of it inedible, and the California rolls are almost all rice! It’s a huge rice roll, with a tiny bit of imitation crab in the middle and a miniscule sliver of avocado.
I give two stars because the service is nice and fast and the dining area is laid back, comfy and very clean. But we will definitely not be returning because of the sub par food.

Solid food. Chinese chicken salad is fresh and tasty. Reminds me a lot of rascals. Very nice staff a clean and fast. Also feels a little like Hawaii inside so a min vacation.

Great place for a lunch. They offer burgers, shaved ice!, teriyaki, different types of katsus, and sweet potato fries. They also carry a variety of Hawaiian soft drinks. I had the chicken katsu lunch special. WOW! They give you a lot of food for the price. The katsu special included a salad (not a garden salad) and potato salad, katsu was served on a bed of white rice. The food was tasty. Wait time was about 5 minutes.
.

This is my husband and daughters favorite place to eat! They both get the chicken teriyaki burger. My daughter has type 1 diabetes, she can eat the whole burger and not have a problem with her sugar. I love the Chinese chicken salad, chicken katsu, California rolls and miso soup. The staff are always friendly. Great place!

This is our second time back here. We ate dinner here the first time, but what really caught my attention was the shaved ice. Yes, Hawaiian shaved ice. We came here just for dessert tonight. We had strawberry and pineapple flavor, vanilla ice cream on the bottom, sweet red beans and condensed milk on top. The ice is shaved just perfect for me. The flavors are not too syrupy. I mean, not too sweet of sugar flavor. The red beans are sweet and added flavor as a topping. I have to many places who offer shaved ice, but this is the best place in the South Bay area. I paid $ 6 for a large which is enough for two.

There are more flies than customers. The girl at the counter told me, «we take our cleaning serious.» Why? Because they use bleach during dinner rush? The food was alot better when they opened up. Now they’re trying to save money by serving premade food from lunch to the dinner crowd.

I’m reviewing the island fries and service. The young guy that took my order was just all smiles. Didn’t stop smiling and was very pleasant. Island fries are yummy. I wish they used thicker fries but the flavor was good, especially with the green aji sauce. The guy gave me extra sauce which I appreciated.

In reality this place is more deserving of 3.5 stars! My boyfriend was dying to try to place and I’m huge believer in «hole in the wall» charm so I was excited when we finally got the chance to stop by on a Sunday night. The first thing I noticed was how HUGE the menu was! We went with a beef bowl with miso soup, Island Fries, and Loco Moco! Our order came out pretty quickly and we were unprepared for how huge the portions were! My boyfriend wasn’t too impressed with the Loco Moco and I would have to agree that I have had better. My beef bowl was a winner and the Island Fries were hands down the favorite out of the bunch! I would go back just for the Island Fries. All and all, Island Hut is good bargain for large portions of Hawaii’s classic comfort foods!

I’m an Island Hut regular (or rather, I was when I worked closer! Luckily my parents live just down the street). I have never been disappointed by a meal! Food is great, prices are great, menu is great. Sometimes I wish they had AC, because Island Hut would be great on a warm summer day.
Staff has always been excellent. Yesterday I dropped by to grab a salad on my way home, the cashier came out to my car before I was leaving with my (delicious) grilled chicken salad to give me the bread to go with it. She could have easily just said «oh well» when she saw me walk out the door.
Overall, if you’re looking for a great casual meal, this is the place. I highly recommend the grilled chicken salad, curry udon, or island fries!

I ordered the Spam Musubi. The ratio between rice and spam was not good. it was alright. Also it needed more sauce. Other than that the menu items looked good and I want to come back and try them out.

I’ve tried all the restaurants in the little plaza between Pennsylvania and Lomita Blvd except for Island Hut. I had heard good things about Island Hut and my curiousity was peaked. I finally got the chance to check it out one day. i ordered the island fries, a side of katsu chicken and a side of macaroni salad.
I was so excited to try this place out and perhaps my expectations were a little high because I was quite disappointed when I opened up the side of katsu chicken. Inside was only a couple pieces of chicken and not worth the $ 3.49 price. Tastewise it was ok. It came with a side of teriyaki sauce that was a little too sweet for my taste. I found the crispy katsu better sauceless.
The island fries were better than the katsu chicken. It was also a little pricey too for $ 4.99 because portionwise it wasn’t too big. The island fries are good though and different from other fries I have tried. It is topped with cheese, onions, angus beef (although more like ground beef) and Peruvian green sauce! I was so pleasantly sruprised to see the green sauce! I love the Peruvian green sauce and loved that they topped their fries with this.
The macaroni salad was the third thing I tried here. A medium size side cost me $ 2.49. This one wasn’t too bad for the price. The macaroni salad here is different from other Hawaiian macs I’ve tried. It has potato, macaroni, zucchini and corn. It’s like a veggie salad with potatoes.
I think tastewise, Island Hut is decent. Pricewise though, it’s a little bit expensive for what you get.

People who give this spot lower than 5 stars are out of their minds. You can’t beat the price and the food is so, very legit. Customer service is excellent as well. Every time I drop by with my friends after surfing, I see a bunch of locals and Nikkei’s, which pretty much means it’s good food at a reasonable cost. I’ve probably visited here 15+ times in the past year.
I recommend the Katsu or Chicken Specials. You get huge portions of chicken, rice, potato salad and Chinese chicken salad (so good). All of that for $ 6-​$ 7 bucks. The spam musubi is huge and the ice-​cream snow cones are pretty cheap.
You seriously can’t beat Island Hut. Huge portions, cheap, tastes bomb and JA approved.
Support your local businesses so we don’t have to end up paying $ 10+ dollars at some chain restaurant.

*Review #67/​365 for 2015
I was headed for crossfit when my friends canceled on me. I don’t like going there by myself because I’m not an expert crossfitter and don’t really care for the moves. I just want to lift things and maybe run or do some burpees. I’m not trying to be an Olympic lifter or hurt my knees or neck with the crossfit form/​exercises they do. But that’s off the subject…
So anyway, knowing that I was going to another gym to take a kickboxing class and wouldn’t have time to have dinner, I decided to stop by here to grab a quick bite. I had a spam musubi in mind. But when I walked in, I was overwhelmed with the different items and combos on the board. The fat girl in me was flustered and couldn’t decide. I asked the friendly girl at the counter what the most popular items were. She said first timers liked the numbered combos because it came with a drink and had a variety of items in the combo.
I opted for what I think is the #5; teriyaki chicken with California rolls. The verdict? Bleh! The California roll was of Sushi boy quality, or the kind that you find in the grocery store pre-​packaged. The teriyaki chicken was dry and the teriyaki sauce was boring. It was like someone opened a frozen bag of chicken from Costco, grilled the chicken and threw on some 99 cents teriyaki sauce on a bed of rice. Maybe I’m being too harsh. After all, I did end up bringing my leftovers to work and eating it for lunch. –But that’s just the poor girl in me that doesn’t want to waste food and yeah, the flavor is tolerable. The one thing that was delicious was the Hawaiian Sun lilikoi canned drink I got free with the combo.
So in conclusion… I don’t really like this place. Or at least the plate I ordered. Maybe I’ll come back and try something different but don’t hold your breath. The customer service is very friendly though and it’s pretty calm inside. It’s in the same parking lot as Patisserie Chantilly, a bakery that a lot of people enjoy. You just have to come early to get good treats.
Rating: I’m giving this place a 3 because the service was friendly, the place was clean and I’m sure there’s something else on the menu I’ll like. But based on the one visit and the one combo I ordered… bleh! Really 2.5 stars.
That’s all, the end.

Island Hut offers your typical «Hawaiian» food. I came here a few weeks ago and was initially surprised at how many items they had on the menu. They have a pretty nice selection to choose from.
I decided to go with the teriyaki beef with Chinese chicken salad combo. The portion size is decent. I thought the beef teriyaki over rice was pretty good. It wasn’t the best quality beef, but it was still pretty good. The Chinese chicken salad was pretty basic, but I didn’t care for the dressing at all. Typically, a Chinese chicken salad dressing will have a few different ingredients from sweet to salty. However, this dressing tasted like it was just oil and black pepper mixed together. I literally almost choked after the first bite since it contained so much black pepper! I typically love black pepper, but this was just way too much.
Overall, I thought the Island Hut was just okay. It wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t horrible either. I’m not sure if I’ll come back any time soon, but if I do I’ll definitely try out something new from the menu.

This place was just okay. The food was fine, but nothing spectacular. I wouldn’t go out of your way to come here, but if you’re craving some musubi, shaved ice, or teriyaki chicken and you HAPPEN to be nearby, you might as well give it a shot.
The teriyaki chicken is good, rolls are basic, and the shaved ice is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just an all around okay place, with nothing appealing about the ambiance or cleanliness.

From the outside, this place looked like it would be serving awesome food! The parking lot was full and inside, there was a steady flow of people ordering food.
It is really spacious and has Hawaiian pictures on the walls. Lots of seating. The cashier/​order taker was friendly.
We shared the Teriyaki Beef and Chinese Chicken Salad. The teriyaki or the beef, not sure which, but it was way too salty for us. The salad was good, but too much dressing. It made the greens soggy. It would almost be better to serve the dressing on the side and let the diner dress it themselves.
They offer Hawaiian Shaved Ice, but we were going to go to Chantilly Patisserie for dessert.
As for us, we’re not in a hurry to return. We were under-​impressed with what we ate. Maybe their other dishes are better.