Islander Food Shack — Restaurant in Florida

5 STARS. The food did not disappoint. I had the All-American half pound hamburger with lettuce tomato and pickle and a fried egg on top, with hand-cut french fries. The burger and fries were very tasty. The only addition the owner or chef could think about is adding a special secret ingredient to their ground beef such as molasses or Worcestershire sauce or brown sugar. There's a great burger place in Cleveland Ohio called "Swensons Drive-In" and they truly have the best burgers I've ever had. Check out the reviews for that place. Their hamburgers are the BOMB !! It's all because of some secret ingredient they put in the ground beef..

I came at a super busy time, about 6 p.m. Sunday, and I could tell it was already busy because of the size of it crowds of people sitting at the outdoor eating area and several people sitting in the inside eating area. The wait staff was very friendly polite and helpful. They told me there would be a bit of a wait. The wait time for me was 45 minutes.

I thought about getting the mini Jamaican meat pie as an appetizer but was told they were out of those. I busied myself with talking to people on social media. There are also two TVs inside in opposite corners, one TV showed "Home Town", a home renovation show that I really love ( featuring a husband and wife who fix old homes in their hometown of Laurel Mississippi, ---which by the way is only 3 hours from Pensacola). The other TV had a college Bowling Championship match. So I enjoyed watching those also.

I was getting really hungry and wondering how much longer until the food would arrive, when within about 10 more minutes my food came. The only complaint was that the fries were cold. I saw that same comment in another review of Islander Food Shack.

Also, probably because they were really busy, I didn't get the glass of water, or the knife fork and spoon (table service) or a straw that typically is brought when the customer orders the food.... I don't know how many staff they have working during the dinner rush or lunch rush, and I don't know how many cooks are in the kitchen....

I have a background cooking in several restaurants as a prep cook line cook and grill cook, plus I love to watch cooking shows, including the "Restaurant Impossible" TV show.

Hopefully the owner or manager knows they have one of the most convenient eating places with a good menu near the condominiums in the Perdido Key area, and can figure out a way to manage cutting the wait time and making sure that everything goes smoothly and not too much is being required...

HORRIBLE AND RUDE STAFF! first time here visiting from out of town. came in and staff was nice at first. i asked questions about what's available to serve, all of a sudden the lady at the counter did a complete 360 on her service. she kept putting us off on other staff to take our order. one staff asked "are you taking their order?" she replied "you can take it." I'm literally sitting right there at the first table and she didn't care that I can hear their conversation. then the guy that was about to help us (gave a menu) then went outside to serve outdoor customers. never came to help. he came back inside, stood at the counter writing and still did not proceed to finish helping me, although I'd been sitting there at the table 15 minutes waiting to get my order taken. He and the 1st (counter lady) staff kept laughing and joking and didn't try to assist my party and I. through us off on the 2nd staff lady. she did not know how to answer some questions I had about a recipe. It was very rude and I did not understand why they were treating us the way they were. I got up and left (i told them nevermind thank you) then 1st (counter lady) staff instantly said "ok" very quickly as if she's glad she did not have to take our order. it gave very racist (being that perdido area is a predominantly caucasian area). my party and I were literally the only minorities in the area site seeing and was exploring and just wanted food. It wasn't a group of us at all. It's only two of us and I did not understand the switch in her attitude from the phone call asking to place a to go order vs coming into the restaurant to be served. (we couldn't do a to go order because they were 45 minutes before closing). we went inside to be served and the entire atmosphere SHIFTED. I was very uncomfortable and that's sad that we couldn't be served for whatever reason they joked and laughed about under their breath to one another. seeing the other reviews of this establishment, we were the only ones had a BAD experience. The OLD reviews compared to this NEW one, this establishment hasn't changed at all. maybe should have...

I wish I could give an actual review of the food but we were denied service multiple times. On Monday we called to order food to go and were told that they were unable to provide takeout services due to being short staffed and having multiple tables waiting to be served. We had awesome pizza from Lillian’s instead. On Tuesday, we went to dine in for lunch only to be met with a sign saying they were temporarily closed on Tuesdays due to being short staffed. We ate the best seafood at Fisherman’s Corner instead. On Wednesday, we again went to dine in for a late lunch at around 2:35. We were told by the lady at the front that she would need to check on something before we could be seated. When she returned she said that we would not be able to be served because “they” were leaving at 3. We were very disappointed especially seeing multiple tables were enjoying/waiting for their meals. We left and had a wonderful meal at the Crab Trap. On our way back to our room imagine our surprise when we passed the Islander with multiple tables filled in their outdoor area with a large group clearly having just arrived and receiving their menus. I’m not really sure what we did to be undesirable as customers but it’s honestly their loss as we are pretty excellent to serve (not picky, speedy/tidy eaters, and large tippers). We will never attempt to...