The Islander Bar & Grille — Restaurant in Middleburg Heights

I cannot say enough about how great my experience was at The Islander Bar last night! I stopped in after work to grab a cocktail and some dinner and was very happy with the results. First, even though the bar was very full, I was able to find a seat quickly and was greeted by Brooklyn immediately. As she was stepping away to make my drink, Rachael made eye contact and also acknowledged me, grabbing a menu for me. There were also two other bartenders, Kayla and another girl who did introduce herself, and I’m very sorry I forget her name. (Denise I feel like, I’m so sorry if I’m wrong because you they were all awesome!) The thing I thought was so great is instead of just taking care of their specific area or guest, as most bars do, all the bartenders interacted with everyone which made it feel more inclusive. They were all friendly and their service was amazing. I would come back just for that alone! The food is another great reason! After looking at the menu and trying to decide through many great options of sandwiches, entrées and your traditional bar foods like wings and other appetizers, I settled on the strip steak dinner which came with vegetables, french fries and a salad. My steak was cooked perfectly which I order extra rare and it’s very hard to get to my liking. The seasonings on the food were perfection (even the fries were better than a lot I had and that was due to correct cooking and seasoning)! I continued eating long after I was full just because I was enjoying it so much. After I was finished I asked Rachel a little bit about the things that go on in the bar in the different events that happen their daily for entertainment such as karaoke DJs and trivia nights. She gave me a little bit of information about each night and invited me to come back and check them out which I certainly plan to do. All in all I would just like to say that it was an amazing experience, And if you get the opportunity you should definitely check it out...

We decided to give the Islander a go as we were in the mood for some bar food and saw a Groupon for it.The decor was inviting and fresh, if a tad dimly lit. Our waitress was kind, personable and attentive, even though she was tending bar as well. The chef/runner who delivered our food seemed genuinely interested in whether we enjoyed it/had everything we needed.

However, the best thing about the Islander Bar and Grill was the food. Easily some of the best bar food I've ever had, we tried the chicken tenders (appetizer), spinach and artichoke dip (appetizer), cheeseburger with bacon and a seafood flatbread. The tenders were HUGE and perfectly breaded and fried, the spinach and artichoke dip was tasty and well-proportioned. My wife's burger was excellent even without condiments, the beef was juicy and the bun seared to perfection. The bacon was really thick and tasty, I'd definitely recommend adding bacon to your burger. The seafood flatbread was also very good, with plenty of shrimp, scallops and lobster meat topping a well-seasoned, cheesy crust. The only thing we weren't impressed by was the tortilla chips that came with the spinach dip. A minor complaint, for sure.

Altogether, we both agreed we would absolutely come back to the Islander with or without a groupon in...

I’m fairly new to Cleveland so I’ve been trying to get out and explore new places. The islander itself is a nice bar with good music, and the food is okay, but that’s where everything good stops. The location is VERY hard to find parking especially at night as it’s settled in a complex with 15+ other businesses. The bartenders here are what made this whole experience bad. There were 3 working behind the bar, with no tables seated and not that full of a bar, which means there was no reason for me to not get service as i also directly sat in front of a POS station. I sat there for a good 10 minutes being actively ignored (they were too busy having other conversations between themselves and other people) even after I had to flag them down to just get one drink. Took another 20 mins to get a menu and another drink. It could be the fact that they’re too busy focused on the “regulars”, that they don’t care, or the fact that we were the only “minorities” in this bar. Either way I won’t be back to have another bad experience of horrible bar service. The Local Bar in Strongsville will forever be my home base hands down and if you haven’t went there then I suggest you...