Island Soul - Seattle — Restaurant in Seattle

Got in at about 3:10, place opens at 3pm. Happy Hour starts at 3 pm We sat at the bar as the place was relatively empty. Bartender was a woman who acted odd. She rushed us to place our drink and food order. Remember, we were the only people there. I ordered calypso wings and coconut muffins. Upon first bite, I noticed the taste to be off. I remember them being sticky and delicious. These were not. They tasted old or perhaps frozen. I love wings, and never would I ever send wings back. So when the bartender came back and asked how everything was, I hesitated to say anything about the wings. Upon my friend prompting me, I told the bartender I didn't like them. That's when things changed. She took the wings and said, " I hate that you waisted your food." I was like, what?? But I didn't say anything to her. I asked for the menu to order something else, and she said, "If you don't like what you ordered, I can't take it off your bill." Again, we were like, what?? So I ordered a blackened chicken sandwich, which was ok. The bartender was loud and carrying on with coworkers too busy to give us the bill. We waited and finally she gave us our bill. Then she was annoyed that we wanted separate bills. When my friend paid first and was done, the bartender slapped the receipt on the bar and walked off. It was rude, poor service, and not what Island Soul is all about. Especially as one of the few Black owned businesses in Columbia City. We love Island Soul supported it during Covid. It's a staple during the Beat walk. The owner is an amazing person. The bartender is not a reflection of him. But my friend visited for the first time, so now this is her impression of Island Soul. It was less than a horrible experience. And I never got those delicious coconut muffins, even though I asked her twice about them. If I went back again, I wouldn't sit at the bar again if she was on duty. The servers seemed better, so...

In our ongoing effort to experience a variety of cuisines, we had lunch at this place on a mild afternoon in late September, 2011.

I ordered the Jerk pork spare ribs, my companion ordered the curry chicken, and we sat back and waited for the food to arrive. Over the next thirty minutes, other customers arrived and some of them received their food before our waiter informed us that there was no curry chicken.

When we changed the order to jerk chicken, our plates were delivered pronto.

The chicken was somewhat dried out, but my pork ribs were tender--if a bit too fatty. Both plates were served with a salad and red beans and rice cooked in coconut milk, which was not as tasty a side dish as we had anticipated.

The room is pleasant and there was reggae music in the background, but it was drummed out by the noise of trucks and other traffic coming though a door propped open to the street.

Our waiter was a pleasant young man who had not yet learned how to do two things at once, and there was an attractive woman floating around the room, sipping a beverage, but doing nothing to make things run more smoothly.

We were annoyed that it took over a half hour to serve us food that had been fully cooked long before we walked in the door. While the food was o.k., it wasn't special enough for us to again drive six miles, scramble for a parking place, and wait an unreasonable length of time for it to be brought from the kitchen...

This past Sunday we had the best experience with Island Soul! We're new to the area and had our eye on it for a while; we were very excited to try it. We had put in an online order only to find when we walked in that they had closed early due to selling out of a few items (including what we ordered). Our order had apparently snuck in right before they closed.

Ready to cut our losses and go, the owner, whose name we didn't catch unfortunately, quickly decided to open the kitchen again and whip something up for us. He hooked us up! Not only did we end up with a meal that was worth at least double what we originally paid, he was kind enough to chat with us the whole time about the history of the place and what he was making.

Incredible customer service aside, the food was absolutely delicious. We ended up with oxtail, greens, plantains, coconut muffins, hush puppies, rice, and a bottle of their hot sauce. Every bite was better than the last, easily one of the top 3 restaurants I've tried this year!!

We can't thank the owner enough for his generosity, he really made our night. We will be back, with friends, ready to try everything else...