Zippy's Summerlin South — Restaurant in Summerlin South

The 1-star is solely for the wait staff we had this Sunday afternoon, Alan. The atmosphere and the food are still ono.

It pains me to write a negative review for Zippy's because it's a place of nostalgia; this was the neighborhood spot where my late dad would take me and my mom after school for a quick dinner. Nostalgia aside, having been away from the 808 for many years, it was a happy surprise when Zippy's opened their first branch on the SW side. I gladly went to the other side of town and willingly waited 1+ hour to get my childhood comfort foods (chilli with chicken, grilled cornbread) and oxtail for my mom. When they opened a second location in my neck of woods, even better.

I will say the food is still solid. Kudos to the cooks. The place is super clean, so Vida the GM and Mia the AM definitely set a high standard.

Where Summerlin Zippy's has an area for growth is in one wait staff, Alan. After having my regular comfort meal done-in, I ordered two hamburger steaks to go. It took a little time but it was understandable because quality takes time and people had just come in. Unfortunately, when they orders came in, I looked and inside were two hamburgers. I flagged down Alan and said I ordered hamburger steak. He looked confused and was like, "Prime burger, right?" I said no, hamburger steak. He began to say it's not on the menu and he didn't know what it was, so I grabbed a menu and showed him the section where it was listed and described. He said, "Ohhhhh... Teriburger steak." I shook my head and pointed to the menu listing again and repeated, "Hamburger steak." He still looked confused even as he was reading the menu, so I kindly asked for his manager who would hopefully get the order right. Alan said he was going to get her and walked away with the menu, presumably to tell the kitchen staff the order.

The AM, Mia, arrived. She was helpful and phenomenal. About five minutes into our conversation, Alan came again... Bearing teriburger steaks.

To be fair, Alan was nice and friendly. However, not only is he not aware of what is being served on the menu, but he also DOES NOT LISTEN to customers. I said hamburger steak numerous times and even showed it to him on the menu but somehow, he insisted on saying teriburger steak or hamburger. I feel bad for the kitchen staff who have to do extra work for something that isn't their fault. Hopefully those wrong order of food won't go to waste.

This is definitely something that Alan can be trained in but he first needs to LISTEN and CLARIFY orders instead of putting in orders willy nilly. I do understand there is a staff shortage and times are tough, but Alan's inability to listen and clarify--as well as brazenly not knowing the menu--will cost the company money in the long-term. What if it had been larger party ordering hamburger steaks or some other item he is not familiar with? Imagine the kitchen having to re-do it and the cost ingredients and time-wise.

In short, Zippy's still rocks but Hamburger Steak Alan definitely needs to be trained more when it comes to customer service and become more familiarized with the menu. Zippy's is a taste of home for those who are far from the islands. However, there's definitely a reason why the SW Badura location is always packed whilst the Summerlin one is halfway empty. Here's to hoping Summerlin remains to be in business and doesn't turn off people due to staff that don't even...

UPDATE: My family and I visited again on 25 July 2025 and had the same outstanding service by this restaurant. The only difference is that we got to experience phenomenal service from Julius this time. I attached new photos from this visit to this review. Mahalo Nui Loa! 🤙🏽 When I first heard of Zippy's opening a second location in Las Vegas, I was astonished because I didn't expect them to go that route so soon. I figured us locals would be stuck with only having just one Zippy's location for the unforeseeable future. However, after hearing where the second location was going to be, I was a little confused as to why they decided to build so close to the first location (Badura Ave). I just assumed there were more "island locals" on that part of the city so it was a strategic decision on their part? Regardless, I'm just annoyed because I wish they would've built one in the far Northwest part of the valley so I have one closer to my house. Also, since they're planning a third location in Henderson, it would make sense to cover three major points of the surrounding areas. But, I digress.

My wife and I ate here on 21 Jun 2025 after I've been having that itch to eat a Zip Pac and Saimin. When we walked in, the restaurant wasn't busy at all which is always appreciated when I'm starving. The décor was nice...pretty similar to the first location, but I noticed that this building is much smaller. The facility itself and especially the dining area was clean, as it always should be. The service that evening was great, mainly from the hostess (Dallas), and our main server, Jorddan (yes, with two D's). Jorddan was very attentive and friendly which made the entire experience much more pleasurable to dine here. Since there weren't as many customers dining at the time of our visit, I was happy that I could actually hear the music playing in the restaurant. I couldn't hear the music at the first location because with all the customers there, along with the music level being low...and honestly, I didn't even know music was playing while I dined at that location.

We ordered the Zip Pac Deluxe (of course), Saimin, Korean Fried Chicken and Chili, and Apple Napple. Everything tasted fresh and extremely satisfying - I have zero complaints about the food quality and quantity. I have tried most things on their menu in my lifetime (both in Hawaii and in Las Vegas), so there's really nothing bad on their menu that I can recall. Heck, even their coffee and fruit punch were wonderful (yes, that was our drinks while we dined here).

Overall, I loved my experience here as depicted in my 5-star rating. The prices are adequate, though, I have noticed a price increase from the previous years I've eaten here...but that's expected with everything increasing these days. And to be honest, if I can't afford to pay for things at a restaurant, then why would I even bother eating outside of my house (just saying). Also, the portions are not the typical "island style" grub where your plate has enough food to feed three people...but it's the right amount - and quite frankly, us Americans (and especially me) eat way too much anyways. I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone - I/we will...

I truly love Zippys and come by here weekly for the ensemada. But, I need to update my review based on my last visit.

The food is always delicious. I had the Zip Pac Deluxe, Corn Chowder my fave, and an ensemada. All these dishes were so good.

The only negative was the service. We noticed our food sitting out for a bit. We were thinking maybe she's waiting for the order to be completed before bringing it to us but that wasn't the case. She served us the condiments and sauces and umm said "Here's the sauce for the poke." We all looked at each other and said, we didn't order poke and I said she probably got confused that it's the tartar sauce for the fried fish. Also, I asked for my rice to be plain and she said it is plain. Hmm so no furikake. Great!!! But nope, it was not plain. Clearly, she didn't know. Regardless of my experience regarding the server, I'd still return because everyone is genuinely nice.

‐‐-------Updated Review

The Aloha Spirit can be found here. Congratulations to Zippy's for your 2nd location in Vegas. I was happy to be present for the grand openingand I was able to dance hula during the opening celebration. But, what I was more excited about was seeing they had Ensemada. Yay!!! It's been years since I've had one from the Wahiawa location.

I ordered the Zip Pac Deluxe and had it with Rice, Teri Beef, Chicken, Fish, Spam and Chili no Beans. In addition I had 2 Ensemadas. Soooo good!!!!

Service was amazing and all the workers were so...