Isla Buffet & Grill

Isla Buffet & Grill is probably one of the better Filipino restaurants in Los Angeles. I've been to several Filipino restaurants and this is one that I frequent often. Why? It's hard to find a good Filipino restaurant in LA that consistently serves good tasting food and that's reasonably priced.

Posted Rating: A

Food: The food is consistently good. The restaurant does not let the food sit under the lamp for a long period of time. They also do not leave out a large amount of food. Therefore, if a certain food selection is depleted, one of the staff immediately replaces it with the same food or a different item. This is crucial now that I mention it. When a food sits under the lamp untouched for a long period of time, the food looks undesirable to eat. Lastly, the food is not oily. Filipino foods in general is greasy and rich. Some of the fried items they have are not greasy. Even the stewed items does not have oil floating on top.

The barbecue selections are one of the few specialties along with classic Filipino dishes such as lumpia (egg roll), pancit (rice noodle), dinuguan (stewed meat w/ intestines), kare kare (oxtail w/ tripe) and many more. The sitting/waiting area is filled with people when you first walk in the restaurant. You are then greeted by the cashier where you pay for your food and drink. Behind is the kitchen. To the right is a private room for big parties or special events. Upon paying, you are then given your utensils where you can choose a table to your liking. On weekends, you may be seated to the next available table.

The buffet is set up with a glass case containing some cold desserts such as "halo-halo". There is a salad bar with fruits, then the main dish selections, soup, dessert and condiments and sauces. There's also an area where you can get a refill of your tea or help yourself with a glass of water.

Ambiance: The restaurant is decorated in a Filipino/Hawaiian theme. "Isla" means little island in Tagalog so it's only appropriate that the place has an "island" feel to it. The ambiance is good because you can tell that the people are enjoying their food. Management spent a little more money to decorate the place. I can't stress how a good ambiance affects people's taste in food.

Price: Now this is another good part about the restaurant. They have lunch, dinner and weekend specials. On weekends, it is $7.95 per person. For dinner during the weekdays, it is for $6.95. I believe that you get a $1.00 off discount if you have a coupon that you can get from one of the Filipino newspapers. Some Filipino restaurants I've been to are quite expensive.

Service: Friendly.

Parking: There's an adjacent parking next to the restaurant. There's also curb parking infront of the restaurant.

Location: The restaurant is located on Eagle Rock Blvd right after York Blvd.
Address: 4420 Eagle Rock Blvd Los Angeles, CA
Phone: (323) 257-1902

Comments

[ben]

Here are a couple of links that helped me decide NOT to host a party Isla Buffet and Grill. Search "Isla Buffet" and click "more info."

http://lapublichealth.org/rating/ratedetail.cfm

[April]

Its true what most people say , Isla's food is really great ! Im a good cook and a food critic and their food passed my taste. I had a party there and 99 % of my guests enjoyed the food. They just need to clean up or paint the party room and update their decoration for a better ambiance.

[marie]

at $5.95 for all you can eat and drink why go anywhere else, ate lunch there with friends on "aloha friday" and we all had a great time, the food (specially the bbq)and the service(very friendly pinoys) was just great. dont forget to wear something hawaiian on fridays they'll give you free beer!

[angel]

went there yesterday, place was packed, they have the best tasting dinuguan much better than my mom's. luvd the vegetarian items on the buffet specially the crispy spinach leaves parang crispy "kangkong" of "cabalen" (famous buffet in the phil). i will definitely be back with friends & family! keep up the great work isla!

[karl]

I must admit... I did have stomach problems after eating at isla buffet. Nope, I did not over eat. Come on, blaming it to improperly chewed and large comsumption of food?? We're not ten year olds here! We should learn how to accept criticism for the betterment of this or any other establishments for that matter. Oh and just so you'll know--- I don't mind paying extra bucks if only to ensure my health is in good hands.

[common sense]

Those of you oh so angry and impulsive people writing about Isla Buffet, here is a message for you. Addressing your comments about diarrhea and vomiting; if you have a large amount of food that is not very well chewed and digested moving into the colon - it is a physiological fact that it will result in copius diarrhea and vomiting. Hundreds of people eat at Isla over the course of a week; if they served "crap" then more than just a handful of people would be complaining about stomach problems. This place is a buffet, and of course, people want to get their money's worth which means eat alot and eat fast. Keep in mind, the average new restaurant closes within its first year if it is not doing well, Isla has been running for a little more than three. People should learn to practice more self-responsibility and not be so quick to point the finger at the restaurants they visit. Please people, think before you speak; I admit the ambiance is not as nice as what you would find at a place like Max's Chicken in Glendale, but let's look at the facts. Max's has been in business for more than 15 years here in L.A., and who knows how many more years in the Philippines. The average bill for four people is about $60.00 plus the parking fee that you have to pay. High prices, a parking fee, more than 15 years in business...they better be able to provide a nicely renovated and decorated restaurant for their customers! Isla Buffet, on the otherhand, has been in business for about 3 years. The average bill for four people is less than $40.00, and parking may be a little limited but atleast they don't dare to start charging you for it. If you really put some thought into it, maybe you would have been able to figure out that this place must not be generating as much money as Max's because of its low prices, and it does not look as good as Max's because it has only had 3 full years of business under its belt. Renovating and decorating is not cheap, and the owners are obviously taking it slow in order to keep the prices low for its customers, so be a little more grateful and appreciate the slow improvements that they are making, even if it is just "pseudo bamboo decor" for now. Oh yea, and I have never heard of a black-market that sells Health Department Restaurant Grades.

[Ricardo]

Man, I don't know what Isla Restaurant you're talking about. I recently went there for dinner, and it was terrible. There was nothing good at the table, and everything was super greasy. Clean? The place looked like it a living hellhole! I'll never go back, especially since my stomach felt like crap later on that night. Save yourself the trouble and go somewhere that has a real "A", not one you can buy on the black market.

[sena l.]

Two hours after eating dinner at Isla Buffet, My husband and I experienced heavy vomiting and diarrhea. The culprit would most definitely be this restaurant since we had our two preceding meals at different places. This is such a sad occurrence because prior to this, Isla Buffet was one of our favorite Filipino restaurants in LA. I hope this message/review will serve as an eye opener to the Isla management. Stress more attention to every minute detail of your food and hygiene.

[zany]

I actually go to all of the above in Eagle Rock: Isla, Max, Barrio, etc.

I think that all are good depending what you are looking for. If you want nice sit down, go to Barrio or Max, if you want fast and cheap, go to Isla, Nanay G's, Good Ha, etc.

There are plenty of places in the area, but hey Flip food is Flip food. You get what you pay for. Just watch out for Pinoy Kitchen. Food over there is nothing like Nanay G's or Luisa's.

[j.caldera]

Clean compared to what? This is a biased review. This person who wrote this review must've never been to a real U.S. restaurant outside of Eagle Rock. Comparing the cleaniless, food presentation, and atmosphere of this place compared to a Max's chicken in Glendale is like night and day. Originally this was a Julio's Pizza joint, the sign and decor is still there. It is disguised with pseudo bamboo decor. Eventually it became Toto's, now Isla Buffet. Originally, this place had a C rating that was once carefully placed on the sliding door. So it was hard to notice. Funny, now that it has "earned" an A rating. It is on the glass window where it can be prominently seen. Even now that it has an A rating, nothing is clean about that place.

The food was crap when it first opened and it's still crap now. Food tasted like leftovers off someone's home cooked meal. Never compensate price over quality. It's cheap dining but you're better off at Max's or Barrio Fiesta or something. Better yet, invite your grandma over to cook filipino food because odds are, their home filipino cooking is better than crap like this. It's only for the people who are lazy to cook their own filipino food.

[JSando]

I once went to Isla. They had a "B" rating. But I guess it has changed since then. That was two years ago.