Aug 11, 2007, we are very sad to announce that it appears that Island Grinds has gone out of business or at least has closed its doors.

This was one of our absolute favorite restaurants and we are very sorry to see them go. We would like to HOPE that they will open up someplace else here in Los Banos at a later date but we have no indication that they will.

Name Of Establishment	Island Grinds Hawaiian BBQ
Address:	265 North Mercy Springs Road #J Los Banos California 93635
Phone Number:	209-827-5800
Website:	Unknown
Prices:	low to moderate
Date Of Review:	2-10-2007
Check out the Official Merced County Health Inspection of this Restaurant - If that link isn't working try this link (note: these links are slow to load)
Our Overall Numeric Rating
Summation Opinion: Great Mahi Mahi and friendly service in a nice atmosphere.

On February 10, 2007 we decided to try a brand new place to eat in Los Banos California. We had heard about Island Grinds Hawaiian BBQ from one or two of the participants on the OurLosBanos.com Forums and we decided to give it a shot despite the fact that the restaurant had only been open for 2 short weeks on the night of our visit.

Island Grinds Hawaiian Barbecue is located at 265 Mercy Springs road behind the theater where the old Party Taco place used to be - in the same section of the mall as Potter's House Church. The building, being part of a strip mall, is unassuming and somewhat Spartan in appearance.

When you walk in the door at Island Grinds however you can see that they have really tried hard to put together a nice little Hawaiian themed restaurant. The first thing you notice is that the order and prep area is a recreation of a little grass shack. An overhanging 'awning' of bamboo matting 'shades' the countertops. Bamboo also lines the walls around the entire restaurant and there are a fair number of Hawaiian items adding eye appeal. There are ukuleles on the wall as well as a mini surfboard and a mirror with shell necklaces adorning it. It really does remind me a little bit of some of the places we ate at when we were in Hawaii.

The atmosphere was made all the nicer for us by the pleasant people behind the counter. Service is all important even in a fast food environment and it always makes the dining experience more enjoyable when you are met with a bright smile and a welcome when you walk in the door like we were.

We had no idea what we wanted to order so we were each handed a colorful bifold menu which has about 30 selection on it all told. From Mahi Mahi, to Chicken Katsu, to fried Spam, to Kalua Pork; there is quite a selection.

We settled on two meals. My wife got a seafood combo for $7.99 and I got the Island Grinds BBQ beef mini plate for $5.50. We also each got a fountain soda for $1.50 and the total came to $17.77 which I feel was a little high but not completely unreasonable.

We sat down and waited for my name to be called and when it was, I retrieved our food and we began to discover what we had gotten.

The BBQ Beef plate I had was pretty good. The meat was tasty and had an excellent sauce. The strips could have been cut thicker and made a bit more tender in my opinion but it was good. The rice was perfectly cooked and had just the right stickiness etc.

If there was one part of the plate I did not like, I must say it was the potato-mac salad. This concoction was a mixture of potato and macaroni salad with olives set on a bed of shredded cabbage. It was not cold but served at a mildly tepid temperature. I'm sorry but this was just not my thing. I liked neither the flavor, the texture nor the temperature. My wife however really loved the stuff, so give it a try for yourself and decide which camp you are in.

My wife's food platter was really quite outstanding. I spent plenty of the time that we were there snitching food from her plate.

The BBQ shortribs she had were cooked perfectly, were tender, and though fatty as short ribs tend to be, they were flavorful and juicy. The fried shrimp that came with her dinner was pretty good too though not nearly as good as the shrimp we had at Ming's the week before. She also had BBQ beef which I gave my opinion on above. The real star of the show however was the deep fried Mahi Mahi. We both REALLY enjoyed this. It was cooked perfectly, was juicy inside, had a wonderful flavor, was not greasy at all and was just all around a really wonderful part of the meal.

All in all, the experience of eating at Island Grinds Hawaiian BBQ in Los Banos Ca was a good one. I must admit that having a place like this in town is going to be a very nice diversion from the plethora of Taquerias and Mexican restaurants. While we love Mexican food it is really nice to have variety and Island Grinds helps to ameliorate the sense we sometimes have of not having a whole lot of worthwhile choices.

While the price was a bit high, the ambiance, the service, and the food, particularly the Mahi Mahi made this trip one that was well worth making and a dining experience that we hope to repeat again in the not too distant future.

Specific Opinions By Reviewer One
Overall Rating :
Food:	Outstanding Mahi Mahi
Service:	Friendly with lots of smiles
Decor:	Fun
Price/Value:	This was a hard one it almost got a 3
Bathroom Cleanliness:	Not observed	Not observed
Romance Factor:	Particularly if you have been to Hawaii
Family Friendliness:

Specific Opinions By Reviewer Two
Overall Rating :
Food:	YUM!
Service:
Decor:	Cute and fun!
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:		Not Observed
Romance Factor:	If you've been to Hawaii before, it will bring back some memories.
Family Friendliness:	Kids will love the decor and music.

Please feel free to post your respectful opinions of this review and this restaurant on our forum.

Reviews in this section are simply personal opinions. We are sharing these, our experiences and opinions as a means to further discussion in our Los Banos Forums section not to promote or discommend any particular business. In fact we absolutely encourage our readers to make a personal visit to each of the restaurants we review and form your own opinion which (if it is respectful and honest) you are encouraged to post on the Los Banos Bulletin Boards where you are also welcome to discus OUR reviews.

More About Our Los Banos Restaurant Reviews

In this section, the staff of Our Los Banos .com shares our personal opinions on the restaurants that we patronize in the City of Los Banos. We would like to stress that we are not professional reviewers, that we have had little or no training in the food arts, and that we are simply expressing our own personal views and opinions on particular visits that we made to the establishments under consideration.

Subjectivity. We make no pretense of the fact that we are not objective. As with art, food is a subjective experience subject to personal opinion and even whim. Some people love a particular artist's work while others can not stand what is put on canvas. Picasso comes to mind. Similarly people's appreciation for a particular chef's abilities are uniquely their own. While our tastes are very eclectic and we enjoy a tremendous variety of different types of food, we do not expect our readers will agree with all of our opinions and views. We DO encourage our readers to try each of the places that we have reviewed and then you can discuss (politely and in a positive fashion) your experiences and opinion of our review in the Los Banos Forum section.

Merced County Health Food Facility Inspections Site

Finally, we strongly encourage our readers to make use of a truly wonderful online resource we discovered last year. Merced County has put together a very cool Food Facility Inspection website which discloses the results of the County Health Department's last few inspections of each restaurant. The results are sometimes quite fascinating and are always interesting. Beware however you may not want to eat at certain places once you read some of the more dramatic entries. We at Our Los Banos .com very much appreciate and support the county of Merced putting these Department of Health food facility inspections online for the public to see.

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