Advertisement
Advertisement
Restaurants

Carlsbad chain Islands Restaurants introduces healthier, customizable menu

The new Ghost Pepper Fries at Islands Restaurants.
(Courtesy photo by Timm Eubanks)
By Pam Kragen
San Diego Union-Tribune
Share

Islands Restaurants, the 39-year-old Carlsbad chain known for its Hawaiian-inspired burgers and skin-on French fries, is rolling out a new menu it calls “Clean and Customized.”

The new menu makes the fries an optional side dish that diners can now customize with different seasonings and toppings, including the new Ghost Pepper Fries and Truffle Fries. But the bigger change at Islands that will be gradually introduced over the next year is a commitment to serving only hormone- and antibiotic-free proteins and no artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Company president Michael Smith said that with guests increasingly interested in eating healthier foods, the company decided to use its downtime during the pandemic to map out plans for the “100% clean” menu at its 44 restaurants.

For details, visit islandsrestaurants.com.

Kragen writes about local restaurants for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.

RestaurantsEat | Drink
Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is the arts and entertainment editor, as well as the chief theater, dining and opera critic, for the San Diego Union-Tribune. She joined the Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater and opera critic. She is the co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera-classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. And in 2022, she was chosen as one of the fellows in the prestigious National Critics Institute, run by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterf, Conn.

More on the Subject

Advertisement