First, a warning: The address listed for Blue Island on their web site is wrong. Very wrong. So wrong, in fact, you’ll be sent north when restaurant is located in the Valley.
And the location might be Blue Island’s biggest issue. Had this Cuban place been located in a small downtown location a la Chicken-n-More, as opposed to a gigantic 70s-looking diner on Sprague, then I have a feeling Blue Island would have been a runaway success. As it is, though, the location makes it more of a destination restaurant, and really… This is a destination everybody should head out to.
See, the food is great. I have never been to Cuba, but from what I have been told, this is the authentic thing. And more importantly it tastes really good. I had the “Blue Island Special” sandwich, with chicken, ham, pineapple, and various sauces. The flavor combination was both delicious and refreshing, and, more importantly, something a little different from what we usually see in Spokane. The same goes for the Cuban coffee—a small sweet shot of caffein.
There are some vegetarian options too, and the hamburger-like sandwich I sampled was excellent.
Blue Island’s location isn’t optimal, and it will require a word of mouth reputation to attract the clientele it deserves. When we visited, it was empty, and that’s really too bad. You want to see a place like Blue Island boom in Spokane.