Isabella Restaurant and Bar

I had a professional dinner program there on Monday. Bob, the owner, Tracy, and her staff made me feel right at home. Anything I needed, they were right there for me and were very attentive to my party’s needs. The food was excellent. I had the New York Strip and it was prepared perfectly. Everyone was really impressed with their food. I’ve eaten at restaurants in Philly and New York. Isabella’s is well priced and the amount of food you get for the money is above average. I will have many more programs there. There cheese and meat app was super.

One of the fancier meals that I’ve had in Wilkes-​Barre, Isabella is sort of a new age Italian. Not a massive menu, but there were things on there that called my name. I had the lamb meatball to start and they were delicious. Very tasty and the perfect size for an appetizer.
For main, I went with a rigatoni pasta platter that had ground sausage and peas. What arrived wasn’t exactly appetizing looking, but I dug in and was very pleased. Lots of flavor in this meal and even though I chose the half-​size portion, there was a ton of it. Very delish.
Sadly, nothing on the dessert menu really took my fancy.
Overall, a good meal with good service that left me to my own devices and kept out of the way except to replace my empty beer with a full one when the time came. I’d return. Isabella is a perfect date night for WIlkes-​Barre.

Have been wanting to try this restaurant for a while. Sadly we were disappointed. Came in for Sunday brunch & won’t be back. There were about 8 or 9 tables besides us nothing crazy. The waitress told us to sit anywhere & mumbled something about being short handed. It took about 5 minutes before she brought us menus she never introduced herself. We ordered coffee another 5 –10 minute wait. Coffee was extremely strong there was a residue in the bottom of the cup. Only 3 of the 4 of us were given 1 coffee refill even though all 4 cups were empty. We were given water but it wasn’t drinkable because of the chlorine taste. When you are an upscale restaurant please filter your water or offer bottled we will pay it.
On to the food we ordered omelettes & eggs Benedict mainly because the waffle machine was broken & there wasn’t any quiche or specials. The omelettes were so over cooked the eggs were tough I have been in the restaurant business & the texture of the eggs were like they were microwaved & then sat. There was not much filling in the omelettes & the hash browns between 3 orders wasn’t a full order. The eggs Benedict were cold especially the hollandaise sauce. We were never given an opportunity to complain because our waitress never came back until it was time to pay for the meal. It took 1 hour 45 mins to order and receive our meals and pay. Around us people were complaining about time of being served and paying and most of their plates had the majority of their food left.
We were so looking forward to trying Isabella’s but so disappointed. We never have a problem waiting especially when a restaurant is short handed. But even after the majority of the tables left which wasn’t many (there wasn’t a party over 4 at any table) we still waited. The only reason some of us got a refill on coffee was because we asked. Our waitress was nice but seemed extremely overwhelmed & it just made her seem to not want to be there at all. She never once asked how our food was & since we saw her a total of 5 times at our table from the time we sat until paying the only time she seemed to be quick was when it was time for us to leave. Almost like she was late to get somewhere else. $ 50.00+ for eggs that weren’t even mediocre will definitely keep me from returning in the future. Don’t waste your money

One of the best meals I can remember having. Stopped off to spend the night in Wilkes Barre on my way back to Virginia. Felt like something Italian and the hotel said they had heard that Isabella was pretty good. Although I was quite underdressed for a place with white tablecloths and well dressed diners, we were made to feel completely welcome. The service was friendly and attentive. The food was amazing. My companion had gazpacho with shrimp, the house salad, and the beef bourgignon (a special) and the crème brûlée for dessert. I had the same, except for the gazpacho. The portions are not big but very satisfying. Neither one of us left anything on our plates (and I would have licked them clean if I could have). A few observations: first, it is not an Italian restaurant. French, perhaps? Second, it is a dressy place. Third, when I asked about the chef in order to compliment him or her, I was told that the ‘old chef’ had come in to fill in for the regular chef, so others’ experiences with the food may not resemble mine on a normal night.

I think it’s a bit overpriced and the food isn’t all that great. I had some sort of crab and pasta dish. It tasted like Spaghettios with crab in it. I probably won’t be back unless one of my friends has a serious craving for this place. I definitely won’t come back on my own.

Loved everything here from the atmosphere to the service to the food. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great place to take a hot date, wife or friend for dinner.
Can’t wait to come back again.

Stopped in for Sunday brunch. The menu wasn’t super extensive but enough variety to satisfy anyone. I ordered the chicken and waffles and my son opted for the fluffy pancakes. My waffle didn’t have that crispy crunch but the flavor was good and chicken breast was nicely seasoned and moist. The pancakes were definitely fluffy but what made it was the sweet cream butter on top… so good. Our waitress was very pleasant and made the experience enjoyable. Will come back for sure!

Isabella’s was recommended by our hotel for an Italian restaurant– it’s not an Italian restaurant, but that’s not their fault. I’m only mentioning it in case anyone else is under that impression. There’s like three pasta dishes on the menu — which is small to begin with.
We ordered a meat & cheese plate for an appetizer, which was delicious. The goat cheese with honey and soppressata were excellent. But our entrees were a bit… Eh. Okay. I ordered the organic chicken and found the skin crispy (great), but a tad over salted. Meanwhile the rest of chicken was cooked perfectly but the sauce didn’t really enhance it. In fact the sauce and boiled potatoes seemed to lack flavor — like it needed some seasoning.

I’ve been to Isabella twice, lunch and dinner for business meetings, and not impressed with It at all. It looks like an upscale restaurant, but the food is not good. I’ve had pasta and tried the tuna last time we were there and both meals were such big disappointment. Won’t go back if I don’t have to.

Went there for lunch and food was wonderful! Had a turkey melt sandwich with apples in the sandwich, couldn’t believe how good that combination was. Service was prompt and didn’t have to wait. They have reservation service with Open Table. I would go back for lunch if I’m in the area. Not sure how it is for dinner yet.

I use OpenTable a ton when I travel, and I recently earned enough points to get a gift certificate (supposedly good at any OpenTable restaurant). Wanting to get dolled up for my birthday, my friends and I reserved a large table here a Saturday night. I had been here once before on a date a few years ago that was a bit unmemorable food-​wise, so I wanted to refresh my memory as I’m always looking for new, swanky places for once-​in-​a-​while gastronomic indulgences.
They were definitely busy, which I think is a good sign on a Saturday night, but our service was painfully slow. When our server (s) stopped by, they were friendly, but we found ourselves waiting longer than the standard for drinks, refills, even to give our food order. I think maybe the staff was in the weeds or maybe they thought a larger party would take longer than normal to get situated, but my friends were feeling a bit peeved at lack of attention our table received. We also asked for more bread (you get one slice per person) and we never did receive it. My friend actually frowned when our butter plates were cleared — haha.
As far as the food goes, it was decent. I had the truffle pierogie (neat!) which actually had slices of truffle in the filling (I was very impressed). The fettuccini bolognese was good, although I found myself wishing it was Palazzo 53’s version (perfection). The half portion is definitely large enough if you’re getting an appetizer. My friends found the food okay as well, but nothing amazing considering the price. My sous chef friend from Philly was the least impressed, and rightfully so, as she had to wait over 20 minutes for her drink refill at one point.
The thing that sort of cinched a two-​star review for me was that they didn’t take my OpenTable gift certificate. They politely declined it, but it sort of confused me as to why they didn’t accept it when the cheque says it’s good at any OpenTable restaurant.
All in all, the service was friendly but inattentive, and the food was interesting but not amazing.

One of the premier restaurants in NE PA. Excellent food, the turkey served at lunch is real roasted turkey. Atmosphere conducive for business lunch or for quiet romantic dinner. Service is excellent.
Highly recommend!

I looked forward to a return visit here and very much enjoyed the heirloom tomato caprese salad followed by a super fresh blue marlin in a nice, light lemon sauce with capers. I then tried a mascarpone cheesecake. The menu is small, but the focus on fresh is evident and the service is excellent. Given the limited finer dining choices in this area, Isabella is tha much more of a gem. I’ll be back in October when I’m in the area again.

Excellent chef, menu, and food quality. The reason why Isabella receives one star from me is due to the despicable customer service. Cheryl, our server, decided to charge my debit card 2x. Once for our dinner and again for a larger party seated near my wife and I ($ 632.98). Cheryl, for whatever reason, thought it wouldn’t be necessary to share with me of this blatant error upon return of my debit card and bill to sign. She walked back to our table with a smile on her face as if everything was fine. The next day, I found double charges on my bank statement. As I returned to the restaurant to discuss the situation with management, I am greeted by hostess when I explain the situation to her. She had my wait for 5 minutes while she attempted to bring Cheryl to explain to me what happened, whom I was told was working at the time in another part of the building. Cheryl declined to explain to me herself what occurred the previous night instead, relaying the message to the hostess. I received no explanation or apology from anyone at the restaurant. This incident to me displays complete lack of trust, courtesy, and character.
This ordeal to me seems malicious due to Cheryl’s conduct and lack of communication, especially since she refused to talk with me face to face the next day. For a restaurant of this caliber, you would expect better customer service. Be careful if you typically do not carry a high balance in your checking account to do so if you decide to visit Isabella. Needless to say, my wife and I will not be returning.

Meal was outstanding. Tenderloin wonderful. Cooked perfectly. Sea bass wonderful. Service friendly and attentive. Definitely recommend. Salads delicious.

Unfortunately we went during restaurant week. That meant we had a limited menu. As an appetizer I had the tuna tartare and my husband had the meatballs. The tuna was sliced too thick for my liking, My husband said the meatballs were good, they just were not hot. For the main dish I had the tuna that came with jasmine rice. The Tuna was excellent, but the rice was not good. My husband had the chicken that came with mashed sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts, and he said it was excellent! For the dessert I had the Apple crisp, I did not like it. My husband had the brownie, and he said it was great.
The restaurant tables are way too close! There just isn’t enough personal space while you eat.
Plus it claims to be casual, but it is more formal.
The staff and service was excellent!

Location, Atmosphere, Service, Food… What’s not to like? I had (devoured) the Filet Mignon* — 8 oz fillet — which was cooked to perfection.
As if that wasn’t enough, for my dessert selection I went with the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with chocolate and caramel sauce. Out-​of-​this-​world delicious!
This is now my go-​to restaurant. Thanks Isabella!

Took my mom here for her birthday dinner. We were going to head to Rustic Kitchen since there aren’t to many places open on Monday (our first pick is Kevin’s in Kingston, but they’re not open Mondays!), but saw that there were cars in the parking lot here and had never tried it.
Walked in and were seated quickly with menu’s. My mom originally wanted to get steak, but the price of steak here was ridiculous. You could get the same ounce weight of filet and strip steak for a much cheaper price at other high-​class establishments… and the sides that came with them weren’t particularly intriguing so we skipped that. She instead got the 12 ounce park chop, which was served with fingerling potato’s and a dark mustard sauce. I ordered halibut, which was served on top of a shrimp and corn fritter, rapini, and topped with microgreens.
Entrée’s are served with salad, which is basically a lightly dressed field green salad with chopped cucumber and tomato. The balsamic dressing was really light and I liked it a lot.
As for our entrée’s, my mom’s pork was cooked perfectly. However, the sauce was a little on the salty side and the flavor was just okay. My halibut was cooked perfectly as well and presented very nicely, but was lacking seasoning… very bland, and the rock shrimp corn fritter was flavorless mush. Even the sauces that accompanied it were lacking flavor.
Since I am a college student and on a budget, we didn’t indulge on alcohol or dessert. The bill came to $ 54 for two dinners, and I don’t mind spending money on a well prepared meal but the food here is just okay, and I felt like I could prepare these things at home. Nothing to ride home about.

I just went here this weekend. I had passed this place a thousand times so my friend and I finally decided it was time to try it out. The place is very elegant in design. The lighting is very intimate and yet not too dark. We had someone take our coats right away and seat us. When you walk in you sort of walk right into the dinning area because it is not too big. The menu is relatively small; which I can appreciate because that usually means more careful preperation of the dishes and fresher food. The tables are close together, but the resturant is small, and it has a very intimate feel so I did not mind this.
So, our first two minutes in the door was excellent. And now the bad part. Our server. Everything… quite literally everything she told us or said to us she SCREAMED. Im not kidding; I have never had an experience like it before. Were sitting in this nice quiet resturant and our serve is literally shouting the dinner specials as us. She was talking so loud I knew what everyone of her tables had had for dinner that night. It was very distacting, and totally bizzare how this behavior could be tolerated. We could see other tables around us watching her and making faces as well. Ironically the only thing she didnt scream was her name. She never told us.
Moving on, I got the potato leek soup, and my friend got the french onion. He said his soup was delicious. My soup had excellent flavor, however it was not hot. Actually it wasnt even close to hot. But very tasty. I just would have liked some temperature. The salads that came with our entres were very nice, light, and well dressed. I got the pork chop that was on special, and my friend got some pasta with crab in it, I cannot remember the name. We both loved every single bite of our meals. They were FANTASTIC. We were way too full to have dessert, but the dessert menu had a lot of tempting items on it that I am sure are excellent.
By the time we were done it was around 9:30. There were two other tables than ours still sat. Our plates had been cleared and we sat with the dessert menu while our server has a personal conversation about her second job, all that she did for it, and how it was a good career move for a good 20 minutes with the table next to us who obviously contained friends hers. This was very very annoying because not only was she screaming and broadcasting her personal life, but even if we had wanted dessert we probably wouldnt have gotten any after having the menu for 20 minutes with no one coming back.
This place gets 3 stars. Id of given it more if our server has lowered the volume. If you go here expect good food but bring some Aleve with you

If you’re like me and enjoy new things, Isabella’s is a great place to try unique dishes. Of course they have the usually like salads, soups, sandwiches, and burgers for lunch, but they always find a way to make each item different.
My favorite lunch item is the ham and brie panini. The ham and brie is accompanied with apricot spread and is lightly toasted to give the brie and apricot a warm, melted feel.
Isabellas carries an assortment of beers, wines, and liquors. They carry the Lion Brewery’s beer: Lionshead and Stegmaier.