After reading other reviews I was excited to try this restaurant. However my expectations were not met. The bruschette appetizer lacked flavor, there was no garlic as advertised and the fresh bread just tasted burnt. The margherita pizza was underwhelming and too charred. Surprisingly my guest enjoyed the penne al ragu.
キヨママ
I had dinner with my family including two children.I ordered a pizza. It was delicious.It was dinner time, so after a certain time the restaurant suddenly became moody, as if it was lit by candlelight.Might be a little dark for families with children. .Wheelchair accessibility: He guided me to a large seat near the entrance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Leslie Taylor
We drove 30 minutes to come to Isola based on the website stating Tuesday you could get 2 pizzas for $24. When we arrived and sat down, they sat us a table in the sun although there was no one else there. We did switch to another table inside but the back of the restaurant smelled like dirty mop.On the specials menu I didn’t notice the pizza deal so I asked. I was told that was for take out only. No where on the website did it say take out only. We ended up getting a very basic and over salty salad (lettuce with one tomato) for dine in and got the pizzas to go.The server was not friendly and insisted when we were ordering that there was no way we could eat the pizza at the table. We said we understood and weren’t planning on it. Also when ordering she said we had to choose the pizza special and could pick any pizza for the second one. Again, this was not called out on the website.We received the pizza pretty quickly and went to a table outside across the street and ate it. The pizza was outstanding!I was a server for 8 years and can be pretty picky about service but this was definitely in my top 5 worse service ever. Smiles and tones go a long way.I did notice on the black board as we were leaving on the pizza special being on Tuesday and Thursday for takeout only, but nothing about ordering a specific one and the second one can be anything. They really need to update the website.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Carlos Hernandez
Excellent everything, food and
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lydia L
Pizza was great, note for $19 it was not shareable, 4 slices and not enough for two adults to get full off of so you’d need to order more. Nice margarita and margherita combo!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Margherita Pizza
Ahmed Hussain Jaffery
Fantastic Neapolitan style pizza. The lamb skewer and green sauce are amazing! So juicy and tender.Owned by a real Italian family. Happy hour prices are amazing as well! I would be a regular if I lived a bit closer.
Really nice pizza place with an upscale, but still casual feel. Food was also
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mozzarella Flights
Rajjin N.
Arrived late but greeted warmly with friends and devoured four mouthwatering pizzas - impeccable service matched by the inviting ambiance. Each bite of the pizza was a culinary revelation, leaving us eager for our next visit. Renata, our server, was exceptional, adding an extra spark to our dining experience. Can't wait to return! Happy belatedly tho Renata!
We always have a great experience. The food is amazing. The steaks, salmon, best pizza in town, all the appetizers are amazing, and deserts as well. Above all the people that works there are amazing. Excellent service.
V
Guess I should’ve opened the box before I walked out instead of when I got home?? What is this?? Cold and wet.
CLASSY ITALIAN ! We had not eaten here in way too long mainly because we moved far away to Solana Beach a few years ago. My wife and I had a birthday party to attend at 5.30pm on the Hornblower cruise boat so we thought what a great opportunity to dine at Isola before we get on the boat. You know....when you walk in a place you have been many times before and are greeted by the same friendly smiling staff who remember you....then you start to think why have we taken so long to come back. We ran into Alonso the incredibly gregarious GM who hugged us both and said he had almost put out an amber alert for us. What a great guy ! We caught up with lovely Natalia and Stefano...it was great ! Though it was late Saturday afternoon the restaurant was pretty packed with a lot of happy feasting diners. We got our usual great location inside facing the pizza oven...watching all the passing action. We ordered just the one pizza from Roberto and a bottle of Alesmith IPA to pass the time. This time we noticed the pizza menu had been expanded and we opted for a new one. Let me say that we have been to many great pizza places all over the world and devoured some awesome tasting pizzas but the one we ordered today is the BEST WE HAVE EVER HAD....even better than the divine pizzas we have enjoyed at the world renowned Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona. And then along rolled dessert...my God my wife nearly had an orgasm. Alonso informed us they are introducing brunch on Saturdays and Sundays very soon. That's a good reason to hit the Little Italy markets and come here again. You won't eat the best prepared food money can buy and get the most personal attention anywhere else but the Isola Pizza Bar. Tell them the Aussie sent you !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Seymour Titt
A PERFECT DATE NIGHT ! This has always been one of our fav restaurants in San Diego. And it was about time we came back again so I jumped online and reserved a table for 2 at 6pm on Saturday. We planned on arriving in Little Italy a tad early so we could nail a street parking spot...no such luck. When we drove slowly past Isola Pizza Bar just before 5.30pm the length of India St was packed out. Luckily we found a parking lot on the corner of Beech and Union St not too far up the road. We walked down to the restaurant and arrived at the hostess desk at 5.45pm. The young hostess showed my wife to our table towards the rear of the restaurant while I took a couple of pics. IT WAS GREAT TO BE BACK ! Funny enough we were both concerned that given how long it had been since we were last here....we would not know any of the staff. THAT CHANGED QUICKLY ! A sharp looking guy walked out of the kitchen and I recognized him from the Isola Pizza Bar in La Jolla when it first opened a few years ago. Raffaele the manager ( for the last 4 years ) and I had a lovely chat about old times when he was the pizza chef ( a good one too ) at La Jolla. I went and joined my wife at our table. A lovely server named Renata came by to check on us. Renata herself had worked at the La Jolla location also but not recently. I kicked things off with a Harland Brewing Co Hazy IPA and a couple of waters. I asked Renata about complimentary bread and she said no problem. We decided to order PENNE AL RAGU ( slowly braised bolognese ragu, parmigiano ) and a QUATTRO CARNI WOOD-FIRED PIZZA ( fennel sausage, spicy salame, pancetta, guanciale, mozzarella tomato sauce ) for our entrees. The restaurant was pretty much packed out by now. It's a long narrow space inside with a full bar on the left as you walk in and most of the tables are situated on the right side past the elegant ISOLA mural adorning the restrooms ( to enter just push the wall ). My chilled glass and can of ice cold hazy IPA hit the table within seconds courtesy of our server Renata. And then out came our COMPLIMENTARY ARTISAN FLATBREAD with dipping sauce ( balsamic vinegar and olive oil ) courtesy of Kristina the food runner. Now when we first entered the restaurant I spotted the quite tall Kristina who looked very familiar and sure enough Kristina remembered us from our many dinner visits to their La Jolla restaurant. HOW LOVELY ! My ice cold beer tasted very refreshing and the artisan flatbread was el perfecto. WHOOPEE...Kristina delivered our dinner order and didn't everything look MOUTHSATIONAL ! We like to share our entrees so some fabulous pasta to start quickly followed by a slice of delicious wood-fired pizza. OH YEAH....the Ragu sauce had rich flavor and the pasta tasted just right. Our Quattro Carni Pizza tasted as good as it gets....the incredible texture & flavor of the crust was mouthwatering and the fennel sausage / spicy salame really hit the spot. BRING ON THE DESSERT ! Now soon after we arrived I checked in on Yelp and got a FREE DESSERT OFFER. I have never bothered to take up any of the Yelp check in deals ever but on this occasion YES PLEASE ! When Renata came back to see if we wanted dessert I ordered the BUDINO ( Heaven in a Glass ) and my wife ordered TIRAMISU. They came out fast and tasted wonderful....we shared of course. We thanked Renata our server, Raffaele the manager and Kristina the food runner for making our dinner visit so enjoyable !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
John Maubach
Fantastic pizza, very nice
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Veeshal Shah
Pizza was great! Worth spending for the buffalina
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Margherita Pizza
Rodrigo del Canto Huerta
Vegetarian options: Some vegetarian dishes, nice potato soup ?
After reading other reviews I was excited to try this restaurant. However my expectations were not met. The bruschette appetizer lacked flavor, there was no garlic as advertised and the fresh bread just tasted burnt. The margherita pizza was underwhelming and too charred. Surprisingly my guest enjoyed the penne al ragu.
I had dinner with my family including two children.I ordered a pizza. It was delicious.It was dinner time, so after a certain time the restaurant suddenly became moody, as if it was lit by candlelight.Might be a little dark for families with children. .Wheelchair accessibility: He guided me to a large seat near the entrance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
We drove 30 minutes to come to Isola based on the website stating Tuesday you could get 2 pizzas for $24. When we arrived and sat down, they sat us a table in the sun although there was no one else there. We did switch to another table inside but the back of the restaurant smelled like dirty mop.On the specials menu I didn’t notice the pizza deal so I asked. I was told that was for take out only. No where on the website did it say take out only. We ended up getting a very basic and over salty salad (lettuce with one tomato) for dine in and got the pizzas to go.The server was not friendly and insisted when we were ordering that there was no way we could eat the pizza at the table. We said we understood and weren’t planning on it. Also when ordering she said we had to choose the pizza special and could pick any pizza for the second one. Again, this was not called out on the website.We received the pizza pretty quickly and went to a table outside across the street and ate it. The pizza was outstanding!I was a server for 8 years and can be pretty picky about service but this was definitely in my top 5 worse service ever. Smiles and tones go a long way.I did notice on the black board as we were leaving on the pizza special being on Tuesday and Thursday for takeout only, but nothing about ordering a specific one and the second one can be anything. They really need to update the website.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Excellent everything, food and
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pizza was great, note for $19 it was not shareable, 4 slices and not enough for two adults to get full off of so you’d need to order more. Nice margarita and margherita combo!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Margherita Pizza
Fantastic Neapolitan style pizza. The lamb skewer and green sauce are amazing! So juicy and tender.Owned by a real Italian family. Happy hour prices are amazing as well! I would be a regular if I lived a bit closer.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pizza Margherita, Focaccia, Margherita Pizza
Really nice pizza place with an upscale, but still casual feel. Food was also
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Mozzarella Flights
Arrived late but greeted warmly with friends and devoured four mouthwatering pizzas - impeccable service matched by the inviting ambiance. Each bite of the pizza was a culinary revelation, leaving us eager for our next visit. Renata, our server, was exceptional, adding an extra spark to our dining experience. Can't wait to return! Happy belatedly tho Renata!
We always have a great experience. The food is amazing. The steaks, salmon, best pizza in town, all the appetizers are amazing, and deserts as well. Above all the people that works there are amazing. Excellent service.
Guess I should’ve opened the box before I walked out instead of when I got home?? What is this?? Cold and wet.
Restaurantji Recommends
CLASSY ITALIAN ! We had not eaten here in way too long mainly because we moved far away to Solana Beach a few years ago. My wife and I had a birthday party to attend at 5.30pm on the Hornblower cruise boat so we thought what a great opportunity to dine at Isola before we get on the boat. You know....when you walk in a place you have been many times before and are greeted by the same friendly smiling staff who remember you....then you start to think why have we taken so long to come back. We ran into Alonso the incredibly gregarious GM who hugged us both and said he had almost put out an amber alert for us. What a great guy ! We caught up with lovely Natalia and Stefano...it was great ! Though it was late Saturday afternoon the restaurant was pretty packed with a lot of happy feasting diners. We got our usual great location inside facing the pizza oven...watching all the passing action. We ordered just the one pizza from Roberto and a bottle of Alesmith IPA to pass the time. This time we noticed the pizza menu had been expanded and we opted for a new one. Let me say that we have been to many great pizza places all over the world and devoured some awesome tasting pizzas but the one we ordered today is the BEST WE HAVE EVER HAD....even better than the divine pizzas we have enjoyed at the world renowned Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona. And then along rolled dessert...my God my wife nearly had an orgasm. Alonso informed us they are introducing brunch on Saturdays and Sundays very soon. That's a good reason to hit the Little Italy markets and come here again. You won't eat the best prepared food money can buy and get the most personal attention anywhere else but the Isola Pizza Bar. Tell them the Aussie sent you !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A PERFECT DATE NIGHT ! This has always been one of our fav restaurants in San Diego. And it was about time we came back again so I jumped online and reserved a table for 2 at 6pm on Saturday. We planned on arriving in Little Italy a tad early so we could nail a street parking spot...no such luck. When we drove slowly past Isola Pizza Bar just before 5.30pm the length of India St was packed out. Luckily we found a parking lot on the corner of Beech and Union St not too far up the road. We walked down to the restaurant and arrived at the hostess desk at 5.45pm. The young hostess showed my wife to our table towards the rear of the restaurant while I took a couple of pics. IT WAS GREAT TO BE BACK ! Funny enough we were both concerned that given how long it had been since we were last here....we would not know any of the staff. THAT CHANGED QUICKLY ! A sharp looking guy walked out of the kitchen and I recognized him from the Isola Pizza Bar in La Jolla when it first opened a few years ago. Raffaele the manager ( for the last 4 years ) and I had a lovely chat about old times when he was the pizza chef ( a good one too ) at La Jolla. I went and joined my wife at our table. A lovely server named Renata came by to check on us. Renata herself had worked at the La Jolla location also but not recently. I kicked things off with a Harland Brewing Co Hazy IPA and a couple of waters. I asked Renata about complimentary bread and she said no problem. We decided to order PENNE AL RAGU ( slowly braised bolognese ragu, parmigiano ) and a QUATTRO CARNI WOOD-FIRED PIZZA ( fennel sausage, spicy salame, pancetta, guanciale, mozzarella tomato sauce ) for our entrees. The restaurant was pretty much packed out by now. It's a long narrow space inside with a full bar on the left as you walk in and most of the tables are situated on the right side past the elegant ISOLA mural adorning the restrooms ( to enter just push the wall ). My chilled glass and can of ice cold hazy IPA hit the table within seconds courtesy of our server Renata. And then out came our COMPLIMENTARY ARTISAN FLATBREAD with dipping sauce ( balsamic vinegar and olive oil ) courtesy of Kristina the food runner. Now when we first entered the restaurant I spotted the quite tall Kristina who looked very familiar and sure enough Kristina remembered us from our many dinner visits to their La Jolla restaurant. HOW LOVELY ! My ice cold beer tasted very refreshing and the artisan flatbread was el perfecto. WHOOPEE...Kristina delivered our dinner order and didn't everything look MOUTHSATIONAL ! We like to share our entrees so some fabulous pasta to start quickly followed by a slice of delicious wood-fired pizza. OH YEAH....the Ragu sauce had rich flavor and the pasta tasted just right. Our Quattro Carni Pizza tasted as good as it gets....the incredible texture & flavor of the crust was mouthwatering and the fennel sausage / spicy salame really hit the spot. BRING ON THE DESSERT ! Now soon after we arrived I checked in on Yelp and got a FREE DESSERT OFFER. I have never bothered to take up any of the Yelp check in deals ever but on this occasion YES PLEASE ! When Renata came back to see if we wanted dessert I ordered the BUDINO ( Heaven in a Glass ) and my wife ordered TIRAMISU. They came out fast and tasted wonderful....we shared of course. We thanked Renata our server, Raffaele the manager and Kristina the food runner for making our dinner visit so enjoyable !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic pizza, very nice
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Pizza was great! Worth spending for the buffalina
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Margherita Pizza
Vegetarian options: Some vegetarian dishes, nice potato soup ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5