Isola Italian Trattoria

Please run, don't walk to Isola! Long Beach Island is no stranger to great spots for Italian cuisine, but Isola is not your typical Italian fare. A BYOB restaurant, Isola has a menu that easily compliments any wine! Our dinner consisted of a fresh and flavorful grilled octopus appetizer, a Cacio and Pepe even Rome would be proud of, one if the best zpirk chops we've evrry ate plated to perfrction, Hanger steak with a lovely chimichurri and a side of roasted potatoes with parmesan cheese. We ended the meal with Tiramisu to go and it was a perfect way to end the night. All that said, Isola's menu is equal to the amazing quality of service and the experience created by their staff. Every patron was smiling. We had originally ordered the Fiorentine steak and sadly it was not available. Dylan and his team went above and beyond to make sure that our dinner was not only fantastic but that we were so thrilled we quickly booked our next visit. Isola has officially entered my top 5 LBI list! Thank you, Isola for a wonderful date night!

Dylan is much too immature to be a manager. Angelina, our server, was FANTASTIC! Made our evening. Dylan, who adjusted our reservation for 7 (after a hostess accidentally messed up our original reservation we have had for weeks) sat us at a FIVE TOP. much too small! Our server made sure we had another table joined to ours FINALLY after treating and waiting to speak to Dylan, who NEVER showed up. She was great! Do NOT recommend the manager.

Very good food and very accommodating

A great experience from beginning to end. Alex is top notch! He was very informative about the menu and had great recommendations! Porterhouse steak was absolutely outstanding. Be sure to order ahead to share with the table along with their delicious selection of pastas. Looking forward to our next visit!

Absolutely delicious! Went here for Father’s Day dinner and it was incredible. Everything we ordered tasted amazing, and the service was great! In particular, the cheesecake was to die for!!! Wish I could dine here all the time!

Fantastic food, great service, one of our favorites on the island. Don’t sleep on the garlic shrimp, pizzas, and the cavetelli, they are delicious. You will be glad you tried it and will be back again.

Food was pretty good. Felt very rushed. The host started clearing our places while we were still eating which was very annoying. It was obvious they were trying to turn the table but we were not there that long. The place itself was nice and clean.

We invited guests to go there on Saturday table of four and sat outside on the heated porch. It was night and day from the first time when we went there a few weeks ago.

The outdoor heated porch had very uncomfortable temperatures from being so cold to too hot, and it was extremely loud and very crowded and compressed inside the porch.

Our waiter paid no attention to detail. We had to ask for our second appetizer because it was forgotten. We had asked to have the wine open, and some of our dishes were cold.

The calamari was a 1/3rd of the size from when we went the last time and was not as tender.

We were all looking forward to the short rib that was on the menu and we were not told that it was swapped out until we were placing our order.

So it’s very inconsistent and a completely different experience and we were out celebrating a birthday so we’re deeply disappointed

The food was amazing! We enjoyed the Arancini appetizer- a good twist on the basic rice ball. Both our meals were great - and we split the tirimisu for dessert - which was fresh and delicious We ordered decaf coffee but the waiter told us there was no decaf - no explanation as to why - so we declined coffee

As usual incredible meal...best restaurant on Lbi... best food...best service.....fram appetizers to dessert. I dont know what else to say....if you haven't experienced ISOLA....well that's on you...STOP wasting time...money and bad meals....COME TO ISOLA.....case closed...and in writing this review I'm just ruining it for myself...by risking more people coming and clogging up seating....matter or fact....STAY HOME!!! Keep eating at other disappointing LBI restaurants

Avoid this place if you value your time and a decent dining experience. I made a reservation at Isola five days in advance, for 8:30pm on a Saturday. We arrived 10 minutes early, but sat in lawn chairs waiting for our table in the parking lot for an HOUR to finally be seated at 9:30pm, at which point we were informed the kitchen was closing and that we would probably be better off just leaving and trying again another time. But we were dressed, a whole bottle of wine in from our wait, starving, and without another option for food.

Once we were finally seated, we were rushed to spit out our orders without even being given menus, seated at the worst table in the restaurant, and rushed through our meal. As we left (obviously the last ones in the restaurant and the reason the staff had to stay so late) we had to walk through the entire staff sitting in the dining room glaring at us, clearly annoyed we were still there.

Nothing was done to address this terrible experience. I called Dylan, the manager the next morning to explain my frustration but all he did was promise to make it up to me “next time”, which didn’t happen. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the lack of customer care. This is supposed to be a very nice restaurant and I had probably the worst dining experience of my life.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

Everything was fantastic, especially the pizzas. Don't hesitate.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Waited all summer to enjoy our first visit. It was outstanding the people the atmosphere and the food was wonderful. It is a special place and we will return many times. Thank you for all the kindness. Sam

Overall experience was very good, we have eaten here before. Both appetizers were excellent - we all shared the Calamari and the Brussel Sprouts which were presented with a creative and tasty recipe. We had two orders of Yellowfin Tuna with a Wasabi mix seasoning which were very good, one order of Gnocchi prepared very well and one order of Viking Village Scallops. We have had the scallops at a previous visit, but this time they were over salted. We did not return the scallops, but helped them along with sauces from the other meals. We did let our server know about the scallops which was appreciated. This could happen at any restaurant, and should not affect an otherwise decent meal. The Espresso and Brownie a-la-mode capped off a good evening. We may return, but will avoid the scallops.

Dining at Isola was a true delight. The restaurant's elegant setting paired with its outstanding Italian dishes made for a wonderful evening. The handmade pasta dishes were cooked to perfection, and the wine selection complemented the meal beautifully. The service was impeccable, adding to the overall exceptional experience. Definitely worth a visit if you're on Long Beach Island.