Isabella Cafe

My husband and I had our first date here 10 years ago this summer, and we love to go back on anniversaries and special occasions. This place is adorable on the outside and inside. It’s authentically Italian, and we love it so much. The stuffed chicken is to die for. We even had our wedding rehearsal dinner/​party there in 2010. Great food, drink, and reasonable prices. Love Isabella’s!

My husband and I love coming here for lunch or dinner. The lunch special has so many options to pick from and the service is always very attentive. The stuffed eggplant and the penne casserole are favorites of mine along with the pumpkin ravioli with amaretto cream sauce. My husband almost always gets the pasta special that has seafood. Order the roasted garlic for you bread and a house salad-​perfect!

I’m just stunned this place isn’t packed every day at lunch. First time visit, just moved to the area. The food was great, excellent service and great value for the money. We’ll be back!

This place is so adorable. I want to come back and taste more dishes. I gave it 3 stars because I wasn’t really wowed with my salmon dish. It was good but it wasn’t something worth coming back for I had better. I do however loved how cute and cozy it was with lights on the walls and outside. I wish I could have taken some pics here. I will come back just for the ambiance.

Such a cute little spot. My boyfriend and I were in the area right after Christmas and the ambiance was beautiful. We ordered mussels and a calamari salad which was one of the best calamari salads we both have ever had. For dinner I ordered the fettuccine with sautéed shrimp which was delicious and not too heavy which is a huge plus. My boyfriend ordered the angel hair with veal meatballs which he enjoyed as well. Our server was great and very attentive even though she had no help as she was the only person I saw working. I would definitely recommend this place!

My husband and I come here for special occasions and it has never failed us! The food is delicious, fresh, and very home made. Its not overly crowded on weekdays and is a perfectly intimate setting where you can enjoy a glass of wine and relax. We will return!

Great little restaurant. Great food, service, and ambiance. The Italian sausage appetizer is great. The gelatos are great as well. The menu seems to change a lot from visit to visit.

Nice original restaurant. It made my heart happy to come to a place that did not feel like a chain restaurant. If you want that one of a kind feeling with some good staples, this is the place. They also have a nice wine list. If you bring something that is not on the list they will let you bring it and charge a corkage fee. Overall it was nice place.

We are new to the area so are trying out a few restaurants. This one was recently recommended. My husbands steak and my pork were cooked exactly the same style – They we’re ok, but was odd that we both got the same sauce and same sides on our different dishes. Dessert was a pistachio mousse chocolate cake that neither of us liked… Appeared to have been frozen for a while and had no flavor. Won’t go out of our way to return here.

It has been years since I was last at Isabella Café. I found the food back then just OK, but I wanted to give it another try as the atmosphere inside is really one of the best around. We had reservations and were seated right away. Soup of the day was very good. My wife and I had ravioli and found it to be ordinary. I always asked if pasta is made in-​house and I was told no it comes frozen. I just do not go to a restaurant which advertises itself as Italian and then serves frozen pasta. I can get that at home. The menu was not creative. I wanted fresh fish but that was not available (it was frozen) and they used a cream sauce on the fish. I just don’t think I will be going back.

Substantial portions and good comfort food. Nothing extraordinary but tasty. Cozy atmosphere.

Excellent European-​style atmosphere. Food is brilliant. Sat outside on the patio beautiful weather.

Quaint décor and homemade Italian food. Very light and won’t weigh you down. Great drinks and overall great deal. My favorite is their red sangria and mini cannolis.

We were visiting the area and was looking for some great Italian cuisine. Though this was not our first choice, I’m glad we found this place. The quaint ambiance and wonderful food was a pleasant surprise. If you want to impress your wife or date, this is your place.

Had dinner there with my father around 5pm on a Thursday. No wait for a table. Very clean restaurant, excellent wait staff, nice atmosphere and the food was amazing. I had a chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and spinach. It was on the specials menu as they normally offer it with a 4 cheese mix on their regular menu. My dad had the veal medallions and loved it. We left there completely stuffed and were impressed with how good the food was. I would not hesitate to eat there again!

Egg Plant fresh and excellent. Service awesome. Glad we went. My husband loved his angel hair pasta.

This place gets a solid 4 stars!
I absolutely love the intimate feel of the restaurant. I love small and quaint dining spaces. We came at a time of day that was not very popping, so the restaurant was pretty empty. I think if it were more crowded I would have felt a little suffocated/​claustrophobic.
The food was good. I went with my family and we ordered 2 apps, 5 entrees, 1 dessert and we had a ton of leftovers. Out of the 7 menu items, the only dish that I still remember was the Fettuccine Salmon. SO DELICIOUS! Nothing else was very memorable for me.
The service was a little slow. I’m not sure why since there were only 3 small families dining in the entire restaurant at that time.
Overall, this is gem for the burbs and I’ll definitely be back!

My 4 cheese chicken dinner was quite tasty.
Overall, the food we ordered tasted fine.
Still I thought on the expensive side if you consider the meals we ordered (with my husband’s just plain pasta) – ran $ 19 & $ 18 respectively. And worse, didn’t include soup or salad (which I tend to expect given typical Italian restaurants).
Regular portion size, nothing noteworthy there.
And being Italian, I am HUGE on bread & it seemed like it was sliced loaf of Jewel French bread (if homemade, nothing special at ALL). I honestly believe it’s store-​bought & maybe not even UP to Jewel quality. And bread is very critical item TO Italians & their eateries (to me).
We like our homemade bread.
So again, fortunately I liked my meal & also the desserts were delicious.
I can’t say the service was that great. She seemed very nice, I will say that.
Still, for instance, we had to wait over 15 minutes for waitress to return to pick up payment on the check (with credit card). I mean, if you bring someone a check, obviously you should return somewhat soon as they are going to expect to be paying it next & leaving!
I dunno, maybe she was overworked, can’t say… we just know it was rather SLOW service & fortunately we didn’t mind waiting but otherwise, given different circumstances (like other plans!), might’ve been annoyed.
I have no problem waiting on dinner (even if longer than she said it would be) because that’s just part of having good food… so it wasn’t that.
And maybe I am making too much of this. Will see next time & update then.
Overall, I will say we’ll be back because I enjoyed my meal.
My husband said his was «OK» so maybe not the fan I was. I tasted his & had to agree.
Maybe he just didn’t get as lucky ordering what they made best. Still kinda peculiar that’s the case given it was pasta at an Italian restaurant (what they should do BEST).
We had finally used a coupon on a book we totally forgot about & had a nice $ 16 off & bill came to (I think) $ 46 so with tip (factoring in of course before discount) @13 total of $ 60.
Again, that is OK I suppose but yeah, in my book… a tad bit expensive (since yeah, I DO consider $ 16 part of the cost since we just happened to have coupon to defray it. And remember NO leftovers & we left satiated, not stuffed).
I dunno, I suppose I shouldn’t just compare everything to Maggiano’s who does it ALL perfect in my book (and leaves me a bit deflated elsewhere. For one, their food is ALL insanely yummy & they even prepare dish to take home… and I think their lasagna is like $ 15 for TWO meals. They maybe ruined me for everyone else!).
DO try the cheesy chicken. Again, I’d not consider returning if it wasn’t noteworthy.

Found Isabella’s as I was passing through Chicago land.
Stopped in for lunch, about 2:00pm on a Saturday, although there were a few other guests, the waiter was extremely welcoming and courteous throughout the entire experience. Dresses professional in shirt and bow tie.
I ordered the Angel Hair pasta, which was great. Tasted like homemade sauce with mascarpone cheese and fresh picked herbs (yes, they have a small garden on the side of the restaurant and I watched them pick them!)
Would recommend to friends /​family. Wine list was good for the restaurant size too.
Enjoy!

Been going to Isabella’s for years and have to say they literally knock it out of the park each time! The food is nothing but awesome! Six of us on this visit, with four of them dining here the first time and were all very impressed. I would say it’s a combination of Italian and French. Some ordered one of their many specials including Veal with a sundried tomato and goat cheese sauce and a Penne Shrimp Pasta that had wonderful flavouring. Other entrees were Stuffed chicken, Pork medallions, *Scallops. (*which are an appetizer, but my husband likes them so much he ordered two of them to make it an entrée)
It can be a bit noisy and conversation challenging as this is a small house that’s been converted to a restaurant,. Also, if it’s very busy, can take a bit of time to get the food, but so worth it. Also have outdoor seating which is always a bonus. Highly recommend. Great for a romantic dinner, with friends, etc., Do not recommend to take the kids, but only because of the upscale menu and with size of the restaurant.