Isabella's Restaurante Italiano
330 North 6th St; Suite 112
Redlands, Ca. 92373
(909) 792-2767

    Isabella’s Restaurante Italiano is a small chain of several Italian themed restaurants that as a food critic have consistently failed to impress. I have personally felt the local Isabella’s located in Calimesa would be the perfect venue for Chef “Gordon Ramsey” to film an entire season of “Kitchen Nightmares,” but that assumes the management understand they have problems… and not even Gordon Ramsey has time enough for this miracle. So needless to say it was with pre-set misconceptions and negative opinions that several friends convinced me to go back; it seems they like Isabella’s! They bought… and I went expecting to be disappointed, and was only mildly so. This is a major improvement.

When we arrived we were greeted by a minimal wait, and then promptly seated. The service was overly attentive as seems to be the nature of this overly priced venue, and we were assured that nobody had informed them we were doing a food review. It had been previously agreed that we would allow everyone in our party to discuss my review ratings… and the following is our little groups assessment.

It was agreed that the service was overly attentive and pretentious for what the restaurant actually delivers from a culinary standpoint, but does deliver a favorful “Upscale Atmosphere.” What is disappointing, and was agreed by the group is the actual meals themselves. Overly Starched presentation does little to improve what is basically mediocre food. It was agreed that the food was not bad, and the ingredient quality high… just that the taste was less than what should be expected from such hoopla and pricing levels.

Once again we ordered my favorite “Chicken Marsala,” which all things considered is exceptionally easy to prepare for any competent Italian Kitchen, and a staple menu item. What was served only vaguely resembles the type of Marsala sauce any of our table was familiar with; but this aside the dish was acceptable. We settled on calling it an “Interesting Interpretation” that would not rapidly become anyone’s favorite Marsala based dish. This aside… my little group set me up!

Also ordered was the very classic Italian Restaurant Staple… meat lasagna. This was delivered bubbly hot and oozing of chesses and rich tomato sauce. Very good, high quality and exceptionally well presented. Very similar was the manicotti that was ordered; also very well done.

It was agreed that the salads served were outstanding and very enjoyable… but all of this aside, in closing the group consensus was that more focus needed to be placed on the quantities and qualities of the food. The meals lacked any memorable flavors or inspiration beyond that of simply combining quality ingredients into an Italian styled presentation. For the pricing levels and pretentiousness something more food wise should be expected, and in our groups opinion still lacking.

The general service is overly attentive; seating very comfortable, presentation formal and the restaurant very clean… all as expected with entry levels of upscale dining experiences.

As a sidebar note: This restaurant still posts a "Split Plate" charge on their menu.