Isabel’s Restaurant

Great Italian Fair in Disguise :)
This place Impressed the hell out of me! They make traditional American and traditional italian comfort food exactly right. This is an understated solid Italian restaurant at a price of Golden Nugget!!! Talk about great value! WOW!!!
Unfortunately a lot of «true» Italian restaurants today no longer offer hand made pastas. This place does! They use organic produce, grass-​fed meat and cage-​free poultry & eggs! Even their dressings, sauces and gravies are made in-​house!!!
The variety of dishes is outstanding and execution is unbeatable! We are often mesmerized by trendy chefs with their miracle berries and deconstructed ingredients… and sure this stuff is really cool. However, it is a whole different kind of a challenge to prepare a traditional well-​known dishes just so, when your guests already have vision of what they should taste and look like!
Aside from great food and pretty good (and inexpensive wine list) the service is solid as well. Wait staff is quick and friendly and the owner is right there to double check that you are doing well — you cant ask for more when an average plate is $ 10! Did I mention they deliver!!!
Bravo! So glad you are in my neighborhood!!!

Great food and great location, though unfortunately not close enough to us. Service was wonderful. We have been there twice and were really happy both times. It’s definitely the sort of place you could become a regular at pretty easily.
Also I love that it’s open early and very kid friendly. The servers patiently wait for my 2 year old to order his own breakfast and talk to him like he’s a real person, doesn’t get better than that!

It’s important to note that I’ve only had breakfast here… Once!
My husband and I ordered coffees, one leaded and one unleaded. Both were decent and hot. We had a freshly squeezed OJ that set us back $ 3. We ordered the traditional Eggs Benedict and the Salmon Cured Crostinis. Both were fresh and the right temperature.
The décor has vastly improved from when this place was The Grove. It sounds like we might have missed out on what this place is now known for, their Italian cuisine. Hmmm?!

WTF! It was excellent. I totally echo the sentiments of many of the reviewers. It looks like a diner, sounds like a dinner, and its décor is that of a diner. However, the food is not! Vodka Cream Pasta and Bolognese were excellent. Vanilla bean and raspberry cheese cake, awesome! The wine averages $ 5 a glass and it’s excellent! I encourage you to check it out. Service was great! Looks may be deceiving.
Scallop Crudo… for 7 dollars… need i say more…

We visited last night for the first time for an early dinner. Best diner style roasted turkey dinner I’ve had since I can remember.
First, the main attraction — turkey — was perfect. Moist and tasty. The sides consisted of mashed potatoes with skins on, caramelized carrots and grilled asparagus. All three were executed magnificently.
The gravy on the potatoes wasn’t spectacular but it was good.
Service was great and included multiple tea refills. My boyfriend had a half pound burger which came with fries that he liked a lot.
The décor was nice an inviting.
Total including iced teas and tip was $ 28.15.

The service was painfully slow, with only two servers around on a Sunday afternoon, 1 of whom was sitting at the main entrance just lost in texting or something on her phone.
Food was very okay — nothing special, just regular food you’d prepare at home.

Was in the neighborhood and almost walked right by Isabel’s, and I’m glad we didn’t. My mother and I were looking for a good homey meal, and Isabel’s really hits the spot. The food is downright fantastic if you are looking for something that your grandma would make or just a regular meal. The meals are nothing exotic or fancy, and that’s what makes them great.
The atmosphere is very plain, but the staff is attentive and friendly and has that small town feel. It’s a diner atmosphere and not fancy in the slightest, but you know that walking in. The prices are also unbeatable, especially for the amount of food you get.
Classic recipes and hearty portions make for a great experience. I’m picky when it comes to Chicago food, but this place really is worth it. We came in hungry and left happy with leftovers. I will definitely be returning to this place!
Atmosphere: ⁸⁄₁₀
Service: ⁹⁄₁₀
Food: ¹⁰⁄₁₀

I have worked my way through a third of this menu and am very impressed.
A friendly staff that slings great Ital/​American standards using local and organic ingredients and still keeps the price point within the range of a regular joint.
The pastas are done well, don’t get me wrong these aren’t the kind of pastas with 5 different exotic garnishes, these are the staples, spaghetti and meatballs featuring in house pasta and a very light meatball, not those over cooked dense hamburger helper tasting things that have become so ubiquitous.
Chicken cacciatore, meat loaf, briskett, and sandwiches are all well thought out, simple and executed well.
The corned beef hash for brunch is stellar, you can taste the spices individually in the brine of the beef. My only complaint food wise so far is I think they need two of those perfectly poached eggy weggies on top of that hash.
This may not be a place for a first date or celebration, but it is a great place for after work or in the morning when you got some stink on ya.

Isabel’s is a great new spot. Love the Italian specialties. They do a great breakfast too.
For lunch and dinner I’ve had the spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf, brisket pizzaiolo, chicken Vesuvio, meatball sandwich and meatloaf sandwich. All outstanding. Meatballs and meatloaf are distinct from each other, and are good choices as both sandwiches and entrees. I’m really picky about meatballs and rarely order them, but these are the real deal, with a mix of meats, great texture, flavor and plenty of good quality Parmesan. I would order the Beef barley soup every time. Veggie sides are well seasoned and nicely cooked. Mashed potatoes come with this intensely-​flavored gravy made with red wine. Even the fries are good. Pasta is made in-​house and cooked to a beautiful al dente. This is way more than be expected from a diner. Yes the atmosphere and prices are diner-​style, but the quality and taste of the food are superior.
I had a PB&j pot de crème for dessert the other day. Peanut butter mousse was rich and creamy and their jam was a nice pairing. It also came a large butter cookie with a bit of orange zest. A large portion and a bargain at $ 6.
Corned beef hash for breakfast is loaded with caramelized onions and house-​cured corned beef that’s moist, flavorful and delicious. The 3 Meat omelet is tasty, mainly due to the ham, and nicely balanced between the meat and the cheese. Nice touches using real butter on the toast, fresh squeezed oj and house made raspberry jam.
The rest of the menu looks good too. I’ll be back often.

We finally found the perfect night to check out Isabel’s. Husband out of town and I wasn’t in the mood to cook. It was pretty empty, however, we were there on the earlier side for dinner, around 6 pm. You can tell there are still a few «Grovies» that still patron and can’t let go.
My daughter and I split the bolognese, which was excellent, even more so for the price. The service was great and the owner even stopped by our table to chat with us. Extremely nice touch and he’s incredibly friendly, which makes me root for this place to make it. Curious to try brunch now.
I like the variety of the menu, but the only thing that’s a bit off is the ambience. It still has that somewhat Granny’s/ Grove feel. I don’t feel like this is really on par with their menu selection. Over all experience was great!

The Grove always seemed to be a dark, dingy, melancholy sort of place. I ate there once and remember that I felt a bit sad after. I don’t remember liking the food.
So my buddy and I were really excited when brown paper went up on the windows and a promising-​looking awning unfurled. The website –
… — also appeared promising. Who doesn’t love a good local organic diner with a bit of Italian flare?!
But lo. Isabel turns out to be the Grove in a new dress. Despite the tickling promise of ‘in-​house’, ‘made from scratch’, and ‘locally sourced’…Isabel’s failed to deliver. The corned beef hash was unpleasantly chewy and tasted weirdly pickled. The potatoes were undercooked and nearly outnumbered by purplish-​gray red onion. The salmon plate was more appropriately sized for a passed app. Bread was bah. Received a very silly triplet of pinkish, limp bacon strips as a side. And the wait staff seemed surprised to discover customers — as if they had all woken up from naps and found themselves suddenly working in a restaurant.
Look, you can print new menus, give the place a dusting, and call your food homemade however much you like. It won’t matter unless it is GOOD. And this was not. One star for trying, though!

An awesome bloody mary gets made here and in a nice sized glass for $ 5!!!
I walk by this place on weekday mornings to go to my bus stop. I noticed it, but never thought twice about it. My gf looked up some brunch options in the area and she came across this joint.
Came over on a crisp Saturday morning and were greeted by the nice hostess and was seated immediately as it wasnt crowded at all. When I first looked at the menu days prior, I thought I would go with the pepper & egg sandwich, but once I was looking at the menu in person, the Veggie scrambler with egg whites seemed more appealing. The scrambler was pretty good. Our waitress was very nice and she was very attentive… took very good care of us.
This place sort of diner like and has a diner feel to it. I see this being a spot for most of the peeps here in the neighborhood of Lincoln Park East/​East Lakeview. Will try again as it is pretty close.

I was SADLY disappointed with this places meatball sandwich. Thrillist sent out an email and the meatball sandwich looked great but it was NOTHING special. It just was a standard old meatball sandwich. if you want a great meatball sandwich you should really try publican meat market. Anyway. I did like the fries here, they were nicely crunchy and perfectly salted. My friend got the chicken cordoue blue sandwich and it was actuallllyy pretty good.
Would I go back? sadly, no. It was okay but nothing worth driving to. I came from Ukrainian village and it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. sorry isabel. I really wanted to like you. :-(

A wonderful replacement to the grove!
Service was wonderful, our waitress was very friendly and attentive.
The food was great, went for Sunday brunch and liked the extensive menu. They also have a few alcoholic beverages, but not a full bar. They’re still working all of the kinks out, they did not have everything on their menu in stock.
Plus, the owner already discontinued the donuts :(The waitress said that they were not selling enough to make it worth it… but how would they honestly know that since they have only been open for a few weeks?

When I first heard about Isabel’s I thought it was an Italian restaurant. While there are some Italian options on the menu, I’d say it falls somewhere between Italian and diner – there’s a mix of pastas, entrees, and sandwiches, along with a solid breakfast menu served only in the mornings.
The quality of food is much better than the its past inhabitant– The Grove– but also well priced. We were very happy with the two dishes we ordered. Glad to see there is another good option in the neighborhood. It also seems they’ve worked out some of the kins from the first few weeks– service was good and the owner even came out to check on each table.

I was keeping my expectations in check when I first came here yesterday. It did look like a nice place, but suspected that it was still essentially a diner, as was its predecessor in the space, The Grove — whose booths and basic diner layout Isabel had inherited. And even a nice diner reliably means at least two things: merely okay food and bad coffee.
My first clue that Isabel’s was not a diner was the menu. Not the items on the menu, but the physical menu itself: it was a single two-​sided laminated card. A third reliable feature of a diner is that its menu goes on for page after laminated page. Lamination aside, Isabel’s menu was decidedly not that. This was promising!
The food? Very good. My corned beef hash was some of the best I’ve had. It’s made in house, apparently with love. The menu sticks to basics, with limited flourishes (although zeppole — Italian donuts — were on the menu, which got me very excited until I was told that they weren’t making them anymore because no one ever ordered them. What the??? People! Do not pass up zeppole when you’re lucky enough to come across them!). I could care less about that, as long as they do their basics well. And this place does, at least as far as I could tell. At low diner prices, no less! (I will say that my companion wasn’t that impressed with her traditional eggs benedict.)
The coffee? Well, things were looking good when I saw that the coffee was being served from insulated stainless steel carafes rather than the (typical diner) glass carafes that sit on a burner the rest of the time. Sure enough, the coffee was good. Good! I was ecstatic!
Aside from that, the place has nice ambience, and everyone we interacted with was very friendly. My limited expectations were far exceeded, and I’m happy to have a winning restaurant — NOT A DINER — right across the street from me.

Isabel’s is new, so I am hesitant to write a review and would rather give them the benefit of the doubt. However, because I was such a huge fan of The Grove, I write this review as an open letter. Or rather, an open list of suggestions.
–Manager, please create a game plan for your hostess (es) and waitresses that will give them specific duties and places to be instead of running frantically around the restaurant and directing people every which way. The hostess looked both ways at least twice before deciding which table to take us to (many tables were open). Most of the time when I saw one of the staff, they had more of a look of confusion than a smile.
–Work on updating a few of your sides and/​or the ease in substitutions. Example: my friend, who ordered breakfast, asked if fresh fruit was a side and could be substituted for hash browns. The waitress said it could be done, but for a $ 3 charge («I think»). Eek. It would be an easy and healthy option to offer for an even trade.
–The toast included with your meal should be 2 pieces of bread, not 1 piece cut into two halves giving off the illusion that it’s more.
–Open much earlier on the weekends. Sunday breakfast/​brunch is an institution in Lakeview/​Lincoln Park and odd hours will direct more people towards The Edge and other neighborhood spots.
–Biscuits and gravy not on the menu? Blasphemy.
I opted for the corned beef sandwich and fries and thought my food was great, and the price point was certainly fair. I also liked that they took your payment at the table instead of making you pay at the counter like their predecessor. I think this place will be a win-​win once they work out all the kinks, and I will happily continue to come back and see how it evolves.

What a fantastic addition to the neighborhood!
Had brunch Sunday and couldn’t have been happier. Green eggs and ham are spectacular — gorgeous fresh basil, house made ham, and cheddar. Blueberry pancakes light and fluffy.
Can’t wait to go back and try their sandwiches.

My lady and I had heard good things about this new breakfast/​brunch spot. The menu touted quite a few house made items so we were pretty pumped to see what they had to offer. We were seated quickly but that was the only prompt portion of our visit. After waiting 5 minutes our waitress came over and asked if we were ready to order (not if we had any questions). From there we waited 10 minutes for our drinks. I had to ask the server for them and she completely forgot what we ordered. When our food arrived my sunny side up eggs came out (runny tops, gross) it was without my toast. I informed the server and she brought out (only 1 slice) my eggs were cold.
It was pretty evident that there were some kinks that need to be worked out with the wait staff and cooking line. The house made sausage was fantastic but I wont be going back until they figure things out.

Great new spot for cheap yet very fresh breakfast. Super bonus that the menu features local fare. It fortunately does not have the creep factor, as the past two diners that have resided in the spot. Phew! We stopped there for a quick breakfast. So happy we did! I think Isabel’s will do well in the area as the food is affordable for the people who used to frequent the Grove restaurant, but fresh for people who want to save $ and like places with fresh, local fare.
I love the concept of an Italian diner vs the typical American or Greek diner.
Happy addition to East Lakeview!