Ella’s American Bistro

I went for a company party and it was a very good time. The servers/​bartenders were very good and remembered what myself and others in the group were drinking and were very attentive to ask for refills or any other items we needed. The food was very good and it was buffet style so we were able to try a lot of different items. Definitely adding to our places to go again.

Ambience and décor is fantastic — especially from being in strip center. Service was attentive and prompt. Martini left a bit to be desired — and olives were not freshest. Appetizer we had the gnocchi and meatballs. It was very good. Wife had duck which was done perfectly and she enjoyed. I had halibut special which was ok. A bit pricey for a very average entrée. Sides left a bit to be desired as well (carrots and potatoes). They over use a specific herb on most of their dishes (sage?). The highlight was the desert. Banana bread pudding and homemade ice cream were fantastic.

Excellent atmosphere, good food, and great happy hour specials! They have live music some nights as well.

Excellent! I had a truly amazing experience here. Walking in, I was taken aback by how upscale the place was. After my recent experience I was a little apprehensive. I was here for a quick bite with my family since I had somewhere to be after.
Our server was amazing and the food was outstanding! We lamb brisket, the cheese frites and the potato gnocchi; also it was my first time sampling the Acqua Panna spring water!
Fabulous!!!
After I’d left the server had paid extra attention to my family and that really did it for me. I really hope more people get to know about this place that is, if they don’t already.

Great experience. Food was very good and service too. My octopus appetizer was very tasty and very different, served with slices of andouille and other well matched tastes. I had the duck main course, which was perfectly done and wonderfully flavorful. Wine list had very good selections and very reasonably priced. Everyone at our table (4 of us) really raved about the food. We’ll definitely go back.

Meh!!! That’s my review of Ella’s!!! Not sure what’s happened, but the seafood appetizers and entrees are NOT good. They lack seasoning and they are not hot. So, after having the escargot as a starter and the bouillabaisse for my entrée, I say RUN for another restaurant. It is sad, the potential is there, but the execution is severely lacking.

Wow; this place went from great in October to hardly edible, since the head chef left, as it was explained to me, a few weeks ago. It used to be awesome. Now, it is truly, truly awful. They used to get there stuff from a local farm, they’re now buying fish from halfway around the world (Scotland). The taste shows the difference. For your tastebud’s sake, do not go here under any circumstances. The management also seems to be lacking since my last visit. I heard a bunch of people left with the chef. Maybe the old GM did too?

There comes a time when one knows that they’ve had such an elegant dining experience that they want to shout it out to the whole world. This is one of those that was well worth it’s weight in gold.
Brought a friend here for a dinner and we had a very enjoyable experience. Everything from the décor to the food and the service was exquisite. There was no question that we were being treated like kings. The waitstaff were doing everything they can and I’d say even going overboard to make us feel like we’re in cloud nine.
I had the risotto and it was very nice. The disappointment came when it became obvious to me from the first look that it might have been overcooked and I mentioned that to the waitstaff as they brought it in. However they thought it was not and I decided to let it go. One bite into my risotto and my fears were confirmed. What made me concerned though was that any experienced chef would know this and he/​she perhaps didn’t take the effort to fix it. It was busy in there so perhaps he was in over his head a bit.
But that should not deter anyone from the overall experience. Everything else in my opinion was simply delightful.

Went here for a birthday dinner. I will say that at first I was apprehensive because the description said casual but the restaurant was anything but casual. It was a nice local restaurant with a romantic setting and I would have felt out of place had I been dressed casually. The food was excellent; we had the crepes, steak frites, and a mussels appetizer. Everything was excellent and we will definitely return when we want a good local restaurant with a known, delicious menu.

I took a male friend out for lunch and both of us had never been.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly did not expect this formal atmosphere. We were greeted and seated and when I opened the menu, I was a little taken aback at the offerings. This is not a bistro as I know it.
We both had sandwiches, he a chicken and me chicken salad. I have to say they were both good and the bag full of crispy fries that came with it were very good.
My friend was the only male in the room (this was lunchtime) Huh?
The music was overpowering in my opinion.
Nice place, but somehow it just left me cold.

Went here for a work dinner and it was a great place to eat. We have a preset menu with a few choices to choose from and I’ll go through my choices for you.
First we hit up the bar as we arrived a little early. They had Dogfish Head Punkin Beer on Tap! Big Win! I laughed because when I ordered the bartender said «heres a guy who know’s what he’s doing». Love this beer and if you have it on tap serious points for that. Thank you!
After two cold cruisers we moved to our table and started with appetizers. I had the Cavatelli with a Duck Ragu and mushrooms. Was phenomenal! My co-​worker and I who were the only two who ordered it on my end of the table ate it in a pace not appropriate for work events. Oh well if the beer was a great start they were keeping their steam with the appetizer.
Entrée for the evening was steak and veggies with potatoes. I don’t want to spend to much time on it. It was cooked perfectly and tasted great. Another hit.
Moving onto dessert I ordered a version of the bread pudding that is on the regular menu. It was essentially bread cake as it was a huge piece. It was great. 4 for 4 for the night. Did I mention the servers were polite and took great care of our group? Well they did. Love when work dinners go so well. Would go back here without a doubt. Also enjoyed it’s small and quiet atmosphere.

I had the beet salad and goat cheese crepes. My husband had the mussels and steak frites. The kitchen was admittedly slow, but we were in no rush and the food was excellent! Our waiter and manager were more than gracious. In all, it was a great dining experience that I would recommend.

I have no hesitation to give Ella’s five stars. From the ambience, to the service, to the food — it was all top notch.
We came here on a concierge recommendation. While it wasn’t much to look at when we rolled up on the strip mall, it was really beautiful and peaceful inside. Our waiter was helpful and friendly and was on top of drinks. I had the beer braised pork with the sweet potatoes and mushrooms — it was out of this world! The pork was moist and flavorful and the side of sweet potatoes and mushrooms were roasted just right and married the flavors together perfectly.
It isn’t the cheapest place, but if you are looking for a place for a upscale business dinner or a romantic meal, I would say give Ella’s a shot.

Went here for lunch. We had a nicely paced lunch served by a friendly server who made good suggestions. I had the short rib with Bree and pickled claw sandwich. This was served on artisan bread that looked tough but was surprisingly fresh and perfectly chewy. The other diners each raved about their bread as well. Get the duck fat fries, they were crisp and delightful.
I will go back to Ella’s for my next «fancy lunch» for sure

I came here for a private party thrown by my employer. I must say, the décor is lovely and the location was convenient, but I wasn’t bowled over by the food.
During the party, we were only permitted in the bar area and it was really packed. The servers were friendly and attentive, but I think I must have seen a grand total of five butlered hors d’oeuvres plates go around, all of which were tiny. I was only ever offered one hors d’œuvre, a potato croquette of some kind and it was cold in the middle.
Their dessert spread was a bit more impressive with a cookie tray and mini tartlets that looked very nice.
Overall, I was a little surprised at the lack of food and I wasn’t even able to taste most of it!

Love the location and décor. I’ve been there dozens of times while on business trips and have brought loads of people in the door.
When it first opened and during the first couple of years, it was spectacular. Incredible selection and the famous cheese biscuits and I gladly gave it a full 5-​stars.
In the last few visits, since the chef changed, I was not as pleased with the selection (no biscuits, chicken or salmon) and the service has seemed to slip a little, too. The gentleman kept interrupting us as we were speaking and after a few instances, I asked him nicely to please wait for a few minutes, as my business meeting/​discussion was very important. He literally slammed his book closed and left in a huff.

Can get pricy FAST, but the food and service are always excellent.
I usually stop in for lunch and the options are usually very good with some daring choices occasionally. The waitstaff can typically answer any questions and I would advise you to stretch your palate a little here, its worth it.
If you go there looking for a feast, you may be disappointed with some of the entrees that are more on the petite size, but the sandwiches are usually very filling. Occasionally there are some hard choices on the menu and if you and your lunch companion prefer, you can split two entrees and they will do the dirty-​work of cutting it in half and serving each half on your plate.
The two times I went for dinner, my dinner companion and I were blown away since the specials were to die for. The last time I went and had this bone-​in ribeye steak special that was prepared oh-​so-​perfectly. I usually don’t get steaks at restaurants (besides steak houses), but this was arguably one of the better steaks I have had.
Realistically, you arent leaving lunch without a $ 20−30/person bill or dinner at $ 40+, but you will rarely feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth. Some dishes are on the small side, but the waitstaff are very knowledgeable and can advise if you need to augment your meal with a soup or appetizer.
The soups can appear a bit weird, but they are always well-​prepared and tasty. One-​time the soup came with «bacon jelly» dollops that were extremely tasty, so good, we asked the waiter if we could get it as a condiment for our entrees.
Always looking for an excuse to go back, especially when looking at some of their specials on their Facebook page.

My mom, my aunt, my cousin and I went to get facials at toppers spa, and came here afterwards for quite a treat! The place is very unassuming– in a shopping center off of Lancaster Pike. You enter and find that the inside décor is a lot more warm and significant than what you’d expect. It’s almost TOO fancy for being in a shopping center. Perhaps its my urban contrived thoughts of what resides in shopping centers… but regardless, its a very upscale place. We didn’t have makeup on and i felt a little out of place based on the other patrons of the restaurant! We got over that.
We were seated at a table in the main dining room, and promptly served water and rolls with butter. They were fab! We decided to split the fried pickles which were crowd pleasers for sure! They were kosher spears (which i prefer SO much to bread and butter!) and they had this chipolte dipping sauce that was just amazing.
For my meal, I had the truffled grilled cheese. The bread was super thick, the cheese was amazing, and it had arugala in it that was wilted like spinach. really gave it a great texture. I couldn’t really taste the truffle much though, which was a disappointment given the price/​place. It was served with a side salad that had candied walnuts and these amazing vinegarish fruit.
All in all, we had a great experience at Ella. The service was kind and prompt, and the food was pretty solid. It’s a tad on the expensive side, but I’d say its warranted given the ambiance and the location (main line).
And the meal ended with these amazing little vanilla bean cookies. A true way to win my heart!

What an overrated, over priced, over-​their heads restaurant. If they were any good, the overflow from the presently fire-​closed White Dog would have filled this place. Nah, not happening. Speaking of not-​happening, the only people younger than age 40 were a couple of 20 somethings with their parents. So it was very quiet on this weekday evening as old people don’t make noise unless they are a bunch of drunken 50+ blondes bused in from San Marco in Ambler.
I thought I picked a good app, the corn and clam chowder with smokey bacon. The first spoon was delightful, but the kitchen got in over their head and didn’t purge the grit out of the clams well enough. The flavor was solid, not exceptional and not creative, but the grit pissed me off for the prices they were fleecing from their customers like they were a fine food establishment.
My entrée was a rare tuna with a veg and grain which buried the tuna in presentation and the strange textures took away all chances of this to be an A-​OK dish. Now some of the side was quinoa, I have had quinoa before, but never this slimy and gooey. And some should have been peas, could have fooled me if there were peas in this dish, unless it was the green purée at the bottom of the pile of grain and sauce. The tuna was a small, fresh, mid-​quality cut, some veins, bathed in a salty sauce, seeming like a pre-​packaged demi-​glaze you can pick up in Whole Foods.
My friend had the seafood risotto. It looked good on the menu, but didn’t deliver. The risotto was a bit overcooked in my opinion, the lobster way overcooked and again with the grit crunching among your teeth from the shellfish. Geezus, that is annoying. The flavors of the risotto dish were nice but to me the texture is 50% of the entire dish… mushy, starchy risotto, chewy way-​overcooked lobster, grit, nope, doesn’t do it for my tastes.
Would I go back, good question, maybe I picked the wrong things on the wrong night. That has happened before. BTW, in the drink department, a small blackboarded draft beer list which included Goose Island IPA on tap, excellent, and a very good Bordeaux blend by the glass kept us happy. Nice décor, comfortable ugly green chairs and tablecloths in the dining room? That didn’t fit. Maybe that’s why the old people love this place, tablecloths.

So my main course was almost as big as a football, which would be ok if it were a big honkin steak but it wasn’t. It was the lamb shoulder with mushroom risotto. The bartender told me it was such a hit that it was held over from the fall menu into the winter menu. I gotta say a few things about that, and about why the hell you would mound a gigantic plate of sticky, cheesy rice with a nod to mushroom flavor and shredded lamb parts that may or may not have actually been from the shoulder. Fat and gristle were present too, yay.
This dish was not only titanically large but it was sticky and had little lamb in it. I mean the lamb had less volume and caloric value than the mushrooms even. The cheese, unadvertised, turned it into a huge gooey mess. The menu fooled us into thinking that the arugula added a refreshing counterpoint to the dish. It didn’t. It was painted on the top in a thin layer, for color only. I weep for all of the people that wanted this to be carried over from the fall menu but perhaps it was the best entrée on the fall menu which isn’t saying much about this restaurant.
My appetizer was the black pepper shrimp with a sherry butter sauce. I should have realized that any dish that has to feature «black pepper» as its main flavor enhancer was probably suspect. Yes, the shrimp were cooked nicely but drowning in the sherry butter, and there was no bread to dip into it, should anyone desire to sop up that quarter cup of rich goodness. Which I would have if I wasn’t getting the lamb risotto to follow, because I do love butter. (see above)
The wines by the glass were thoughtful and had a good variety, as if someone thought that people who come here need that kind of variety. No vintages disclosed but hey that happens a lot in restaurants, no biggie. I had the Cabernet. It was — pleasant.
The dessert was the figgy pudding, yes, held over from the holidays no doubt. Continuing with the sports/​food theme, several components of this fine dish reminded me of hockey pucks, but then again, figgy pudding is what? Deconstructed fruit cake? I dunno, I should not have done this. Dense, dry cake with dense, dried fruits, and a dense, should-​not-​have-​been-​dry sauce of a nondescript whitish color.
The décor here looks like an upscale suburban hotel restaurant except that it is in a strip mall, so there’s no hotel. Darn. Two giant TV’s in the bar kind of set the tone, which is WOW I AM SO BORED IN THIS PLACE THAT I NEED TV.
This is a two-​star restaurant (given the prices, but the bottom line is that price is really important, right?), save for the bar scene which was quiet but very entertaining, and I enjoyed myself, so all was A-​OK.