Isa Bistro - Portland

Reliably good food & great service. But room was cold on frigid evening!
We’ll be back, maybe when weather is warmer.

This is a cozy spot with delicious food and excellent service. Highly recommend.

Great neighborhood bistro, with creative cuisine and a well-curated wine list.

The food was delicious- we had the roasted mushroom salad, eggplant lasagna and the pasta bolognese. We ordered the coconut cream pie and chocolate pie to go which was a delightful treat to eat at home in front of the fire. The bartender was fun and funny and attentive. I had only eaten lunch there (before Covid) and now it's right at the top of my list for favorite dinner spots!

Great food!

I love this restaurant. Every time I am in Portland I make a point to have dinner here. The menu is fantastic! A few favorites are the burrita and the Caesar salad with white anchovies. Also a big fan of their fish and pork chop. Love the founders story as well, there is such care for the food. Make sure you end your night either with the tres leches cake or the coconut cream pie.

Isa is a favorite - the staff is so professional, ambiance is like a neighborhood place in NYC's East Village, and the FOOD!!! Award winning bolognese, a must have along with the focaccia. And, the french fries with aioli are incredible. Mixed drinks are spot on and the desserts are stellar. Thank you Isa for EVERYTHING!!!

Isa always delivers and delights, delicious food, great service.

Isa remains our “go to” place: in fact our only indoors dining spot in these parlous times. A varied menu of very well prepared, delicious dishes combined with warm, attentive service and socially-distanced seating. We would be bereft without it.

The food at Isa was absolutely incredible. Everything we ordered, down to the bottle of wine was absolutely exquisite. Thank you for the wonderful dinner experience, Isa. We will be back.

Great food, great service! We tell all our friends about Isa! Thank you!

Amazing food, well crafted cocktails, cozy atmosphere...what's not to like about Isa Bistro? And if that wasn't enough, the staff also understands service. One of the few places we've dined where service has not suffered in the wake of COVID.

Food and experience is always wonderful.

It was cold the night I was there and the heavy drape to prevent outside air from entering the restaurant was only ½ closed. If the two top corners had been fixed the blockage of cold outside air would have been much better.
The menu is small but adequate. It has vegetarian, beef, chicken and seafood entrees. The quality of the food was excellent!!
The wait staff was attentive and willing to find answers if they didn't know.
Then noise level was moderate. There is parking behind the restaurant.

Small, but extremely well executed menu packed with flavors and textures to delight all taste buds. Lovely neighborhood place. Will definitely be back soon.

Was great. We all had different entrees and they were all fantastic. Only drawback is that there can be a bit of a draft coming off the street.

Great food…easy parking…excellent service and ambiance!!

Fantastic food, drinks, atmosphere, and service. Isa Bistro, where have you been all my life?

Best meal by far in years!

We had a fantastic meal on a snowy night in Portland. We sat at the bar(best seats in the house) bartender (Brian?) was helpful with suggestions and the service was great.

Great place!

Charming place with excellent food and service.

Isa Bistro continues to be one of my favorite restaurants in Portland - and if you know this town, that's saying a lot! Every time I bring friends here, they ask why don't we hear more about this place? I have no idea. Every meal I have had here - dozens over the years - has been mouth-watering and delicious. The flavors and textures are always unique.

I find myself trying to create them at home and never quite get there. They are miraculously able to provide the same quality when you order the dishes through curb side pick up, so I never have to create them myself.

They are wonderful people and the design is beautiful, so go ahead and enjoy the neighborhood vibe while you are there.

Isa Bistro is a lovely, comfortable. informal, down-to-earth experience offering pretty darn exceptional food. Striving to be a high-concept neighborhood bistro, they have certainly succeeded. The limited menu and limited seating both mean they can - and do -deliver consistently high-quality renditions of well-conceived simple but elegant dishes. I laud them for that.

In spite of Portland's vaunted reputation as a restaurant city, my wife and I seldom come out of an area restaurant without feeling vaguely to very disappointed with our meal and/or the experience, especially now that the tab is always exceeding $100 (with wine & tip).

That was definitely not the case at Isa Bistro. From the absolutely delicious grilled mushroom salad and the beet salad to the cod fritter and meatball appetizers we tried, to their gorgeously crispy frites, everything was pretty darn near close to perfect. One of my standards is whether I could have made a dish better than the restaurant. The only item I could possibly have said that about was the meatball appetizer (a touch dense and a little dry - try the 177 Milk Street Polpete recipe to see the difference).

The wine list is really funky - but fun. (For instance, I'm a real wine student/fan, but I had never before heard of the gaglioppolo grape). Like the food, the list is short, but so thoughtfully selected.

Isa Bistro may not be for everyone, but for now it has joined an exceedingly tiny group of local restaurants where we can be confident of an exceptional meal and a special time in an exceedingly comfortable setting.

My only issue was it was really cold inside. Our server turned up the heat and then all was good, but then another server turned it back down and it was cold again. Several people had their coats on. I wish the staff would worry more about the comfort of the customers instead of themselves!

First time visit to Isa.
If I had to describe our 2 hours dining experience………….AMAZING!!

Always great

Everything was pleasant about this experience. We had the pork chop which was cooked to perfection and the burrata / mushroom linguini was delicious. Caesar and fennel salads were both yummy.

It was delicious! Every dish was incredible!

The entire meal was lovely. Our server was very knowledgeable about the wine list and gave us great recommendations. The pork chop dinner was absolutely delicious. Our only complaint is everything was so good that we didn't have enough room for dessert so we have made another reservation to go back in three weeks to test the desserts.

Terrific food, great vibe, super service. Would definitely recommend.

Isa was amazing from start to finish! Drinks, apps, dinner, dessert, all were delicious. The hostess and waiter were so friendly. Easily one of the best meals we have ever had! We were highly recommend adding this perfect little restaurant to your evening in Portland.

Great staff and great food! This was one of the best dining experiences I have had in the Portland area.

Love this little place! Food was great, waitstaff so friendly and accommodating. Menu was small and approachable. Superb pasta dishes tonight. Go there!

Very cute small bistro. Excellent service. Nice presentation.

Good ingredients. Wonderful cocktails. Fantastic fine dining.

Everything was perfect the food so delicious the beverage as well love it

Great cocktails and deliciously creative food

We had the best meal of any restaurant in Portland! Everything was delicious. Atmosphere was relaxing. Will return to try other options on the menu. The octopus was tender and tasty, best I’ve had since Italy! The mushroom salad and pasta dish were exceptional. Bravo Isa!!

We loved this restaurant! We visit Maine annually and had not been here. The ambiance is wonderful- small and intimate. The service was spot on and the food absolutely delicious. Booked one more night before we have to go back home. It’s now high on our priority for our next visit.