isa's bistro

yummy food in a pretty place!. we've been here several times. the menu is slightly high-end in an approachable way, but it's their burger that really gets the rave reviews. be forewarned that it is big, but you'll want to eat the whole thing because it's so good. the smashed and crispy fingerling potatoes and aioli on the side is equally tasty. my favorite thing is on the sunday brunch menu is the sunburst trout sausage with poached eggs. mmmm.... all the drinks have been great as well. (with the cocktail competition in asheville, there's no room for slackers in that department!) the only thing i've found to be odd and not very good is the risotto. skip it and go with something else.
see if you can get the little blond waitress. she's a doll! i will add the most of the waiters we've had here really need to take a page from the women. lighten up and smile a little, guys.

we had the fried brussel sprouts then my wife had the cedar salmon and i had the steak frites food was fantastic service was great we chose to sit inside but there is also great outdoor seating too.

we thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our visit to isa's bistro. we were told it was a great place to eat and we certainly weren't disappointed. while it wasn't good for them that evening, we liked that we were one of just a very few patrons in the place on a quiet weeknight. and because of that, we got excellent service from brady who got a nice tip at the end of the night - not only for the spilled beer incident - but for his attentive nature and friendly demeanor. we ate at a lot of nice places during our time in asheville and isa's bistro was definitely a meal that we'll remember.

second stop on a food and wine tour, very contemporary setting. won best hamburger in a local cook off, it was apparently really well liked by the group. i got a veggie burger which was really good also. definitely would go again!

drinks were good but service was downright rude. my husband and i were prepared to drink several drinks and order some food however we were flat out ignored by one bartender numerous times and repeatedly passed over by another in lieu of "older" patrons who were deemed higher tippers. the bar wasn't even half full and at least 3 bartenders were working. i have worked in the service industry and understand it gets busy but this was unacceptable. we finished our single drink paid our tab and brought our business elsewhere. i would not return or recommend this establishment.

very average. the food was okay at best but certainly not good enough to warrant the large prices. our starters were actually really good but the main dishes were dry tasting despite being cooked medium.

our waiter took great care of us, even if it wasn't as snappy as i'm used to at other places. unless you have a groupon or something, i can't really suggest it.

came for lunch because it was one of the only restaurants open on new years day. food was average, nothing out of this world. service was bad, our waitress disappeared. half of the time i had an empty glass. like i said, it was one of the only restaurants open on new years day. i will not be returning. i can think of other places to get an overpriced salad and sandwich.

great restaurant & group venue. my wife and i used isa's "the cellar" as our spot for the rehearsal dinner and welcome party for our wedding weekend. we had first come to isa's for dinner about a year ago. dinner was great, and with the "in the middle of everything" location, we inquired if they did group events. sure enough we were taken downstairs to "the cellar". with both my wife and me from atlanta and all of our guests from out of town, we felt like this was the perfect place.
it is cozy and intimate, but not without a lack of space. we had 60 people for dinner, and it felt very intimate. toward the end of dinner the last 2 hours were opened up to all our wedding guests who were in town, and the party expanded by about 50 people. there was plenty of room and even more room to mingle comfortably if we had more.
the food was amazing. the strip, the chicken, the trout, everyone raved about it all. considering there was 60 people for a plated dinner, i figured the quality of the food might get compromised a little due to the size of the group, but i was wrong. quality was top notch, and it was a hit with family from san francisco to new york city that were there.
finally, we were planning an out of town wedding. no one lived in asheville. so you could imagine being a little nervous about everything. the special events coordinator, jenny whitmire, did an amazing job, and she was a huge reason the event went off well. our event was on 12/5. she was following up and staying in contact the whole time as soon as she took the position. she even answered a question over thanksgiving while she was out of town that i didn't expect to get answer after the holiday.
in short, if you considering doing an event in asheville, i would 100% jenny and her team at isa's.
if you are looking for a nice dinner, my wife and i always eat at isa's whenever we are in town. always had a great meal. can't go wrong with the pei mussels and some bread for that amazing broth.

isas is wonderful here's what to order!. i feel bad i haven't written about isa's yet. we have been there now four times and taken people from both in and out of town with us. everyone loved their meals. the surprise of what to order is duanes burger. omg! it might be the beef they use but it is the best burger we have had in avl. the fingerling potatoes are tasty and moist with a crisp outside. last night i tried the grilled octopus and artichokes....it looks like a small serving but it was very filling and full of flavor. i did not want to share it. i have also had the mushroom farro risotto and if you like that sort of thing (which i do) it was plenty of food with huge flavors. we tried a special dessert last night recommended by our waitress and it was wonderful. small portion but enough for three to have a bite at end of meal. they also make a great moscow mule now served in icy cold copper cups like it should be. great bar there. great atmosphere and it's a big place so it's never crowded. always easy to get a table. avoid the tourist restaurants around the corner with waiting lists and go to isas.

amazing. i love it here! the food is wonderful and i love the atmosphere!

iso's bistro. easily the worst meal i've had in asheville. the waiter, patricio was arrogant and delivered the least helpful hospitable service possible. the food was bland and way overpriced. asheville has so many excellent restaurants; this one should be skipped.

loved the atmosphere. my wife and i had dinner at isa's bistro in the haywood park hotel on battery park in asheville tonight.

we used the hotel's complimentary valet, which is a nice touch, and our first impression of the restaurant entering from the hotel lobby side was very positive (even though the first thing we were told by a staffer was that "the main entrance is on the street." _ duh, don't you ever have hotel guests dining here?

but the atmosphere and design of the restaurant are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious -- an open layout with tables around the windows and walls, facing a bar, with tasteful touches of food-related photos and architectural pieces. we had a seat at a window looking out over battery park, and service from the very first was first rate.

on a friday night in january at around 6:30 the restaurant was only about one-fifth full, and despite the fact that open table claimed there were no tables at our preferred time of 7, it was never more than about a third full all evening.

we started with drinks (i had a jack rocks, $8, and my wife ordered from the cocktail menu, $7. very reasonable prices. we then tried the bang bang cauliflower ($7), as an appetizer, which was interesting but not something i would order regularly.

my spouse had the "three for thirty" special, an appetizer (in our case, mussels), main and dessert for $30. the mussels were fine, but the trout entree was probably the smallest serving of trout i've ever seen in a restaurant. it might have been 2 ounces, to be generous, on a big bed of rice. absolutely ridiculous. if it were called rice with a trade of trout it would be more honest. dessert was, of all things, parsnip cake, again interesting but not something you'd come back for.

stodgy old me, i ordered the black angus filet with whipped potatoes and broccoli ($32). the potatoes were perhaps the most interesting part of the meal, mashed/whipped potatoes fried in a stiff boat-shaped batter. the 6-oz (or so) filet was quite good, and prepared exactly to my medium rare order, but not quite up to ruth's chris quality. i had a very generous serving of mendoza malbac ($10) with the meal.

i was tempted by the isa burger with fingerling fries, a real bargain at $11, and highly rated in today's citizen-times, but i wasn't really up for a burger tonight.

though i'm not raving about the food experience, the meal was actually very pleasant, with near-perfect service and the lovely setting. dinner was good, just not something to rave about, and the drinks were bountiful pours and well-priced.

with a total of four drinks, one glass of wine, one appetizer, two entree courses and sides and an espresso, plus tax, our usual generous gratuity plus a tip to the valet, the total came to about $155, reasonable for an asheville upscale dinner.

the renovated haywood park hotel is charming, with a player piano in the lobby greeting the few guests who brave january in asheville, and the elevators still charmingly bark out "fourth floor, women's wear" or whatever, just as in the days when my aunt worked at ivey's.

just what downtown needed. the food and ambiance is just what downtown needed! located in the heart of the city, the cosmopolitan atmosphere makes you feel like you have found a bit of a large city in quaint asheville! the scallops with pork belly are my absolute favorite! haven't been for lunch, yet, but haven't been disappointed with any of their dinners.

just ate a great dinner at isa's bistro. this isy second time here and i love it. atmosphere is awesome, staff is knowledgable and the good is delicious. i had the roast chicken... to die for!

chef dwayne again outdoes himself. the food is wonderful, the staff great and the experience superb. many staff from the grove park inn but unrestrained by the corporate guidelines the service food and ambiance is great!
tony & jill