Isola Pizza Bar Reviews

food was amazing my husband had the butter pasta with pepper and I had garbanzo french fries its probably italian made american but its delicious and they have real italian waiters

Walking La Jolla today, we popped into ISOLA Pizza Bar. The lunchtime menu looked good so we went in. The hostess was really pleasant and brought us water right away. I ordered the Vegetarian Pannini which came with a salad. My date ordered a roasted vegetable anti pasti. When both were delivered, not only was it a great size, but the flavors were terrific. I couldn't finish it all so we took some home. I was so impressed that I will come back for dinner.

The pizza had raw dough and fatty chunks of pancetta. This restaurant is the same as On Fire Pizza right down to the inexperienced teenage staff. only difference is that On Fire Pizza is actually priced reasonably. Worst pizza i’ve ever had. I left hungry.

The place was almost full when we arrive, so we waited to be seated. The hostest was not there, so we stayed waiting for her to show. Other employees were there, they were busy serving the customers already seated. None of them paid attention to us. I suppose this was not their job. After several minutes waiting, we decided to reach directly to one of the waitress. She told us, the host was busy serving water , and she will come back after that. I suppose that was part of her job too, be a hostest and waitress... Finally she showed, and without any apologize she asked if we has a reservation? No, we didn't. There was an available table where we finally sat. We were 3 ,and the table was for six. Another group of three people arrived and they were sat with us. It was not a problem for us, but the waitress never asked if that was OK. The problem was not share a table, the problem was the service. In overall, the place is nice, but very noisy. We ordered pizza and It was good. Please, don't ruin the place with a bad service!!!.

Really cute restaurant in Downtown La Jolla with fun lit up outdoor seating (and indoor too). The food is really good ... the pizza is amazing. The red sauce might be my favorite in San Diego. And for dessert, the Panna Cotta is crazy yummy.

Isola has, hands down, the BEST pizza I've had other than in Naples, Italy. Wood fired and lushess, these pizzas are crafted with the best, freshest and tastiest ingredients. Wine selection is excellent, owner and staff are a real Italian treat. The food was so good, we came back the same day for dinner at 9:45, only to find out restaurant closes at 9. We opted to sit at the bar for a glass of wine instead, after chatting with the owner. Shortly after, owner returned to say the oven was still hot and he'd make us a pizza!! L O V E this place.

Stayed at inn by the sea in walking distance to Isola. Lovely atmosphere and great meal. I had special of lamb tenderloin...delicious. Definitely worth a trip.

Stopped here for lunch and enjoyed sitting out on their porch. Split a pizza and rigatoni and it was all delicious! I can’t wait to come back!

Wonderful food and service! The Italian wine list is balanced and features wines from the owner's brother's Piemonte vineyard. The staff is enthusiastic and attentive. The atmosphere is lively and pleasant.

Waiter on gave us one menu after we decided to have some more food. I moved next to my wife to read her menu. The manager politely ask me to move I explained that I was there because the waiter didn’t seem to think it was s necessary for two people to have two menus. He got me a second menu. The bathroom was like going to a gas station at best. The white door with absolutely filthy and scuffed. It was toilet paper laying all over the floor. I know they can’t be all over the toilet paper scenario, but this is after one of their people who seated us left the room so obviously they don’t care. The silver mirroring is coming off of this giant mirror. They have there and construction adhesive all over the walls next to the urinal Back by the oven, where they cook your food, they had a garbage can where cooks weren’t bothering to throw the trash. They managed threw it next to it though. The food was OK. I’m spoiled because I come from town where much of the population are first and second generation Italian. Ice. Figured out how to get it to the customer in a systemized manner.. I received a couple of water which was lukewarm. It seems to be the custom here. I requested the water. The guy came back and tried to three almost completely melted cubes out of water pitcher. After I asked another kid to get me some water and brought me a cup of ice cubes which worked. Anyhow, I mean overall if you’re hungry and it’s raining it’ll work, but they really don’t hav the fine dining experience down yet

We are sorry we found this restaurant at the end of our stay or we would have revisited! Pizza, pasta, salad and dessert -not to mention wine - all outstanding. If you are in La Jolla you must go!

At last an adult Italian Pizza/Pasta Restaurant in the village of La Jolla. Isola is truly a welcome addition to La Jolla. The pizza is excellent, with an exceptional chewy crust and a wonderful selection of toppings. One of the best pizza's we've ever eaten in the U.S. and Italy. The other offerings at Isola are just as good and they have a very good selection of Italian wines at a reasonable price. Be sure to try out Isola as it's really good.

Four of us went there for the first time on Saturday night and first advice, reservations needed! Especially if you need a regular table as we did with two ninety year old friends. The burrata and prosciutto appetizer, arugula salad, margarita pizza and ravioli (one big piece, I have forgotten the name) were delicious. Spaghetti vongole was good not great. Overall, in a neighborhood where there are several very good Italian restaurants this is a very competitive addition!

First off, this is a beautifully designed restaurant: Very sleek and modern yet also incredibly inviting. My friend and I arrived on the early side and Massimo, the owner (he owns two other locations as well) was there to welcome us at the door. We were quickly shown to a table and the server came by promptly to say hello/get our drink order. We shared the burrata mozzarella appetizer and I had the margherita pizza / added mushrooms. The crust was light and flaky and the mixture of ingredients was excellent and extremely flavorful. I ended the meal with a decaf affogato dessert which was light and flavorful. Although we had been one of the first parties to arrived, the restaurant filled up quickly over the next hour and was a really pleasant mix of couples and families. The noise volume was pleasant: You could hear your dinner companion speak but there was a nice din of other conversations going in the background. I will definitely be back!

Had a very casual lunch but the pizza was to die for and the beer was top notch. Staff is also very friendly.

The best Italian food I have ever had!!! From the bread to the lasagna the calzone and the Tiramisu. The sauce is perfect. Not acidic nor too sweet. The food is exquisite and the service is just as great!

Great location on Girard Ave in the heart of La Jolla. The pizza offerings include a good array of toppings and craft selections. The crust was a bit blah and doughy. A thinner crispier crust is what I had heard was their specialty. Oh well, maybe I’ll try again... maybe it was an off night. The toppings were delish and fresh, but the dough was really blah and boring. Sorry to say it but I was much sorrier to have that as my pizza for the evening with my family.

In all the months I have kept coming over to visit my family, I never heard of this place until one of my family friends suggested it. So we gathered in that restaurant and I ordered one glass of Prosecco and the Quatro Carni Pizza. My friends and family ordered other things but I have to give credit to the Prosecco and the pizza! I don't know what kind of prosecco they used but I loved it and until now, I'm still looking for it in stores! I also love the staff! They took really good care of us even when we arrived right before peak hours! I tried 2 of their pasta dishes and while I wasn't a fan of their pasta however, I believe other people might like them. I also recommend their bruschetta and calamari. Whenever I come back to the La Jolla area, best believe I will be coming back to this pizza bar!

Solid Italian fare delivered with a friendly smile. Pizza, pasta etc. decent wine at a reasonable price to be had. Lacks a kids menu.

Isola is an excellent addition to La Jolla’s offerings. Food is fresh, and well-prepared in the Northern Italian manner. Salads, pastas, and pizza are all very good. Service is attentive without being overbearing. We had a lovely meal and will be back.

Disappointed with the service. I’ve been at Isola several times but my last visit wasn’t great. We were a party of 6. Service was really slow. It was busy and it just didn’t feel that they were adequately staffed for the night. They ran out of chairs and we had to wait for a few minutes for a chair to be free. It didn’t help at all that i made reservations. They also ran out of champagne flutes. We needed 3 and had to wait for another 1. We ordered focaccia bread for starters which they forgot. They made amends by not charging us for our pizza. I really enjoyed the squid ink spaghetti with shrimp. It’s a large portion. I still like Isola because it’s energetic and lively and the food is good but was disappointed that the service wasn’t great. It wasn’t a good experience for my friends so I doubt they’ll be back.

We were looking for a pizza place for a casual dinner during our visit. Pizza was really good, crust had a great consistency and just the right amount of toppings. My husband thought the dough was a little too salty but overall really good and worth it.

First of all, their online menu is different from their actual menu, so when we ordered a pizza for take-out we got something different from what we requested. We ordered an arugula pizza and got one with sausage, not the one described on the website. We're vegetarian so that didn't work. They made another but were snippy about it. The pizza we ended up with had a nice crust, but there were precisely two arugula leaves on it and one asparagus spear. It also had a strangely sweet taste and was barely enough for 2 people. I'm sure there's better pizza elsewhere in a less snooty atmosphere.

Excellent happy hour menu. We enjoyed a lot the calamari, shrimp, lamb kabob, and Margherita pizza, and the desert. The servers were friendly and fast.

Growing up as an only child, I remember occasionally experiencing boredom and loneliness during Summer breaks from school that, at times, seemed to just go on and on. During some of those stretches of time I vividly remember battling a game called “Labyrinth.” Perhaps you know that of which I speak. Even the slightest turn of either dial meant either another inch of progress towards that elusive finish line or your immediate demise. Peril was literally around each and every corner. While a search for Italian food does not typically resemble traversing a “Labyrinth” style course of challenges, a search for fresh and authentic Italian can be exactly like that. 😬 In service to the community, the Henry’s Take Bylaws require each Review Team to promptly report whenever great Italian food has been discovered. 😉 Recommended to us by John Huebner, this establishment beckons you to come and share its bounty of flavors. One of our Review Team Members marveled that the sauce was so “delicate” and offered an abundance of flavor, but was not heavy. Our communal conclusion was that every bite was an adventure and the smell was so amazing that it made you feel a little guilty eating it for fear that you were somehow defacing a work of art. While our meals were not inexpensive, they also weren’t exorbitant. If you are in search of Vegan options you will not be left wanting as they are plentiful on this menu. We recommend that you try Isola yourself and then promptly NOT keep it a secret. And that’s…Henry’s Take. #sandiegoitalianfood

Succulent pizza with quality and fresh ingredients. The pasta is excellent. We went back twice during the week. The service is perfect.

Had a couple of nice pizzas with some cold beers. Food was good. By the time we got the pizza, the place was packed. If you are coming, make a reservation. We lucked out.

Came here the first night of our granddaughters’ 16th bday trip. Girls loved the pesto pasta! I had the Nero pasta and grandpa had the salmon arugula salad. All yummy.

Little Italy in San Diego is absolutely packed with restaurants. This factor alone I believe is the biggest contributor to the quality of the restaurants - strong competition creates a great product. This was our second night on India Street, and our second win. The pizzas were superb - not perfect, but I think about a 4.6, which rounds up to a 5. The crust alone was to die for. The service was great - less imposing than in many American restaurants, I'm pleased to say. Summary: if our experience was typical then you won't need to look for better pizza in San Diego.

Ate there for lunch alone while on jury duty. The place was charming and the service was friendly. I had the margherita pizza, which was pretty good and definitely fresh. I would eat there again.

If you want to have a relaxing dinner enjoying good Italian food and tasting same specialties from Liguria region, well Isola is the right place - Thumbs up!

Having stayed in La Jolla for 10 days and eaten out every night, my husband and I had the best meal of our holiday here including downtown San Diego. From the minute we walked in the door the service was incredible. Hugely authentic, friendly service including bringing a dessert we’d not ordered but given it was the last night of our holiday, the waitress brought it to us as a surprise. Creating an incredible ambience. The pasta was the best I’ve eaten for years - extremely well cooked and the sauces absolutely delicious. Can’t say enough good things about this place. Isola team….Please come to Winchester, England if you ever want to branch out!

Had a napoleon pizza. Not bad! Good ambiance. My favorite was the bruschetta. Great drinks and local drafts on tap.

My first visit for a fast lunch. We order the spec prosciutto and mushroom pizza. It’s got lots of gooey mozzarella, a beautiful crust and lots of flavour, and reasonably priced. Yum for lunch.

This place is a little pricey but definitely worth it. We had two pizzas and an appetizer that included octopus. We were a family of five and that was enough to feed us all. We sat outside.

A great meal! The margarita pizza was terrific - nice flavour, cooked perfectly. My husband ordered a pasta dish and loved it. Service was very good, and the environment was lovely. We will be back to La Jolla and definitely back for some pizza!

I was really pleasantly surprised. When it was first announced it was coming I thought Oh No another pizza place. Isola is excellent and not at all typical. This is gourmet and a lot more that just pizza. They also have a wonderful atmosphere and a good choice of Italian wines. A good Happy Hour Tuesday - Friday, Closed on Mondays.

We had a great dinner at Isola. Good food quality and nice no-nonsense atmosphere. Higly recommended!

It's hard to find authentic Italian pizza in the US, so I'm thrilled to have this restaurant in La Jolla. We used to drive 20 minutes away, but no more. The mussels and cheese plate are great too. I've been to this restaurant multiple times and my favorite pizza is the Margherita DOP, with mozzarella di bufala. It's always delicious.

We had gone on recommendation of our friends who’d been there several times before. It’s one of their favorite places. Today,it seemed a bit too busy and the food seemed like it was rushed. Pizza crust is really good, thin and crusty. But there was little flavor- no seasoning to speak of. Some of the group ordered pasta, there wasn’t sufficient sauce. Others, a calzone. It’s supposed to be a Sunday special, bu they offered to make it. It was deep fried ( sort of odd), greasy and undercooked. Service was attentive, but a bit rushed. Overall,the place has good potential, but it was well hidden today.

We visited as a family of four with a 6 year old and a 9 year old. They were able to get butter noodles with chicken (off-menu) and they liked them very much. We ordered a pizza and rigatonj al ragu and both were delicious. The food was all great and the service was also excellent. The servers were accommodating for our family, letting us order off menu for our kids. I would definitely recommend this place to couples and families!

It was my first time at this location...I'm somewhat of a regular at the one in Little Italy, and have always loved their thin-crust pizza, fire-roasted vegetable plate, and garlicky mussels. But I heard they had an expanded menu here, which includes house-made pasta and had to give it a try. Wow...had the Pappardelle with mushrooms, spinach, and a touch of cream, and it was glorious! The noodles were wide and toothsome (just the right chew), and the sauce had a delightfully intense mushroom flavor. The lemony Arugula Salad was a perfect compliment to the pasta, and I finished the meal with a lovely Pear poached in red wine, served with a Vanilla Gelato and Italian Shortbread Cookie - almost as good as their Chocolate Budino Pudding, which is still my favorite!

We aren't huge fans of the fatty, cheesy American pizzas. But when you read Isola's menu and their story, it definitely caught our interest. First, the decor is modern with a big round pizza oven toward the back and smelled wonderful inside. Their menu has much more than pizza and their Italian wine selection was very good. I started with a salad, the arugula e parma which had a wonderful lemony dressing,. We shared the prosciutto e arugula pizza. The pizza dough was like no other, smelled fantastic and was light with a wonderful taste. This was my kind of pizza! If you get an appetizer or salad this pizza was enough for 2 to share. Had to be the best pizza I had ever tasted. You must try it if you are in La Jolla! Looking forward to going back! OH, and did I mention they are Zagat rated!

the best pIzza I have tasted since living in San Diego for 20 years. Its the real thing just like in Italy. the Burrata cheese is delicious . The salad I had was fresh and tasty. I recommend this place

Wow-waiting for Isola to open the new location in La Jolla took too too long!! Fortunately it certainly seems to be worth the wait and the Pizza is currently unmatched here in sunny San Diego. For that matter, it is some of the best Pizza of this style I've tasted in the U.S. I like the menu, the interior could use a little softening and I thought the Service was good-to very good-just slightly unpolished at times but given the newness I'm sure the burrs will come off. I haven't had an opportunity to explore the Menu fully, but the few Pizzas I tried were excellent and I'm still on the fence about the starters. It seems like the take-out business has already kicked in mightily but I recommend for optimal enjoyment-eat this Pizza here fresh from the oven with a nice beer or glass of wine. Isola is a welcome new addition to the neighborhood.

The Carni pizza is terrific. The smoke vegetables with goat cheese awesome. Attentive service and very reasonable prices.

My husband and I had a lovely dinner at Isola in La Jolla. The food was absolutely terrific. I had pizza and my husband had the swordfish. The wines were lovely as well. This is a nice, small restaurant with good service in the heart of La Jolla. We highly recommend this restaurant.

This restaurant is highly rated and for good reason! The pizza is awesome and the salads are great especially the anguria. Enjoy!

Great artisan pizza. Good pasta and salads. Very good wine selection. Isola is a place where adults go for pizza, pasta and wine.

Friendly and helpful staff - I was trying to choose a beer and got to sip a few options to help me make a choice. The food was delicious: the pizzas were delicious particularly helped by the wood-fired bread and so was the chicken panini. If we're in La Jolla again this holiday (or in the future) we would definitely choose this place again. It is close to the main action but just literally a few extra steps and is definitely worth it.

Stopped in for dinner and enjoyed their pizza a lot. The pizza arrived very quickly. Very reasonably priced dinner and wine. Service was very efficient. Would definitely go back next time I'm in La Jolla

Fantastic in every way. Pizza, wine and service are incredible! We loved it. It is exactly like the pizza in Italy. Also, very dog friendly. They were so accommodating with our pup.

Had a meeting with another couple while we were out of town. aThe pizza is very good, the desert was equally as good. Great atmosphere. Mostly young crowd. Street parking is easy during dinner time. goo wine list.

This place was recommended by a Nee York native as the closest pizza in SD to Nee York Pizza. Are you kidding? The largest pizza they make is 12 inches and NO pepperoni, can you believe it? We had to settle for spicy salami. The crust was more doughy than crisp but it was thin. The server said that the cook was from Italy. Having been to Italy several times I need to say that they do not make good pizza on Italy. The pizza was OK and I certainly had worse but it doesn’t hold a candle to “Pizza on Pearl”. Their Mozarella Caprese salad was good with lots of cheese. We probably will not be back.

Visited on a Wednesday night, they were about 2/3 full at 7:30pm. Hostess asked if we had a reservation, we didn't, she frowned and stared at me for 3-4 seconds and said she would check. Came back a few minutes later and seated us at one of the three open 8-top bar tables. This seating configuration was extremely uncomfortable and cramped, be sure and avoid it. We were served by the bar tender and took his wine recommendation, which wasn't good. Fortunately the pizza and pasta are fantastic. The crust was absolute perfection, 00 flour and not too thin in the center, very high gluten and perfectly burnt on the bottom but chewy. Only think missing on the menu was a spicy soppressata, but all three pizzas we selected were great.

What a pleasant surprise! Quite possibly the best and most authentic Italian cuisine I found so far in California. The calamari fritti includes some of the most delicious shrimp I’ve had the privilege to sample since my visit to Key West. I know what you’re thinking. What? I thought you ordered calamari? I did, and it included Not just shrimp but also zucchini and eggplant! The prosciutto and arugula pizza was reminiscent of the best pizzas I sampled in Rome. The frutti di mare pasta dish was perfectly cooked, from the “al dente” spaghetti, to the beyond perfectly prepared mussels and shrimp. Not to mention that sauce which makes us feel like we have no clue when we cook. Can I tell you a secret? Shhhhhh.... don’t let the owners of Isola Pizza Bar hear this... I would gladly pay much more for this quality of ingredients and culinary skill.

Excellent addition to the La Jolla Cove area! We thoroughly enjoyed the burrata cheese/cherry tomato and arugula/proscuitto pizzas. The crust was phenomenal, with the perfect amount of chewiness and charring. Our teenager also loved the unique, homemade squid ink pasta. To top off a great meal, the service and dessert were fantastic. We'll definitely be back!

Isola has the best pizza in La Jolla and that's saying a lot. I haven't been for the happy hour yet but the prices are great and the selection of appetizers is amazing. There is an excellent selection of wines by the glass.

We always enjoy our time and the meals here, the bruschetta is always awesome, great duck pasta special, salads are great, and the pizza hits the spot, we enjoy the folks and the families wine.

The concept is right and current, but the execution leave some room for improvement. The wine list is not user friendly, and the food explanation should be easier to understand.

Don't know why we were pretty much ignored after we sat down at this restaurant on one of La Jolla's main streets. We had a reservation and the restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived. We had to ask to give our orders, and then we watched people who came in after us receive their meals. The food finally came. Our appetizer, the fritatta mista, was quite good. Then there was another long wait and another inquiry before the entrees arrived. My pasta was tasty but overcooked (not a good sign for a true Italian restaurant.) The other meal was OK, nothing special. The menu looks terrific but the experience wasn't Would we go back? No.

It was my first time here. I suggest making a reservation just in case like we did. We were welcomed, seated right away. It was a pleasant chill atmosphere. Great for adults. The lighting wasn’t to bright and it was crowded but was not to loud. The food was delicious. I ordered the funghi pizza. It was very tasteful. We also ordered for dessert the coffee one. I went here with my sister before we had to head over to the comedy store to see a show. Nice waitress got our order correct. I do not come out to California as much as I want to but I would recommend this restaurant for dinner in the evening for the atmosphere, being able to talk and hear. Perfect place for a night out. I would come back again. Absolutely.

We were walking past and fancied a beer. This place did look a bit posh, but we went in. The place does have a high end feel. The bar man very pleasant man served us some draft beers we had chosen from a menu of beers, craft and major beers. We ended up ordering a pizza at the bar. This was during happy hour, from 1500 to 1700??? I think. The pizza was very nice in fact really nice so nice we tried some other nibbles and they too were tasty. We would highly recommend especially happy hour as brings prices form, not going in as it was too expensive to us going in. In America tips are culture, but barman really deserves them.

We had never tried Isola, we live in La Jolla. So we thought we’d stop in for dinner. The server recommended the bruschetta and we added prosciutto and cheese. The portion was very generous and it was sooooo delicious! As entrees we both enjoyed pizzas which is the specialty area for Isola. They have a special wood-fired pizza oven and they make their dough and “ferment” it for a couple of days.... either way, it’s great. I once again took the server’s recommendation and chose the asparagus and brie pizza. My husband chose a sausage selection. We indulged in desserts as well... my husband liked the sound of their specialty chocolate budino (like a very rich, smooth chocolate mousse) and I tries the poached pear. Both were delightful.../ I’m not a chocolate peraon so I definitely preferred the pear, a very delicate and light dessert. We will be back! P.S. plenty of pizza for leftovers!

We were on the coast and wanted a light lunch, found Isola and we are glad we stopped in. Wait staff was tremendous... very helpful, attentive and nice to talk with. Food was very good. We had prosciutto and melon salad and Quatro carne pizza. The pizza was baked in wood fired pizza oven and was cooked perfectly. We would highly recommend this restaurant for lunch or dinner.

We had drinks at Isola in Little Italy and the next day went to Isola in La Jolla for lunch. Pizza Margarita was excellent. Crust perfect. My husband had the homemade pasta and enjoyed it. Gabby was very friendly. The Isola in La Jolla has a greater menu w pasta dishes whereas the one in Little Italy is mostly pizza. Salads are good. As was the calamari. Highly recommend!

We had butternut squash soup which was very good and tasty. Then we had Pizzas which were really great too - Italian style thin bases which we prefer over the American style thicker bases. Primitivo red wine complimented the food very well. All around a good experience and would recommend.

My husband ordered the quartto carni and said it was perfectly done. The crust was excellent, the meats were good, and there was a pleasantly spice to it. I had the cacio e pepe, a dish I haven't seen on a menu since I was in Venice. Although it wasn't quite as good as what I had in Italy, it was pretty darn good. Prices were reasonable and the service was good.

Full marks for this wonderful spot! We went for a casual and relaxing evening after a stressful week! Maria was our server and made the evening great. We shared some pasta, perfectly cooked, some nice wine, a salad with mushrooms and a pizza. Plenty of food for two, there was no rush. I felt good walking in and better after this great experience.

While the name includes “pizza bar,” this restaurant is so much more. However, they only have soft drinks and canned sodas for people that don’t drink alcohol, and it’s super disappointing to go to a restaurant of this caliber in town that doesn’t stock nonalcoholic, beer, which is pretty unusual these days. Particularly to pair with pizza! However, I’ll probably still come back for the food, as everything was absolutely delicious. We shared the brussels sprouts, arugula salad, and rigatoni. We also ordered two pizzas, the four meat pizza, and the prosciutto, both which were absolutely delicious and generous with toppings. I highly recommend this restaurant for casual, or even a bit upscale, dinner in The Village. service was solid from Peter and the room nicely lit and not too loud.

Beeing there for dinner with local family. Being Italian I am always skeptical of Italian restaurants that adjust taste for foreigners but this place is as authentic as the food I can get back home. We had pasta and pizza. The latter one is outstanding. I Suggest Margherita with mozzarella di Bufala D.o.p. Owners are nice and not too noisy. Loved it!

We had a great dinner here -- high-quality ingredients across the board -- excellent antipasto platter (especially the burrata) and pizza -- and attentive service. Good wine list with reasonable prices.

We loved the Isola Pizza Bar. The pizza is the best anywhere in the San Diego - La Jolla area. The service is great and the wine selection is amazing. We would go back without hesitation.

The food was good with a nice variety. Our group tried three different pizzas and the roasted veggies. The pizzas were generally good size but I like a crunchy crust. The veggies had a nice variety

I have been to the restaurant 4 times since it opened. First 2 times the food and service were good. Pizza's were raw in the middle. Appetizer's were good and salads were good. I was at the restaurant this week. The Octopus Appetizer was such a disappointment. Originally it had large almost whole octopus. This time there were pieces less than 1/2" in length and they were like eating erasers. The service was terrible. Our table ordered a dessert of pear, ice-cream and a biscotti, they brought a fork. When we asked for a tablespoon they brought an ice tea spoon. They didn't put our pasta bowl on a plate so when we ordered bread it has to go into the bowl. Our group will never go to restaurant again.

This little contemporary place is the perfect size where the chef knows how many perfect pizzas he can make at a time. The main attraction is the large red wood-fired oven. The chef came around and talked to diners and we complemented him on the dough. He said they rise it for 2 days. Indeed, the dough is the star. It has terrific flavor, crispy yet chewy. We had a Margherita with burrata cheese and a spicy salame pizza. The sauce on the spicy salame was REALLY spicy, but so flavorful that I couldn't stop eating it. The Margherita also had tasty sauce. The pizzas were smallish and cut into quarters so you could eat them folded up (which I think of as New York style, maybe it's also Italian). Our waitress was very helpful with choosing our glasses of wine.

My friend and I were given a recommendation for a late lunch at Isola in La Jolla. We stopped there and were able to seat ourselves. The waiter came over and gave us menus and told us about a few of the items. We ordered the paninis (mine was vegetarian and my friend's was with chicken). The paninis also came with a fresh salad. They were both amazing...fresh ingredients cooked superbly. The panini bread was made on premises and was fresh and tasty, which just added to the overall flavor of the panini. We shared an incredible tiramisu for dessert, along with cappuccino. The prices were very reasonable, and the service was great. The owner was on premises and came by to see how everything was for us. Would we go back....yes, it was awesome!

Ate dinner here with my wife and my daughter. We love Italian food and have tried many in La Jolla, This is the one that deserves my review. We walked in without a reservation and the hostess graciously sat us. It wasn't particularly crowded, but it did fill up as the night wore on. I think we were lucky to get a table. The food was the freshest and most authentic Italian food I have had in La Jolla. We had the burrata, the carpaccio, the prosciutto and the mussels from the starters and the rigatoni ragu and the cacio e pepe from the pastas. All were wonderful. I personally had the carpaccio which was served at the perfect temperature with a gracious amount of parmesan cheese. The cacio e pepe was perfect - it looked like a simple white pasta but tasted like the Romans meant it to. It wasn't too creamy and it had the perfect underlying taste of black pepper. We didn't skip dessert and I suggest you don't. We hard a hard time choosing and settled on the Budino and the Pere al Vino. The Budino is not to be missed. Chocolate with caramel and sea-salt. You taste the heavy belgian choc flavor but get the hints of caramel and salt with every bite. We should have ordered more Budinos. We visit La Jolla at least 2 times a year and always try the excellent restaurants. If you visit La Jolla and like Italian food like it is served in Italy, Isola is the place to go.

At the beginning, while still hot out of the oven, the pretty oily pizza tasted ok. The tomato sauce was a bit sour and the crust chewy, but still ok. Things got worse as the pizza cooled: mastication became arduous and acidity added up. The digestion was laborious, marked by sour mouth, stomach acidity and the distinctive feeling of having swallowed a couple of bricks. To close on a positive note: staff are courteous, available and unobtrusive.

I recently had dinner by this cosy & authentic italian restaurant. It offers a complete italian menu as well as some delicious specialties from the Ligurian West Coast as Sardenaira (kind of pizza without cheese, you must try it!) and Farinata, mainly made out of chickpeas - the owner Massimo is particulary proud of this delicatesse because it comes from a secret recipe of his grandma Isola. Last but not least being a disabled person I really appreciated the unobtrusive attention of all the staff to make my staying the most confortable. Definitely a great dinner experience!

Loved the contemporary decor, great service and atmosphere. This place can be quite noisy but bearable the pizza is just wonderful and the roasted vegetable salad excellent. I definitely will be back.

We first found out about Isola by having visited their Little Italy (San Diego) location while on a date a handful of year ago and since then, we knew we'd have to come back. Since discovering their second location in La Jolla, which we have eaten at at numerous occasions and always walked away with the biggest smiles, and even bigger bellies🫄 😂 . The food is nothing short of delicious, it is priced very well, and the service and atmosphere have always been top-notch. In the last year, my (now) wife and I decided to get married in La Jolla and so we went on a hunt for a food vendor. Little did we know, we were sleeping on the fact that Isola also caters events and has a mobile pizza oven. There are a few, important points I want to mention here. 1) Staff - Rachel R. was introduced to us to help coordinate the event. While our venue was a walking distance from their brick'n'mortar, we ran into a handful of snafus while wedding planning. Rachel was always patient, receptive and above all helpful at every stage. She helped clarify any/all details, appease any complications, share meaningful resources, and ultimately also helped serve day of our wedding. I also want to give a shout out to Alonso who is the Manager there (apologies if I misspelled your name bud), as he helped facilitate payments and, no question, runs an amazing team. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for making our day so special, and our journey there a breeze. 2) The Food - In our experience, each time we visited the restaurant the food always hit above it's weigh-class, no doubt. But in case of our wedding food, we wanted to make sure that we didn't end up overpaying for steak, poultry or fish that would sit in a tin tray for a few hours just to be heated back up only to end up dry. Though some of our guests were initially skeptical of a mobile pizza oven and thought of it as a bit passé, everybody who attended our wedding ended up raving about the food. That's right, from non-believers, to converts! I very much cared that the food was served fresh and did not lose quality due to commutes, storage, or re-heating. The mobile pizza oven forwent all of those concerns. Everything was served fresh, piping hot, and picture-perfect. From appetizers and hors D’oeuvres during cocktail hour, to on-going rounds of fresh salad and pizza rotating on the dinner tables, to the dessert coup de grâce of a to-die-for-tiramisu to finish of the festivities. It was perfection, and won over people's heart for a good reason. Cannot recommend this potion enough! 3) Price - With food vendors charging obscene prices for aforementioned, re-heated options, Isola was our knight in shining armor in terms of wallet-friendly, fresh, and delicious food service option. Once you inquire, pricing is broken down in an easy-to-follow, logical fashion and I have yet to find a better value option at this high of quality. If I sound like a paid spokesperson for them, I am not. I paid them, and they simply knocked it out of the park. Once again, thank you Isola team. We shall be back soon! 🫶

We had dinner for a friend's birthday. Good thing we came upon this restaurant earlier in the day. We have our dog with us, we reserved the table on the sidewalk. The food is fresh, taste awesome & top notch service. The servers came to check on us many times. We had the spaghetti pomodoro, cannellini beans, roasted beets, brocollini, ravioli ragu. Everything was tasty. It is a small restaurant, make reservation. You will not be disappointed 🥳

A bottle of Bogle Pinot Noir and Italian food made me go for a long sunset. Can't sit in the park yet.

We are locals and this is one of our "go to casual Italian restaurants" Pricing is reasonable and the food is cooked in a "wood fired" type oven, the food is good. The restaurant is casual and we have found the staff to be friendly.

Good food. Pizza was tasty. Staff was not very friendly & seemed disorganized. This may have been because of the art & wine festival out front - - though the restaurant was only about 20% full when we were there....

A really wonderful restaurant in a perfect location. We went there before a book signing and didn't want to eat too much. This restaurant was perfect. Easy to follow and understand menu and wine list. Excellent food, antipasti and pizza's. Tiramisu was a perfect ending. Loved the Sangiovese. The location is perfect for downtown La Jolla. Will definitely be back.

Very nice little spot, great wine list (all Italian but enough variety to suit any needs), the prices are super fair for what you get, service was incredible (thanks Renate from Brazil), and the 00 pizza dough was as good as you would find anywhere. We had a great time, wish I would have known about this sooner on our trip. Would 100% recommend and will be back whenever we are in town.

The pizza especially mar ghee it’s pizza, the cacio e Pepe pasta and ask fir fresh pecorino!!!!! Amazing! The tagliatelle Bologna’s! Everything to die fir! Calamari! The best! GreAt wine! Great service! Don’t miss this place! Love love can’t wait to go back! Bests il Fornaio another fave , any day ! A place you don’t want to miss!

We just tried it and it is terrific. Pizzas were wonderful and the selection is interesting. Service was first rate. Another great addition to the La Jolla dining scene.

Happy hour between 4-5. Great value beers $5 and some food appetisers included. We only went in for drinks and ended up trying their great food, Margarita pizza, lamb bites on a skewer and shrimp in a sauce. Bar staff were friendly and welcoming

I brought my family to SD for a week for a nephew's wedding. We stayed at a wonderful Air B&B near Sea World. Made plans to meet a good friend from my days in NYC 30 years ago. He chose this place. Brought my wife and daughter. Dinner was fantastic. Everything we ordered was delicious. Our waitress...during dinner, was great. Had full knowledge of the menu and wine list. Beverages were refilled in timely fashion. Empty dishes removed. Perfect. We had a total of 5 people in our party. My friend has done very well for himself since our "baseball days." The waitress literally met us outside, and saw that he was driving a 200k Porsche. But his outfit alone should have indicated that he was rather wealthy. I do well, but nowhere near as good as my buddy! We finished our meal...and I tried to pay the bill...like I always do, but my friend refused...giving the waitress his credit card. Silly me, I thought my buddy was picking up the entire tab. Nope. Just paying his half. Oh! Well...okay then. That was weird. But whatever. I get my bill. It's around $240. I fill in a tip of $55. Then when I go to total it...I see what looks like "18% gratuity added" but I'm not sure because its rather dark and I'm not wearing my reading glasses. I put them on and look closer. YEP! She added an 18% tip to my bill. First, I was offended due to the fact that if she was properly "reading the table" there would never be a reason for adding that on. Second, most places don't do that unless you have 8 or more in your party. But, again...whatever! If that was all she wanted from me...that's all she was getting. But what REALLY irked me...and this happens every so often; the waiter does not TELL YOU that they added a gratuity to your check. Why do they fail to tell you this? Pretty simple...they HOPE you don't notice...which neither I nor my friend did...and leave you ANOTHER tip. Most people call this move, "The Double Dip!" I was fuming. Showed it to my friend, who I noticed had already left HIS tip as well...which was similar to mine. She'd accomplished the double dip! Well, I scratched out the $55 and wrote $15 instead...which I didn't even really want to do. I also didn't want to make a big scene, as this was a place that my friend apparently frequents. SO....in conclusion...GREAT FOOD. Great service. Nice atmosphere. But beware of greedy waiters trying to take advantage of you!!!

Stopped in at happy hour, 1/2 price pizza and $4 beers. Pizza cooks in 1 5 minutes. Great place..friendly staff

Friendly and helpful service from the front of house to waitstaff. Isola has a very positive vibe. I enjoyed the mussels starter and an incredible cacio de pepe prepared with homemade noodles. I also had the budino for dessert which was worth every delicious calorie! Highly recommended!

The place is OK. Pizza Menu is different from regular pizza places but the flavor is plain. Even though there is rotation in the place, this is not the kind of place you want to stay after you finish...average.

It was 10 of us with two kids Excellent service food was wonderful we all enjoyed the time we had we will go again and highly recommend this restaurant

Walked in without reservations but before dinner crowd. Small place used efficiently, we sat near the kitchen to see the preparations as many do in area. Great presentation and quality, service good but felt like we were a bother sometimes in our selections and requests (no diet soda, no liquor, only water, wine or beer). Pricy for Italian but okay for LaJolla. With turnover rate for restaurants at an all time high, they’ll be here a while.

Absolutely lovely pizza and great service. BUT the ‘thieves’ add 4% onto each check/bill ‘to help off set rising operational costs’, Frankly GFYS. That’s a disgraceful way to run a business.. Add the cost into the menu so patrons can decide for themselves whether they wish to eat at your establishment. No one should be encumbered with a restaurant tax that doesn’t actually exist; I might add a customer tax next time if I return (not). Please don’t screw your customers. Yes, costs are rising, but don’t hide a 4% tariff until the bill turns up - appalling way to run a business. Staff and service are great. Owners are thieves.

We ate here a few days ago, knowing nothing about the restaurant. We wanted pizza and the appearance of the restaurant looked inviting. Wow , were we happy. The pizza was wonderful , the wine outstanding and the dessert fantastic. The service was excellent. We were really hungry and the pizza came quickly. The decor is basic and very done really well. Great lights and tables. Comfortable chairs. We can't wait to return and try the pasta.

I don't know why but it was the only place that would take a party of 10 at 6pm on a Friday night (with only 3 hours of lead time). Why the surprise? It was amazing! Everything was fresh and delicious! If we lived in he area we would visit more. I'm only sorry that we didn't find it at the beginning of our trip.

Reviews prompted us to try Isola and we’re very happy we did. My husband declared the cioppino fantastic. It was filled with shrimp, mussels, squid and salmon all in a flavorful broth. We split the arugula e parm salad which was elegantly simple with an evoo and lemon dressing. So tasty! The wine list is extensive and curated to pair well with the fresh pastas and small plates on the menu. Service is friendly and casual but the job gets done in a timely manner. Diners around us were obviously regulars, greeted by the servers as old friends. Great food, great dining experience.

Great restaurant in La Jolla!...we stopped for lunch with the kids. My foodie son had the pizza (another review said it was average, I totally disagree, well above average), the salmon was really good as was the pasta and the chicken sandwich was also spot on. Desserts were great too and the staff were very attentive. I wish every dining experience in California was like this, the best place we've eaten in in 2 weeks, a great place to visit.

If you are in La Jolla and looking for the true Italian experience then you have to try Isola Pizza bar. As soon as you enter the cozy restaurant you‘ll start to breath the real Italian atmosphere. A shelf full of the best Italian wines will guarantee that your palate won’t be disappointed. If you want to try a different pizza, ask for the sardenaira, a specialty from the Ligurian west coast - simple but superb! And to complete the Italian experience, the friendly owner Massimo will be happy to explain you the making of the different dishes as his granny did with him. Bravo Massimo!

Pizza was fresh but fairly mediocre, which was disappointing. Luckily the atmosphere and drinks made up for the subpar pizza. Outstanding friendly service, even on an extremely crowded weekend night.

Fabulous staff, fabulous pizza. No problem to change it up for us. Fast Fast Fast and very fairly priced. Awesome atmosphere. Delicious Beer. Can’t wait to go back for more smoke fired pizza.

We had a wonderful time here last Friday evening celebrating my lovely wife's birthday.It was great to walk in around 5.30pm and be greeted by the staff who remembered us from our previous visits...that's why it feels like home when we dine here.Sweet Nadine greeted us at the front entrance and showed us to a nice table towards the rear of the restaurant. As we walked to our table Jacob the bar manager waved hi from behind the bar so I quickly checked what new craft beers he had on tap.Soon after we got comfortable in our seats our favorite server Waz came by to say hi and take our drinks order.I went with a Modern Times Blazing World...it's virtually an IPA but not ....and tall glasses of cold water of course. My wife is not a big appetizer fan but I was a bit peckish so I ordered some Steamed Mussels to kick the night off. For entrees my wife always loves the Ragu while this time I chose the Seafood Marinara......I love their thin crust pizzas so that was a real tough decision.My wife pinched some of the garlic toast on top of my Steamed Mussels while I devoured every single mussel in the bowl.At the perfect moment our entrees arrived and they both looked el perfecto! My seafood marinara tasted incredible while my wife was simply devouring her delicious Ragu. Of course we can't celebrate my wife's birthday without a special dessert and Waz came to the rescue with an Affogato topped with a lighted candle.We shared of course and it tasted fabulous! Alonso the general manager of Isola Pizza Bar restaurants stopped by to have a chat with us......he's a great guy. We had a perfect evening here!

Some friends wanted get together for Happy Hour, and so we selected Isola as a convenient meeting point. Although we have only eaten dinner here, it seemed like a nice, casual place for a drink and appys. We started out with sparkling wine (pink and white $6.) served in pretty glasses and ordered several of the Happy Hour specials to share. We arrived at the tail end of Happy Hour, but service was very good and even though it was super busy, the female Bartender still took great care of us. Shared a pizza ($6.), mixed olives ($5.), 2x bruschetta ($5.), 2x arancini ($5.) and glasses of bubbles. Our bill for 5 people, well under $100. All of the food was well prepared and nicely presented.. I especially enjoyed the bruschetta and even though I remember the pizza dough a bit more charred (my preference) and elastic in the past, still an enjoyable bite.

This restaurant consistently serves good Italian food and high quality Italian wines. This time we had pasta with mushrooms and baby spinach, roasted vegetables and chocolate budino. All super tasty and beautifully presented. Wine was their house Pinot Griggio and Pinot Noir, both excellent. The waitress was very friendly and patient, even after I changed my order twice (!) and she was still super friendly. Nice portions and reasonable prices.

Great food, a well thought out wine list, professional and friendly staff and a nice ambience - what more do you need? Highly recommended