Isabella's Italian Trattoria — Restaurant in Lynchburg

We had planned a nice dinner out as a family of four, which included older teens. We arrived 13 mins prior to our reservation which was met with disdain by the hostess, who informed me with a dismissive, rude response that our table was not ready since our reservation time had not been reached. She made no effort to welcome us, or direct us to wait somewhere. I overlooked this in an attempt to not set the tone for the evening, though we should have taken the opportunity to go elsewhere. The expected atmosphere of a quality atmosphere was lost on this evening due to a large party of teens who continued to frequent the area to speak to their parents that were sitting in booths across from ours. At times, there were up to eight teens standing, talking within a few feet of our seats. This was only amplified by a waitress breaking a glass on top of one of the teens' parents' table, requiring all to remove themselves to stand in the area while their table was reset. Overall the food was decent, loaded mashed potatoes were heavenly. Though, the description of the pan seared shrimp and risotto was amiss. I was prepared for flavor and found the risotto to be extremely bland despite the presentation. I added salt and more salt to assist it, though could only waste calories on barely half of the dish, leaving the rest for the trash. The timelines of our meal was disjointed with a 30+ minute gap between when my spouse had finished his salad and the entrees arrived.

What has been anticipated as a pleasant family meal out, was sorely lacking. Crossing this restaurant...

Love Isabella's normally. The medallions over mashed potatoes are amazing. However, tonight my husband and I thought we would go and have a nice meal. I decided I would order something different. I ordered the shrimp linguine. The bread was good and the Caesar salad was awesome! The entrees came and it went down hill from there. The pasta was so bland, even after I added lemon. The waitress, who was very nice, offered to give me some white sauce. That was even worse then the bland taste. For being an Italian restaurant the menu is very limited for Italian. Very few actual Italian dishes. I took one bite of the shrimp linguine and one bite with the new white sauce. Both were terrible. The waitress asked me if I wanted to box up my dinner and see if I could "doctor it up at home". I go out to eat so I don't have to cook. I don't want to doctor it up at home. I did not get a to go box, but, I was charged for the meal. If I saw that my customer didn't eat anything but two bites of the meal, I would not charge for that. I paid the bill and did not complain, I was obviously not happy with the meal. Let me take some of this back. I am a local business owner and would be completely angry if a patron was happy most of the time and then wrote a bad review for the one time it wasn't good. I have had many good meals at Isabella's. This just upset me because it was so bad and I was charged for something I didn't eat. I would have a better...

A fresh breath of air in comparison to other Italian faire options in Lynchburg. Perhaps one of the primary reasons it was our first venture inside; we expected it to be a repeat of others and we were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted and seated though underdressed. The owner personally made sure we had seating although we had not made a reservation beforehand which embraced a quality level of attention that Lynchburg restauranteurs are known for. Immediately overwhelmed at the ambiance and of the beauty inside the strip mall trattoria, we strode through the romantically lit room to a cozy booth and were made to feel welcomed and comfortable. We both chose a dish from the specials and while they were incredible, the ribeye left us wanting. Sampling the mussels first was an excellent choice and we look forward to returning soon and choosing another appetizer, as selecting just one was tough! The server’s (David) timing was impeccable and made sure the entrees arrived timely after the mussels were cleared. Our drinks were a nice twist of an old fashioned favorite, basil infused mojitos (yum!), and our pallets were happily delighted all the way through the tiramisu (imported from Italy) that we enjoyed for dessert. Will keep mindful of my rating with continued visits and further sampling of the menu. Five star atmosphere and staff! Thank you...