Isaac's Craft Kitchen & Brewery - Wyomissing — Restaurant in Spring Township

This used to be a hip, quirky little sandwich chain in eastern PA that propagated a fun 80s vibe in the stores and sold upscale, delicious sandwiches that were playfully named after various birds.

Only the last part of that sentence is still true. In the past 5? 6? years, this chain has plummeted in quality. I remember going here many years ago - 10 - 20 years - and this place was loaded with cool 80s-style retro neon lighting, the servers were attentive and happy, and the food was excellent, though a bit pricey.

I recently tried Isaac's again and was absolutely shocked by how much smaller the sandwiches are now. For instance, the Scarlet Ibis, my go-to sandwich years ago, is now nothing but a small, barely 6", flattened, meager sandwich that looks as if it was prepared at a gas station. And they are charging $15 for this!

10+ years ago this same sandwich came in two sizes - medium and giant. And for less than the current price, the giant sized sub was well over a foot long, and loaded with melted cheese, heaped with turkey, and on quality artisan bread. Now? They barely put any meat on the sub, the other ingredients taste limp, and the bread is flat and stale.

And the ambience? They removed all of the cool neon decor, all of the character, all of the soul. It's nothing but a messy deli counter at a gas station at this point. And it's even pricier than before.

Oh, but they added some kind of "craft beer", which is exactly what I want when I'm going to get a sandwich for lunch, right? If you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic.

Please don't patronize this establishment. The entire chain is an abomination, a joke, a mockery of what it used to be. The ownership group has clearly gutted the restaurants to siphon any remaining profits off, and are probably going to dismantle this chain for whatever money remains. I wouldn't be surprised if some private equity group is behind all of...

Isaac's seems to have rebranded from the deli to a more upscale brewery-type feel and menu. However, their portion sizes have decreased, and prices have increased. They're trying very hard to feel more like a Red Robin over like Panera, which was similar to what they were before the rebrand. I used to have leftovers from the penguin club, I did not order that this time, but the Scarlet Ibis used to be about the size of a cheesesteak sub roll, and this time it was two smaller pieces of french bread type roll. My kids used to be able to split the rainbow bread sandwich, or at least have some leftovers and this time it was basically a half-sandwich for each of them when they both ordered the a meal each. Also, fries were an additional $3.50, which was fine, but all of the burgers on the menu were $20, without fries. Yikes. For a family of four, our meal was close to $80 without beer or dessert. We did order an appetizer of pretzel nuggets w/beer cheese. For that price, we used to get significantly larger portion sizes and better food. My husband got their chicken parm sandwich, which was on a seeded kaiser roll. The breaded chicken was pretty small and had sauce and cheese, at $15. For that price at an Italian restaurant, I'd expect a much bigger and much better tasting sandwich. Their price increase does not reflect an increase in value, in fact, it was the opposite- portion sizes were smaller than before. I was pretty disappointed and we won't be going back for...

Great soups and great sandwiches. I ordered a Pterodactyl along with a bowl of chili. Sampled the creamy tomato and a Rugged Grouse. We were sat quickly, restaurant was clean and staff was polite and friendly. At the table we had a small bowl of pickled items which were tasty but not comparable to a some of Jewish Delis I've been in. Soup was delicious! Chili was hearty with plenty of beans, but not too many. A dollop of sour cream and some mild spicing. The only add on I would do is a small bit of bread with it. The creamy tomato was equally good and filling. Croutons on top instead of tortilla chips on the chili, but a delicious soup none the less. The sandwiches were very good and seemed small but when paired with a soup hit the spot! I had a Pterodactyl with plenty of salami, smoked ham and provolone. Filled well and a tasty vinegar taste along with onions hit the spot. The rugged grouse had turkey provolone with Cole slaw. Both were great and definitely worth having again! The cost is in the middle but portions were good and taste was definitely very good! Family friendly and fast service. Highly...