Izla of Fishkill — Restaurant in Town of Fishkill

Just...no. With all due respect, this is NOT Puerto Rican food. To be quite honest, calling it Puerto Rican food is an insult. The food was completely tasteless and cooked with zero effort. True Puerto Rican food has taste and spices galore - creating a party in your mouth - and you can taste the love or, at least, the pride and effort behind it. This? This is barely even Latin food, let alone Puerto Rican. The food truly was just not good. A complete let-down.

I decided to finally try Isla after years of it being open - and years of not hearing good things about. But, I wanted to give it a try with an open mind. Now, I see why I was told to avoid it. In addition to the food being blander than week old Wonder Bread, the service was atrocious. You could not find a more reluctant server. And this was a quick to-go order! I came in with a smile and a good attitude and she just did not want to serve me. She said it's cuz they were closed. But, there was no sign saying they were closed, there was another customer there and the sign - and internet - said they closed at 8, and I was there at 10 to 8. I was willing to take whatever it is they had left in their buffet since I just wanted to try them out, and was hungry. By the time I finished waiting, paid, got my food and sat in my car, it was 8:01. Sooo...yeah.

Anyway, to be specific, the pernil had no flavor. It couldn't possibly be any blander. The boiled Yuca was hard and tasteless, the beans totally blegh, and the cinnamon yams barely tasted as such. I literally had to finish cooking the food at home, meaning adding olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic to the pernil to make it taste like anything. And, I added onions, vinegar, salt and olive oil to the yuca to make it taste...to make it taste Puerto Rican. You shouldn't have to do that when you pay money for food.

I should've taken it as an sign when I saw that very obviously non-Puerto Ricans were running the place - from the cooks to the reluctant "server" girl. Not saying it's not possible for a non-Puerto Rican to make good Rican food. But, if you walk into a Chinese place, or a Mexican place, or a Jamaican place, or an Indian place, or a Thai place, etc., you expect............you get the drift.

Anyway, for a FAR better and TRULY authentic, Puerto Rican culinary experience, head to Café Con Leche in nearby Wappingers Falls. THAT is REAL Puerto Rican food and it's delicious! Sorry, Izla, you're...

I feel awful writing this because I truly cherished this place. For years, I’ve gone at least once a week, spending a lot of money here and introducing my family and friends to the food. While there were occasional misses in the past (raw plantains, beans without beans—just juice), I never complained. For the last two years, they seemed to be doing better.

But on August 20th, I picked up one of my usual orders after driving 20 minutes. When I opened my food at home, I was shocked—my sirloin was raw (I never requested rare or medium-rare, and that isn’t even an option with these steaks), and my Ropa Vieja was so undercooked that the minute I split the meat, blood seemed to be oozing. This meal was inedible. We ended up eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of the Puerto Rican comfort food I always look forward to after long workdays. For evidentiary support, I have included photos of this plate.

I immediately called and spoke to Chancy, who was polite and apologetic. She assured me that if I called the following week, I would be given my food at no charge. I appreciated her tone and was willing to let it go.

However, the next week when I called back, everything changed. Suddenly, I was told the “red” I saw was just sauce from the Ropa Vieja. I was placed on hold multiple times, faced pushback, and was eventually told I could only get the meats replaced—but would have to pay for the rice and beans. By then, I had already ordered elsewhere, frustrated with the lack of accountability and respect.

This was the breaking point. I am not just a random customer. I’ve supported this place consistently, even tipping cash since they removed the tip option at the register. I’ve overlooked spoiled shrimp, inconsistent portion sizes, and missing items—but this time I was dismissed instead of valued.

This experience has made me truly reconsider whether I will ever return, and that is sad for me to say as someone who is Puerto Rican and loves supporting my people and our food. I hope the owner reads this and recognizes that losing a loyal customer isn’t just losing me—it’s losing my family and friends, all of whom I’ve brought here over the years.

But if this is how loyal customers are treated when they’re served raw, inedible food, then maybe it’s time for us to take our...

We just went to Izla for the first time and we were very excited to have a Puerto Rican restaurant in Fishkill. It was very confusing upon walking in as to what you're supposed to do. You have to wait in line to order your food, even if you plan on sitting down. There are no signs indicating this and the staff was very unhelpful in explaining what the procedure was. The space/area that is given to place your order is small so it makes standing in line and having any type of orderly fashion impossible. People are milling around unsure of what they were doing. The staff wasn't very friendly. No one greeted anyone coming in and the general mood seemed to be that they were unhappy to be there or were put out to have customers there. We opted to sit and they give you a number to put on your table to have your food delivered- very similar to Panera but not nearly as well executed. If that was the style of dining they wanted to go with, they should have put the menu on a board for everyone to see instead of passing out paper menus which comes across as tacky instead of casual. Speaking of the menu, either have the dishes written in spanish with english translations in parenthesis or vice versa but not both. It looks weird. Whoever designed the layout for the restaurant failed miserably. The decor and atmosphere left little to be desired. The chairs are cheap and VERY uncomfortable. It's like they aren"t a restaurant but more a stationary indoor food truck. The only redeeming thing I can say is that my meal was good. My ropa vieja had great flavor- even though it was cold by the time I received it. The rice and beans were nice and hot and delicious. I didn't care for the empanadas, for almost $3 a piece, they werent very big and the filling was on the dry side. It hurts to write this because I was looking forward to this place opening up. This won"t keep me from trying again- Next time I will order ahead for take out instead of dining in and see what the...