[secret shopper]

My wife and I have been to Isabella's restaurant three times. The most recent visit will most likely be the last. During our first two visits, we considered the service to be unsatisfactory. (Long waits for service and one entree delievered well before the second.) On the third visit, we took a friend. The reason we went there was because all the other restaurants had long lines and Isabella's did not.

In any event, of the three entree's we ordered, all three were wrong. There was a half hearted offer by the waitress to take them back, but we had already waited over a half hour and we had a meeting to attend. There was no offer to adjust the bill. There was also no presentation of desert or coffee.

It is my hope that these are isolated incidents peculiar to us and that everybody else has had a positive experience there.

Secret Shopper

[JohnZ]

It seems that you're more concerned about service than the food. My wife and I find the food at Isabella's very good. One of the best tasting marinara's in town...very authentic...high quality and reasonably priced. Some of the best restaurants have marginal service and patrons looking for great food very often overlook the lines, the wait and such. Lewis Grizzard once said, great barbeque can be found only in those places where all the chairs don't match......folks go to out-of-the-way dives for the great food and nothing else. Most us have heard at sometime in our lives.....in a twangy drawl... "If it's ambiance and snap-finger service yer lookin fer....ain't gonna find it here....no-sir....this ain't Delmonico's.....but if yer wantin' kick-butt 'Que....yer in the right joint". Eateries around this little berg often have lot's trouble finding good servers....turnover is high and the help wanted ads in the Daily Sun are evidence that most places are always searching for good help. The very best employees expect to be paid accordingly....and restaurateurs price their fair commensurate with their overhead cost. So, expect to pay a premium price for great service, great food, great location and fabulous ambiance. Although Isabella's is far from being a dive, the food is pretty darn good, the digs are nice and clean and the price is very fair....service notwithstaning. Me dos centavos.

[Talk Host]

Did you read the post? He said that all three entees were wrong. What's up with that?

SS

[JohnZ]

Oh for Pete's sake. Of course I read the post. All I'm saying is that our experience at Isabella's has been different. I'm just offering another opinion based on personal experience....that's all. The point that I was trying to make, and one that was obviously missed, was that the FOOD was excellent each and every time we've been there :bigthumbsup:. It might have been beneficial if Secret Shopper defined "wrong" entrees. Some folks can be wayyyyy too picky. Marginal service is one thing....good food is entirely another. Gonna think twice before I post again....geez.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by JohnZ

Oh for Pete's sake. Of course I read the post. All I'm saying is that our experience at Isabella's has been different. I'm just offering another opinion based on personal experience....that's all. The point that I was trying to make, and one that was obviously missed, was that the FOOD was excellent each and every time we've been there :bigthumbsup:. It might have been beneficial if Secret Shopper defined "wrong" entrees. Some folks can be wayyyyy too picky. Marginal service is one thing....good food is entirely another. Gonna think twice before I post again....geez.

Why would you want to go away just because I responded to your post? You are always welcome here, but it is human nature, in a forum, to expect responses to what you say. YES?

[JohnZ]

I didn't say anything about going away. I said I was just going to think twice before making a post.

[REDCART]

Forgive me for breaking the discussion flow about Isabella's restaurant. Were any of you aware that the Villages Gourmet Club has a web site with reviews of 62 restaurants in the Villages, including links to other pages with reviews of 32 restaurants near the Villages. Only members of the Gourmet Club are able to post restaurant reviews, but I suspect their objective experiences and observations may have as much value as many professional restaurant critics—although it is usually based on only one visit. A professional critic might return to a restaurant two or three times before writing a review. Limiting reviews to members may prevent a restaurant from posting a rave review for themselves. If you're interested, here's the URL: http://home.comcast.net/~thevillagesgourmetclub/page1.html

[tomahawk]

I could not fine out much about restaurants and they had no access to fine dining??? certainly not 32 restaurants as stated