Bar Isabel Reviews

Always have the best experiences here. The staff are very warm and helpful, I love the ambience, and the food is always incredible.
ALWAYS GET THE BASQUE CAKE!!!

I had very high expectations coming in and wanted to try as much as I could. We had the waitress create us a tasting menu of some of their key signature dishes. I know all the food on it's own would have been nice, but the waitress had created courses that all included bread. We got really tired of the food halfway through and found some of the food, such as the razor clams, too salty without the bread.

I'm sure our food experience would have been a lot better if the waitress had made a better selection. But, at the end of the day, it left a really bad impression.

I recommend to just order some octopus and couple of other items on the menu, because it is clear the waiting staff is not trained well to create a tasting menu experience.

very good tapas - not in toronto often, apparently when you tell someone this place has good tapas, the reply is 'well, obviously'

Cocktails are just as satisfying to drink as they are to watch being made - George is a legend and elevates the experience from shake to your first sip. The bites are scrumptious, from jamon croquetas, sweet bread (with shaved foie gras on top whaaaat), to seasoned beans, your tummy is going to have the best time. End with a sherry and leave floating on a cloud.

I would say this is one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto. Gents, if you want to impress a lady, bring her here. Food, atmosphere, service, and drinks all top notch!

I had the most amazing experience here. My boyfriend took me here for my birthday on a Monday night and the place was packed! However, it was still comfortable, and the restaurant has a great vibe with its dim lighting and beautiful tiling. We had a great server who was very articulate and informative of the menu, and she was always very attentive even on such a busy night. We started with some pan con jamon Iberico, salumi, and beef carpaccio. It was really delicious, especially with the home-made pickles on the side. We also had the sardine montaditos and the sobrassada & foie gras montaditos. The latter was a real winner, the foie gras just melts in your mouth. We also had the flatbread, bone marrow, sweetbreads, and tongue on brioche. It was all out of this world. My favourite was the sweetbreads, and I'm surprised I liked them because I usually dislike offal. Bar Isabel makes simple food the RIGHT way, and they elevate the ingredients without overcomplicating them. I can't wait to go back again.

This place is incredible! Cute little restaurant and they did a sort of tasting menu for us - we were getting full halfway through so they adjusted for us and were really good about it. Service was great and every dish was delicious. I will definitely come back to bar Isabel!

Amazing food and incredible service. Great selection of wine, even better selection of food. Can t wait to go again!

Book now if you want great food and cocktails with character. I took a long break since it can take a toll on your bank account but it's as good as ever. You want the octopus and Galician razor clams. Hot damn! When's the last time you had canned goods like this? Finish with that Basque cake.

Warm and welcoming with great food and drinks selection

Love this place! Definitely would go again! Foie gras and bone marrow are my favorite. Basque cake is a must-try. Nice service and good atmosphere, perfect for date.

Great meal for two delivered to our door - almost as good as the real thing at the restaurant!

Great staff that help you navigate the menu. All the food we tried was excellent. In particular, the cheese and mushroom dish was exquisite. You have to try the basque cake - it is truly life changing! You definitely need to make a reservation and the meal will probably take 2 hours.

Great variety of delicious food. Excellent service.

Love this place! The food is spectacular! Hands down one of my favs in the city.

Had a great meal here. Didn't even order anything let our server do the work. We weren't disappointed. Would go again.

Great food, great wine and fortifieds list. A bit on the pricey side, but worth it.

Amazing tasting menu, staff are very knowledgeable of all good and wine pairings. Definitely a great experience!

Cute little spanish restaurant in downtown!

Love the cozy decor and friendly service. They are excellent in recommending wine if you explain what type you like.

Recommend to try the octopus and ox tongue !!! So tender and amazing flavors

Fantastic food, intriguing atmosphere, and the best service i've experienced.

Best food ever to say the least and the service is just perfect.

Delicious tapas and accommodated our 8-person party well as well as the associated multitude of dietary preferences. The 4 stars is because it was confusing what was contained in various items when our server didn't deliver items (and others did) to explain what had meat, fish, etc.

Delicious food. Great service. Nothing more I need to say.

Great experience. We had a reservation for 9:30pm but tried to get in early and that wasn't a problem. Awesome food and great experience.

Great place for a group or date. I recommend the chef's menu so you can get a variety of dishes

This place is awesome. Great food, cant-get-better-than-this service, great ambience (little noisy though). The service is fast. Suggest to make reservations beforehand. Now comes the food. One word - mind-blowing. We had the full octopus, the sobrasada & foie gras and the basque cake (perfect ending). Each of them 5/5. Highly recommended

I've been here a few times in the past and I've always enjoyed myself. On a bitterly cold night in January four of us were running past and had to seek refuge from the on coming frost bite. We'd had only planned to stay for a shot drink, bite and warm up but found ourselves at the mercy of the chef's tasting menu and the staffs wonderful hospitality. Food delighted evening was great highly recommend.

Top spot for bar... seats... sharing dishes... great cocktails... make a reservation

Good is ok, waiters so so.
Good for one day but i will not go again

Delicious food, great drinks. The bone marrow on bread was my favourite. Lots of tapas to choose from. You need to be ready to spend a bit of money, but this is a great place for a nice date.

Everything about this place was amazing. One of the best dining experiences I've ever had!

Tapas were flying out of the kitchen and were absolutely delicious. The bartender and servers were knowledgeable and attentive. The ambiance was nice and dimly-lit. All in all, it reminded us of Spain, 100%.

Great food and late night eats. Drinks are great too! Service is friendly.

Lew is a wonderful and knowledgeable bartender. Bar Isabel thrives off staff like him. I was visiting from BC to meet up with a girlfriend from Toronto. We were blown away by his service. His knowledge of the menu, both food and drink was inspiring for someone who used to work in the in industry. Although, it was Lews personality that really made the experience for us!!! Will at the front door/bar staff was also amazing!

The food is superb. Their Basque cake is one of my favorite desserts.

Not a big menu but the quality of food is good. Great place for a date or for a couple of friends to hang out. Recommend the grill octopus and pepper.

Food was delicious! If the razor clams are available for special, get them! Shrimp al ajillo were really good too and gotta finish the meal with the basque cake. Service was spot on as well. You can t go wrong with this restaurant.

This place is something special, from the menu design to the ceiling details to the incredible service and the very relaxed atmosphere. It s very unique and very inviting. Oh yeah, and the food is great. You can be adventurous or not here...but everything is well made.

Great shrimp dish, and octopus. Patio table in November 2020. Who would have thought!

Aside from amazing food, and my favour bone marrow. The restaurant is too loud. Otherwise ill give them 5 stars.

Was looking forward to this place, but was quickly disappointed by both the service as well as the food. Our server as well as one of the managers, it seems, weren't so welcoming. One of the guys who poured cava for my husband when he arrived at the table, responded with, "if I asked everyone who comes in how they're doing, that would be a lot of people", after my husband asked him how he was doing. Completely rude and threw us off. Who says that??? Our main server was stand-off-ish. He made us feel he just wanted to get us in and out. The food, was just ok, and I've been to some of the best tapas bars in Barcelona. The prices were on the high side with what you get. Overall, wouldn't go back again. Labora is much better in taste and service especially.

Love the ambiance here, very romantic and cozy! The food was incredible and they have a fantastic wine menu!

A friend took me here this evening, and asked the server to choose the menu. She put together the most amazing menu with small tastings of wine with each course. A delightful evening.

Amazing food and drinks. Love the atmosphere and service is great.

We did a chef's tasting menu. Some of the favorites were the octopus and the whole fish ceviche.

Can t believe how expensive this place was , the tasting menu is a sham. We ordered the tasting menu for 4 people, total cost was $300 for the food, received 12 dishes. I totalled all the items we had from the menu and landed around ~200. Very disappointed feel like we were taken.

The food is fantastic. Service is also very good. They will help explain menu items, Including their various cocktails and beers. Definitely recommend to those who have yet to try it. The price is on the high side.

This bar has a great ambience and vibe! I love the warm red lighting, the tile work on the floor, and the overall decor and theme. It s absolutely stunning. The host was very friendly and accommodating and even offered us a free glass of cava while we waited for a table. They also have some interesting offerings including absinthe and pinxtos. I d recommend a night out here to anyone looking to have a unique experience.

You can't get wrong with any choice of yours with the menu - my personal favourite is their ceviche. You must try their delicious basque cake & sherry cream!!

Sweet baby Jesus. Ceviche, pork belly and octopus. If you go there for one thing get that damn octopus. Had a few great cocktails and dessert was on point. Had the panna cotta and the Basque cake. Basque was so good. Can't say enough-one of the better meals I've had.

The best food I've ever had. Vanessa was fantastic and recomended our whole meal. Everything was great and she nailed our tastes.

Outstanding tapas, especially the boquerones, foie gras and sopresa, and octopus. Extensive wine list, including natural and orange wines. Our waiter chose a very generous selection of plates based on our price point, and not only provided an excellent after-dinner cocktail bar suggestion, actually called ahead and ordered us dessert!

Don't miss out. Eat here. Trust the staff, and enjoy.

Good food and service.
Very noisy and overcrowded

Fantastic food. One of the best restaurants in the city. It's quite pricey but definitely worth every penny. The shrimps a la plancha will blow your mind and the pork belly is great.

Simply amazing. Highlights: octopus, sardines, croquettes, the cheeses and jamon, obviously, and, quite unexpectedly, the squash ice-cream for dessert, to name a few. Also renowned for their cocktails. The service is amazing and they will give great advice if you don't know what to order. The mystery is why I prefer it so much to the sister outlet, Bar Raval.

best.dinner.ever.
octopus,chorizo,chickpeas,cocktails,tongue,wine,dessert...loved everything.

What an overatted and expensive place. Don't waste your time or money. Terrible service also

Quaint Spanish restaurant with amazing food and great cocktails. Never had a bad experience there.

Very good. The octopus and the tongue of beef are excellent.

This place is fantastic! The sommelier recommended a perfect pairing for our meal and the food quality is outstanding! Will definitely be visiting again.

Excellent food, very lively and energetic atmosphere (high noise level), and excellent service.

If you are up for some good spanish food, this is a must try! Our server said that if we are willing to.spend a certain amount he will bring in some recommended tapas. We were totally up for it. He brought us 5/6 different tapas...Which were all so good

Great food, drink, and staff at Bar Isabel, and company with my neighbours (5 of us). Loved the grilled mushroom, steak, octopus, and meat & cheese platters.

The food is excellent, the place beautiful, but the value for money is not great. The dishes are expensive for what we have them.

Also, the service was really ordinary, even bad. Due to the Covid, the 18% tip was included on the bill, but the waiters clearly didn't deserve it.

One of my favourite meals I've ever had in Toronto. Try to the foie gras toast; I definitely wasn't expecting it to be as tasty as it was. I still dream of the cured water buffalo. Fantastic ambiance and great service.

Separate faucets for hot and cold water in the bathroom means your hands are either scalded or frozen. Some dishes are good, others miss the mark. Anyone else miss the original Black Hoof? I'd love to love this spot, but I don't. You'll still need a reservation, it's jammed pretty much all year.

Good food and service. Although a little dim and loud at times, everything else was good.

Fantastic food and stellar service in a beautiful setting.

Bar Isabel is a place you wish every city has. The food was amazing. Especially the octopus, I think I still have dreams about how good it was. Their drinks are also top notch. The staff was extremely friendly, they went out of their way to help us out.

This was by far one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had in my entire world-wide experiences. The food was ok, not spectacular. But more important, when one includes the terrible (absolutely terrible) service, the whole experience is upsetting.

1) We didn't have a reservation and were told to wait around 30-40 minutes, so we went for drinks at a trattoria across the street. After around 45 minutes, we called and were told to come back as our seats were ready, so we returned, but were left to stand, with our coats and hats on, for well over 10 minutes while we waited for our "bar seats" to be ready. Noticing that there were several free bar seats, my friend asked if we can sit down, and was told no very rudely: that these were not for us, and we were left standing. Finally, we were "allowed" to sit at our "designated" seats at the bar.

2) We were a group of three and they only secured us two spots at the bar. The third person in our group, spend the evening standing up.

3) We considered to order a whole bottle of wine, and inquired about a particular one. A bottle was brought to us, but since it looked very different than the one we asked about, I literally had to stop the server from opening it at the last minute. Low and behold, it was a different bottle with a different price. While the server and the bartender acknowledged that our order was different, they did not apologize for bringing us a different bottle.

4) The plates were literally slammed and yanked in front of us. The servers, with the exception of the gentleman who took my coat, were all hostile and aggressive in their attitude.

5) Toward the end of our stay, the manager passed by, and my friend, recognizing him from her previous visit, asked if she can tell him something, and this is how she put it: by saying how much she liked this place on a previous visit last week to the extent that she brought other friends this time; and that she just wants to make an observation. The manager, in a very defensive and aggressive way, asked her to go ahead, and my friend in a very friendly and polite tone recommended that the staff should try to smile more . Upon hearing this, the manager retorted rudely we re working on it . He did not ask her what caused her to say this or what negative experience did she have etc. Just the rude we re working on it . Well, last time I checked, restaurants were in the service industry , and if they have not worked on their service yet, they should not be in the service business in the first place.

What a horrible experience! I would never recommend this place to anyone. They literally ruined our evening.

Amazingggg !!!! Looking forward to go back to Toronto and eat there again.

Cozy and romantic; great spot for a date. The server picked the dishes and everything that came out was incredible. I think about the foie gras each time I walk past this restaurant.