Isabelle’s Grill and Garden

Coconut Grove’s spate of restaurants continues with Isabelle’s, named for the woman behind the neighborhood’s first hotel. It’s only fitting that her namesake eatery would be inside another famous property, the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. Isabelle’s boasts an expansive dining room with a large bar but the restaurant’s outdoor garden is where you want to be. The lush pergola and greenery remind us of Soho Beach House’s Italian restaurant, Cecconi’s, only far less scene-y and with considerably more dogs (people in the Grove love their pets and they love taking them everywhere). The food, however, is an entirely different vibe. Isabelle’s loads up its menu with classic American fare, including a signature burger, a generous porkchop and various dishes. Throughout the day but especially at dinnertime, there’s seemingly something for everyone offered on the menu but the variety doesn’t come at the expense of quality. Whether it’s a filet or pasta tossed with chunks of lobster, every dish is made fresh and packs loads of flavor.