Activation of an appropriate innate immune response to bacterial infection is critical to limit microbial spread and generate cytokines and chemokines to instruct appropriate adaptive immune responses. Recognition of bacteria or bacterial products by pattern recognition molecules is crucial to initiate this response. However, it is increasingly clear that the context in which this recognition occurs can dictate the quality of the response and determine the outcome of an infection. The cross talk established between host and pathogen results in profound alterations on cellular homeostasis triggering specific cellular stress responses. In particular, the highly conserved integrated stress response (ISR) has been shown to shape the host response to bacterial pathogens by sensing cellular insults resulting from infection and modulating transcription of key genes, translation of new proteins and cell autonomous antimicrobial mechanisms such as autophagy. Here, we review the growing body of evidence demonstrating a role for the ISR as an integral part of the innate immune response to bacterial pathogens.