Surface functionalization is a widely adopted technique for surface modification which allows researchers to customize surfaces to integrate with their research. Surface functionalization has been used recently to adapt surfaces to integrate with biological materials specifically to isolate cells or mimic biological tissues through cell patterning. Cell isolation and cell patterning both can be integrated with extant techniques or surfaces to customize the research to whatever needs to be tested. Substrates such as metals, biologically mimicking surfaces, environmental responsive surfaces, and even three-dimensional surfaces such as hydrogels have all been adapted to allow for functionalization for both patterning and isolation. In this review we have described both the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques and the related chemistries to better understand these tools and how best to apply them in the hope that we can further expand upon the research in the field.