Terra Restaurant, San Diego, California Restaurant Details

Food:

I went to the new location and it was very friendly and warm. The food is still spectacular and the service still rocks! I like the fact that the head Chef Jeff is big on 'farm to table' foods and is eco conscious.

Food:

The food was amazing; although, half the party was sick the next day. The wait staff and the bartender was awesome, but the floor manager she was frigid, slightly rude or snobby. I don't think I saw her smile all night and she kept hovering around the tables.

When I arrived at the restaurant I tried to gain the attention of the floor manager, who standing behind the hostess stand, looked liked she was the hostess. She walked away while I was talking to her. I know wearing my riding leathers and carrying my motorcycle helmet didn't quite jive with the atmosphere of the restaurant, so I walked past her till I found someone who would acknowledge my presence.

I walked past the bar, almost to the kitchen before one of the waitresses acknowledged me. She gained the attention of the real hostess who told me I was the first in my party to arrive and asked me to sit at the bar.

When half of my party had finally arrived the Floor Manager did something strange again. As there was only 4 she refused to seat us and asked us to wait at the bar; however, by this time the bar was full. I thought it was odd, not only is the bar right next to the hostess stand, but we could see that the were only a few tables set up to handle more than 4 people and of those tables 2 of the 3 were open and set for dinner. So we just stood there waiting for the rest of our party.

Finally we were allowed to sit down, I must say the cocktail "Love in a Glass" is most appropriately named quite refreshing. The infused vodkas there are amazing and I would highly recommend you try the blood orange, but none of the ones we tried were bad.

We ordered our food. 2 apologies for delay from the waitress and 45 min later we received out food. My hamburger was tasty.

Being as I have a very unsophisticated pallet I was shocked a how greasy the burger bun was... my date (bless her heart) was quick to point out that it was not greasy, but they had "drizzled infused truffle oil on the hamburger." She was much more impressed at this "attention to detail" than I was. I'm glad she was there or I would have quite honestly described it as a good hamburger with a greasy bun.

The meat was cooked exactly the way I ordered it. The vegetables on the burger were fresh and crispy. The fries were... adequate. The thousand islandish dressing/sauce was quite good. I found myself wanting to cut the hamburger in pieces to eat it more slowly, rather than my norm of just shoveling it in my face. If the bun was not oily from the "infused truffle" oil I would describe it as one of the best hamburger's I've ever had.

My date ordered the meatloaf and I must say that it was (her words) "a masterpiece of culinary engineering". In other words we both liked it. I thought the meatloaf was good, perfectly seasoned, moist, and again quite tasty. Her only complaint was the menu change that removed the risotto as the side. She described this creamy rice as being almost orgasmic.

For desert the chocolate cigar was awesome. It was light a flaky dough wrapped in a molten core of chocolate.

I feel bad giving this restaurant only 2 stars; however, the Floor Manager was quite rude and 1/2 the party got sick that night or early the next day.

After we left the restaurant we went separate ways, but 4 people took sick that night and the only common denominator we could find was the restaurant and that they did not eat the hamburger.

Food:

The food was wonderful as were our wine selections. Our server tried her best for being new, and even though we had to wait almost half an hour for enough bread for our table of 8 (who brings out 4 pieces and makes you wait another 10 minutes for 4 more?), the crab cakes, lobster mac 'n cheese, steak, and especially chocolate cigar were tasty. The kicker? First, front-of-the-house-manager (with an attitude) told us after we tried to pay that we couldn't split our check. Then during that discussion, SDPD came in and shared that a car (our car) was about to be towed (at 2 hours, 8 minutes) but no one that knew (hello, incompetent "floor manager") decided to tell us even though we were the only people in there and the only reason we were still there is because of the bread and the check. When confronted with why we weren't told that our $500 dinner was now $880 ($380 tow), front-of-the-house-floor-manager who has no responsibility and a matching (insecure) attitude, said She felt bad but would rather argue than make it right. That was all. I keep reading reviews about Terra being difficult to work with and it really left a raw taste in our mouths after what should have been a fantastic dinner. Food--Great. Wait staff--B. Management and customer service--F, stands for Failing. You either take responsibility and have some power within your own restaurant or you're the "Floor-Manager" at Terra with none of either. Very disappointing.

Food:

I frequent Terra restaurant because of the excellent cuisine, service and location. They really go the extra mile to make sure you are happy and satisfied. Thank you for setting the bar high when it comes to customer satisfaction, great food and service.

Food:

Our waiter really knew his menu, made great suggestions, Owner came out to say hello, food was great, service outstanding, we'll be back!