La Terrazza — Restaurant in City of San Marino

Restaurant Review: Le Terrazza, San Marino Visited: May 2025

Perched on the historic walls of San Marino with breathtaking panoramic views, Le Terrazza offers an exceptional dining experience that combines traditional Sammarinese cuisine with modern culinary techniques. Particularly impressive is their accommodation of vegetarian diners, proving that plant-based dining doesn't mean compromising on flavor or experience.

Atmosphere & Setting:

The restaurant's namesake terrace provides unparalleled views of the surrounding countryside, especially magical at sunset when the valley below sparkles with lights. Inside, the space balances elegance with comfort—white tablecloths and attentive service in a relaxed environment where you can truly enjoy your meal without pretension. The soft lighting and gentle background music create an intimate atmosphere perfect for both special occasions and elevated casual dining.

The Green Gourmet Course:

As a vegetarian, I opted for their "Green Gourmet" tasting menu (€35), a thoughtfully curated vegetarian experience that showcases the restaurant's commitment to plant-based.

As a vegetarian, I opted for their "Green Gourmet" tasting menu (€55), a thoughtfully curated vegetarian experience that showcases the restaurant's commitment to plant-based cuisine. The Green Gourmet menu consisted of four beautifully crafted courses:

Antipasto (Starter): "Porro fondente, topinambur, limone e timo" — Melting leeks with Jerusalem artichoke, lemon, and thyme. The leeks were cooked to a buttery softness that maintained their subtle onion flavor, complemented by the earthy sweetness of Jerusalem artichokes. The bright notes of lemon and aromatic thyme balanced the dish perfectly.

Primo (First Course): "Gnocchi di patate, cavolfiore cotto e crudo, cipolla rossa marinata e aria alla mandorla" — Potato gnocchi with cooked and raw cauliflower, marinated red onion, and almond foam. The pillowy gnocchi were impeccably light, accompanied by cauliflower prepared two ways to showcase different textures. The marinated red onions added a pleasant tang, while the ethereal almond foam brought a subtle nuttiness that elevated the entire dish.

Secondo (Second Course): "Indivia brasata, salsa di patate arrosto, fondo di verdure, spinaci e nocciole" — Braised endive with roasted potato sauce, vegetable reduction, spinach and hazelnuts. The slightly bitter endive was transformed through careful braising into something succulent and complex. The creamy roasted potato sauce provided a comforting base, while the concentrated vegetable reduction added remarkable depth. Fresh spinach and crunchy hazelnuts completed this surprisingly hearty vegetarian main course.

Dessert: "Cake pere e cioccolato con gelato alla cannella e zenzero" — Pear and chocolate cake with cinnamon and ginger ice cream. The warm cake struck the perfect balance between rich chocolate and juicy pear chunks, while the homemade ice cream offered warming spice notes that complemented the fruit beautifully. A sophisticated take on a classic flavor combination.

Service

The service deserves special mention. My server named Sebastiane was knowledgeable about all aspects of the Green Gourmet course, explaining the ingredients and the techniques used in preparation. This level of engagement elevated the entire experience however the other server oldish chap wasn’t very helpful nor had he had any customer service especially when taking plates away from us almost hitting my face! Lastly we had to remind them one of order hadn’t arrived however my guest decided to cancel the order as she had...

If I was simply rating the experience, it would be 1 star. The food was OK at best - certainly the most underwhelming meal I’ve ever had in Italy. With a 4.5 star average and a #3 ranking in San Marino on Trip Advisor, my wife and I expected far more.

Food = 2/5 Ambiance/environment = 2/5 Service = 1/5 Price = 2/5 Overall experience = 2/5 Professionalism = 1/5

My wife and I made a reservation here about a month ago and the beautiful pictures of the terrace with the castle walls and rolling hills had us excited. In reality, the restaurant is entirely enclosed in a tent and the ambiance is less than impressive.

After waiting for 10 minutes our server greeted us and we ordered. He neglected to check on food allergies, and my wife ordered the monk fish. Unbeknownst to us, it came in a “fish sauce” that was actually a stew filled with clams. She’s severely allergic to clams. After she had already eaten some of the fish she realized and asked the server. One server said, “No, there are no clams.” Another server said, “Yes, there are clams.” It was messy and confusing. Rather than offer to take it off the bill, check to see if she needed medical attention etc, they proceeded to put the blame on us, “You’re in Italy...it’s your job to know these things. This isn’t America.” Well, it’s also not italy. We are in San Marino, right?

The truffle pasta we ordered tasted like noodles and butter - but no truffle. The veal cheek was pretty tasty. The bread wasn’t very good. The salad was awful (tasted liked a bagged salad from the grocery store). The roasted potatoes were ok once we finally salted them. The olive oil was good.

At the end of the day, the meal, the environment, the service, and the overall experience were underwhelming and disappointing. If that’s the #3 restaurant in San Marino, maybe it’s best to drive back into Italy and eat in Rimini or just make San Marino a day trip from Bologna (1 hr 45 min drive) to explore the castles/towers at sunset. Then drive back to Bologna and have an amazing meal at 1 of the literally 100s of amazing restaurants.

Honestly, the best part of the meal was the olive oil. That was actually good. Figured I’d end on a positive note. Oh, and yes, my wife is ok thankfully. Otherwise this would be more than just...

This place can’t be described in any other way than disappointing. We started by sharing the octopus with asparagus; a dish that felt like nothing but an artistic blunder. A restaurant with such capacity and possibilities and the best view in San Marino, should be capable of delivering far more than a plate that tastes like an afterthought. The main courses, though plated with care, and true Italian taste that matched some of the other top-tier restaurants I’ve visited, provided dishes with substantial variety in weight. Almost like aesthetics were provided as a means to distract from culinary hollowness. Desserts are served with careful plating, but the lemon tart would’ve been much better off with a dozen more lemons. Really the only dessert with value was their white chocolate mousse cake with a bold liquor taste. This place promises an experience, but delivers only scenery, and even that can’t compensate for the mediocrity served on the major part of our dining experience. This place gets 3 ⭐️ because that’s what it deserves.

Edit: As I reflected back upon this place I remembered an experience I had overseen when writing my review. I have bumped down the rating of three stars to a mere 2 stars as after we had ordered, the server presented us with one wrong dish. As we addressed the issue he showed clear signs of frustration and after a minute of thinking he took the dish back. A simple mistake, everybody makes those. However, after the mishap we saw our server, still frustrated, speak to his colleagues about the matter. Later during the night we got a new server. This restaurant really doesn’t give the experience it promises and deserves 2 stars because of the way it treats...