Terra — Restaurant in Boston

DINNER REVIEW

Terra has been one of my most memorable dining experiences in Boston in the past year that I've lived here, largely driven by the ambiance and the service. To enter Terra, you must walk through the Italian culinary mecca that is Eataly which serves to whet your palette for the delicious meal you are about to enjoy. The Italian/Eataly focus on fresh came to life, we found, in our dining experience at Terra.

SETTING: Perhaps most noteworthy, and the thing most working for Terra, is the setting/ambiance. The ceiling allows natural light to come in which adds a calming, natural feeling to the restaurant, especially when compared to artificially-lit restaurants. The walls are lined with authentic Italian wares and the wood tables are garnish with succulents. When you walk in, you find a beautiful bar to your left and a busy wood-fired grill to your right. The open layout only foreshadowed the openness of our server.

SERVICE: I don't often comment on service but I think this experience was particularly positive. Our server Michael (shoutout to Michael) made our evening memorable. He took his time explaining the menu to us, highlighting its intricacies, telling us about what items were locally sourced and from where, and more. He told us that their chicken dish was not just any chicken dish that many other restaurants feel obligated to feature because of people who don't eat anything else (and he was right, it was GOOD!). And he also told us about the history of Eataly, this specific Eataly, and the great benefits the company offers to its employees. Michael made us laugh and made us think. Thank you Michael for a wonderful evening!

FOOD: If you want authentic, old-school Italian food, go to the North End. If you want a lot of food for your money, go to Olive Garden. However, if you want a modern Italian dining experience with a focus on wood-fired food (plus the great ambiance and service that I mentioned above), then this is the place for you.

BRUSCHETTE - We started with the bruschetta trio of the burrata, the ricotta, and the peperonata (only a coincidence that they all rhymed). Michael informed us that this was the most popular trio ordered (patting ourselves on the back). The bread was clearly fresh from Eataly downstairs and the toppings were simple and fresh, as Italian ingredients should be. A good start to a great meal.

VEAL SPECIAL - Given the spiel we heard from Michael about the chicken, I was very close to ordering the chicken (this ain't your everyday chicken) but he also spoke highly of their veal special that was meant for two so a friend and I shared. It came served on a big wood board with large pieces of perfectly-cooked meat and ribs, adorned with arugula. The meat was salty but not too salty, just enough to make me salivate and want more. It came with ta side of this flan-shaped eggplant concoction (I forget the name) that I could have eaten with a spoon. I also tried the chicken as my girlfriend had it and it was some of the moistest chicken I've ever had.

SWISS CHARD - we had this as a side for the table. I don't love swiss chard so I don't feel like I would ever rave about it but it was well-cooked and well-seasoned.

While the food itself didn't have me sitting back in my chair with my eyes rolled back because of the out of body experience an amazing meal brings people (or maybe that's just me?), this was a 5-star dining experience and one I would 100% come back for. I will always look fondly on my time at Terra.

A tip: If you are thirsty, ask for a bottle of water to leave on the table. They won't leave it on the table...

I rate this resturaunt a 0 star and I was not even able have the chance to be seated and try the food. I made a reservation two weeks in advance, spoke and stressed over the phone with three different people from this establishment, in addition to confirming 3 times that it was actually this resturaunt that I was making my reservation with. We are new to Boston, just moved here a couple of months ago. This was for a party of 8 for a birthday celebration, I made this very clear. I have guests that traveled from multiple states, 2 to 3 hours a way for this. We were about to spend a large amount of money on food and drinks. The manager on duty. 05/26/2023 9:00 p.m. He would not provide his name because I was upset and loud with him. He informs the party that he cannot accommodate us, he doesn't have a reservation for us in the system, and if he does seat us he has to separate the party. I'm furious as you can imagine, the amount of time and energy that I have put into making sure this was going to be a perfect night. The manager talks down to us, dissmisses us, does not sit us, threatens us with security because we are upset infront of the guests he has already seated. They are eating, drinking, smiling, laughing and and enjoying themselves. This manager laughs in my face when I ask for corporates number, the owners number, anyone's number besides the assistant managers card that he hands me. He then continues by getting other guests involved that are eating at this resturaunt, telling us to leave the establishment as if we are not welcomed there. Completely embarassing. The young professional lady at the desk, a tall latina with curly hair, confirms my reservation in the system on the phone, the one the manager claimed wasn't in the system. He then offers to my partner, who's birthday that it is, whom is is tears because of all of this. "We can seat you, however the kitchen closes in 5 minutes."This manager was very unprofessional, and frankly shouldn't be a manager. Promote the young Latina lady. She knows how to speak and handle guest a hundred times better than he does. I want an apology from someone at this resturaunt. I also want something to be done about all of this. Earl's resturaunt treated us like paying guests are supposed to be treated, they know what they are...

WHY would you ever go here when there are so many great Italian restaurants in Boston? What a huge mistake. The food is mediocre at best and the service was disappointing to say the least.

We arrived at 6:25 for a 6:30 reservation for a party of 5. 1 person was running a few minutes late. We mentioned this, and the staff emphasized that they would not extend our seating time because our friend was late (referring to the 90 min slot for reservations). No problem - we didn’t even ask for it to be extended, and we wouldn’t expect it. It was an interesting comment to make the first time you greet your guests though.

The next interesting moment happened when our drinks were brought out by a server who was actually visibly rolling their eyes and clearly did not want to be there. In fact, everyone at the table noticed it, and we all thought that it was a bit strange. But we get it, we all have bad days.

Then, we noticed some tables around us got bread and some didn’t. Our table never did, so we asked, and got bread… 45 minutes after getting seated.

Finally, 40 minutes after ordering our food and 70 minutes (not a typo) after our reservation time, the food arrived. This was a long time to wait for food (with no update from our server). Furthermore, it simply makes no sense to tell customers that they will be enforcing a 90 min seating time and then serving food 70 minutes into the seating time. The food was a 3/5 at best.

The cherry on top occurred when we presented a box of cupcakes for a birthday, the server magically appeared within seconds (despite completely disappearing the entire time we were waiting for our food) to tell us that we absolutely cannot eat that in the restaurant. That was not a problem at all, but an interesting observation.

Overall, the priorities of this restaurant are highly questionable. They are overly concerned with enforcing rules such as seating time while they serve food over an hour into said seating time. We did not feel like the staff made an effort to make customers feel welcome. Given this, and the below average food, this place is definitely not worth it. At least it has some cool fake plants...