Terrain Cafe — Restaurant in Doylestown Township

July 2023: Our party of 4 had breakfast Sun July 2nd at Terrain Cafe. We each got something different: fried avocado benedict, shrimp & grits w/asparagus & radish, braised steak & eggs(didn't come w/ steak knife), omelet w asparagus & camembert. All enjoyed our meals. I had the 4 extra large grilled shrimp with asparagus and radish which was on top of grits made in a style that I had not seen before. The grits were whipped and fluffy like mashed potatoes. Our waitress brought two loaves of bread, presented inside clay flower pots, on top of a small cutting board. The bread did not come with any type of bread knife. We struggled to find room for the bread board on the table and yet the meals hadn't arrived yet so we stacked up coffee mug saucers and put them aside along with appetizer plates. When the meals arrived they all appeared with beautiful presentation and were served hot. It was a challenge to get the coffee refills but I think our waitress could have checked in on us more frequently. I did not like her practice of taking all the cups together and refilling them at her coffee station. I didn't know if I would get my own cup back and whether or not the person drinking decaf would end up actually getting decaf. The milk and the cream were switched and misidentified. The decor is beautiful in the restaurant and the retail store. Ladies room smelled of fresh paint so an open flame candle was burning to combat smells apparently. Ladies room was dimly lit & muggy/ hot /needs air circulation, a massive Oscar the Grouch metal trash can fill the void between the two sinks. Anything negative I've mentioned is minor and I would not take away a whole star for it.

Update Dec 2023 lost two stars today: breakfast 9a reservation. Mushroom soup was delicious. Sun shade is needed; I should not have to wear sunglasses indoors or line up with something to avoid intense glare. Bread again arrived with no bread knife. Table again too small for all the dishes we were given so our breakfast plates hung over the edge of the table. Service was very slow. Coffee was cold and sent back twice. 2 of 3 meals were completely cold. I appreciate that the Manager comped 2 meals. The entire time the manager was speaking to us she would not keep her hands off me, either rubbing my hand or my shoulder or touching my arm. I moved back to avoid but she moved into my personal space again. That's not soothing! She should have kept her hands to herself. Personal space please!

Update April 2024: Initial coffee is good and strong, refills were extremely weak. Good service. Enjoyed the mushroom soup. Finally someone decided to put up light sheer curtains on one side of the restaurant to cut down on sun glare. Avocado toast was very spicy and it was only one slice of toast for $13! Base was hot pepper spread, topped with avocado, lots of fresh corn layered on top, followed by hot pepper flakes and micro greens. I couldn't taste the avocado unfortunately. This place is...

We finally got around to trying Terrain Café and really enjoyed our meal. For the food: I can happily and wholly recommend the mushroom soup as well as the avocado toast, which isn’t your cookie-cutter avo toast and satisfyingly pulls off its subtle twist of a delicious sunflower romesco layer under the avocado. We also ordered the french fries appetizer with the truffle pecorino added: Overall, a great taste, but we thought the truffle pecorino would work better as a cream or if it were more melted on; as it was, you had to either press it onto the fries or balance it on top to get it in your bite, and naturally the bite was more of a dry & quite mild combination of the flavors rather than a smooth & slightly more noteworthy blend (as we would’ve preferred)… That’s personal taste, but we both agreed the fries were almost great but not quite for these reasons, so I thought I’d note it. I also recommend the terrain burger. Delicious!

Atmosphere: It feels harsh to dock a star for atmosphere considering that, in a way, the beautiful atmosphere is what drew us in in the first place. And it is lovely. But during a heat wave we were sat in an area outside that received almost direct sun (there’s a greenhouse-like, maybe glass(?) roofing and fans). I understand inside was probably all reserved, but the heat felt pretty brutal by the time our food was out. All to say, I probably wouldn’t sit outside again during summer. The fans are not enough.

Service: Our server, Hope, was awesome. Attentive (we were greeted right away, she made sure to check in on food & drinks, etc.), welcoming, very knowledgeable about the menu, and even made an excellent and thoughtful recommendation when I was deciding between two items.

This place just opened. It’s beautiful—with an airy, natural feel throughout. On a normal (non-heat wave) day, I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house. Folks complaining in their reviews about seeing lots of open seats: This is a popular place and reservations fill up quickly! Seats might be open when you arrive, but you can’t give away a seat that’s going to be needed thirty minutes later. As for the food being bland or mediocre or overpriced, based on what we tried, I disagree. The fries weren’t perfect, but they were hardly bland. The prices are reasonable (though not cheap) for atmosphere and quality when compared to similar...

Went for happy hour with my wife for a birthday drink. When we arrived, the bar had two open seats but they needed to be cleaned bc a couple had just left. So far nothing wrong as the bartender acknowledged us and we assumed he would clear the plates and mess. His first comment was I’ll get you some water. Okay but I prefer you would clear the plates and wipe the bar in front of me. He came back with water and asked if we wanted a drink. Mind you I was standing behind my chair, waiting to sit down after the bar was cleared. We said we will order but can you clear this mess, he looked like it was my job. That was my first mistake to stay after that experience but I am a fair person. He cleared one plate and the other plates in front of me were left and the bar still needed to be wiped. A few minutes later the second bartender came and asked if we ordered and when we mentioned the plates needed clearing he immediately took care of it. The second bartender was very helpful with our drink choices. He took our order and we waited for our food. We ordered the tuna tacos, wings and hummus platter. The bartender did tell us the tuna was a very small portion of three tacos but when they came we never assumed it was that small. Three tiny taco the size of a 1 inch tortilla chip each . The tacos were delivered but instead of crispy chickpeas they gave us corn fritters which we didn’t order(they waitress told us the corn fritters were the chickpeas) We asked a different bartender for plates and we were given dirty plates, they were immediately sent back. The hummus then came out and as my wife picked up the first chip, she found a hair hanging out the one end. That was the last straw. She asked for the manager, explained the situation and he walked away. When he came back he did bring a plate of new chips and fried chickpeas we ordered but we were already to leave. I explained I would pay for my drinks and the tuna which we ate, but he said the dinner was on him. He did ask if we wanted to take any of the food, but I was not interested at this time. Kind of turned off by the dirty plates and then the hair in the food. I will say that the manager was very professional in his handling of the situation, but the unclean bar, dirty plates and then finding a hair in my food was three strikes. I...