Buona Terra Ristorante — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

Hi Hearth and Crust. I do appreciate your response!! A couple of things. #1. I do acknowledge that you did take it off the bill. I apologize that I did not mention that earlier. The point is, it should have been taken off, no questions asked. #2. I did leave the waitress a tip. For the $135 bill, I left her $30 cash. I even spoke to her and said I was purposely leaving her a large tip, all cash, because she was a great server.

Response from the owner 12 hours ago Hi Michael. Thank you for your review. I am sorry that your experience was not all it could have been. I apologize if you thought I was disrespectful or had some sort of attitude. I am also sorry if you thought that you paid for that cocktail. As I said, because you are a regular customer, I would take the charge off your check, which I did. So as you see, you did not get charged for the drink in the end. As a veteran service industry professional, I am fully aware that you can’t please everyone but I do try. That’s why I acknowledged your regular status and removed the charge from your check. I do want to point out though something you may not be aware of, no tip was left for the server. It may have been dropped or forgotten but nothing was left on the credit card receipt. Thank you again. I’m sorry you won’t be back. We do pride ourselves on how we truly value our regular guests. As a small business, we can’t afford large advertising campaigns, so we rely on our lovely customers to spread the word. We have been blessed to be part of such an amazing community. Once again thank you and best wishes to you and your family in the coming holiday season. MY INITIAL REVIEW I'm gonna be honest. I love the food, and we've been coming here for the past few years and it has been great. But I came here on Nov. 3, and me and my family have never been so insulted. This review has nothing to do with the food or the waitstaff, which were great. The owner knows us and let her ego get in the way of repeat business and a great customer. My wife ordered a cocktail, she took a sip, and didn't like it. So she ordered a glass of wine. When we got the bill, the cocktail she didn't like was included. $11. We asked the waitress why we were charged? It's normal practice if a customer doesn't like a drink, they bring a different one, no questions asked. The owner came over and asked us what the problem was. We told her, and she said that we have to understand she pays for every drink and if someone doesn't like a drink, then that's their problem. I told her, because they are such a small place, and depend on repeat business, they should be understanding and give the customer what they want. Not only that, but I've been to some of the top restaurants in Chicago, and they ALWAYS go above and beyond to satisfy the customer. No questions asked. But the piss poor attitude of the owner, and the fact we are regulars, has really turned me off. She said because she knows we are regulars was the only reason she would take it off the bill. I own two businesses, and the #1 rule is, never let your ego get in the way of pleasing a customer if they have a legitimate complaint. I won't be back. Oh, and by the way, we spent $135, not including tip. FYI, I still left the waitress a 30% tip because I felt bad that she has to work for an owner like that. I actually hope the owner contacts me so I can teach her to please customers. As they say, penny wise...

Besides of course the delicious food, the main reason I love going to local restaurants is great customer service. I have gone to this restaurant many a times and eaten their nice menu picks. I have even brought friends there and provided referrals. Sadly after many years of business I will no longer be an avid supporter. It truly is a shame when, during covid I have ordered many times as well, the restaurant will refuse to provide any reasonable customer service. I ordered the primavera pasta and it truly was dry/lacking any sauce-a bowl of noodles you could say. I understand this can happen with a carry out order. Things aren't always made divinely. But for $20.00, I truly just was unhappy with the dish. From a customer standpoint I feel like this could be understandable. I was not even asking for a refund. I was willing to even drive back to switch out to another pasta. I honestly have never done this before and after spending honestly thousands of dollars here you would think they could just simply make a quick switch. Maybe this restaurant has gotten too big for good customer service? I have attached a photo to emphasize the lack in sauce/appeal. I am just a little shocked that I was not even asking for a refund and I would bring the dish back-that the restaurant would not even work with me- a customer that has been going there for years honestly. So if you want overall good food come here, but just hope you don't...

We had a fantastic dining experience here. They served all dishes perfectly executed and pecked with great flavors.

Bread - fresh hot basket of bread was brought out with Evo, and a bowl of garlic/parm/oil paste that was perfectly made to spread thickly over the bread. There was none left by end of meal.

Apps - grilled octopus was perfectly cooked. Crispy but not rubbery, and drizzled in a quality baslmic. The beet carpacio was very nice with large thin slices of beets and a small fried call of goat cheese.

Pasta - the brown butter acorn squash ravioli was really special. The crispy fried sage really set it part. The rock shrimp pasta was fine, but was everyone's least favorite thing (it was still great, just the least of the great).

Mains - smoked chicken was everyone's favorite. The smoked tomato sauce was deep and flavorful. All of the sauce was consumed with the remaining bread and garlic spread. The veal was delicious as well. Rich mushroom sauce and well cooked thin veal patties made for some delicious bites.

Cocktails - these were fine. They were generous with the booze, but be warned, the old fashioned is made with muddled orange and maraschino cherry.

Highchairs were plentiful and they were friendly towards families.

Will definitely...