Terrace Grille Lakeland — Restaurant in Lakeland

Steer Clear! Mediocre (I'm being generous instead of saying disgusting) food at a premium price and.....

If you want a nice romantic meal, music and good food we recommend the following:

1. Go to your local McDonalds (Burger King etc) and order your favorite meal
2. Go Home
3. Put Pavarotti on
4. Dim the lights
5. Enjoy and save $150 While the above may sound ridiculous that’s the feeling you’ll have when you leave this establishment. This place is beautiful but the food stinks and the service is lacking.

There were 5 of us. I looked online at their website the prior evening we visited this place. The online site showed they had Osso Buco and filet mignon as there was nothing else on the menu that piqued my taste buds. I was all set for a delicious Osso Buco.

We arrived, the hostess sat us down and distributed the menus. Bread was brought our fairly quickly (the butter was very salty). I was reviewing the menu and immediately saw at the very top that the word brussel’s was misspelled (it showed brussesl). At that point, I said to myself, this meal was not going to go well.

I reviewed the menu 10 times searching and carefully reading every line looking for my Osso Buco and/or Filet Mignon. I searched but neither could be found. The waitress came over and I asked, where is the Osso Buco and Filet Mignon? Her reply, “we have a new chef and it’s no longer available”. Ta da! That was it. No apology or any after thought on how they could accommodate me. Instead, it was like she said, this is how it is so deal with it!

At that point, I said to myself, this meal is definitely not going to go well. I mentioned to them that the website still had the Osso Buco and Filet Mignon listed. I may have as well talked to the wall.

I decided to order the “Braised Beef Short Rib” for $42. The wife ordered the chicken. Our guests ordered similar meals.

Our dinner arrived. It was presented nicely and I cut into the “Braised Beef Short Rib”. Well, to my amazement it was not a “Braised Beef Short Rib”. It was Pot Roast! POT ROAST! Yes, the same Pot Roast your mom made and didn’t like was served here for $42 instead of an actual Braised Short Rib which comes on a bone. This was Pot Roast! It was actually fatty too. I did not care for it at all. It had no taste and neither did the sauce. The mashed potatoes were lumpy.

The $28 half chicken was bland and dry. The wine was ok and the coffee was horrible.

All-in-all ---- steer clear and pick another fine restaurant as this place is anything but quality nor good...

As a mother, I always strive to create memorable experiences for my family, especially on special occasions like Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, our recent visit to The Terrace Grille turned into a nightmare that I would never wish upon anyone.

I was horrified to witness how my son, Levi, was treated when we arrived for our reservation. After confirming a table for seven just a few days prior, we were met with utter disbelief from the staff when they claimed there was no reservation under our name. The host, Salvador, attempted to rectify the situation but brought over Sean, who presented himself as the manager. The way he spoke to my son was not only unprofessional but downright appalling. Instead of acknowledging their mistake, Sean shifted the blame onto Levi, implying that he had failed to confirm the reservation because he didn’t use the OpenTable app, which had been malfunctioning when he tried to book.

Levi was not only taken aback by this treatment, but I could see the frustration and disappointment written all over his face. To hear Sean say, “You do have a choice, but I’m offering to accommodate you, would you like to be seated or not?” was shocking. There was no apology for their oversight, just a patronizing tone that suggested it was somehow my son's fault for their disorganization.

As for the food, it was equally disappointing. The gulf coast oysters were nearly inedible with excessive sand, and the overcooked snow crab was of such poor quality that it was practically rubbery. The Brussels sprouts were burnt, and the Dijon carrots were so salty they were inedible. The only redeeming aspect was the champagne, which, despite the outrageous markup, helped to dull the embarrassment we felt for choosing this establishment.

This experience turned what should have been a joyful Thanksgiving celebration into a regrettable occasion. As a mother, it pains me to think we wasted our holiday at The Terrace Grille, an establishment I once thought highly of. I will certainly not be returning, and I implore others to reconsider before making the same...

**Update from Friday night visit, Friday the 18th. 1st there were just a few tables seated. We got there. Around 545ish,we gotta out after 7 pm. Took some time to get our drinks, which was surprising, as the place was dead. 2 long islands. When they came out they were thick and yellow like staight up lemon concentrate. 2 guys took a big swig and immediately heard them wence in disgrace. We sent them back and got new drinks. The worst Long Island ice teas ever.moving on the the salads. We tried to force ourselves to eat these $15 wedge salads, but they tasted like wet dirt. The dressing had no flavor and the lettuce tasted like dirt. I have never had iceberg lettuce taste like dirt, ever. We are about half and pushed them aside and alerted the waitress. These were worse than Council oaks and they had my vote for the worse. Noe, the entrees. Steak comes out, he cuts into it and it's med well. He ordered medium rare. We all heard him. He could've do it as it was so dry. Cancelled and sent out back. Potatoes were cold, corn was the star. Hot and wonderful. California steak was good along with the chicken. The most upsetting part was, the so called manager was a ghost. NEVER check on us, NEVER apologized or made it right with the salads. We will not be coming back for dinner service. It's 1961 or Texas cattle for us. We are foodies and eat our constantly with our travels. Ocean prime is a favorite of ours. The Terrace is the least favorite now. Get it together guys. They took the steak off our bill but charged us for the nast salads. Very disappointed ☹️. I took a picture of my chicken. I never thought to take a pic of the steak. Had the manager made an appearance and made this right, we wouldn't be in this bad review. We totally blame management. See chicken dish below.

*Past reviews and lunches have always been excellent. We may come back in the future for lunch again, but dinner is out of the question. Everything was great. Chicken salad sandwich was phenomenal along with the hamburger. All the food was good. Chicken salad with...