Terra — Restaurant in New York

I went to Terra last night for dinner with friends and had a really disappointing experience. I made a reservation 2 days in advance (there were plenty of options) and showed up on time ready to eat. Upon arrival we were told by the hostess that our table was currently occupied by another party who they were "trying to hurry along" but apparently wouldn't leave? The place was packed aside from a long 8 person table that sat empty. When I asked about that table I was told "well they went with the prix fix option and payed $200 per person in advance so we can't seat you there." We were told we could wait at the bar (where there wasn't any seats, let alone standing room), OR we could eat outside in their heated patio. When i turned around to look at the outdoor space, it was completely empty. The host said, "It's really warm and nice!" And i asked "then why isn't anyone sitting in there?" She didn't respond. So we opted to sit out there and order drinks and appetizers while we waited 30 mins for our table to be ready. Once outside, we ordered 4 drinks and two appetizers. Ten minutes later, 2 of our 4 drinks arrived, followed 15 minutes later by the rest of our drinks. My boyfriend was constantly having to get up to close the screen door that was consistently left open by the staff, letting in the 35 degree cold air into their supposedly "very warm" outdoor seating area. We had ordered two appetizers, one of them made it outside during the HOUR we were out there, and the other one never came. We were finally told our table was ready so we moved inside to be seated. I mentioned to the hostess that this was a really disappointing experience and that she should have prioritized a reservation that was confirmed earlier that day over walk in guests. She offered to provide us with tequila shots or a complimentary glass of Prosecco which I declined. I asked her to please bring out the appetizer we had ordered over 30 minutes prior. The apps and the drinks were great (despite arriving late). We ordered our food and 1 hour and 30 minutes after our reservation was scheduled, we finally were ready to dig in - except they forget my order. Instead, they tried to place the side of potatoes we had ordered for the table in front of me as if it was my entree...the waitress came over about 10 minutes later and said "Sorry, there's so many orders in the kitchen for the same item so it got confusing. They're making yours right now." I want to mention the simplicity of Terra's menu. There are maybe 8 pasta options? So obviously a simple gnocchi pomodoro would be ordered pretty frequently, right? Finally 20 minutes after my friends' meals arrived, mine came out. The waitress offered to comp our next round of drinks but we had all already had 2 (since it had been over two hours at this point), so only two of us ordered another round. You'd THINK she might then just comp 2 that we had already drank but nope! I'd like to think the host would have gone above and beyond to - at the very least - make sure our food came out on time, especially after being so careless with her prioritization of reservations, but there was no accountability, very little attempt to remedy the situation and the overall experience just left a terrible taste in our mouths. The food at Terra is great, but unfortunately not great enough to make up for the trash service. Save your time and...

We arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation, willing to wait at the bar. There was only one table sitting in the restaurant. They said they would seat us right away, then started rushing around to set up a table for us, obviously they hadn’t prepared for our arrival. They ended up setting up a table of two and adding a third setting to it, with one of us being seated against a pole. We didn’t understand that since essentially, the restaurant was still empty except for the one other table. A waiter came over and asked if we wanted water. When we said yes, he said I’ll bring you tap water.. When he returned,he put a bottle on the table for us to serve ourselves. They were unable to make a requested drink because they didn’t have the ingredients. When the alternate drink arrived, it hadn’t been stirred, but didn’t arrive with a napkin or stirrer. After waiting ten minutes, I went up to the bar to ask for a stirrer. This caused a flurry of discussion amongst five workers and I was told to wait. Finally a waitress handed me the bartender’s stirrer and said they didn’t have any but I could use this one. I used it and returned it to the bar. During the meal we were never asked if we wanted a second drink. We were not told what the specials were and when we asked, the waiter rolled his eyes and went to another table to get a small placard from a table that listed the specials, which our table did not have. When the meals arrived, they were basic, but good. When the meal ended, the waiter did not offer any dessert but rather said to us, “Did you want anything else, maybe coffee?” So we assumed they did not have dessert. We asked for cappuccino which they did have, and was very good. We were handed the check. After twenty minutes, the waiter never returned. He passed our table a few times and we offered the folder with payment, but were ignored. Finally, I brought it myself to the bar to pay. The restaurant never did fill up to capacity so we’re not sure why the lack of service and attention. We were dressed nicely and were polite. Needless to say, we will not return to this restaurant. While the food was good, it wasn’t to the quality to balance out the lack of service...

My boyfriend and I were great fans of this place before tonight. We reserved a table for 2 tonight and i am sorry we waste our night out at Terra. We arrived at 8.45PM - no outdoor seating due to the weather but inside there was plenty of space. At arrival one waiter and his supervisor who told us the restaurant was closed. We explained we had a reservation and the restaurant clearly was open given that a couple was eating inside. The supervisor had us in and led us to the table telling us to hurry because we had to be out by 10PM. Not the warmest welcome ever but ok. Rushed into ordering we get a great bottle of Nero d'Avola, one appetizer to share and 2 pasta entrees. We didn't get the chance to finish a glass of wine that he was already pouring another, he kept slamming the door, wondering around all slouchy and visibly stoned (at least I hope this was it!!). At 9.10PM, already gobbled with out appetizer and just starting to dig into our entree, we got the check on the table. "take your time" he says (already wearing his coat). At 9.15PM he comes for the credit card. Exhausted we told him we weren't ready yet (half bottle of wine was on the table and food still on the plate)...it was still 9.15PM. We showed our disappointment so after he mumbled something in english he went back to his post from were he started to insult us in italian (we are italian) as a stoned person would do to start an argument. Long story short we had him call his manager but no luck there as we just got redirected to an email address that probably no one will ever read...we went out for dinner to relax and ended up paying for a dinner we barely ate and get all rattled just because of the wrong person in the...