La Terraza Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Town of Babylon

First and foremost… the food at La Terraza is SPOT ON! Compliments to the chef, because everything I had was perfection!!

Appetizer: Presidente Calamari. This was probably some of the tastiest calamari I have ever had. Perfectly cooked, great portion and presentation.

Entree: Churrasco La Terraza. Again… Perfectly cooked, great portion and amazing presentation! This was served with sweet plantain mofongo, yucca fries and a pesto chimichurri sauce. So delicious!

Dessert: I ended up taking my dessert home, and had the guava tres leches the next day with some coffee. So good!

Cocktails: I tried a cucumber margarita, mango margarita and the red sangria. All delicious and made with fresh ingredients (no sour mix nonsense!) I honestly can’t wait to go back to try more cocktails. The bartender definitely knows his stuff. I love the use of fresh garnish on all the cocktails too.

Service: My visit to La Terraza was for a “No Host” Birthday party I coordinated for a friend of mine. I must say that from beginning to end, the restaurant catered to my demands and my friends demands in the planning phase and during the party as well. I reserved for a party of 32 for 7pm with a pre fixe menu at a set price and a reduced price cocktail menu. When I arrived 30mins before reservation time, the tables and balloons were set up and all I had to do was add the centerpieces I brought. The place looked awesome! Lights were on, music was playing and wait staff was ready to start. As guest started arriving, I asked the waiters to sit all those that arrived first at the same table so that they can start ordering drinks and apps as we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. Needless to say, most people arrived between 7:45- 8:15 and when more guest than the reserved amount arrived, restaurant staff did not hesitate to add more seats for us.

Location: This restaurant is truly a hidden gem. Nice ambiance, everything is new and nicely decorated. It's located in a commercial area right across from elevated LIRR train tracks, easy to find using my gps. There isn't much traffic nor issues with street parking should the restaurant lot be full.

For days following our visit, I kept hearing about how delicious the food drinks were from several friends, so much so, we are planning to go back to try their brunch and dinner again...

I honestly tried giving this new establishment the benefit of the doubt but the second time the service was beyond horrible. I didn’t give a review the first time but this time I had too. I’ve been to this place opening day with my wife and immediately the issue’s started.

We arrived at the place and it had a good amount of people for grand opening but we waited 10 minutes to be seated. If it wasn’t for the owner’s wife who recognize us I woud guess it would’ve taken another 5 to be seated. At first our waiter was great, took our orders and brought us drinks after that he was no where to be found. I dealt with the manager more than our waiter. I ask for Jack & Coke, they didn’t have any, I asked for barbecue sauce they didn’t have any. After waiting for a refill of our drinks I noticed if I physically went up to the bar I would receive faster service than our waiter. As far as the food goes, we easily waited 30-45 minutes between the appetizer to the actual entree itself. Again, no waiter but instead the manager that referred to me as the Jack & Coke guy.

The highlight of the night is when I asked the waiter and manager in the beginning if I could pay with card, they both said it was ok no issues. I have no idea what happened but apparently the credit card machine was not working and I have to drive to the nearest bank in Lindenhurst to pay them in cash.

Customer service is practically common sense. Just because it’s grand opening, it is not an excuse for horrendous service. If anything it should’ve been close to perfect. I tried to give this place a second chance and I was still let down, it took what seemed like forever to receive drinks or food.

This place needs either new management or better training for its employees. It has potential but not...

Upon entering, the hostess asked to scan our IDs. We were told, no joke, that it’s “because [they] want to know who is here.” What does that even mean? Anyway, the hostess scanned our IDs and we chose to be seated on the patio, unaware that there was a large, boisterous group celebrating something. Not a big deal.

We started with a pitcher of sangria, thinking it would be a better deal than ordering three or four drinks. The pitcher was good for at least eight drinks. Great deal.

For our appetizer, we ordered the calamari. The waitress suggested the calamari instead of the three empanada appetizer. The calamari (no tentacles) was good, but it wasn’t hot when it arrived at the table. It was served with a smoky mayo sauce and a sweet chili sauce.

For the entree, my companion and I chose the parrillada terraza, a mound of steak, and grilled chicken and shrimp. We asked for the steak to be cooked medium, but it was definitely well done and tough in some parts. The chicken and shrimp were delicious. The meal comes with two sides. We chose sweet plantains and yuca mash. Both sides were good.

The atmosphere was okay. I see a DJ booth, but thankfully they were playing prerecorded music at a comfortable volume. The one announce was a large fan blowing constantly in our direction. We asked the waitress if it could be redirected, but well… it didn’t really happen.

I would probably return. For the amount spent, I feel that we received a good amount of...