Terra an American Bistro

Tasty but not transformative; ambience is for the over 40 set
Food was solid with some interesting flavors added to Americana dining but nothing transformative, especially for the price. Not sure that I felt strong Italian or Mediterranean influences as offered by our waitress but the service was attentive and unobtrusive. The wine list is OK. Ambience is a bit blue hair but ideal for a relatively quiet dinner; not ideal for the under 40 set and certainly not hip.

Our waitress seemed agitated she had a customers, didn’t greet us or introduce herself. They weren’t busy, maybe ten tables total. She threw the menus on the table and ran away. We had to flag her down each time by waving frantically, or getting another server to help us.
When she did come to take our order, she more or less barked, «You want something to drink? To eat?»
Drinks were ok, food was ok. Nothing special. Then the waitress disappeared for about twenty minutes while we waited for our check…
We finally got our bill and paid, and left her a decent tip. I’m usually a good tipper, like 20% minimum… But sad to say 10% was being extremely generous, or so we thought.
We had to valet our car, no big deal as it was complimentary. Waiting for our car inside, the manager came by to ask how everything was. We didn’t want to ruin the evening so we were polite, and said we had a nice evening.
The waitress actually came up to us and asked, «Is something wrong? Is that my tip?» Holding up the receipt. WOW.
The manager was so flustered and tried patiently to talk to her and said she can’t do this to customers again… Which means she’s had these issues before?!
He offered to give us a discount on our meal, but we have yet to see anything credited back to our account.
He apologized profusely and mumbled something about taking her back to the airport. Yes.
Never going to eat there again, I can promise you that.

I had perfectly cooked lamb chops over polenta. I’m sure it made my grand ma in heaven cry to know I was so comforted. Couldn’t have done better if she had fixed it herself.

Terra is a stylish but casual restaurant almost hidden away in a mall on Green Bay Rd. on the Evanston/​Wilmette border. The ambience is warm, inviting & convivial & there is a fine selection of imaginatively prepared & beautifully presented American food. Our server, Brian, was attentive, friendly & helpful. Our small family group was celebrating & it was such a nice surprise to find Terra. I am looking forward to returning.

Food was pretty good. My husband ordered the apricot lamb chops and I had the filet mignon cooked as we liked it. The place has a nice quiet ambience. We had pretty quick service and nice wait staff.

Had high hopes. Menu was too eclectic and food was not very thought out. The special was scallops with a lump crab fried rice. It was rather awful. One note… sweet. Where was the salt, umami, crunch, depth of flavor, anything?. Pomme frites should be shoestring and crunchy. Salad called butternut squash had only a few cold cubes in it. Overall, blah.

My wife and I loved this place when we were ere last summer. It has lost its way. The truffled frits were soggy, tasteless and I could not eat them. The «flat bread pizza» was made on matzo, that was soggy in the middle and and too dry on the edges. Wines by the glass are over priced (although you can bring you own bottle for a $ 15 corkage fee). The bar tender was very friendly as was the rest of the staff. Free valet parking. Wireless not available.

More people need to come to this restaurant. The service was excellent, the ambience was very nice and the food was all delicious.
They are tucked away in a very little mall on the west side of Green Bay Rd. several blocks north of Central Street in Evanston. From the city one could take the Northline train from Ogilvie transportation center and get off at Central Street and walk three blocks north to the restaurant.
The wafer thin crackers offered as a starter were light and crispy with a dusting of herbs. The special of the day cauliflower cream soup was rich in flavor and yet felt light with a small drizzle of curry oil and small pieces of cauliflower.
The Caesar salad and House mixed green salad both came with lots of small croutons which were crispy and fresh.
The jambalaya was chock-​full of chicken, shrimp, and sausage and had a nice spice level.
The ahi tuna dusted with coriander and lightly seared was served on a bed of sautéed kale and topped with fresh mango and hearts of palm salad. It was so fresh the tuna could have been used in sushi.
The beef tenderloin was as good as it should have been tender and with good beef flavor. The polenta served under the braised tenderloin tips was creamy and rich.
Our only comment was that it was fairly cold near the windows and could have been warmer in the restaurant.

Love this place, a hidden gem off Green Bay Road at the Wilmette/​Evanston border. Low key and stylish with great food. Love sitting at the bar and having Andy serve us.

Great place for freshly prepared food. I have been there a few times now and each time I amazed with the quality of food and drink. It definitely has a more classy feel to the place– complimentary valet!
It has people coming in, but you have to know about it before you head there because it’s off a busy street and can miss it if your not already planning on going. I would recommend some signage on the outside to bring some non-​locals to this spot. Although a great find and is the epitome of local fine dining. Great for dates and small get togethers with friends.

I have driven by this restaurant a million times and my girlfriends and I finally decided to check it out last night. We loved it!
We started with some apps — the brussel sprouts, dates and bacon wrapped scallops. The flavors were outstanding — as was the presentation of each. I’m usually not a fan of dates, but they seemed to melt in my mouth. From there, we had the small plates — the fish tacos — I only had the pork belly ones — crispy and covered with a chipotle slaw. We ended with the incredible doughnuts.
Honestly, I can’t think of anything negative to write. The servers were pleasant and attentive… For this price range, I’m very excited to go back!

I really like Terra. It’s a wonderful place to to have a dressy-​casual dinner with friends and family. Their food is delicious, reasonably priced, and has yet to disappoint. Every member of their staff that I’ve ever interacted with has been nothing short of accommodating.
Some of my favorites: The flatbreads (particularly te pork belly flatbread), their salmon (and any other fish I’ve had there), and the fish tacos.
Terra strikes me as a nice place for a light date night, and is a wonderful place to take my parents.
(Tip: They have free valet parking, which comes especially handy for guests with disabilities)

My friend had rack of lamb, which he raved about and I had the Halibut special. Really good! Our server was outstanding, both friendly and helpful without being intrusive. I have been here before and won’t hesitate to come again.
This is not a 5-​star restaurant, meaning it has no prevention to be the greatest ever, but for a near fine dining restaurant, this is at the top of its genre.

Fabulous restaurant. Service is excellent. Variety of menu items are perfectly prepared — excellent flavor. Our favorite place.

The waitress came back to our table repeatedly to advise us things we ordered were sold out or simply unavailable. Why didn’t they tell her up front what was available? Instead we became increasingly frustrated with having to change selections and try to sort out who got the meal when they only had one or two left of a selection. When the food did arrive, it was ok, nothing spectacular and definitely overpriced. To top off the evening the waitress brought the wrong dessert menu, changed it for the «correct» one and then when we compared we had different choices. All in all, a disappointment. We won’t be back.

Finally made it to Terra after thinking about going many times. So glad we did! The menu covers everything your could want, from small plates to amazing entrees. Our server recommended the bacon wrapped dates for a starter but I feel like every restaurant has those so we opted for the Ahi Tuna, but not the spicy one, VERY good. I ordered the Halibut special which was fantastic, it came with sauteed spinach (which I could have done without, a little too sauteed for my tastes) asparagus (crispy and delicious) and almost a corn beurre blanc underneath. Quite good and a perfect portion. My boyfriend ordered the Steak Frites, also very good, the sauce au poivre was very very good. We did not order dessert, nothing jumped out as being amazing to me but there were some very good looking choices. Wines seemed to be priced accordingly, nothing too crazy but a very nice list.
The downside for this place is that you HAVE TO drive there, there’s no train nearby but they do have complimentary valet. Also, we were, by at least 10 years (we’re 40 and 47), the youngest people in the restaurant the entire time we were there at 730pm on a Friday. I hope this place does well because the food and service were fantastic. I would highly recommend giving it a try, with a designated driver of course.

Food was tasty. That’s about it.
If you and your dining group is under 40, you will not like this place. Hubby and I tried on a Friday night due to good reviews on Unilocal.Perhaps because it’s in the suburbs or was just a fluke, but we were by far the youngest table there. Definitely not a destination for those of us who are too old for the city but want to at least pretend to be trendy.
Service was a little slow and the waiter definitely didn’t know the menu like he could. If you do decide to go, try the bacon wrapped dates. The duck confit and ahi tuna entrees were delicious as well. I would imagine the poke is also a good choice considering how fresh the tuna was.

Great concept. Decent execution. Great and friendly service. While some of the dishes lacked balance of flavors and textures, they all demonstrated technical skill and solid, if uninspired, execution.
The Terra Collins (gin cocktail) alone was worth the trip, and the bacon wrapped dates (although typically I do not care for bacon or dates) were well-​balanced and enough to place this restaurant near the top of our list.

This is a small plates sort of place, so we sampled some smoked salmon, hummus, Margherita flatbread and some fish tacos. It was all good, and the hummus plate, which is more like a whole Lebanese meal including falafel and olives, is a particularly good deal.
The menu is really interesting, and warrants several repeat visits. Service was well-​intentioned but not quite as professional as the food. The place was very busy, due to the trendy vibe and good prices. The bar looks nice, too.

Without question, Terra has the highest quality, freshest ingredients and most delicious food, bar none that we’ve tasted in the northern suburbs. And we’ve tried just about everything in the area more than once or twice. We work in the city and travel often to areas with amazing restaurants. Terra was truly the first place we encountered near our home that simply blew our minds with a menu stocked with so many tantalizing options, we had a very difficult time trying to decide what to order. We settled on a few items and agreed that if it was good, we’d come back to try other items. The problem is, every single thing we ordered was outstandingly delicious. It would be hard to go back and not want to order it again, but we definitely will.
Terra is a place that is cleverly hidden just off of Green Bay Road, tucked into a quiet little corridor just north of Livingston. You have to pay attention, or you’re likely to almost miss it as you’re driving by. Look for the folding sign on the street and turn in there for valet service (or simply walk, like we did).
For the rundown of our entire experience, we began with the fried goat cheese croquettes, which were served on a huckleberry jam and agave nectar sauce with quince jelly and apple wedges. OMFG, you will feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven and wonder if it would be odd to order 2 more servings. Wow! Mad props to the chef for coming up with this concoction of awesomeness! We also ordered the pommes frites with black truffle butter. I guarantee you will not have better fries within the next year, maybe two. Again, wow! So far, this place is really stacking up to be a pleasant surprise so close to home. Next came the beet salad. This was served with arugula and an apricot vinaigrette, macadamia nuts, gorgonzola and apple slices. I can’t remember the last time I wolfed down a salad so quickly.
For the entrees, we ordered the bi-​color gnocchi in a cream sauce with peas and bacon. Holy mind-​bending pasta experience! This was my wife’s order, but I kept trying to steel bites as the gnocchi pieces melted in my mouth like butter, with the perfect texture, flavor and the extra kick of bacon. So amazing, I’m not sure I’d be able to not order it next time. I ordered the maple pecan crusted pork tenderloin in a sweet potato purée with micro greens. Again, with my first bite, I closed my eyes and tried to remember the last time I had tasted pork so incredible. The purée was sweet but with an unexpected, hint of spicy heat to it that lingered ever so slightly on the palate. I made my wife try the purée with a small bite of the pork tenderloin and pork belly. I watched with a smirk on my face as she took a bite and her eyes closed, savoring the flavor.
For dessert, we had the pecan pie, made from scratch, with the Homer’s ice cream. We cleaned the plate. We’ll definitely be back very soon and hope to make this a regular place for us. Service was top-​notch, friendly, personable and highly informative about what was on the menu. Steve took incredibly good care of us all night and knew everything there was to know about each and every item on the menu.
PS: They have a kids’ menu for the little ones and high chairs, if you need it.