Terra Preta

We went last weekend for our anniversary dinner. It was fantastic!
The cocktails were awesome with fresh juice from their on site juice bar. My husband ordered Salmon over Risotto with sides, and I got a series of small plates: sweet potato hash, Quinoa Mushroom Crepes, and a cup of Crab Bisque (very good!)
The menu changes each season to reflect what fresh items are in season, and the local farms from whom they buy are listed on the menu.
I’m 5’7″ and had no trouble sitting in the booth (I see someone said it’s too short).
We will be back!

Amazing place for people that love healthy food. It was a real treat to find this restaurant in Scranton Pa during a recent visit. Food was awesome, service, and nice atmosphere. The only suggestion we have is for a more kid friendly menu. Highly recommend to anyone in this area…

My new favorite place! Love how fresh, healthy and organic everything is! So glad I found it! Yum!

My boyfriend and I had been talking about visiting here for a while now, and we finally got a chance to one Friday night. We made reservations, but we didn’t need to – the place was absolutely dead. There was one other table besides us. Our server was very sweet, but the kitchen forgot one of our items (strange when it’s dead — no?). They remedied the problem quickly enough — but then the dish was undercooked (mushy hush puppies). Neither of us were wowed by the experience, and the price tag was pretty steep for something that was just «meh». I wonder if other people feel the same considering the lack of people dining that night. I don’t think we’ll be back.

In for a business trip and received this recommendation from the client. Overall, Terra Preta was terrific. My colleague and I would definitely go back given the great dining experience, service and outstanding food — the food was amazing! Highly recommend this restaurant… It stands far above many options in the area if you’re looking for fresh, local delicious cuisine and cocktails. Nice work!

The reason I came here was that I’m in town and a vegan in need of food. There were several options for me on the menu, and some of the special were vegan.
I ordered the vegetable lasagne because it sounded really interesting. It’s presentation was beautiful, but I didn’t love the dish. It needed more sauce but it wasn’t bad. Yet I don’t think I liked it enough to order again.
I got the vegan flatbread and quinoa salad for take out. I had a little bit of the flatbread and it was awesome. For desert, I got a special which was organic berry crumble, and again it tastes great!!!
I like the atmosphere and decorations of this place. It seems to care where your food comes and what it is, things that I value. They have local and organically sources food :)
I’m excited to eat my takeout tomorrow, and let’s celebrate that they pay for your lot parking if you eat dinner from 5 pm to 12 am!

We came here without reservations later on a Saturday night and were welcomed and seated right away. I have never clicked on this listing in Unilocal before because I am not a vegetarian but I was looking for something different. I was pleasantly surprised to find both vegetarian and carnivorous options. Our server was super friendly and attentive and the meal was absolutely wonderful! I ordered one of the specials, squash stuffed with a quinoa/​chick pea mixture. The squash and all of the sides were delicious, and the presentation was beautiful (check out the pic I posted). I can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu. The ambience is very nice. We also checked out the eclectic little boutique in the building on the way out. Great experience all together!

Everything about this place was amazing. From the pork buns that are up there with Momofuku and Ipudo in Manhattan, to the perfectly cooked pork chop. We are definitely going back!
To add, I’m glad I read the bad reviews before deciding because to me they seem pretty unjustified.

Went to this restaurant on a whim and it was a pleasant surprise. We are all vegetarians and had some of the best food here than anywhere on our trip. The grain salad was one of the best salads I have had. They put too much dressing on the other two salads unfortunately, but would’ve been outstanding otherwise.

The bad reviews have me baffled as I have been to Terra Preta three times so far — once for lunch, twice for dinner — and had an excellent experience each time.
What I love most about this place is that myself (vegetarian, mostly vegan) and my omnivore boyfriend finally have a restaurant to go to that will cater to us both. It is SO difficult to find vegan food options in Scranton! Not only does Terra Preta deliver those options, they deliver them deliciously! I’ve so far tried the butternut squash lasagna, the vegan flatbread, and the quinoa apple salad. I’ve also have a vegan chocolate cake & a vegan dessert that tasted like piña colada. Everything was excellent, but I highly recommend the vegan flatbread.
Service has always been polite and we’ve never had an issue with long wait times. Even though the restaurant is small, it’s really a great, cozy atmosphere. It was busy both times we visited for dinner but our servers were very attentive.
I still need to try some of their signature drinks because they look so interesting. We will certainly be back many times, especially since they change the menu seasonally! So glad to have this gem in Scranton! Don’t be swayed by the bad reviews; I can’t imagine this place deserving anything lower than 4 stars.
**EDIT: Those complaining about prices seem to forget this is a FARM TO TABLE restaurant. You can’t go anywhere else in Scranton and get the same quality of food. You can go elsewhere and pay less, but you’re getting garbage meat and garbage produce. You pay for what you get, and the slightly higher price for dinner at Terra Preta is so very worth it.**

Let me first say that the food was very good, presented beautifully and tasted wonderful. If a tasty meal is all you want from your dining experience, then this is a great place. However, when i’m spending that kind of money on a night out with friends and cocktails, I would prefer a total dining experience. Our wait staff was very attentive but half way through our meal, a friend and I at t table for two were joined by a third friend who only ordered a cocktail. She sat with me on the side of the table with a bench,(which incidentally is too low for the table and I felt I needed a booster seat to meet eye to eye with the person in the chair across from me), that ran the length of the wall. There was plenty of room and we had at least enough space on either side of us for another person between us and the person at the next table.
The manager came over while we were in the middle of eating our entrée and asked our friend to move to the bar because it was a two person table. When we insisted that she not move and stay where she was, the manager came back and suggested we all move to another table for four. This was during our meal. We’d already had appetizers, our entrees were half eaten and we had ordered another round of drinks.
We declined the offer to move and told her we had plenty of room. When she insisted that we do, we asked to have our food wrapped and our check brought to the table.
While we tipped our waiter 20% of the bill since it wasn’t his fault for his manager’s rudeness, we were humiliated and angry. We didn’t cause a seen, but told them politely we would not be returning.
Myself and my friend that joined us both own businesses in Scranton and word of mouth can make or break a business. We were astonished at overall rudeness of the manager. We left and were not even offered an apology. I and my friends have dined in better establishments in New York and other major cities and never have we been asked to move or been treated so poorly. I’ve never come across this in all my years of dining out. Very disappointed since the food was good and we would have liked to go back and leave a positive review for this establishment.

Bad Experience.
If you prefer a rude waiter, over priced drinks, an insufferable owner and no parking, This is your new place.

I was upset by a combination no parking (I’m handicaped) and the waiter who told me it was not his problem. I used an old Army term and I admit I was wrong. I offered to apilogize, the owner threw me out after charging $ 60 for 3 half consumed drinks. My friend told him he was being unreasonable and he said «buy your own restaurant and you can do what you want to» Please stay away!

Excellent! Food was interesting and delicious. Wine list was very nice. Décor is attractive. Staff was friendly but a little slow. Definitely going back.

First time here. It’s hard to find on-​line but worth it! The shrimp and scallop curry is awesome, the pork buns were good, but not as good as Mumu fuku (sp?) in NYC. I’d come again

I was disappointed to find that the exotic menu here was so poorly executed. Meats and vegetables alike were overcooked. I stumbled on it in search of a healthy place to eat, but the quality was comparable with Whole Foods, though less affordable. The service was prompt, but indifferent. When I questioned why my $ 6 pressed juice was served in a dainty little glass with more ice than juice, there was no effort to rectify the matter. Splurging on an excellent meal now and then works for me, but paying for an expensive, subpar meal is not something I can afford.

This place is fantastic. Great staff and great food. I was visiting town for work, and looking for a place close by my hotel with great food. I found it! Definitely worth trying!

This place really has found it’s stride. The subtleties in each dish are right on. Service, lighting, music, interior design… all blend for a great experience. Virtually every seat was filled at the bar and the seating areas. Bravo!

Really great food– original and fun. Something for everyone and not bad on the checkbook. Amazing selection of PA beers too!

I wanted this restaurant to be so much better.
But it just wasn’t.
Whenever something new opens in Scranton, my husband and I make every effort to try it out. We are eager to support the economy in NEPA, and felt very motivated to give Terra Preta a chance. But our experience was resoundingly sub-​par, and we couldn’t have been more disappointed.
It started with drinks. Terra Preta has a reasonably classy and fun interior, but the beer and cocktail lists have no prices on them, and the waitress got annoyed with us when we asked. Additionally, she didn’t seem to know much about the different drink options, and as such, we skipped the cocktails (which, for eleven bucks, seemed like a bit of a stretch), and went for what we knew-​beer and house wine.
The main issue, besides the curt and unhelpful waitstaff, was the food. On paper, the menu had a number of options that sounded interesting. Even the nice presentation didn’t prepare us for the fact that the food had no taste and was poorly cooked. The vegetable lasagna was burned on the bottom, which apparently was on purpose. Moreover the lasagna was lacking any sort of flavor to balance the vegetables, and just tasted like mush. The stuffed baked potato was not done right and tasted bitter. When I asked for bread to go with the pureed soup, the waitress responded that the restaurant does not serve bread. For a restaurant with $ 25-​$ 30 entrees in a city where you can pretty much go anywhere else and get dinner for two at that price, they can afford to provide bread.
If the point of your eating is to try every place in Scranton, yes this place exists. But beyond that. I would steer clear until the food quality and service rise to the occasion.