La Gran Terraza - University of San Diego

Review summary

1. D

   David

   Atlanta

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 1

   Can you please dim the lights? The atmosphere felt like a hospital. The service was overstretched and slow. Food was pretty good but left something to be desired on a few of the dishes.
   

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2. F

   Felix

   San Diego

   16 reviews

   4.0

   16 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great experience on a San Valentin Day. Nice view, great food, and excellent service. Complementary valet parking available.
   

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3. D

   Deb

   San Diego

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   We had a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner at La Gran Terraza on the campus of USD. Delicious duck confit for me & husband had the surf & turf with filet mignon & lobster. Fabulous desserts too. Our server, Jack, was great. Terrific personality. Only issue I had was the service was pretty slow. I believe Jack was a little inexperienced, but with time, he'll be a top server! Looking forward to many more delightful meals to experience for special occasions. It was thoughtful of the manager, Rose, to come to our table to see how everything was. My husband mentioned to our server Jack that his filet was cooked more to medium instead of medium rare. An extra glass of wine was comp'd & enjoyed by me! Thank you, Debbie
   

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4. T

   Trey

   Charleston

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on 15 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   Please note that this “restaurant” is a large dining room in the student union of the university. From other OpenTable reviews, we knew that this restaurant was run by students from the university, and it received rave reviews. We just did not realize that the restaurant is actually in the student center, which is not the best atmosphere. The dining room does have large windows with views, but the view includes several work trailers and dumpsters, and the windows were very dirty. The room was decorated with roses and rose petals and other Valentines decor. The waitress was friendly, but was not knowledgeable about the food on the menu and had to ask the chef whether a salad was served hot or cold. We ordered two salads, lobster tail and fillet mignon, halibut over succotash, and a couple of desserts. The salads were tasty and presented nicely. The fillet was tough and overcooked. The halibut was cooked well but did not have much flavor at all. The desserts were a vegan pudding and some kind of spongy cake. They looked fancy, but they were fair at best. The staff did bring out to us an extra little sweet treat for Valentine’s Day that had a nice presentation as well. The chocolate heart, however, was not edible. A fork and a knife would not cut through it. Overall, our meal cost $160. Normally, we would be happy to pay that amount of money for a an above average experience, fine atmosphere and delicious food, but this restaurant did not provide that value.
   

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5. A

   Arye Z

   Alabama

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on 6 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Well prepared food, some dishes could be increased.
   

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6. L

   Loralisa

   San Francisco

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on 1 February 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 2

   Food was good Service was inconsistent and kind of inattentive and slow Our party of 4 (had a reservation for 4) was seated at a round table for 6 that was set for 5, so seating was awkward. The fire alarm went off and took forever to turn off. I understand that was unplanned and no one’s fault but it would have been nice to be comped an appetizer or given a discount for the inconvenience.
   

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7. W

   William

   San Diego

   13 reviews

   5.0

   13 reviews

   Dined on 1 February 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great food and service as always. Beautiful dining area and ambiance.
   

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8. b

   barba

   VIP

   San Diego

   48 reviews

   4.0

   48 reviews

   Dined on 1 February 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 3

   We went during Restaurant Week. The lobster soup was very good as well as the burrata cheese salad. We all had lamb chops with carrot cake for dessert - both of these were excellent. My only complaint was the size of the servings. The burrata salad had less than 1/4 cp of greens with an adequate amount of cheese. The lamb main course was two very small chops, meat about the size of a half dollar on each bone, maybe four small bites. The potatoes served with the lamb were also very good. We probably will go back for a regular dinner because the food was quite good. Hopefully, the portions will be a bit larger. Oh, I have to mention finding the restaurant on the USD campus and parking is a challenge. There is no signage to help you find the restaurant. Parking is free after 7PM
   

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9. M

   Manny

   VIP

   San Diego

   34 reviews

   5.0

   34 reviews

   Dined on 31 January 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   We went for restaurant week and were not disappointed. We had the steak and frites. It was so good and the cream of asparagus soup was a starter was fantastic. I was a little disappointed by the dessert that we paid extra for. It was a deconstructed carrot cake. I was hoping for just a regular piece of carrot cake. The flavor was good but it was three small priced of carrot cake and everything else on the side. Like I said deconstructed. It was the only disappointment. I know wish I should of ordered one of the other choices.
   

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10. t

    tsun617

    VIP

    San Diego

    36 reviews

    5.0

    36 reviews

    Dined on 31 January 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    It was my first time here and everything was perfect! Service was good and food was amazingly good! It’s Restaurant week so a complete their course meal was $45 and wine pairing was $25 for 2 glasses. I got the burrata salad, the orange vinaigrette paired so well with the cheese and salad, I like the fennel- gave the salad a crunchy texture to it. The lamb rack was perfectly cooked and just melted in your mouth. And lastly I got the cherry chocolate bombe and the presentation was so fun. Chocolate sauce was poured on top, it hardened and then melted the melted down at the bottom! 10/10 for Service and Value. Parking may be difficult because it’s at the university, but other than that, I highly recommend this place.
    

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