Bonterra Trattoria

Went there last Thursday, my wife chose seafood past and I had pizza from POSTO pizzeria (Yes, you can order from the restaurant besides). Great atmosphere and service, very friendly waitress.
Great and fresh ingredients, soft but tasty flavours.

Very enjoyable team lunch held at Bonterra, we started with a variety of appies including a plate of assorted slices meats and cheeses, calamari (the real thing) and a very nice coarse hummus with sliced toasted bread chips.
For the main I went with the Linguni Carbonara with wild boar bacon, the pasta was also authentic, the sauce rich, creamy and smoky from the bacon. The portion size was the size of a small fist but was plenty given the richness.
Atmosphere was very comfortable, staff attentive and experienced… definitely a place I’d revisit with my wife.

Lovely dinner. Went here for a special meal. The service was great. The linguine carbonara was in my boyfriends top 3 (and he is a tough customer), my duck was excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed and would be back.

Went to Bonterra based on all the favourable Unilocal reviews. I have to say that I’m impressed with the garden patio and the pastas. Depending on which side you face, you can see the city skyline, with some of Calgary’s taller buildings peeking out. The patio is heated and covered — much appreciated given our recent weather.
I tried both the boar carbonara and a chicken arugula pasta. The carbonara was buttery and rich tasting from the bacon. Not overly saucy, which I appreciated. The chicken pasta was light and flavourful, again, without a heavy cream sauce.
Service was great — and not just from our server. Water was replenished often. Another service put on the heater when he saw that I was getting cold. Other staff checked on us while we waited for our seat and near the end of the meal.
Husband was happy with the food, which means we will be back for date night. Prices are reasonable. We got in and out for about $ 100 for one big appy platter, two large pastas and one glass of wine.

I took my friend out for his birthday dinner to Bonterra yesterday (April 1, 2015) and we treated so well that it became a very memorable dinner. We tried the famous meatballs and I have to say they definitely lived up to all the expectations. I got the handmade sausage pasta for my main and my friend got rabbit meat pasta. He prefers spicy food so he didn’t seem to like his food too much but guess what, the incredibly nice server realized that he didn’t like it very much and replaced his pasta with a great recommendation of carbonara (which was definitely very spicy and just right for my friend) FREE OF CHARGE!!! we got cheesecake for dessert and again our server was so nice as to light the sparkler (that i brought for fun) and present it as a birthday dessert for my friend. I was really impressed by the service, the food was great and hell yes I AM COMING BACK HERE ALL THE TIME!!!

Had the pleasure of enjoying the 4 course meal for 2 last evening at Bonterra Trattoria. The restaurant was hopping when we arrived for our sitting, the atmosphere was incredible and the serving staff were on their game on this night. Just an incredible experience from every angle.
The 4 or 5 or 6 course meal (I lost count) was unbelievable. Every course was immaculately prepared and presented and paired with a glass of wine. Some highlights included the Prosciutto, Capelletti, Artic Char (¹⁰⁄₁₀), and Strip Loin. The food just kept on coming and the service provided was excellent. The wine pairings were spot on and the sommelier was super fun to talk to about the selections. Our server was a really fun guy as well, just loved our evening.
An incredible dining experience we won’t soon forget. We’ll be back soon to dine on the back deck!
Thank you Bonterra Trattoria!

Welcoming, elegant and rustic are the three words that sum up my first impressions of this restaurant.
In summary, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. The food is delicious and the servers are attentive, helpful and friendly.
I’ve been to this restaurant two times and I’ve been more than pleased on both visits. My first visit was about a year ago with my boyfriend and the second today, with my awesome ladies. Being that my visit a year ago was so wonderful, I wanted to try Bonterra’s Big Taste Menu (2015). Although the portion sizes were small, I was definitely pleased with the delicious menu. On the menu for $ 25:
Course 1
Tortelloni — Shortrib tortelloni, brodo, white truffle oil
Course 2
Veal — Veal striploin, eggplant caponata
Course 3
Pavlova — Almond pavlova, vanilla bean meringue, almond cake, mascarpone mousse, chocolate
Impressions:
The tortelloni was very delicate, savoury and melt in your mouth amazing. The truffle oil was a nice touch. It was enough to enhance the flavour of the brodo and complement the short rib tortelloni.
The veal was tender and cooked perfectly. It was pink on the inside and toasty brown on the outside. The flavours were light allowing you to taste the sweetness of the veal. The eggplant caponata was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. A rather unique texture contrast.
The pavlova was presented in a very fun and different manner. The almond cake was moist, the vanilla bean meringue had a nice crunch and the mascarpone added a nice creamy touch.
I will definitely go back to this place!

This restaurant gets a 4+ star from me. Definitely a very solid place.
I went here twice this past week during a work trip. My first experience was a 5 star. Jeremy was an awesome waiter and the Arctic Char was really delicious.
My second experience was good, not great. The risotto was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the Arctic Char. Overall this place gets a 4+ from me. Worth a visit.

Very good food with a fine-​dining feel at a reasonable price. Really good location for a date. Their pastas can also be done gluten-​free.

I find this restaurant to be quite deceiving when it comes to size. Just based on the exterior of the restaurant you wouldn’t think it would be a big restaurant. You will be pleasantly surprised! Its ambiance is beautiful and you do feel a sense of culture upon entering. Not to mention the patio area, which is beautifully decorated and absolutely perfect for a private function. We attended a wedding there during the summer and it was beautiful.
The food was very tasty and overall very filling! The wine selection, along with the service was great! I will definitely be back and recommend this restaurant for family dinners along with dates.

The food here is great!
It’s one of my favourite restaurants in Calgary.
Service can be little slow at times, but it’s overall great!

The food was delicious, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, but I think the best thing about Bonterra was the service. During our business dinner we were blessed with a waiter who took genuine pride in what he was doing and the food he was representing. He described with great detail the restaurant’s signature dishes and their reasons for being so. He also described the chef’s use of seasonal vegetables in the feature dishes in such a way that made it impossible not to order them.
I had the risotto with fresh corn and mushrooms. I’m not always a risotto fan when there are pasta dishes around, but this was delicious! Also amazing was the warm tomato and goat cheese salad, which was made with garden fresh tomatoes. So fresh!
I’m not from Calgary, but whenever I visit I will be sure to return to Bonterra!

Bonterra features delicious Italian food at the upper end of the culinary spectrum.
I had a quick Twitter exchange that led me to believe that their Taste of Calgary 2014 menu would be available gluten free but when I arrived, I was informed that that information was incorrect. While I don’t think that it is fair to include that in my evaluation of the experience, I hope they become a little more synced between social media and their actual menu.
I started off the night with the olive plate and enjoyed the many different varieties of olives, many of which I had never had the pleasure of trying before. I was expecting the olives to have very strong tastes, but they were softer than I expected and actually varied vastly in taste.
Next I had a soup that was a leek base with smoked salmon and other delicious ingredients (it appears their menu has changed since I last visited, so I can’t look it up). I remember being very impressed by the soup overall.
The pasta I chose had lamb and was served on gluten free pasta. The whole dish was quite impressive and the gluten free pasta held up well without taking over the taste of the dish.
For dessert I had the gluten free almond cake. It was coated with chocolate and served with a red wine soaked pear. I found the cake to be very good and a huge portion (great for sharing). I would definitely order it again when I revisit.
If you love Italian and want to splurge on some delicious food, Bonterra’s for you.

Okay Bonterra. You redeemed yourself. After the «dancing worm incident» of 2012, I vowed never to return. But then I met a new friend who absolutely loves it there. So one night I came back. I was hesitant about giving you a second chance. But the food was great and the service was too. But I still wasn’t totally sold.
Then you opened Posto… I do really like it there and haven’t had any problems. On a few more occasions I came back to Bonterra (usually when Posto was full) and continued to get wonderful food and attentive, much more genuine service than what I had a couple of years ago.
A couple of weeks ago, while eating some delicious risotto at your bar, my friend (the one who loves you) asked if I have finally forgiven you. Good question. I thought about my earlier experience and Unilocal review. And I’ve decided that I have. So here is the updated one.
Bonterra is a great spot for lunch or dinner. The servers are all friendly and knowledgeable and can make great suggestions. Whether you sit at the bar or at a table, the experience is good (they can be a bit different though).
I would offer a tip though that you maybe reno your washrooms. They don’t reflect the calibre of restaurant I think you’d like to be and are often not as tidy/​clean as they could be. Just a suggestion.
I’m glad we are friends again.

Had a lovely time at Bonterra. My experience may be slightly different than others, as we sat at the bar and got quite a bit of conversation in with the bartender and some of the staff. I’ve mentioned this in other reviews; when the staff is super into the food they create, it gets the patrons into it.
I was very lucky to have one of their signature one-​off charcuterie boards explained to me by the head chef, who made the selections. I had never had swordfish gravlax but let me tell you. spectacular. The bison carpaccio was a surprisingly large portion and exploding with flavour – it came with sunchoke chips which is something I’ve never had before but was absolutely killer (where can I buy a bag)?
Service was very good, though that could be because we were at the bar. I didn’t go five seconds without bread being restocked on my plate. The food came out quickly despite the rush. Drinks were served with care, showcasing an excellent wine and gin selection.
Highly recommended!

Oily pasta, oily focaccia ,
Orchietti was over cooked and split
Buratta was excellent
Staff seemed rushed? It was a blizzard and only 20 or so guests with 5 floor staff ?
Not really welcoming to single diners

What an adorable entryway. Just like an Italian backyard, you enter through a magestic gate through a beautiful patio area.
We didn’t make a reservation thinking that on a week night we’d have no issues getting a table! False. We ended up at the bar as there were no tables available.
The bar was a really unique eating experience, made better due to the fact the bartender was super friendly and showed a sincere passion for the drinks and food.
We had the Porto Platter which is a beautiful charcuterie plate with unique flavours. For example there was a variety of salamis with buffalo mozzarella, and then prosciutto with pears, gorgonzola, and walnuts. Beautiful taste combinations.
We also had the bison carpaccio which came with caper berries (yes, I had no idea such a thing existed until that point) and these crazy chips that were described to us as a hybrid potato artichoke chip. What a fabulous combination of the soft meat, crunchy chip, arugula, and the saltiness from the caper berries.
For dessert we tried the pumpkin spice cake and it was just as amazing.
We had a wonderful experience and would highly rec commend you go.

The menu, wine list, and service are fantastic. I just moved to Calgary and I choose Bonterra’s as my first fine dining experience. And what a great choice that was. My server Jeremy was very welcoming and he had a great sense of humour. Such a great place. Definitely going back.
My only suggestion would be for the restaurant to make the upstairs as atmospheric and as comfortable as the main level. And improve the acoustics upstairs.
p. s. Great cooks here.

2 Stars at best for the food and 4 stars for the service…
We came into Bonterra sans resos and it was quite busy… we were just in time to snag a table for 2 that was being vacated. They have a nice bar and we would have been totally fine being seated there as well.
Our server was great, he was knowledgeable about the menu and was open to discussing his fave dishes.
We started out with drinks and appies which included the meatballs (wow, you get a load of them so keep this in mind) and also the tomato and shrimp bisque which was on the Specials menu for $ 8. Both were very good and we should have stopped there.
Ordered for mains were the sausage pizza on Special ($ 17 — yikers!) and the gnocchi which was the waiters’ fave dish.
The pizza was OK. Nowhere near mind-​blowing. The gnocchi was horrrible and while I almost never send a dish back, it was inedible, — so I did return it. The texture of it for me I guess was what it was. The dumplings were huge and just kind of sogged in the mouth with a nothing ricotta-​supposed-​to-​be there-​ness. Yuck. This was of course taken off the bill and almost the entire pizza was packed up to go. I was offered another dish and I just could not choose anything. The menu itself was minimalistic which at times is great but in this case I found the pasta options to be few. EX no fettuccine, no alfredo, very little seafood.
The atmosphere was very classy and authentic Italian. It was worth the trip just to experience the restaurant, the great red wine and the service but the food was not up to par.
Would only return if invited.

Bonterra is one of those places I always forget I love until I eat there again. Earlier this week, we had a goodbye dinner at Bonterra. We had a huge (loud) group but we had an amazing dinner. We started by telling our waiter to bring us a selection of appetizers. They were all great but the risotto balls were the stand out. I want to go back and eat ONLY risotto balls for dinner.
Since I ate so many starters, I couldn’t eat a big meal. So I ate the fantabulous caprese salad.
YUM!
All in all, the service and the food were wonderful. The space is pretty echoey so it can get very loud if there’s a big group.