Della Terra

Please don’t waste your money at this sad excuse of a restaurant. Not only is it overpriced and food is absolute crap, but the service is the WORST I have ever experienced. From the hostess who greeted us with a glare and asked «…are you eating here?», to our waitress who was really nice, but seemed to have forgotten about us and/​or decided to take a small vacation during our meal because I swear, the girl just kept disappearing, to the bartender who was more interested in the television than making our drinks. Maybe the three tables (including ours) were just too much for the restaurant staff to handle.

I can’t say enough about how delicious my meal was at Della Terra! We enjoyed the surf & turf special along with a pork special, both were cooked to perfection. The wait staff was wonderful and very informed. I highly recommend!

We had a rehearsal dinner at this restaurant and they were very accommodating. I recommend it, as it is a very pretty setting and the chefs and managers are very easy to work with. The food was good, and they worked with us on all aspects.

I visited the hotel again, and tried the food for room service. Della Terra has improved greatly, and the food is good. Pizza and Cesar Salad were my favorites.

Stopped in for lunch, nice menu but Sharon told us about the fish special with rice and mango cooly. The fish was tasty, the rice was good, the plate was A+++
Sharon g was great friendly and informative. We have a great lunch.

Went twice in one week. First visit was on a very quiet wednesday. There were only two tables (including my table) that night. It took about 50 minutes for our entrees to come out. Our waiter was nice enough but I couldn’t help but wonder why there was such a long wait. I then ordered cheesecake for dessert, that’s already prepared. It should’ve been no more than a 5 minute Wait. 15 minutes later our waiter came out with cheesecake. I just thought, maybe they’re having an off night. I went back again on a Saturday, it was like déjà vu. The wait was an hour and ten minutes this time for our entrees. Just terrible service. I wouldn’t recommend this place. By the time the food came i couldn’t tell if it was good or not because I was practically starving. There are nicer places in buffalo, do yourself a favor and save yourself some time, go elsewhere for a nice dinner

The food gets a solid 4 stars. My salmon was perfect, but my boyfriend’s rib eye was slightly burned and hard to chew. The atmosphere is alright– needs music. The lighting and overall comfort were pretty good though. The services, however, could have been better. Our male server took forever with everything and I had to ask twice another server (lady) to get our dessert and check because we couldn’t find him anywhere. He also forgot some things along the way. Since we came here with a Groupon, it was ok-​ish, but it is way too overpriced for the service they provide.

While in Buffalo for the Phantom Of The Opera we failed to make reservations. Della Terra was selected as a last resort and I could not have been happier. Despite some of the other reviews our experience was a good one. We arrived at 5:30 and were promptly seated. The waitress recognized that we had young kids and brought the bar menus. We started with bruschetta and the kids had wings. Having two children with allergies they made fresh bread as to be sure there would not be cross contamination. My son had pizza, one niece had a burger and fries. They were very happy. My wife had steak which was cooked perfectly. My other niece and I had stuffed chicken parm. It was very good. The only downside was the waitress did not take our drink order until after the appetizers arrived. She was very good though and attentive. We will be back again.

Lindsey, our waitress, was incredible. She did a table side Caesar, I’m still thinking about it and it’s been two months. She was patient, courteous and intellectual. Great spot!

I had high hopes for this restaurant. I was hoping that they didn’t quite deserve the poor rating that they have received on Unilocal.Sadly, I can only dish out a 2 star for our dining experience.
I will start from the beginning. It’s the day after Christmas and we have been craving a nice piece of steak for weeks. The last time we had filet mignon (which is the only cut our spoiled butts will order) was when we went to Texas de Brazil on Veterans Day. So, I came up with the idea of trying out Della terra since my friend had given me a 20% off coupon as well as a $ 20 gift card, which btw, I now realize that the 20% off deal is readily available via the Unilocal app.
I made a reservation, though there was clearly absolutely no need for it whatsoever, the restaurant was mostly empty with 2 other couples. The complimentary parking was nice, and the large bar area was pretty and presentable. The dining area was nice and dark and well decorated. I didn’t really like how small the 2 people tables were, there was barely any room for our various plates and the waitress ended up having to take away the centerpiece candle to make space.
We ordered a bottle of Malbec — the only one available on their menu. It was $ 24, not too shabby. A little fruitier than I’m used to but we still liked it. I got the lump king crab appetizer special that came in a martini glass with some pineapple salsa and fresh cilantro and lime — it was good, but not quite worth the $ 12 price tag. The tableside freshly-​made Caesar was fun to watch and also delicious, although there was way too much lettuce added and therefore they are extremely lightly coated with the amount of dressing available. And since it’s made tableside with all the portions measured out — you can’t exactly get «extra dressing». I personally like a very lightly coated salad but even for me, I thought it could use a bit more dressing. Nevertheless, it was cool watching the waitress make it and everything tasted fresh.
A basket of bread came midway through our salad with some butter and an oil/​balsamic vinegar/​Parmesan cheese plate for dipping. The bread wasn’t fully cooked and was very thick and heavy, and the oil/​balsamic dip was very vinegary, but perhaps that’s just cause I’m so used to only cooking with 18 years old balsamic vinegar so I’ve been spoiled.
My fiancé and I both ordered the filet mignon, of course, since that was the whole reason we went out to an impromptu dinner tonight. Well, let’s just say that the next time we crave a nice piece of filet, we will not be going anywhere new for it. First of all, the cut of meat was NOT a filet mignon, it tasted like a sirloin. Whatever it was — IT WAS NOT FILET MIGNON. It was cooked medium like we ordered, so it was not an overcooked issue — it was a «completely wrong cut of meat» issue. And at $ 36, we expect a real piece of filet mignon. Secondly, the sides weren’t any better — the fingerling potatoes had a nice crisp skin, but needed seasoning or at the very least salt. Same with the blanched broccolini — there was absolutely no seasoning on them whatsoever, and were just very tasteless. Our waitress was nowhere to be seen for about 10min despite a pretty much empty restaurant, so we couldn’t even ask for salt.
Overall, we were extremely disappointed with our steaks, and also annoyed that they would pass something else off as filet mignon. Of course, my fiancé doesn’t like confrontations and so we never said anything. Plus since we were using the 20% discount and a $ 20 giftcard, I didn’t want them to think that we were trying to take advantage or something. We took the leftover steak home hoping that maybe we can make steak and eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning… OR give them to my 2 dogs. Not to be rude or anything, but I do hate wasting food so if we don’t end up eating them I will certainly give them to my dogs as a special treat.
I will say that we received good service in general and we still tipped the waitress well. I just hope that they don’t always serve the wrong cut of meat to their customers, and if that is the best cut of «filet mignon» they’re able to get from their meat supplier, then the best of luck to them, because we sure as hell won’t be going back there ever again. After the discount and the gift card, we still ended up paying $ 120 including tip. For that, I would rather pay the extra $ 20 – 50 and go to Hutch’s or Oliver’s or Russell’s for a truly amazing filet mignon.

I see no reason why locals would ever visit, and it won’t be long before travelers find other places to eat where the martinis are not $ 16 plus tax and tip. SO DISAPPOINTED. Neither culinary prowess or service compensate for paying twice as much for drinks.

I’m so sad to have to give so few stars. But this is clearly a place that has «on days» and «off days». I hope we were there on one of only a few «off days», but reading the reviews it seems they may have a few «off days».
We went for lunch. Parking was easy and complimentary when we said we were having lunch there.
There were two other occupied tables and a few people eating at the bar. So, not crowded. Our waiter was clearly new to the profession. He was a little disheveled, odd for a more upscale place I thought.
We ordered the artichoke apps and while good, small portion for the price we felt. I probably would not order that again.
The steak pizza was served luke warm at best. And not very good sadly.
My companion felt their meal was «ok». I forgot what they ordered. Also served cooler than one might expect.
I don’t know what to think. It’s a beautiful space. Should have been more crowded, but I’m guessing the food does not draw the crowds in. Easy parking. All in all, I’d hope to be able to increase stars in the future, but since I doubt I’ll be back that may be difficult.

A bit late with the review since I dined there on Saturday and it is now Monday, but definitely needed to write this.
Need to start out by saying while picking where to eat we researched the menu online. Much to our surprise upon arrival the menu offered was completely different than what we were expecting. So let’s now move on to our server. Our server was nice and polite but could not pronounce many of the items from the specials list. I hope the restaurant will work on better training for the staff.
Now for the food. One of our party had the filet mignon which was cooked well but lacked seasoning and flavor. The second person in our party had the shrimp scampi as like the steak lacked seasoning and the flavor profile just wasn’t there. I myself had the pork which was cooked fairly well and was to have a cherry Demi– glacé but I had the cherries but Demi glacé was missing. I can say if they actually made the cherry Demi glacé it would have been quite good. My risotto was quite sad and seemed more like a boxed risotto than a fresh made version.
All in all the meal was over priced average fare.

Food, service, and décor were all excellent. I didn’t read the reviews until after we visited, and I’m glad I didn’t because I would have missed out on a fantastic meal. The salmon was a star, as was the Caesar salad prepared table side. The service was impeccable, and the manager and chef both stopped by as well to see that we were happy. Couldn’t have asked for anything more. Will definitely return.

And another Groupon. We were worried about this place due to all the bad reviews but were pleasantly surprised. I had duck with blueberries and risotto that I thought was really good but my husband thought it was so-​so. Husband had a ribeye steak with smashed potatoes and broccolini (substitute for asparagus they were out of). He was very happy with his meal. The Caesar was prepared tableside and made the right way with anchovy mashed up and raw egg. If it doesn’t have those things it’s not a real Caesar. Very good job on the dressing. our waiter, Christopher, although not too refined was very attentive and personable. Husband liked the house cabenet and the tiramisu (on the house) was probably the best I’ve ever had. The only problem with the place is the ambiance. It is not cozy and looks like a hotel restaurant (which it is, obviously) and it was empty besides us for most of our time there which gives it a lack of energy from the buzz of people. The waiter said the likely reason was due to the hockey game and football game that weekend keeping people occupied since the hotel was almost full. And a shout out to the wonderful bartender, Tricia. We would likely go back again (We will be since husband bought another Groupon for there) but is very pricey without the benefit of the discount.

My husband and I ate at Della Terra because he purchased a deal with the Embassy Suites where you got a $ 50 voucher for $ 20.
The waitstaff was all incredibly friendly. That was probably the best part of the entire experience.
The restaurant is located off the hotel bar with no clearly discernible entryway. You feel like you’re tucked into the corner of the lobby. The ambience just isn’t anything special. The holiday decorations also felt cheap.
We were seated very quickly because we were one of five tables… and then our waitress disappeared for an extended period of time. She didn’t come back to take our drink or food orders until we had totally finished reading the menu. But she was so nice I felt bad being whiny about it…
She also seemed to forget to tell us about a couple specials because I heard a waiter at the table next to ours talking about dishes we didn’t even know about.
The food was good enough but completely overpriced. Their website also indicates that their food is based on seasonal ingredients, but I could find little to no evidence of that on their actual menu.
My pizza crust was slightly burnt, which may not have been an issue for others, but I’m sensitive to the taste of burnt dough.
The nicest part was when the manager came over to tell us that they were giving us a free dessert because it was our anniversary. It wasn’t our anniversary, but my mother had called hotel earlier to see about getting us room service breakfast and because they don’t do that, the woman she spoke to must have asked the hotel to give us dessert. It was a really nice gesture. We had tiramisu, a peppermint cannoli, and chocolate crème brûlée. All pretty good.
With the voucher, the meal probably cost us about $ 35. If the meal had actually cost us closer to $ 85 or $ 90, I would’ve been very disappointed. As it was, I can’t rate this restaurant any higher than two stars because of slow service, underwhelming food, and lacking atmosphere.

We purchased a Groupon for Della Terra after researching what looked like a really great menu online… so I was sort of surprised to learn this restaurant is located in the Embassy Suites downtown. We made reservations via Open Table for a Saturday night at 6:30pm and it was pretty dead inside. The room is big and open and it felt like a hotel restaurant, honestly… not very warm and inviting.
We started off with the calamari appetizer, which was cooked very well, ie not very chewy, with a nice spicy chipotle aioli. However, the breading kept falling off the calamari. We also split a Caesar salad and the waitress split it into two plates for us, without us requesting, and didn’t charge us for that. Great service! The salad was delicious. Oh, I almost forgot… the bread they served was phenomenal– warm and crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. I hardly ever eat bread before a meal but this was worth it.
For entrees, I selected the Seafood Cioppino. After a less than stellar cioppino at another downtown Buffalo restaurant a few months ago, I was really hoping for something better. The broth was spicy and flavorful, exactly how it should be. The seafood consisted mostly of salmon, with 2 scallops, 2 lobster claws, and 2 clams. I would have liked more of the shell fish and less salmon. My husband had one of the specials– beef tenderloin medallions served over a pasta with boursin cheese sauce. He enjoyed it but I wasn’t wowed by it.
Overall, the food was pretty good but expensive (even after the Groupon). Combine that with the lack of atmosphere and we probably won’t be back any time soon, however, they do have a nice patio on Delaware Ave so I would consider going there on a nice day to sit outside for drinks and appetizers.

What a way to ruin an evening. We were expecting a good time at this «upscale» eatery but we were very disappointed. We were dressed in Sabre clothing and I guess that the waitress assumed that we were only deserving nothing but the «specials menu» and were not even offered a wine listing.
Although my meal, a mustard & pretzel encrusted pork chop, was cooked perfectly, my dates meal, a pan seared veal dish, was burnt and they actually thought that by putting the burnt side down would make things alright. It was returned and she ordered a chicken dish that she says was good.
Funny thing was that the waitress thought she was doing us a favor when she said that she was not going to charge us for the burnt veal dish. What a joke. I would have expected that our entire meal would have been comped.
You can bet that I will not return to this place again.

I’ve been to Della Terra several times, mostly for drinks and appetizers. Tonight we went for a nice dinner before the Sabres game. It also happened to be restaurant week.
Upon arriving to a completely empty restaurant, the hostess looked us over several times, turned to get menus before showing us to our table, and clearly had trouble deciding whether to bring the bound menus or simply the paper «specials-​type» menu. She took us to our table, bringing only the Restaurant Week special menu. I had to specifically ask her if there was an actual dinner menu (yes) and could I possibly have it (oh, sure). I later found out that the day manager had instructed her to ONLY bring the Restaurant Week menu to the tables (maybe to push the specials they had over-​prepped for??), but the impression it gave me as a diner was that I clearly didn’t deserve the main menu and (based on the hostess’s behavior) that they didn’t think I could afford more than the restaurant week special.
A mistake on many levels, but once explained (the instruction from the previous manager), the hostess and evening manager agreed that both menus should have been offered to diners. Go figure.
We both ordered the Chef’s rendition of the a «local salad», which consisted of onion, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, field greens with balsamic vinaigrette. The presentation was nice, the overall concept was interesting, but the dressing was like eating straight vinegar. The hostess/​waitress cleared my salad, asking me if there was anything wrong with it since I hadn’t eaten it. I explained that the salad had WAY too much vinegar. She said «It had too much vinegar for YOU.» Ummm no, it had too much vinegar, period.
As a side note, the waitress/​hostess didn’t offer a different salad, didn’t offer to remake it with a different dressing, didn’t offer to comp the bill for the inedible salad.
My dinner companion ordered the mustard & pretzel encrusted pork chop ($ 30.13), which he says was cooked perfectly and delicious. It was served with orzo, which was also very good.
I ordered the veal dish ($ 30.13) which was served pan fried and topped with fresh mozzarella and spinach, served with angel hair pasta with oil & garlic. The veal was BURNED BLACK on the bottom. How does something like this come out of a fine dining kitchen??? It’s not like the restaurant was busy! If you can’t handle ONE TABLE OF 2 DINERS, I’m not sure you belong in the food industry. Even my mother could have handled that workload.
The waitress/​hostess came over to the table and I informed her that the veal was burned. She took it away and suggested the chicken dish ($ 20.13), which could be made quickly since we were on our way to the game. I agreed.
The $ 30.13 restaurant week dishes came with salad, entrée, and dessert. The $ 20.13 dishes came with salad and entrée, no dessert.
The chicken dish arrived. It was perfectly cooked and tasted very nice. I wish the previous dish had been made in the same manner.
We were then informed that we would not be charged the $ 30.13 for my veal (burned, not eaten, sent back), but would be charged ONLY $ 20.13 for the chicken dish to compensate us for our trouble.
Let me see if I understand this correctly. The $ 30.13 dish that I didn’t eat and sent back, you aren’t charging me for. Sounds fair. The $ 20.13 dish that I did eat, you are charging me for. Sounds fair. So what exactly are you comping us for our trouble with???
Oh … dessert. That we didn’t have time to eat because we waited so long for my chicken dish. Ummm ok. $ 6 for my trouble. I won’t bother you again. I expected to have my entire meal comped — that’s what any other manager at any other restaurant would have done.
When we did eat the desserts after the game (chocolate cheesecake and a variation on strawberry shortcake), we found them both incredibly dry and not made in-​house, clearly bought and pre-​sliced.
I was hoping to find a new go-​to dinner place close to my new apartment. This is definitely NOT it. Even if the food becomes more reliable, the service and overall customer service is horrible. Maybe they are used to one-​time diners who are staying at the hotel and don’t care about building a local, loyal foodie base.
What a shame. It’s such a pretty venue.

I can understand why native Buffaloians give this place «meh» reviews, but I have been very pleasantly surprised by the menu and the lovely patio. All of the dishes have been farm fresh and well executed, though occasionally lacking in some elemental ingredient listed on the menu (like proscuitto in my melon salad). The patio is a delightful spot for dinner on a summer evening, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of Delaware Ave.
That being said, it’s expensive, if thoughtful and varied, Italian and the service is spotty at best. Frex, the waitress did not refill our champagne glasses… leaving me to continually have to ask my companion to pass me the bottle (over and over again… champers drinks a lot of champers!).