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| - Bona Terra has been open a long time and truly has become a Pittsburgh classic. I have been there many times over the years and I can remember my first dinner there about 7 or 8 years ago. The BYOB concept was so novel for Pittsburgh. They were playing OK Computer from start to finish over the speakers. It was quite memorable for the excellent ingredients and creative presentations.
Fast forward to the present where we dined with a couple close friends on a Saturday night. Bona Terra really hasn't changed a lot over it's time. In many ways it has declined. They still play great music, but it's so loud inside that you can't hear it.
Our party had 8:00pm reservations. We arrived 10 minutes early and had to sit at the bar. Because Bona Terra still doesn't have a liquor license, we were offered nothing while we awkwardly waited. An interesting non-alcoholic drink offering would have been nice. At our reservation time we were seated promptly and given menus, but our first bottle of wine wasn't opened until 25 minutes later. We didn't receive our first course until 8:50 and we were absolutely starving. Our server was very nice, but everything was exceptionally slow. Our entrees weren't delivered until 9:45 and we were really starving by then.
Delays like this are easier to tolerate if the food is great. Unfortunately, some of our dishes fell short. The fried breading on the oysters appetizer was too think and completely overpowering. One of our party had the sea bass and was very disappointed. My spinach salad with eggs, tomatoes, and portabello mushrooms was basically all spinach with barely any of the other mentioned ingredients. My duck was well cooked, but it wasn't very creative and overall just seemed safe.
"Safe" is probably the best way to describe the food at Bona Terra. It's higher-end comfort food. The menu and preparations have barely changed over the restarurant's existence. Creative ingredients or newer cooking techniques are completely absent from the menu. There's no question that Bona Terra appeals to an older clientele. Besides the out-of-place children eating there (for whatever reason every time we have been to Bona Terra we have seen children, and it's not a bring-your-kids-to kind of place), almost everyone was 70+.
It would be nice to see Bona Terra revamp their menu and include some more adventurous choices. Places in Pittsburgh like Notion, Spoon, and Salt of the Earth have far more interesting and unusual menu selections. I'd also like to see them completely redesign the ugly yellow interior and finally get a liquor license. They do offer a 7-course tasting, but how can you properly match wine pairings unless you bring 7 different bottles of wine? I would like to see less tables so it's not so freaking loud inside. I don't think this will ever happen because that would alienate their loyal clientele who for many years have fought for reservations to have a nice, comfortable, safe, "fancy" dinner.
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