Bonterra Restaurant

10/01/09

Terrible Experience

by KerryM at Citysearch

I will never go back to Bonterra. I purchased a gift certificate from the Charlotte half off website and unfortunately when I brought it to the restaurant to use it the waiter was completely rude to me. He seemed annoyed that I had the gift certificate and I was shocked by his attitude. He glared at me and told me that I could not use the $40 gift certificate towards alcohol. I was taking my boyfriend out for a surprise dinner for his birthday and the least expensive entree on the menu was $26. I definitely was planning on spending at least $52 on 2 meals that evening. I explained this to him but he still gave us terrible service all evening. He was late to bring our drinks and our bread. Everyone around us was receiving great service. When it was time to leave I gave him a 20% tip on the entire bill before discount. I only did this to prove to him that he didn't need to be so rude and that I was going to leave him a good tip. I really shouldn't have done that! The total bill came to over $100 so I don't know what this guys problem was. Basically my boyfriend and I left the restaurant hungry and frustrated and I had spent more money on dinner than I ever had anywhere else. What a waste of time and money! I wouldn't have minded that the portions were so small if I had actually received good service. I tried to contact the owners twice via phone but was told by my waiter that I would never be able to reach them. He told me that I needed to write an email from the website which I did, but of course did not receive a response. I also wrote 2 letters in the mail. I wasn't asking for a refund or even an apology. All that I asked from the owners was an explanation as to why they would advertise gift certificates on Charlotte Half Off if they were going to be rude to the customers who actually decide to take advantage of the offer. I would not advise anyone to visit this restaurant.

• Pros: Beautiful restaurant
• Cons: Terrible customer service

08/05/08

Excellent Food - Atmosphere good after dark

by happycamper31 at Citysearch

Went Saturday night. Valet parked in the parking lot? Little strange but I guess they are trying to avoid the lot being used by the neighbors.

The atmosphere was a bit stark for my taste, with all the white walls - still looked like a methodist church in the day light - suggest adding some fabric to warm up the atmosphere and bit.

The service was good - the waiter was polite and knew the menu - not too pushy and let us take our time. The food was fabulous - can't say enough. We started with the bbq duck spring rolls and the calamari - the calamari was a unique recipe and presentation and was absolutely wonderful.

The filet was cooked to perfection and came with potatoes with a port wine reduction and horseradish - it melted in your mouth.

Wine was fabulous. Wonderful place to take customers, groups, or for a special romantic dinner (after dark).

• Pros: Food, service, wine
• Cons: ambience was a bit stark in the daylight, better after dark

05/13/08

Could be one of the City's best

by trolimon at Citysearch

Overall a wonderful experience. My wife and I were in Charlotte on business and went to Bonterra to celebrate our 16th wedding aniversary. We were not disappointed with the food, wine or waiter. Really enjoyed the wine selection (even though it is hard to read on the menu because of the print and deem lighting). We both started with salads (Magnolia and Azeala) which were wonderful. We both had Filet Mignon which was made to perfection. I complimented my steak with a fried lobster tail which was insane! The mixture of the fried lobster with the filet created a wonderful tastebud experience. We finished the meal with a very good creme brule and cappacinos. Abosultely adored the ambience and deep south setting.

I hate to mention a negative, but feel I must since our bill was $325. For that much money, I expect everything to be perfect. Needless to say, they need to work on finding a more personable hostess that has high end restaurant experience. We had made our reservation online through Opentable for 8pm and noted that we were celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. We were greeted coldly and seated right next to a loud bar filled with afterwork locals. There were plenty of other table selections for her to have put us because the restaurant remained more that half empty the rest of the night. Not only would I had handsomely tipped her for being observant of a couple wanting a romantic dining experience, the review would not had included 500 characters of negavitity on such a good restaurant.