La Terraza 47--A Restaurant Review

La Terraza 47 is located at 1015 SE 47^th Terrace in downtown Cape Coral. For those of you familiar with Cape Coral, 47^th Terrace runs parallel with Cape Coral Parkway West, a main thoroughfare. 47^th Terrace is one block off of Cape Coral Parkway West.

La Terraza 47 has an outdoor dining area on the front terrace at the main entrance to the restaurant. La Terraza 47 is open every day of the week and takes reservations.

Design and Ambiance of La Terraza 47

When you enter La Terraza 47, the first thing you'll notice is the spaciousness of the dining area and the incredibly high ceilings, which might rise up to 30 feet. A large projection screen is located above the main entrance and shows a slide show of beautiful pictures of landscapes and the architecture of Spain. A large flat screen television recessed in the wall above the bar area provides a different vantage point to view the same lovely Spanish scenes.

Dining tables are scattered along the walls and floor of the open dining room at La Terraza 47. Walls are dark wood paneling halfway up the wall with faux painting above. The bar area is quite large and holds a large glass tub filled with iced, home-made sangria.

Spanish music plays in the background. Decorative lighting is strung on lattice work up high along the wall and also from one side of the dining area to the other. A back stairway leads upstairs to a second level hidden behind the lattice work. In this second floor room, La Terraza 47 has banquet seating for 40 or more people.

La Terraza 47's Menu

Soups, salads, and paellas have separate menu sections at La Terraza 47. Tapas and full meals are offered as well. Meals are listed in two separate sections of the menu: "Parrilla--From the Grill" and "Mexican Favorites."

Soup selections at La Terraza 47 are limited to the soup of the day, chile con carne and gazpacho. Salad selections include a smaller garden side salad or two large garden salads: Taco Camerones Salad and Taco Gallina Salad. Taco Camerones Salad is a garden salad with grilled jumbo shrimp, asparagus and avocado with dressing. The Taco Gallina Salad has marinated grilled chicken breast pieces, bacon, mango slices all served in a large taco shell "bowl."

Four paellas are offered in the "Paella" section of La Terraza 47's menu. Traditional paella is offered as well as vegetarian, seafood only and "con carne" versions. The con carne paella is made with various meats such as pork, beef, and chorizo.

Full meals on the "Parrilla" menu section include steaks, chicken, fish and seafood dishes prepared Spanish style. Mexican full meals on the "Mexican Favorites" section of La Terraza 47's offerings include standard Mexican fare of tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas, enchiladas, and fajitas.

La Terraza 47 Food and Commentary

This reviewer and her partner ordered tapas dishes only at La Terraza 47. Basically, tapas are small plates with just 3 or 4 bites of food on them that diners typically share. A major advantage to having tapas is that you can sample a large variety of the exotic foods and tastes offered at La Terraza 47 without over-eating or spending an exorbitant amount of money.

The total dining experience at La Terraza 47 included 1 soup, 5 tapas menu items and a large bottle of sparkling water to share. No alcoholic beverages or desserts were ordered. The selected tapas items, their descriptions, and reviewer's comments follow.

1. A delicious bowl of gazpacho arrived first. Gazpacho is blended fresh vegetables served in a bowl and eaten like a cold soup. Exotically seasoned and clearly made fresh, the gazpacho at La Terraza 47 was lip-smacking good and provided a serving of fresh vegetables.

2. "Empanadas Fritas" are "seasoned ground beef wrapped in flaky dough and deep fried." These empanadas were spicy, steaming hot and really delicious.

3. "Bunuelos de Gambas y Cangrejo," which is "deep fried shrimp, crab and roasted corn fritters" were served with "coconut pineapple salsa." This dish was also tasty. The pineapple salsa was a cold, sweet complement to the hot fried shrimp with crap and the fritters.

4. "Gambas a la Plancha" is grilled shrimp in olive oil, white wine, garlic and parsley. Clearly the winning tapas of the evening, these shrimp were seasoned and grilled just perfectly. Plus, they were served on the most delicious coleslaw ever consumed by this reviewer. With just enough sweet, salt, and spice, this coleslaw was exotic and yummy. If only there were more than a few bites.

5. "Lentejas con chorizo" was a dish full of seasoning and flavor as it was spicy Spanish sausage with lentils and a sweet pepper "coulis" (i.e. blended sauce made from sweet peppers). This reviewer's partner was disappointed in this dish as he was expecting more sausage and less lentil and sweet pepper coulis. Tasty as it was, a real downside of ordering tapas is that a really good dish leaves you wanting more. But remember, all you have to do is call your waiter over and order more tapas.

6. "Pizza de Pollo" is a Spanish style pizza. With toppings of "chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, roasted corn and Manchego Cheese baked on a fried flour tortilla" this was an interesting taste treat cut into 5 portions perfect for sharing.

Service at La Terraza 47

The diners in the party were shown to a table immediately. As in most restaurants these days, La Terraza 47's server introduced himself right away after the diners were seated. Wait staff was friendly and quite helpful when it came to describing the dishes and explaining how the tapas experience works. What was different about the waiter was that as the diners exited the restaurant at the end of the evening, he said, "The next time you come, be sure to ask to be seated in my section" and repeated his name.

Service throughout the La Terraza 47 dining experience was mostly attentive. An important aspect of ordering tapas is that you relax and enjoy the evening as you sample little plates of food. One menu was left at the table by the La Terraza 47 waiter so diners can continue to order food when and how they wish. When eating tapas, diners have quite a bit of contact with the waiter. At any rate, all the food was hot when served.

Rating for La Terraza 47

Quality of the dining experience at La Terraza 47 is 4 out of 5 stars. This reviewer left the tapas experience still feeling hungry (although more tapas could have certainly been ordered and paid for).

Cost of Dinner at La Terraza 47

For two diners drinking non-alcoholic drinks, the cost for tapas at La Terraza 47 in Cape Coral was $82.00 including tip. These costs seem pricey for two for dinner, particularly given the amount of food ordered.

Final Word on La Terraza 47

If you are looking for something exotic, consider visiting La Terraza 47 in Cape Coral for a true Spanish dining experience. Dining on deliciously prepared food while viewing scenes of Spain and listening to Spanish and Mexican music make for a lovely evening with partners, family or friends. Try La Terraza 47.

Sources

Personal experience.

La Terraza 47 menu.

La Terraza 47 website.