Our Experience at Terra Mediterranean at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano

In today's post, I want to tell you about Terra Mediterranean in Plano. It's located at The Shops at Willow Bend.  This is one of my favorite restaurants thanks to the ambience and healthy meal options.  A stand-out feature that I want to highlight today is that their lunch buffet  makes it convenient to quickly enjoy a healthy and delicious lunch, especially if you have a limited lunch break. It's easy to pay when you enter and then instantly fill your plate with a nice variety of food. The waitstaff will bring drinks of your choice to your table. The buffet offers 35 to 40 different items that are made from top quality ingredients and recipes that have been perfected over time.

Let's start with the location. Terra Mediterranean is in "The District" section of The Shops at Willow Bend. The architects and designers of this location created a nice and airy layout for the restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating.

As I mentioned earlier, I want to highlight the lunch buffet. I used to live in Las Vegas and one of my favorite little luxuries in life is to visit a good buffet. As a Las Vegas local, I probably viewed buffets differently than many tourists. I think that a lot of people binge at buffets. If I would have done that as a local, I would have gained way too much weight. I am not a big eater, but rather I appreciate good quality food at nice buffets and how easy it is to pack different nutrients into my diet by sampling different buffet items. I also appreciate that buffets are timely. When you have a limited amount of time for lunch, a buffet is a great option because you pay upfront and are instantly able to fill your plate without delays. 

When I lived in Las Vegas, I always gravitated toward the Mediterranean food at Paris, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, and Planet Hollywood.   So, when I saw that Terra Mediterranean offered an exclusively Mediterranean buffet here in Dallas, I was thrilled.  This buffet seems to bring the best of the buffet options that I personally missed from Las Vegas to Texas.  They offer 35 to 40 menu items which allow customers to sample a variety of foods at lunch.  The buffet is ready when you show up, so if you have a tight schedule, you won't have to worry about placing an order that takes a while to prepare. You also don't have to commit to one large entree. Instead, you may pick and choose a little of everything!

I also love that the kitchen is relatively open. It's nice to see that your food comes from a clean cooking area. It says a lot when a restaurant is willing to be so transparent. 

Let me share some examples from our recent visit. I'll start with my favorite - the area with hummus!

As I mentioned earlier, the buffet offers many healthy items that are made from fresh and colorful ingredients. This makes it quick and easy to pack a variety of nutrients into your diet.

Here are even more options!

There are also plenty of warm options on the buffet.  You may use them to put together your favorite meal or create a plate that samples many different options.

The photo below shows coriander potatoes, rice, and other options that are great to combine with veggies and meat.

You'll also find everything from falafel to veggie mixes to gyro meat.

The kabobs shown below are my oldest son's favorite!

Of course, the pita bread was fresh and warm. My youngest is obsessed with their pita bread and hummus! I couldn't believe that my tiny little toddler could eat more than one piece of pita and such a large scoop of hummus.  He's a little man who knows what he likes!

Let me share a few sample plates. My oldest son created this plate.  I love that the buffet made it easy for him to create a child size meal.

Here is another plate. Check it out, but then scroll down to the next photo because I zoomed into the cauliflower.

I am obsessed with the cauliflower! It is such a simple item, but it's prepared perfectly and seasoned just right.  The gyro meat is good quality. You may notice that the chicken has garlic sauce next to it. I am obsessed with the garlic sauce too. The rice is perfect as you would expect from a nice restaurant. The last item on the plate is the hummus with olives. They've perfected this recipe as well. Similar to my toddler, I could be happy with just their hummus and pita alone!

The next plate is packed with veggies, protein, and special sauces and dip!

Finally, lunch isn't complete without dessert. You'll notice that the rice pudding is generously topped with pistachios. This is something worth mentioning -- the employees at Terra Mediterranean seems like perfectionists who pay careful attention to detail to make sure that the buffet is in excellent condition.  They are generous with good quality ingredients too.

My family enjoyed the lunch food so much that we didn't have much room for dessert, but thanks to the nice buffet setup, we could all share this bowl of delicious rice pudding for a small taste of dessert.

We hope that you enjoyed this glimpse into our visit to the lunch buffet at Terra Mediterranean in The District at Willow Bend.  It's the perfect destination for a quick and delicious lunch. As I mentioned earlier, you pay for the buffet when you enter and then are instantly able to fill your plate with any combination of the 35 to 40 buffet items. It's quick and easy for anyone on a tight schedule. It's also perfect for a family like mine where we love to sample a variety of healthy options that are packed with different nutrients.  

If you want to learn more, visit Terra Mediterranean's website.  You may also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.