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USD’s secret

La Gran Terraza, a nook of affordable luxury

Salad bar
Salad bar
Place

Gran Terraza

5998 Alcala Park, San Diego

“People lined up around the block!” states one exuberant diner, his orotund voice booming with joyous, blustery, academic indifference. “They’ve never had voter turnout like that before,” he adds, closing his assessment of Bernie Sanders’ victory at the 2016 Democratic Caucus in Maine, then moving on to his theories behind the perverse ascendency of the Republican front-runner.

At the buffet
Dessert bar
Wine bar
The Pacific lurks in the background.

Only on a college campus could such splendid impartiality butt up against the sensuous glow of white linen tablecloths and the musical clink of silver and chinaware. The University of San Diego has been hiding this nook of affordable luxury for quite some time. La Gran Terraza, concealed at the back of the student center, is open to anyone, not just students, and it’s quite the genteel scene. Visitors can avail themselves of free valet parking out front of the student center during lunch hours.

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Sponsored

At $14.50, the daily lunch buffet barely costs more than a trip to Quiznos. Spoiled old pedant that I am, I prefer to eat from plates and tablecloths and to finish my meal with a miniature crème brûlée rather than an individually shrink-wrapped Snickerdoodle. The cuisine, while delicious, is somewhat anonymous, but the menu presents different themes daily (pan-Asian one day, Americana the next), and both dessert and beverage are included in the price.

During the evenings, the wine menu lists some good deals on bottles, but no alcohol is served during the day. Students must study, after all.

The restaurant’s positioning at the edge of campus gives it a gorgeous overlook. Tecolote Canyon stretches below the outdoor patio seating, and even indoor diners get to take in the vista through bay windows. There is even an ocean view, if you look due west out over Mission Bay.

Perhaps the most curious thing about La Gran Terraza is that the campus restaurant cultivates a fine dining attitude not by loading the menu with haute cuisine and high prices but by providing a formal level of service (which should be impossible in a buffet situation, yet works perfectly) and requesting that diners dress appropriately. The result is a comforting oasis of academic bonhomie.

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Salad bar
Salad bar
Place

Gran Terraza

5998 Alcala Park, San Diego

“People lined up around the block!” states one exuberant diner, his orotund voice booming with joyous, blustery, academic indifference. “They’ve never had voter turnout like that before,” he adds, closing his assessment of Bernie Sanders’ victory at the 2016 Democratic Caucus in Maine, then moving on to his theories behind the perverse ascendency of the Republican front-runner.

At the buffet
Dessert bar
Wine bar
The Pacific lurks in the background.

Only on a college campus could such splendid impartiality butt up against the sensuous glow of white linen tablecloths and the musical clink of silver and chinaware. The University of San Diego has been hiding this nook of affordable luxury for quite some time. La Gran Terraza, concealed at the back of the student center, is open to anyone, not just students, and it’s quite the genteel scene. Visitors can avail themselves of free valet parking out front of the student center during lunch hours.

Sponsored
Sponsored

At $14.50, the daily lunch buffet barely costs more than a trip to Quiznos. Spoiled old pedant that I am, I prefer to eat from plates and tablecloths and to finish my meal with a miniature crème brûlée rather than an individually shrink-wrapped Snickerdoodle. The cuisine, while delicious, is somewhat anonymous, but the menu presents different themes daily (pan-Asian one day, Americana the next), and both dessert and beverage are included in the price.

During the evenings, the wine menu lists some good deals on bottles, but no alcohol is served during the day. Students must study, after all.

The restaurant’s positioning at the edge of campus gives it a gorgeous overlook. Tecolote Canyon stretches below the outdoor patio seating, and even indoor diners get to take in the vista through bay windows. There is even an ocean view, if you look due west out over Mission Bay.

Perhaps the most curious thing about La Gran Terraza is that the campus restaurant cultivates a fine dining attitude not by loading the menu with haute cuisine and high prices but by providing a formal level of service (which should be impossible in a buffet situation, yet works perfectly) and requesting that diners dress appropriately. The result is a comforting oasis of academic bonhomie.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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