Terra Restaurant and Bar, the Italian rooftop lounge perched on the third floor of Eataly Silicon Valley, has had its health permit suspended after county inspectors found evidence of vermin on the premises. Santa Clara County Environmental Health ordered the restaurant closed following an investigation prompted by a public complaint, and it cannot reopen until it passes a follow-up inspection clearing all violations.
The inspection, which covered the entire Eataly Silicon Valley facility at 2855 Stevens Creek Boulevard, turned up evidence of vermin specifically on the third floor, where Terra operates its wood-burning grill, seasonal cocktails, and wine list, according to KRON4. Terra bills itself as an Italian rooftop restaurant and lounge, per Eataly, occupying the top level of the three-story culinary complex. Restaurant management confirmed it has discarded potentially contaminated food, thoroughly cleaned and sanitized the facility, and completed pest control services in response to the closure order, per the same report.
What Happens Before Terra Can Reopen
Santa Clara County Environmental Health said Terra may request a reinspection and reopen for business once it has resolved every item flagged in the inspection report, the station's report notes. Under the California Retail Food Code, local environmental health officers have the legal authority to immediately suspend a food permit and shut down a facility when an imminent health hazard, including active vermin contamination, cannot be corrected on the spot, according to the Imperial County Public Health Department's guidance on the statewide code.
Santa Clara County's SCCDineOut program uses color-coded placards to signal a facility's status to the public: green for a pass with minor or corrected issues, yellow for a conditional pass requiring a recheck within three days, and red for a mandatory closure when imminent safety threats go uncorrected, per the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health. A business handed a red placard must fix all violations, pass a mandatory reinspection, and retain the right to request a written administrative hearing within 15 calendar days if it disputes the findings.
A Clean Record Before the Complaint
Before the closure, Terra had passed its most recent routine county inspection with a score of 84 and a green placard in September 2025, according to inspection records from the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health. That prior clean rating underscores how the current situation followed a specific public complaint rather than a pattern of repeat violations at the location.
Part of a Broader South Bay Pest Crackdown
Terra's shutdown lands amid a documented surge in rodent-related enforcement across Santa Clara County. Health officials issued 104 emergency closures and 183 violations between January and June of 2025 alone, nearly matching the department's total violation count for all of 2024, per data reported by NBC Bay Area. Citizen complaints have repeatedly triggered these investigations, including a July 2025 case in which public tips prompted inspectors to temporarily close two 99 Ranch Market grocery stores in the South Bay over rodent issues.
Prolonged closures over pest contamination aren't unprecedented for high-profile South Bay food retailers. The Whole Foods Market on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino was shut down by county health officers in April 2025 and stayed closed for five months while undergoing facility upgrades before reopening in October 2025, according to El Estoque. It remains unclear how long Terra's closure will last, since reopening depends on when the restaurant passes its reinspection.
Eataly's High-Profile Perch in San Jose
Eataly Silicon Valley opened in June 2022 as part of Westfield Valley Fair's roughly $1 billion shopping center expansion, establishing a 45,000-square-foot, three-story culinary complex with food counters, markets, and two sit-down restaurants, as previously reported by Hoodline. The location marked Northern California's only Eataly outpost and was the brand's ninth in North America at the time, joining locations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Toronto, according to SFist's coverage of the opening. For now, the rooftop restaurant that once served flame-kissed dishes to diners atop that complex sits closed until inspectors sign off.
