Terra Italian Restaurant shares New Year’s Eve traditions

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The clock is ticking to ring in 2026, and the staff at Terra Italian Restaurant understands that food brings good fortune to the new year.

“Terra is about everybody being welcomed at the table. We wanted to treat everybody the way that we wanted to be treated when we go out to eat. Terra is all about that experience,” co-owner Alexis Salazar said.

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This is the first New Year’s celebration for the restaurant. While North Alabama is now filled with a variety of places to eat, Terra is quickly making its presence felt.

On this New Year’s Eve, Salazar, co-owner Thomas Quijada and the staff are sharing their Hispanic and Italian traditions for a new year.

Along with handing out tamales and hot fruit punch, they also serve grapes for special wishes.

“We eat 12 grapes at midnight, and each grape represents every month of the year,” said Salazar.

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“We’re Hispanic, but we’ve also worked with Italians and Greeks, and we’ve learned and adapted some of the traditions that they have,” Quijada explained. “For example, lentils are something that the Greek community does, and a lot of the Italian community does, and it’s about prosperity and money.”

On New Year’s Eve, it’s spicy Italian lasagna that symbolizes abundance and dedication to family for the new year.

“We made the lasagna with homemade pasta and homemade sauce, and we wanted to share it with everybody so you’re more than welcome to come in and try the food to celebrate New Year’s together,” Salazar said.

Quijada told News 19 that every culture celebrates the new year differently, but every family gathers the same way, and that’s definitely going to be around food.

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