Food Quality At Disney

[MKforReal]

I have always thought that Disney was always the best of the best. Not from personal experience, because I have only been there once as a kid, bit just because Disney puts so much effort into everything. Recently, I've just been hearing prettt bad reviews about the food. Have I just always been mislead? Or have things just gone downhill as of late?

Where is all the superb food?

 

[cb3thatsme]

I think that is kind of a mixed bag there are some fantastic restaurants and there are some not good restaurants...

You have to know that your going to hear a worse experience over a positive one like 5 times more often... Also other forum boards in particular have people who have been going to Disney for 25 - 50 years and can't stand change and like to think things are going downhill always!!!

I've been going to Disney my whole life and have had some incredible meals and have found some restaurant to have improved a lot over time and some to have gone downhill...

So in short there are some great restaurants my favorites are the Signatures: in particular
Jiko
California Grill
Flying Fish
However I do enjoy Ohana, Sanaa, Kona Cafe too! You have to know your not going to get AAA 5 diamond at every restaurant but there are some fantastic dining options at Disney world

 

[MKforReal]

That is good to hear! And yeah, the bad reviews out numbering the good makes a lot of sense. I'm more likely to write about a horrible experience myself.

I just am worried that my once in a life time trip to Disney will be ruined by bad food lol. No but honestly... I am getting a dining plan and can't afford a signature TS every night. Whay are some very good regular TS restaurants?

 

[G8rchamps]

Mixed bag describes it. We have had some very good meals and some average ones. One bad one was at Royal Table- all 4 of us ordered the tenderloin steak, but the kids were kid meal size. The waiter offered the kid steaks medium well and we quickly corrected to to mid-rare. The kid steaks were hot, fresh, juicy, and delicious. The grown up steaks may have sat for 5-10 minutes. Sometimes the Disney food is just produced in such volume it feels like some portions or meals are just made all day/night and served as ordered.

That said this weekend is Sat at 1900 Park, Sun at Citrico's, and Monday at Chef's de France. I'll update next week!

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

my favorite places for dinner are 'ohaha, raglan road, and sanaa. i think it depends on what you're after too. biergarten is a delicious, fun buffet without characters. yak & yeti is great. if you like character buffets (we do lol) chef mickey's and 1900 park faire are both yummy and fun at dinner time.

 

[cb3thatsme]

That is good to hear! And yeah, the bad reviews out numbering the good makes a lot of sense. I'm more likely to write about a horrible experience myself.

I just am worried that my once in a life time trip to Disney will be ruined by bad food lol. No but honestly... I am getting a dining plan and can't afford a signature TS every night. Whay are some very good regular TS restaurants?

Some of my favorite 1 credit meals include
Kona Cafe
Ohana
Sanaa
Boma
Yak and Yeti
Liberty Tree Tavern
*Chef Mickey's - I don't love it but for a 1st time trip its a great option
Crystal Palace Breakfast
1900 Park Fare Breakfast

 

[jlsHouston]

I like Disney food....I wouldn't say it is the best restaurant fare you can get out there, but it is in general, plentiful, and flavorful and unique to Disney....And of course the venues are one of a kind...

 

[NYwdwfan]

We found Captain's Grill (Yacht Club) surprisingly good. We also really enjoyed the food at The Wave (Contemporary) but found the restaurant very dark (kind of lulled us to sleep after a long day in the park). Both are 1 credit. I'd also recommend Ohana. The buffets are nice since you can sample a little of everything and then go back for your fill on the things you enjoyed the most. You can check out almost all of the menus online so you can really see ahead of time if the food style of the restaurant would be of interest to you.

 

[UberPlannerMom]

We really enjoyed garden grill. It all depends on the kind of food you are looking for. When we tried Tusker House I couldn't even handle being in the restaurant for more than about 20 minutes. They serve African food as well as American food and something in there just stunk. I tried to make it but I couldn't, even the only chocolate I could find was coated in coffee. Nothing against coffee but when you think you are taking a bite of chocolate cake and get coffee flavor instead- blgh. Anyway, I thought it was all because I was pregnant but my husband informed me afterwards that he had severe issues as well. All that said I know people that love Tusker House so maybe it was just that day...

 

[officialtom]

We've never had a bad (or even mediocre) experience at the resort or park restaurants. They're all delicious, which is why we always get the dining plan. The portions are always so ridiculous that we end up with a few meal credits leftover.

The quick service/snack spots in the parks are mostly good.

Overall, no complaints about the food.

 

[Texas84]

I'm not hard to please, but the only two disappointing meals I've ever had at WDW were Cindy's castle, Hollywood & Vine (was great long ago), and ABC.

 

[Weather_Lady]

That is good to hear! And yeah, the bad reviews out numbering the good makes a lot of sense. I'm more likely to write about a horrible experience myself.

I just am worried that my once in a life time trip to Disney will be ruined by bad food lol. No but honestly... I am getting a dining plan and can't afford a signature TS every night. Whay are some very good regular TS restaurants?

Some of the most beloved 1-credit restaurants in my circle are: 'Ohana (Polynesian), Kona Cafe (Polynesian), Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom), Liberty Tree Tavern (Magic Kingdom), Biergarten (Epcot), Tutto Italia (Epcot), Via Napoli (Epcot) and Raglan Road (Downtown Disney).

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I think some of the problem is inconsistency and inflated expectations...even at the signatures. Some places are inconsistent as a whole, some places seem to be inconsistent on certain menu items, some places seem to be inconsistent for certain meals, and so on. You couple that with rave reviews on some places and it can be a recipe for disappointment. Examples- we've had great meals across the board at 'Ohana as well as some not so great ones...we've had great menu items at Cali Grill and others that left a lot to be desired...and we've had restaurants where we love breakfast but dinner has been gross.

Of course, there are personal preferences and outside WDW experiences that play into all of this as well. Most of the fine dining we've done in places like NY and Vegas are more on par with what I've heard about V&As...so I think some people go into signatures expecting this level of quality and wind up being disappointed.

I think you also really need to research your quick services. I had one friend who recently failed to do this and is kicking herself after seeing some of the better options I've shown her.

 

[FitzherbertFreak]

Trust me, in the past years, WDW has stepped up their game.

 

[lunchbox1175]

The QS at the parks is average, but some of the TS restaurants have some great choices.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

There are still some really good restaurants, but a few have dropped in quality. Ohana and Boma are my favorite TS. And Sunshine Seasons still has some great tasting options. But I wouldn't book Disney for only a gastronomic experience.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

We really enjoyed garden grill. It all depends on the kind of food you are looking for. When we tried Tusker House I couldn't even handle being in the restaurant for more than about 20 minutes. They serve African food as well as American food and something in there just stunk. I tried to make it but I couldn't, even the only chocolate I could find was coated in coffee. Nothing against coffee but when you think you are taking a bite of chocolate cake and get coffee flavor instead- blgh. Anyway, I thought it was all because I was pregnant but my husband informed me afterwards that he had severe issues as well. All that said I know people that love Tusker House so maybe it was just that day...

I didn't enjoy it very much either.

 

[crispy]

I think it's easy to have unreasonable expectations because so many posts and blogs seem to be dedicated to making all Disney food offerings seem like the BEST. FOOD. EVAH!!!! Like someone mentioned upthread, Disney has a wide variety of restaurants and food venues so you do get a mixed bag and what's wonderful to someone else, may not be so good for you. For example, 'Ohana and Rose & Crown are often mentioned by many as having great food. I think 'Ohana is just okay, but I would much rather eat at Kona Café. Our experience at Rose & Crown was not good at all, but many people absolutely adore the food and service there.

Some of our best dining experience have been at the more low-key restaurants like Kona Café, Grand Floridian Café, and the Garden Grill. These aren't flashy restaurants, but we have always had great food and service at them.

 

[durangojim]

Some are great, some are good, some are meh, and some see bad. Overall I think the quality of quick service has improved while some table service has declined (San Angel and Coral Reef I'm looking at you!).

 

[MKforReal]

Some are great, some are good, some are meh, and some see bad. Overall I think the quality of quick service has improved while some table service has declined (San Angel and Coral Reef I'm looking at you!).

Aww, you had to bring up Coral Reef! I was planning on checking that one out. I wanna watch the fishies while I eats them.