Garden Grill

[ml123_9]

Ok, so we, a group of 4 adults, DS4 and DD1, are going in Sept. '11 and are wanting to try the Garden Grill. I've read that the character interaction is excellent but the food not so much. So can I please get your take on this restaurant be it food quality, overall experience, etc. Also, food pics would be great also. Thanks in advance:wave:

 

[mwbrown]

We have done every character meal at Disney, and would put this one at the bottom. I didn't find the character interaction any better than Pooh, Chef Mickey, etc and the food was pretty blah. We had a table on the outside facing the overlook on the Living with the Land boat ride, and I actually found the sense of movement, though slow, made me feel a little sick as well.

I would say the best character meal bar none is the Crystal Palace. The food is fabulous, and the characters much more fun (we are Pooh fans though...). If you want to eat at EPCOT, I would save your money and eat just downstairs from Garden Grill at Sunshine Seasons. Best food in EPCOT, great variety, and you can use what you save to enjoy Crystal Palace or Chef Mickeys....

Thats my two cents anyway...

 

[Phonedave]

I have eaten at the Garden Grill 4 or 5 times.

Character interaction is good. Multiple visits to a table, and they stay for a while.

The food is hit or miss. When it is on, it is good. When it is off, it is meh. My 9 y/o LOVES the marinated flank steak - sometimes. Again, when it is on she raves about it, when it is off, she is disappointed.

It kills me when we go there and she takes her first bite of the steak, and you can just see the sadness hit her. I now make the steak at home (recipe is in the thread in this section) and it is always good.

I cannot for the life of me understand what goes on in this restaurant. It's not just the steak either. Sometimes the food just comes out with no taste.

-dave

 

[buseegal]

based on our trip in Aug,expect to be sitted on upper level and at a table too small for that group size. a group of 11 and were sitted at what appeared to be 2 tables for 4 pushed together. had to complain to get a third table half way thru dinner. there was no room on table to put trays of food out of reach of the 2 toddlers, if fact one of our party was trying to eat balancing a tray on her lap while eating. very crowded table, do not think we will return. on upper level felt the movement but not able to see the movement as on lower level.

 

[Dwarful]

We have been here numerous times (way back when they still did the afternoon ice cream social). The food has always been pretty good. Sometimes the catfish is amazing...but it has to be hot and fresh. Character interaction was good as well. I'd say try it once. We have noticed considerable changes to dining...our last trip July '10 the visit to Chef Mickeys was so bad we didn't bother making a reservation this time around...it was dirty, the buffet line was dirty, food wasn't being replenished until dishes were almost completely empty. My point is this...if you like the type of foods offered at GG then give it a chance...every restaurant at WDW seems to have an 'off day'. It is unfortunate when you hit that 'off day' .

 

[tjkref418]

Those who have called the Garden Grill hit or miss are right on. Unfortunately, it my experiences it has been a miss for most of my dining party on several visits.

Character interaction is quite good though..

 

[dragongirl]

For my daughter, this is a really good choice. The last time we ate there we actually started waving the characters away after the sixth pass...Which is actually not a complaint.

The food has been a hit during the two times I've been there. But some of my relatives went there and it was a miss at that time. So 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

I prefer dinners (and liked it when they offered lunch) over character breakfasts.

 

[mickeysshoes]

We long for the days when it was a family style breakfast with eggs and pork chops. That was my DD "had to do" breakfast until they changed it.

 

[kangaand2roos]

I'm one of those people that will tell you it's a miss. Honestly our experience was just plain horrible and I wouldn't ever go back. We were a party of 6, 4 adults and 2 small children. We were smooshed at a table. Although the waitress promptly brought out drinks and salad/rolls that was the beginning of the end. The salad was the best part of the meal, hands down but there wasn't much competition. The turkey was very dry and salty with a "unique" flavored cranberry chutney on it. The steak, I can not speak about since I don't eat red meat but my husband described it as dry, chewy and flavorless. We declined trying the fish. The mashed potatoes were pretty bland as were the veggies and not one thing came out hot, everything was barely warm. Even the waitress seemed apologetic about the food that was being served, asking us "perhaps I can get you more salad?"The kids meals were cold and looked as though they had been sitting around for a while, like I'm sure our food had been. According to my son the mac and cheese was "yucky". The make your own cupcake was the kid's food highlight but they didn't even eat the whole cupcake. I don;t even remember what the dessert was but it went with the rest of the meal, in he trash. We left hungry and ate QS after. Honestly I have to say our experience there was the worst food ever served to us in or out of WDW.
All of that said, I do have to say the character experience was great, we did get to see the characters numerous times which helped since we were wedged in our table in the first place. I do not go to character meals expecting the best food. I feel you are mostly paying for the characters but this dinner was inexcuseable, twenty something dollars a pop for a basic salad? No thanks. I wouldn't go back there if they offered me a free dinner there.

 

[Phonedave]

I'm one of those people that will tell you it's a miss. Honestly our experience was just plain horrible and I wouldn't ever go back. We were a party of 6, 4 adults and 2 small children. We were smooshed at a table. Although the waitress promptly brought out drinks and salad/rolls that was the beginning of the end. The salad was the best part of the meal, hands down but there wasn't much competition. The turkey was very dry and salty with a "unique" flavored cranberry chutney on it. The steak, I can not speak about since I don't eat red meat but my husband described it as dry, chewy and flavorless. We declined trying the fish. The mashed potatoes were pretty bland as were the veggies and not one thing came out hot, everything was barely warm. Even the waitress seemed apologetic about the food that was being served, asking us "perhaps I can get you more salad?"The kids meals were cold and looked as though they had been sitting around for a while, like I'm sure our food had been. According to my son the mac and cheese was "yucky". The make your own cupcake was the kid's food highlight but they didn't even eat the whole cupcake. I don;t even remember what the dessert was but it went with the rest of the meal, in he trash. We left hungry and ate QS after. Honestly I have to say our experience there was the worst food ever served to us in or out of WDW.
All of that said, I do have to say the character experience was great, we did get to see the characters numerous times which helped since we were wedged in our table in the first place. I do not go to character meals expecting the best food. I feel you are mostly paying for the characters but this dinner was inexcuseable, twenty something dollars a pop for a basic salad? No thanks. I wouldn't go back there if they offered me a free dinner there.

You had it on a 'miss' night.

Table issues aside (The Garden Grill is horrible for seating - that never changes, they do need some bigger tables in there)

I have had the exact same food you did. Dry, overcooked, and lukewarm. However that was not on my first time there. The first time there we had a good meal. Well cooked food, served hot. The flank steak was especially good, cooked medium to medium-rare with a nice smoke flavor to it. But if my third time there (which was like your first) had been MY first, I don't think I would go back.

It confuses me how that place can swing bad to good so easily.

-dave

 

[Dwarful]

I also think it depends on your tastes. We really go for the fried catfish...when it is 'on' it is great...when its not...it is not worth going to. For us it has become like Chef Mickey's only when nothing else is available. And to be honest I'd put GG above our last experience at CM.

 

[disneyny]

We ate there the last time we visited and we really liked it. We thought the food was really good? Must be we got it on an on day because I would highly recommend it and again the characters are great. We enjoyed this more than the buffet character meals. LTT was our favorite with the Thanksgiving feast but that is no longer a character meal.

 

[disneyny]

Here is one pic-you can see the kids meal that they brought which was free and I think that might be dessert on the right? Something berry if remember correctly.

 

[slappy magoo]

Only been once. Either 2004 or 2005. Food was OK. Character interaction was better than at most other character meals we've been. Our outing was so long ago, however, that dessert at the time was a chocolate fondue, with plenty of things to dip into the sauce and they'd bring out more if you asked for it (which we didn't but man oh man were we tempted...).

 

[disneyny]

Here is another pic where you can see the salad-hope these help!

 

[Chef Mickey]

I'm surprised to hear the negative comments about the food and the characters. I have eaten here probably 10 times and never remember being disappointed. I ate there a week or so ago and the food was fantastic. Hot, fresh, and the steak was made to order.

Great service from a very kind waitress and probably the best Pluto/Chip/Dale interaction ever! I got some great pics. I think the CMs inside liked my g/f and I because they spent more time with us than the kids it seemed..hahaha.

Pluto was sitting on chip's lap, Dale was irritated the Pluto was taking too long, and Mickey came and sorted it all out. We had 4 characters at our table at once.

The only negative for me is the expense, since it's dinner only. $80 for 2 is steep, but I wasn't on a dining plan and saved other days.

I was disappointed with Chef Mickey's for the first time in my trip in May 2010. Goofy seemed lifeless and the food was expensive (I did go for breakfast). This time, I didn't eat there because of that experience.

 

[ShadyLady]

I'm surprised to hear the negative comments about the food and the characters. I have eaten here probably 10 times and never remember being disappointed. I ate there a week or so ago and the food was fantastic. Hot, fresh, and the steak was made to order.

Great service from a very kind waitress and probably the best Pluto/Chip/Dale interaction ever!

so glad to hear this - this is what ive read for 3 years on most all sites -nothing but positive.

weve tried for 3 years to have an ADR work out for dinner here, and finally are going in 125 days - yippee!