GCH Bar

[SSG]

Wed, July 3, 2019
GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill Coming Soon to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

by Alex Dunlap, Food & Beverage Communications Coordinator

There’s a brand-new dining experience coming to Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and you’ll definitely want to check it out! GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill is the newest addition to the resort’s variety of dining establishments, adding a relaxing bar and grill with an incredible menu to the pool area. The Grand Californian Hotel pool area was originally inspired by the Gamble House in Pasadena, and the GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill continues this story by embracing many of the unique arts and crafts details and materials that already exist on the pool deck.

Once open, White Water Snacks will be known as GCH Craftsman Grill and will continue serving its current menu. The new lounge area near the pool will be called GCH Craftsman Bar, which will feature a new menu highlighting a wide variety of flavors that will leave your mouth watering. From artisanal pizzas and avocado toast to sliders, nachos, and even shawarma, there’s something for everyone – and I just HAVE to share all of the delicious details with you!

The Shawarma Chicken Skewer is a dish that I’m super excited about and it comes with arugula-fennel salad with radishes, roasted tomatoes, pita bread, lemon wedges, and tzatziki dip. Another option that features chicken is the Garlic-Soy-glazed Chicken Wings with fresno chile, togarashi spice, and furikake.

If you’re looking for some BEEF-ier options then you’ll want to try the Black Angus Flat Iron Steak Salad or the Double-baked Beef Nachos. The salad is made with endive and spinach leaves and is topped with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, crumbled eggs, feta snow, black angus steak, and a Champagne vinaigrette. The beef nachos make for great shareable bite with bacon lardons, black beans, scallions, jalapeño pepper, cilantro, queso fresco, guacamole, and crema. There’s also the Cali Sliders, featuring American wagyu patty, oven-roasted tomato, vegetable relish, spiced hollandaise, swiss, artichoke aïoli, and pickled vegetables.

On the seafaring side, the Maine Lobster Quesadilla with Monterey Jack and queso fresco is a great selection along with the Lemon-Sumac Salmon Salad or the Kimchee-marinated Ahi Tuna Lettuce Cup. Both come with a variety of vegetables and lettuce and are great dishes for those looking for a lighter option!

For a vegetarian option, you might want to try the popular Avocado Toast or the Black Truffle-charred Cauliflower Grilled Cheese Sandwich, which comes with charred cauliflower, cheese béchamel, black truffles, and pickled vegetables on sourdough bread.

The menu also features a selection of artisanal pizzas, including Margherita Pizza, Forest Mushroom Pizza, Classic Pepperoni Pizza, and a unique Charcuterie Pizza. The Charcuterie Pizza comes topped with premium pepperoni, prosciutto, salami, Italian sausage, arugula, fire-roasted tomatoes, grana padano, and aged provolone.

Kids can enjoy a great menu of smaller dishes which includes chicken skewers, salmon filet, parmesan-crusted grilled cheese, and favorites like chicken tenders, hamburgers, and a PBJ sandwich with chocolate-hazelnut spread.

And finally, satisfy your sweet tooth with one of three incredible desserts. Try the Root Beer Float or a Waffle-Churro Sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauces, chantilly cream, and chocolate pearls. You’ll also love the Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Fingers served with strawberry marmalade and hazelnut dipping sauces!

GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill will open soon at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, so be sure to come on down and hang out with us! GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill will be open to all guests. The pool area will be available only to resort guests with a designated wrist band. For more information, visit the Disneyland Resort website or call 714 781-DINE (714 781-3463).

 

[TP2000]

The cubicle farmers in Celebration really worked overtime on this article. So many words!

They're really making it tough to get a burger and fries, aren't they?

Some of those items sound great, but a lot of them don't seem like the type of cuisine you'd want while sitting out by the pool. 10 bucks by next summer several of those exotic dishes get replaced with a cheeseburger & fries combo and a nice chicken sandwich.

 

[mistyj]

The cubicle farmers in Celebration really worked overtime on this article. So many words!

They're really making it tough to get a burger and fries, aren't they?

Some of those items sound great, but a lot of them don't seem like the type of cuisine you'd want while sitting out by the pool. 10 bucks by next summer several of those exotic dishes get replaced with a cheeseburger & fries combo and a nice chicken sandwich.

It does say the formerly named White Water Snacks portion of the place will continue offering its current menu, so folks can get their burgers there...

 

[TP2000]

It does say the formerly named White Water Snacks portion of the place will continue offering its current menu, so folks can get their burgers there...

Sure, but those White Water Snacks burgers are infamously gross.

Frozen patties, frozen fries, shredded iceberg, pink tomatoes, canned pickles, off-brand mustard, mystery cheese, etc.

Here's the current White Water chicken sandwich, of the same quality. That pink tomato slice couldn't get more tasteless if it boiled itself.

They are obviously trying to do a gastropub type menu here for this new bar, but I think they added two too many exotic items. I'd remove the Kimchee Ahi Lettuce Cup and the Arugula-Fennel Salad Shawarma Chicken Skewers , and replace them with a high quality beach burger and a good chicken sandwich. And don't allow the chef or the manager from White Water Snacks anywhere near the kitchen.

 

[Curious Constance]

Speaking of GCH, MiceChat says they might be getting rid of their Spa.

 

[TP2000]

Speaking of GCH, MiceChat says they might be getting rid of their Spa.

Really? They'd outsourced it to Mandara as I remember, but if it goes away entirely they won't get the 4 Diamond rating from the Auto Club.

They have no beauty salon, no tennis courts, no barber shop, no reciprocity at a local golf club, not even a shoe shine stand. If they close the Mandara spa they'll risk downgrading themselves to 3 Diamonds.

Maybe with the other 4 Diamond properties opening a block or three away in 2020; the JW Marriott and the Westin, Disney is throwing in the towel on 4 Diamonds? TDA already cancelled the second 4 Diamond Disney hotel on property last year.

 

[DrAlice]

Really? They'd outsourced it to Mandara as I remember, but if it goes away entirely they won't get the 4 Diamond rating from the Auto Club.

They have no beauty salon, no tennis courts, no barber shop, no reciprocity at a local golf club, not even a shoe shine stand. If they close the Mandara spa they'll risk downgrading themselves to 3 Diamonds.

Maybe with the other 4 Diamond properties opening a block or three away in 2020; the JW Marriott and the Westin, Disney is throwing in the towel on 4 Diamonds? TDA already cancelled the second 4 Diamond Disney hotel on property last year.

You can bet your frozen hamburger patty sandwich that even if they lose a diamond, they won't lose their 4-diamond room rates. (Don't get me started on the overpriced room rates of the Anaheim Disney hotels.)

 

[Curious Constance]

I tried to find the article I read about it but can’t now. I’ll keep trying. They also talked about the rates likely not declining even without the 4th star. I think it said it’s currently closed now and they’re not sure it will be back but don’t quote me on that.

 

[D.Silentu]

Not a photo of the new restaurant to be found.

They're really making it tough to get a burger and fries, aren't they?

I agree, and while I do appreciate that they're trying to sophisticate their menu resort wide, these offerings aren't what I picture when I hear "bar & grill."

 

[TP2000]

Not a photo of the new restaurant to be found.

I agree, and while I do appreciate that they're trying to sophisticate their menu resort wide, these offerings aren't what I picture when I hear "bar & grill."

There's no pictures of the restaurant because Disneyland didn't send any to the cubicle kid, Alex Dunlap, who wrote this article in a Celebration cubicle farm. Alex is a Floridian who apparently doesn't leave his cubicle much, as is obvious from the fact he doesn't know Fresno is a proper place name and thus the word Fresno in "Fresno chile" should be capitalized.

Even a good hipster gastropub has a burger on the menu, if not a couple with a lamb option in addition to beef.

 

[TP2000]

Okay, I found a few photos of the actual bar. It's literally steps from the pool. It's a pool bar. Inspired by Pasadena's Gamble House!

Cubicle farmer Alex Dunlap, in addition to downgrading California's fifth largest city to a mere adjective for a chile, also seems to have stumbled upon a nomenclature problem. I'm not sure where he got "Craftsman Bar & Grill" from as the title for this restaurant, as all signage and menus for the location just refer to "Craftsman Bar".

EDIT: Now I get where he was going; the White Water Snacks area will become known as the Craftsman Grill with its traditional menu of gross hamburgers, and the new bar area pictured above will be the Craftsman Bar with the exotic menu of bar foods. But there is no location called the "Craftsman Bar & Grill", they are two separate names and two separate locations. However, Fresno remains California's fifth largest city.

 

[Happyrebster]

Absolutely lovely! As a frequent GCH guest, this is a very welcome addition. And I think that the new menu sounds delicious! Granted - the kids will probably still get their food from White Water Snacks; but I’m glad to see that there will additional, interesting options.

 

[BubbaQuest]

I'm confused. You can't get to the pool unless you are hotel guest, correct? Can you still get to Water Water Snacks, excuse me Craftsman Bar & Grill, wait Craftsman Grill With No Bar without being a guest? It kinda looks like it is all connected in the pics.

 

[TP2000]

I'm confused. You can't get to the pool unless you are hotel guest, correct? Can you still get to Water Water Snacks, excuse me Craftsman Bar & Grill, wait Craftsman Grill With No Bar without being a guest? It kinda looks like it is all connected in the pics.

Good question. There appears to be a gate at the end of the breezeway in this photo, which is required any way for safety codes around public pools.

But if you get into this area you are then 10 steps away from the pool itself and all the chaise lounges. So do you have to be a hotel guest to eat here? I can't believe Disney would try and limit it to just hotel guests. It could just be another AP flophouse though if they don't. I'll have to check this out on my next visit to DCA in a few weeks.

 

[TP2000]

Okay, I've got a 4th barbecue to prep, but I just have to get this off my chest. Please allow me to be just a tad cranky, and then I'll get back into the July 4th holiday mood, I promise!

Celebration cubicle farmer Alex Dunlap said this in his opening paragraph...

"The Grand Californian Hotel pool area was originally inspired by the Gamble House in Pasadena, and the GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill continues this story by embracing many of the unique arts and crafts details and materials that already exist on the pool deck."

The Gamble House? Really? I know words are cheap in the cubicle farm, but come on! Who made that poor kid type that?

What the heck does the Grand Californian pool area have to do with the incredible and iconic Gamble House?

I've been to the Lodge at Torrey Pines a few times in the last decade, and that's the hotel down in La Jolla opened in 2002 that is what the Grand Californian could have been like if Disney had doubled the budget. And then managed it properly. The Lodge at Torrey Pines is rated five diamonds instead of the Grand's four diamonds. And unlike the Grand Californian, their customer service is immaculately polished and perfect.

I'm reading Gamble House and Greene & Greene architecture at the Lodge at Torrey Pines pool more than Disney's pool, regardless of what the Celebration cubicle farm thinks California is like.

Although to get a Gamble House wraparound sleeping porch at the Lodge at Torrey Pines you have to upgrade to a suite.

The Torrey Pines doormen and valet parking attendants in the Scottish kilts are included free of charge, however.

 

[FerretAfros]

While the new menu seems well-intentioned, there are just so many issues with it that it's just laughable. Instead of going item-by-item, let's take a deeper look at the Cali Sliders:

• You know how you can tell someone isn't from California, and hasn't spent any meaningful amount of time there? They call it "Cali." This is so blatantly wrong that I'm surprised they didn't also put a Frisco melt on the menu
• Wagyu beef is a recent-ish food trend (even if they're 5 years late to the party), but why oh why would you take such a high quality cut of beef and grind it up for a burger? The appeal of wagyu is the nice marbling of the fat in the meat, which is completely lost in a patty. Save some money and just use chuck instead; it will taste the same, particularly in a slider, which will be dried out regardless
• Speaking of dated food trends, 2008 called. They want their sliders back. (2012 would like to have a word with you about the truffle dish as well)
• I don't know why, but I really enjoy that they're served with both "vegetable relish" and "pickled vegetables." It's amazing how those two toppings manage to be simultaneously pretentions, vague, and redundant.
• Speaking of toppings, there are 5 of them (in addition to the meat and bun). On a slider. Good luck eating this without losing half of them out the side!

I'd also like to give an honorable mention to the parmesan-crusted grilled cheese on the kid's menu. While it sounds like something I'd rather enjoy with soup on a cold day, it sounds like something most grilled-cheese-ordering-age kids would hate; I know my nieces sure would. Know your audience!

It's also curious that both the GCH Craftsman Bar and GCH Craftsman Grill have "GCH" right there in the title, as though it's so difficult to remember which hotel you're in. Additionally, I thought the higher-ups had decreed that acronyms shouldn't be used around guests, but maybe they abandoned that (just like how the Batuu-ese is already starting to slip)

Anyway, it seems like they're trying, but it's all just so misdirected. I give it about 6 weeks before we see major revisions to this menu.