jabead
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2000
BACKGROUND: My family has had a love/hate relationship with California Grill since we were first introduced in 2007. For DD1 and me, it was pretty much love at first sight…the sight of Cinderella’s castle, which could be seen from our table. We also really enjoyed our food, which was sushi for DD1 and a delicious filet for me. As for the rest of our family…well, hate is a strong word, so let’s just say that this first experience left them with a strong dislike of California Grill. 
DD2 was totally unimpressed with all her food and DS declared his steak (ordered from the Kids’ menu) to be the worst he’d ever had...full of gristle and fat. 
But the very worst opinion of California Grill was that of DH, who could not tolerate the noise-level of the very busy dining room that night. In fact, for the next few years, DH used California Grill as a prime example of an overpriced, deafeningly-loud Disney restaurant to which he would never return. 
Here are a couple of pictures from our first dinner at California Grill...
DD1 with her California Sushi Roll - Nov. 2007
And with our Desserts, including the Lava Cake - Nov. 2007
But somehow I did get him to return to California Grill for dinner during our 25th anniversary trip. I think of this dining experience as our “Perfect Storm”…and I mean that in an entirely good way. Excellent service (which went way above and beyond), three courses of delicious food, and an enjoyable atmosphere all came together perfectly at this dinner to form an exceptional dining experience…a “Perfect Storm”.
In fact, it was so wonderful that it won over my previously skeptical DH, who was forced to admit that he actually enjoyed our dinner there…even if it did taste a little like crow. 
So one down, but there were still two of our family who were unconvinced.
Fast forward one year to our Nov. 2011 trip when my son was on a quest to find the best Disney steak. Though he was quite reluctant (still remembering the last steak he had at California Grill
), for the sake of his research he ordered the filet at our dinner here. And I’m quite happy to report that he declared this steak to not only be the best Disney steak (much better than Shula’s and Yachtsman steakhouses), but the best he had ever had. So now California Grill has the unusual distinction of having served him both his worst and best steak. 
But that still left DD2. Would she also be won over by our…
Dinner at California Grill-Part I
We arrived at the 2nd floor check-in desk on time for our 7:45 reservation. I again politely asked to be seated by a window overlooking Magic Kingdom. We then took the elevator up to the restaurant on the 15th floor and found chairs along the wall to sit and wait. After about 10 -15 minutes we were seated at a table by the window, with the table covered by Mickey confetti for our graduation celebration. After attempting to take a few pictures of the castle through the glass window, DD2 decided to go out onto the terrace, where she took these…
A Sneek Peek Behind the Construction Walls of the New Fantasyland
While she was gone, DD1 and I carefully looked over the wine list, which is pretty lengthy here. She chose a wine from the “Interesting Red” section of the menu, Navarro Correas “Alegoria”, which is an Argentinian Malbec. This was a very dark, dense red wine rich with the flavors of dark fruits, which is exactly the type of wine that she prefers, so she gave it an “Excellent” rating. I, on the other hand, prefer light and fruity white wines so I ordered a Riesling, more specifically a glass of Selbach-Oster Spatlese. I enjoyed it and rated it as “Very Good”. Sorry we didn’t take pictures, but DD2 was gone with the camera when our wines were poured. But I guess you know what a glass of red and white wine look like.
When DD2 returned to the table, we looked over the menu and chose our first and second shared courses.
California Grill Menu as of May 18, 2012
For our first course we shared this...
California Grill's Cheese Board (Cheese Plate #3 of the Trip) - $20.00
The five cheeses were (pictured from left to right): Pleasant Ridge Reserve, MT. TAM, Bijou, Fiore Sardo, and Affinee Blue (descriptions listed on the menu pictured below). I didn’t realize until later that the accompaniments were not listed on this menu so I didn’t take notes, but I believe they were candied nuts, slices of fig, fruit gelatin (perhaps blackberry?), and our favorite, honeycomb. Once again, my favorite cheese was the blue, as I just can’t seem to get enough of it. Which is a good thing, because as you may recall the girls won’t touch it. Actually no one else in my family will eat blue cheese, go figure??? Our individual ratings for this cheese plate ranged from “Okay” (given by DD2) to “Very Good” (given by me). So it received an overall rating of “Good”, which was the rating given by DD1.
California Grill's Cheese Board Menu as of May 18, 2012
Here’s a second picture of the Cheese Plate, which I’ve included because you can see the bread basket in the background (which is a good sourdough) and DD’s glass of Malbec.
A Second Look at the Cheesy Goodness plus Bread Basket and Malbec
For our second course we shared the …
Heirloom Tomato BLT Flatbread with Marinated Local Tomatoes, Applewood Bacon, Chiffonade Romaine Lettuce, and Lemon Mayonnaise.
I thought this was outstanding (especially the applewood bacon) and gave it an “Excellent” rating. Of the three flatbreads I’ve tried at California Grill, all have been very good but this one was the best. DD1 also really enjoyed this and gave it a “Very Good” rating. But DD2 wasn’t crazy about the lemon mayo so only gave it a “Good”. So the BLT flatbread gets an overall rating from us of “Very Good”.
And so I’m starting to get a little worried about now, as DD2 seems to again be unimpressed by the California Grill food to this point. Would her opinion be changed by the entrée course???
Stay tuned for Part II to find out the answer to this cliffhanger.
DD2 was totally unimpressed with all her food and DS declared his steak (ordered from the Kids’ menu) to be the worst he’d ever had...full of gristle and fat. But the very worst opinion of California Grill was that of DH, who could not tolerate the noise-level of the very busy dining room that night. In fact, for the next few years, DH used California Grill as a prime example of an overpriced, deafeningly-loud Disney restaurant to which he would never return. Here are a couple of pictures from our first dinner at California Grill...
DD1 with her California Sushi Roll - Nov. 2007
And with our Desserts, including the Lava Cake - Nov. 2007
But somehow I did get him to return to California Grill for dinner during our 25th anniversary trip. I think of this dining experience as our “Perfect Storm”…and I mean that in an entirely good way. Excellent service (which went way above and beyond), three courses of delicious food, and an enjoyable atmosphere all came together perfectly at this dinner to form an exceptional dining experience…a “Perfect Storm”.
In fact, it was so wonderful that it won over my previously skeptical DH, who was forced to admit that he actually enjoyed our dinner there…even if it did taste a little like crow. So one down, but there were still two of our family who were unconvinced. Fast forward one year to our Nov. 2011 trip when my son was on a quest to find the best Disney steak. Though he was quite reluctant (still remembering the last steak he had at California Grill
), for the sake of his research he ordered the filet at our dinner here. And I’m quite happy to report that he declared this steak to not only be the best Disney steak (much better than Shula’s and Yachtsman steakhouses), but the best he had ever had. So now California Grill has the unusual distinction of having served him both his worst and best steak. But that still left DD2. Would she also be won over by our…
Dinner at California Grill-Part I
We arrived at the 2nd floor check-in desk on time for our 7:45 reservation. I again politely asked to be seated by a window overlooking Magic Kingdom. We then took the elevator up to the restaurant on the 15th floor and found chairs along the wall to sit and wait. After about 10 -15 minutes we were seated at a table by the window, with the table covered by Mickey confetti for our graduation celebration. After attempting to take a few pictures of the castle through the glass window, DD2 decided to go out onto the terrace, where she took these…
A Sneek Peek Behind the Construction Walls of the New Fantasyland
While she was gone, DD1 and I carefully looked over the wine list, which is pretty lengthy here. She chose a wine from the “Interesting Red” section of the menu, Navarro Correas “Alegoria”, which is an Argentinian Malbec. This was a very dark, dense red wine rich with the flavors of dark fruits, which is exactly the type of wine that she prefers, so she gave it an “Excellent” rating. I, on the other hand, prefer light and fruity white wines so I ordered a Riesling, more specifically a glass of Selbach-Oster Spatlese. I enjoyed it and rated it as “Very Good”. Sorry we didn’t take pictures, but DD2 was gone with the camera when our wines were poured. But I guess you know what a glass of red and white wine look like.
When DD2 returned to the table, we looked over the menu and chose our first and second shared courses.
California Grill Menu as of May 18, 2012
For our first course we shared this...
The five cheeses were (pictured from left to right): Pleasant Ridge Reserve, MT. TAM, Bijou, Fiore Sardo, and Affinee Blue (descriptions listed on the menu pictured below). I didn’t realize until later that the accompaniments were not listed on this menu so I didn’t take notes, but I believe they were candied nuts, slices of fig, fruit gelatin (perhaps blackberry?), and our favorite, honeycomb. Once again, my favorite cheese was the blue, as I just can’t seem to get enough of it. Which is a good thing, because as you may recall the girls won’t touch it.
Actually no one else in my family will eat blue cheese, go figure??? Our individual ratings for this cheese plate ranged from “Okay” (given by DD2) to “Very Good” (given by me). So it received an overall rating of “Good”, which was the rating given by DD1.
California Grill's Cheese Board Menu as of May 18, 2012
Here’s a second picture of the Cheese Plate, which I’ve included because you can see the bread basket in the background (which is a good sourdough) and DD’s glass of Malbec.
A Second Look at the Cheesy Goodness plus Bread Basket and Malbec
For our second course we shared the …
I thought this was outstanding (especially the applewood bacon) and gave it an “Excellent” rating. Of the three flatbreads I’ve tried at California Grill, all have been very good but this one was the best. DD1 also really enjoyed this and gave it a “Very Good” rating. But DD2 wasn’t crazy about the lemon mayo so only gave it a “Good”. So the BLT flatbread gets an overall rating from us of “Very Good”.
And so I’m starting to get a little worried about now, as DD2 seems to again be unimpressed by the California Grill food to this point. Would her opinion be changed by the entrée course???
Stay tuned for Part II to find out the answer to this cliffhanger.
But anyway, since DD1 has not had the opportunity to try the S'Mores version she was quite content with this one...plus she is a big fan of all things coffee flavored. Therefore, she rated this dessert as "Very Good". 
) of coffee. There weren't any raspberry or strawberry desserts on the menu, so I thought she would choose the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. But she surprised me by ordering this...
So glad that your toughest food critic loved her steak! 
Thanks for joining in and taking the time to post a comment. And in regard to the possible CA Grill renovations, here is a link to the Disney Food Blog article where I first heard about it.
But hey, we were in Disney World, girls! No time to waste sleeping when we had things to see, rides to ride, and most importantly, much food to be eaten. 
Yes, I popped it in the microwave and a few seconds later out came the warm, ooey-gooey cinnamon roll we all know and love. 
It was well-worth the wrath of my daughter that I had to endure for running the noisy microwave. 
