Garden Grill

[pirate]

Hi all! Now that Whispering Canyon has changed their menu, I'm in need of another ADR for dinner. We have never eaten at the Garden Grill, and have'nt heard very good things about it, but wanted to try something new. Can anyone that has eaten there recently let me know what you think!
Thanks so much!

 

[Princess on the Run]

It was not a good choice for us. We booked it against recommendations because DS(5) loves Chip & Dale but we'd never go back. The set-up is difficult because the aisle is very narrow and my kids always want to get up and hug the characters and take pics. With booths the way they are, we all had to slide out every time a character came by and when you consider most families are doing that, the very narrow aisle gets bottle-necked easily.

Also, I didn't care for the preset menu. The food wasn't bad tasting, just not anything I would have ordered if I had any other choices.

 

[LAV]

We enjoyed our dinner at the Garden Grill.
The food was good, the characters came around many times, and with the revolving restaurant, the scenery kept changing, which was fun - we enjoyed looking for hidden pictures in the mural on the wall.
I would eat there again.

 

[Hook326]

We enjoyed our dinner at the Garden Grill.
The food was good, the characters came around many times, and with the revolving restaurant, the scenery kept changing, which was fun - we enjoyed looking for hidden pictures in the mural on the wall.
I would eat there again.

This is exactly how we felt about it We went last November & it was the one place my 5yo asked me to make an ADR for this year.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Our Ratings of Garden Grill: (rev 2/13/12)
. . . food price value: B
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: B
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: B
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: B
. . . staff attentiveness: C
. . . character interaction: B

NOTE1: The eatery revolves within The Land pavilion. Portions of the spin
include farm scenes from the boat ride. The food is plentiful, with quality
well above average. Remember, you pay for the characters and not the food
or food quality. The characters include Mickey, Pluto and Chip-n-Dale.

NOTE2: The lower deck tables have seats on one-side, which can make talking
among the table diners tough, especially if you have six-to-eight people. That
takes about 12-feet in linear distance. This also means that you cannot easily
stand to interact with characters. The upper level has standard tables that
seat people facing each other and you can stand and interact. I recommend
the upper tier for characters and also for viewing the river-ride scenery.

 

[juliebug1997]

We enjoyed our dinner at the Garden Grill.
The food was good, the characters came around many times, and with the revolving restaurant, the scenery kept changing, which was fun - we enjoyed looking for hidden pictures in the mural on the wall.
I would eat there again.

This is exactly how we felt about it We went last November & it was the one place my 5yo asked me to make an ADR for this year.

I totally agree with both of these. We have loved every meal there and Chip and Dale are awesome.

We've seen lots of families sit their kids on the outside parts of the booths so that the kids could get in and out easier. We've also seen them just climb under the table.

 

[PAcpl]

We enjoyed our dinner at the Garden Grill.
The food was good, the characters came around many times, and with the revolving restaurant, the scenery kept changing, which was fun - we enjoyed looking for hidden pictures in the mural on the wall.
I would eat there again.

 

[mlittig]

I ate at the Garden Grill for the first time last month and loved it I will be doing it again but this time I will get the yummy beef only

 

[gonzalj1]

I totally agree with both of these. We have loved every meal there and Chip and Dale are awesome.

We've seen lots of families sit their kids on the outside parts of the booths so that the kids could get in and out easier. We've also seen them just climb under the table.

Totally agree. This was one of our favorites on our trip last year!

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We love Garden Grill. My kids ask for it every trip.

 

[333disneymom]

Our family books here every trip. The character interactions are great, and its really nice to get photos of your family with just the characters and not other people at the restaurant. We always like the food too, especially the salad.

 

[Bitsmommy]

One of our favorites!!!! My son asks for this every time we go. It is our traditional first night dinner.

 

[Caseheidi]

We love it there. It has been a few years, but the food was always very yummy! We always put the kids on the outside for easy character interaction. I was surprised our first trip when there was no menu and they just brought out the food, but I loved it all and that it was served family style. And when we took our nephews, they loved decorating their own cup cakes.

 

[Fruto76]

We snagged a last minute ressie there for Thanksgiving last year. Kids loved it. I thought the food and service was great. We sat in the lower level in a booth. I did not think space was that bad, but heck I was in Disney I could've been clouded by pixie dust fever.
I would go back in a heartbeat! J

 

[ctl]

We have eaten there several times and enjoyed the food. If you are into characters it's great (we don't care). My DH has extreme fish and seafood allergies (epi-pen variety) and they have accommodated him very well every time we have eaten there. The service was not great last time we went. They tried to get us out as fast as possible. This was unusual and the server was less than attentive. We have found with the dining plan and built-in gratuity, quite a few servers tend to not be as attentive as they used to be. But overall the food is fresh and tasty and up until last year you could have seconds if you so desired. Hope this helps.

 

[crazybones27]

We love the Garden Grill. We've done dinner there twice and both times got the booths on the lower level. We never had a problem with the kids getting out and interacting with the characters. We just sit the kids on the outside to make it easier.

The wait staff was great both times and made sure we got exactly what we needed. We love the characters here because they come around a few times. On our last visit our son was asleep when we arrived and missed all the characters the first time around. He woke up somewhere in the middle and all the characters came around again and he was happy to see them.

I'm not sure why this restaurant gets some bad reviews, but we enjoy it and will return in the future

 

[SignMeUp]

We have found with the dining plan and built-in gratuity, quite a few servers tend to not be as attentive as they used to be. But overall the food is fresh and tasty and up until last year you could have seconds if you so desired. Hope this helps.

There is no built-in gratuity with the dining plan and fairly certain that GG is like any other family style restaurant in that if you would like more of any dish they will bring it to you if you ask.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

There is no built-in gratuity with the dining plan and fairly certain that GG is like any other family style restaurant in that if you would like more of any dish they will bring it to you if you ask.

This poster is correct. I ate there last week. They will bring you more of anything you want. Adults get turkey, stuffing, fish of some sort talopia? Maybe, and beef and mashed potatoes. Kids get roasted chicken legs and Mac and cheese. Of course everyone can eat what is brought to the table. Dd7 had most of the fish. They will even cook the beef as you like it, as mine was too red, so they brought me some that was cooked lol.

When you are seated they tell you where this kids should sit, so I have never found it an issue. They sit on the outsides so they can get to the characters.

This is one of our favorites. Great character interaction. Gratuity is not included. This is one of the kids favorite meals.

 

[LoriJune]

We love the Garden Grill. We've always had great character interaction and enjoy the food. Going back in January.

 

[Princess on the Run]

When you are seated they tell you where this kids should sit, so I have never found it an issue. They sit on the outsides so they can get to the characters.

I wish someone would have suggested that to us when we sat down. It would have made part of it better. Although with our youngest still in a booster seat, one of us had to get him down each time anyway.

Our dissatisfaction with Garden Grill is my own fault for not looking at the menu, too. I was focused on who the characters are and didn't pay attention to the menu. We can usually find something we like to eat on any menu, so I didn't worry much about what they offered until I found out you didn't have a choice. Chicken on a bone is not a good choice for small kids because it just makes work for parents having to cut it off. But I do consider that my own fault for not looking more closely when I booked it. I saw Chip & Dale and didn't look any farther.