What's so 'yuck' about Chefs de France?

[goofy4tink]

We ate there just once...won't be back again any time soon. It was myself, dh and dd (then 11). Dd had no issue with her food....she got something off the kids menu. Dh had fish and said it was not wonderful, to say the least. My beef was badly overcooked...almost inedible. Our server seemed to hate her job. My dh ordered iced tea...it was offered so he figured that's what he would get. Nope, tepid tea, with one ice cube. Our server had brought out a plate with 3 tiny pieces of bread. When she ambled by, we asked for more bread please and my dh asked if he could have a cup of ice cubes to chill his tea. She literally rolled her eyes and walked away. No bread ever made it to the table and no ice cubes. When she brought our dinner, dh asked again. She never returned to see how our food was! No ice was ever seen, I ate a few bites of my beef and finally gave up. Dh couldn't finish his fish...and he's a big seafood eater but said something just tasted off. When our server finally returned, with the check, she looked at our food and said nothing. She never even offered dessert!!
We left a very small tip and off we went. I wanted to speak to the manager but dh just wanted to leave!

I know that's just one experience and we should really give it another try, but I just can't bring myself to go there again.

 

[TDC Nala]

I completely agree about Tony's. How do you like the new Tutto? It is still too dark for me inside but nothing beats leaving the snow in the northeast and eating outside in a sunny Italian palazzo. The food has always been better than Tony's. If we really want Italian food for dinner than it is Il Mulino for us.

I ate lunch at Tutto once, it was fine, I thought Il Mulino was better. If I want to eat in Italy at Epcot I'll go to Via Napoli or Tutto Gusto, you can order Tutto Italia menu items at Gusto if you want. But it's dark also, it's supposed to look like a wine cellar.

 

[parkhopping]

Seems like most (if not all) of Les Chefs' negative reviews are about dinner. I've always gone for lunch. So maybe in this case lunch is a better bet than dinner.

 

[Wendy31]

We try a new-to-us World Showcase restaurant each trip.

Last year, our choice was between Rose & Crown or Chefs de France, & Rose & Crown "won".

Rose & Crown is another restaurant that gets mixed reviews, & we would now be one of the less than positive reviews. We just weren't that impressed. But I'm glad we tried it.

This year, our choice was between La Hacienda & Chefs de France, & Chefs has "won" for our upcoming trip.

I ended up finally choosing Chefs for 3 reasons:

1. I decided that our kids would find more that they liked to eat at Chefs than they would have at La Hacienda - the kids' menu at Chefs looked better to me, & younger DS, of course, eats from the kids' menu. Our older 2 kids (being "Disney adults") usually eat a mix between the regular & kids' menus.

2. Remy - I thought it would be a nice surprise for the kids to see Remy, so I scheduled a 4:30 pm ADR (early for us) in the hopes of seeing him at his 5:20 pm rotation.

3. The desserts - We normally don't eat desserts at every meal, so that's a "treat" for us at Disney, & the desserts at Chefs looked good!

So, while, yes, Chefs gets mixed reviews, I'm excited to finally try it for myself!

Just about every restaurant at WDW gets mixed reviews anyway. In fact, I'm trying to think of a restaurant that gets mostly all positive reviews, & the only one I can think of, w/ the exception of Victoria & Albert's, is breakfast at Tusker House.

We've also discovered that our own restaurant experiences can vary year-to-year as well. For example, last year we really enjoyed Garden Grill - it was one of our favorite meals. However, the prior year, we had a really bad experience there. Conversely, 2 years ago, our dinner at CRT was wonderful whereas, last year, it wasn't as good.

 

[meredith1]

Our upcoming trip will only be our second trip but, we will be going back to Chefs in December. I really think the boards really set expectations for restaurants at Disney very high and if you go with really high expectations, like I did, you will be very disappointed.

We enjoyed our lunch there and look forward to another one however, it's not authentic, gourmet French food so don't expect it and I think you should enjoy.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I've eaten at Les Chefs many times over the years, never had bad meal! Of late, I find the dinner menu and the cuisine somewhat un-inspired! However for us it's still a very nice place to have lunch!

We order several appetizers that we share, our faves Assiete Campagnarde (asst. of pates') and the Escargots (have to get 2 of these my son eats one order by himself), just add the delicious French Onion soup, a tomato and chevre flatbread and a creme brulee and you have a really lovely lunch!

The dinner menu to me is just blah, it's certainly eatible, even good but for me it's time for a change!!

Go and enjoy yourselves, it's one meal, and you may love it, wo cares what others think!

 

[Pygoplites]

My problem with CDF is that I love French food and wine and theirs just isn't very good. I agree that it's a pleasant-enough place for lunch, but I find their food uninspired and often clumsy (even by my lowered-for-WDW standards).

 

[mousestruck]

We tried Chefs for the first time last year and LOVED it! We went for lunch, and both food and service were excellent. If you like the menu, I'd encourage you to give it a try!

 

[olecow]

Personally I don't put a lot of thought into what others think about a restaurant. I have to try them for myself. I've never been to Chefs De France but my family has an ADR at Chefs for our upcoming June trip and I'm really looking forward to it. Will I like it? We'll see. I wouldn't worry if I were you.

 

[Masonmj84]

We went to Les Chefs last December and generally enjoyed it.

While it's not my favorite WS restaurant (Via Napoli holds that honor), we plan to return on our next trip.

As PPs have said, there seem to be fewer negative reviews at lunch (which was when we ate there) as opposed to dinner.

In that regard, provided you're not expecting top flight French food, I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the lunch prix fixe menu. I think the kitchen is more consistent with these items and while the food, IMO, isn't outstanding, it's pretty good and the value, OOP, by Disney standards, is very good.

We also liked the atmosphere and service (and the bread was piping hot and yummy).

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

Count me as another who has never had a bad meal at Chefs. Its true that they really pack the tables in and the service we have had was always at least adequate, but never reached great. The flat bread with bacon is one of the best things I have ever eaten.

 

[tracyheartsmickey]

We ate at Chef's last October for dinner. The service was horrible!! I waited & waited for a refill on my drink but our server never came around. I was able to stop one of the staff that passed by us, explaining that I needed something to drink. She said, "I am not a server" and kept walking. I didn't expect her to get me a drink, but I thought she would find our server and tell him that we were in need of a refill, but NOPE! That was not her job.

 

[JJsmama]

Wow! I am glad I asked this question! Several things I have learned that I did not know:

1. The feel of the place is not 'fancy', as I thought it was, despite being over priced. (Fact)

2. Many servers are rude and inattentive. (Ok, opinion... But a common opinion.)

3. The tables are too crowded together. (Fact) This is why I no longer enjoy Biergarten. Seems the tables have gotten closer and closer together over the years. Last year, I could barely get out of my chair and I am pretty small.

4. Well behaved children seemed to be unwelcome (opinion) and wait staff was annoyed at kids splitting an adult meal. (Fact)

The combination of these things which are important to me are making me reconsider...

 

[MickeyNicki]

While we love lunch there we will never go back for dinner again. It was very rushed and the food wasnt hot, it seemed that everything was already prepared and sitting under heat lamps until someone ordered them. The short ribs was a huge piece of fat, the chicken very dry, the steak terrible and tough. Just not a place we would go back to.

Lunch on the otherhand was excellent!

 

[Jennasis]

Huh. We had a delightful dinner there and would do it again. If I had to find a complaint about the experience it would be that they sure do pack those tables in! It wasn't any louder than any other Disney restaurant (and honestly, whoever is designing these things has GOT to do a better job with the acoustics).

The food was delicious. Our waiter (an extremely tall guy) was super gracious, polite and charming. I know the menu says something about "no substitutions" but he let me sub a side item out and was super pleasant about it. Couldn't have been nicer.

I think with any Disney restaurant you have to try it for yourself and see. Opinions are just that. Opinions.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

A few months ago I was in a similar boat to you. I have never been to Les Chef Des France but it had been on my mom's and mines Disney bucket list for a long time and we both decided we needed to go there. I am SO SO SO SO SO glad we went with our instinct and made a reservation there. Both my mom and I loved it and we would go back without question. We had an amazing server, got to meet remy (He only makes his rounds occasionally and we happened to be there at the right time) and on top of that our food was AMAZING!!!! I got a Ham and Cheese Quiche which was beyond delicious and my mom got french onion soup which she LOVED!!!!

Yeah you definitely should at least go and see what you think of it yourself, I mean people have different opinons all the time about places and if someone pans the place it doesn't mean you wouldn't like it.

 

[MomofDisneyLoversx3]

Wow! I am glad I asked this question! Several things I have learned that I did not know:

1. The feel of the place is not 'fancy', as I thought it was, despite being over priced. (Fact)

2. Many servers are rude and inattentive. (Ok, opinion... But a common opinion.)

3. The tables are too crowded together. (Fact) This is why I no longer enjoy Biergarten. Seems the tables have gotten closer and closer together over the years. Last year, I could barely get out of my chair and I am pretty small.

4. Well behaved children seemed to be unwelcome (opinion) and wait staff was annoyed at kids splitting an adult meal. (Fact)

The combination of these things which are important to me are making me reconsider...

Just want to comment on 2,3 and 4...we had a great server, very attentive. NOT gushing but professional and attentive. The tables seemed no closer to me than any other wdw restaurant. Our children were very welcome. The waitress complimented their French and had a lovely conversation withe them.

We enjoyed it and will go back.

 

[Ro Z]

Have been 4 times. Food is really good. Service was another story twice. But it was not that they ignored us or were slow. They were too attentive. Like when we asked for sauce on the side the waiter insisted we would love it. When I couldn't eat all my onion soup, and braised ribs. They were all over me like what is wrong can we get you something else that you will eat. Really it was just that I knew I couldn't eat all the food they served and still eat my creme brulee. They try too hard! Makes for an uncomfortable experiance!

 

[kgsmith]

We had a very good dinner at Chefs last year. Even my super-picky DS enjoyed it. Our server was excellent.

After reading this thread, I decided to book a lunch for our upcoming trip. I snagged a 12:00pm reservation, so hopefully we'll see Remy on his 12:30 rotation!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Wow! I am glad I asked this question! Several things I have learned that I did not know:

1. The feel of the place is not 'fancy', as I thought it was, despite being over priced. (Fact)

2. Many servers are rude and inattentive. (Ok, opinion... But a common opinion.)

3. The tables are too crowded together. (Fact) This is why I no longer enjoy Biergarten. Seems the tables have gotten closer and closer together over the years. Last year, I could barely get out of my chair and I am pretty small.

4. Well behaved children seemed to be unwelcome (opinion) and wait staff was annoyed at kids splitting an adult meal. (Fact)

The combination of these things which are important to me are making me reconsider...

Keeping a running tab of complaints of each restaurant and using it as the deciding factor as to whether you eat there or not is pretty much going to rule out every restaurant in Disney!

These establishement feed hundreds/thousands of people each week! Every diner has his or her individual expectation, which will differ from mine, yours and everybody else! As far as close tables, well that's the norm at Disney, no different at Le Cellier, Raglands, and a miriad of others. The goal is to pack em in, and get them out for the next herd! It's about money, none of these restaurants are creating a small and intimate dining experience for you! Nor will you get competitive prices at these restaurants, you're in the parks, Disney has you, they set the price! At these venues, cost is sledom indicative of quality or ambiance, far from it!

Take opinions and information given with a grain of salt! For the few comments you do get, there are thousands of diners who will never write in a blog, or access the DIS and or give a restaurant review!

And with all of that, I've still had some great meals at Disney, sometimes great, good and bad service from the same rest. but I return to soem of these because they've over time met my realistic expectations of Disney dining!

Now, at my home restaurants, I have a whole other set of expectations!