Biggest ADR Pleasant Surprise?

[Live4theMagic]

Did you ever read negative reviews about a restaurant but decide to give it a go for yourself anyway? Which places did you not expect to love, but were pleasantly surprised by? Mine was Chefs de France, I thought it would be pretty good, but it ended up being on of the best meals of our trip. My DH liked his steak better there than the one he got at Yachtsman!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Le Cellier! I always see horrible reviews on here which amazes me, because I think the filet I ordered was the best steak I've ever had (and no, I promise I have not exclusively been eating at Applebee's my entire life!)

 

[disneypanda11]

Mama Melrose. I'd read lots of reviews about the food being lower quality than Olive Garden, which I found concerning because I'm not a fan of Olive Garden (or chain restaurants for that matter). However, when we dined there for the first time 5 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised. Since then, we've gone back several times and have only had one "off" meal. Now had that been my FIRST experience, I may not have returned (and may have written a bad review myself!). Just goes to show that there are a million variables in a dining experience, and one off meal does not a bad restaurant make.

 

[Quellman]

Mama Melrose. I'd read lots of reviews about the food being lower quality than Olive Garden, which I found concerning because I'm not a fan of Olive Garden (or chain restaurants for that matter). However, when we dined there for the first time 5 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised. Since then, we've gone back several times and have only had one "off" meal. Now had that been my FIRST experience, I may not have returned (and may have written a bad review myself!). Just goes to show that there are a million variables in a dining experience, and one off meal does not a bad restaurant make.

This was a hidden gem on our last trip as well. We try not to eat at the same restaurants in consecutive trips. But yea. Mama Melrose was a nice surprise.

 

[CJ227]

Chef Mickey's. Breakfast was great!

 

[1983DisneyFanatic]

Mama Melrose and Hollywood & Vine... I booked these with low expectations for Fantasmic and both were better than I had anticipated.

 

[erinkristen04]

Coral Reef! After reading all the reviews I was a little nervous about our lunch plans there last year, but DH insisted we keep our ADR. My meal was delicious, and we were lucky to have a table right next to the tank. It ended up being a wonderful experience overall.

 

[boomgoesthemickey]

Raglan Road by far, it has very solid reviews for the most part but me and my gf were blown away by how terrific everything was. We loved it so much we canceled another adr we had for later in the trip to eat there again. And the bread pudding....my god...so good.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

The Grand Floridian Cafe. We did a Christmas trip a few years ago and my daughter didn't decide until a few weeks before that she really wanted to eat out for breakfast - on Christmas morning! I was scared to even look thinking there wasn't a chance. I was surprised when a few places had openings and after doing a little research decided on GFC. We arrived a little early for our ADR and noticed the restaurant was only about half full. We walked up and they seated us right away - very pleasantly (had a rough start at 1900 PF so I didn't know what to expect here). We were seated near the check-in desk, which was totally fine for us - had we not been sitting there we wouldn't have seen the family with two grown sons wearing footie pajamas walk in! It was too cute! But anyway, the food was great and the service was superb! We try to eat there every trip, but I've learned I like their lunch and dinner a little better than breakfast.

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

For us it was "Tonys". We had read so many bad things, but for some reason, we just wanted to give it a try. To our surprise, we had a good meal and good service and a good table to boot. We were able to look out the window and see Main Street. We enjoyed it.

 

[GPC0321]

We were seated near the check-in desk, which was totally fine for us - had we not been sitting there we wouldn't have seen the family with two grown sons wearing footie pajamas walk in! It was too cute!

OMG,how funny! LOL! I would've loved to have seen that. What a great story.

 

[AgletWDW]

Coral Reef! I read so many negative reviews I canceled our ADR. But while we were there we had to rearrange things because DS got sick earlier in the trip. We didn't decide to go back to Epcot until late in the day. I looked on the phone to see what was available for that night. DH and the kids all wanted Coral Reec so I reluctantly booked it. It turned out to be so good!! Everything was really great and the steak was the best we had on our trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

For us it was "Tonys". We had read so many bad things, but for some reason, we just wanted to give it a try. To our surprise, we had a good meal and good service and a good table to boot. We were able to look out the window and see Main Street. We enjoyed it.

This was mine as well. I was expecting mediocre but my family really enjoyed our meal.

 

[partyof2]

This was mine as well. I was expecting mediocre but my family really enjoyed our meal.

Us too!

I'd only read bad things but it was quite possibly the best meal of our trip. Loved the atmosphere, setting, location, food, everything!

I'm a strong believer that you need to make your own mind up about places so usually ignore negative reviews.

 

[Nancyg56]

Us too!

I'd only read bad things but it was quite possibly the best meal of our trip. Loved the atmosphere, setting, location, food, everything!

I'm a strong believer that you need to make your own mind up about places so usually ignore negative reviews.

That's why even if I do not have great experiences at any given restaurant I encourage people to see for themselves.

 

[dismom2+twins]

Is lunch at Chefs de France a lot different than dinner there?

 

[joannamet]

I love this thread. I always take reviews on the boards with a grain of salt. Chef Mickey's is one of the most hated restaurants on the Dis but it has 4 stars on Trip Adviser and is ranked in the top 10% of Orlando restaurants. It was also our pleasant surprise a few years ago. We loved it.

 

[1GR8DISNEYFAN]

I love Italian, so we had reservations at both Via Napoli and Tutto Italia. I was expecting a lot from Via Napoli because of all the rave reviews, but was very disappointed. Did not care for the pizza or noisy atmosphere at all. Now I was not expecting much from Tutto, but loved it! Best lasagna and cannoli. Cant' wait until next month, we have reservations there again.

 

[disprincess2213]

We are on board with many of you! Le Cellier is incredible! The best filet I ever had came from Le Cellier served with the most incredible risotto. We eat here EVERY trip! Also, we love Chef Mickey Breakfast! Its a breakfast buffet but its fun and the food is great!

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

Ours is Tony's and Hollywood and Vine. We enjoy the food at both places and have never had bad service. We have ate at both of them on our last 2 trips!