California Grille - So so

[MrsG]

DH & I LOVE Ca. Grille, and go every visit, but we just ate there this week and were not impressed. It seemed to be missing its "something special". The food menu was much more limited than it was in the past. My beef was good - not great - (the same type of beef was much better at Chefs de France). Maybe it was because of more people seated at one time - they put tables where the lounge area used to be. The server was not as present as usual - she was good but not what we usually experience (and we're not the fussy kind of people that want their undivided attention). We really can't put our finger on it, but it just was not the same.

Any one else feel this way, or did we just hit a not-great night. This time it really wasn't worth 2 TS credits.

 

[MEK]

Sorry to hear your meal was not that great. That's really tough when you have high expectations. DH and I had a wonderful meal there in December. Our food was great, our waiter was great, our wine was great, and the table was great! We used the DDE card, not the dining plan.

 

[DAVE-pooh]

We ate at California Grille about three weeks ago. We rated it an 8 out of 10. The food was good, but not great. Our waiter came across as someone who disliked his job and when we asked for his suggestions on other Disney World Dinner locations he stated that he never eats at the World and stays near his house because he loves to drink. Also when we entered the lights were on in the Magic Kingdom and after dinner when we left we were going to take pictures and all the lights were off. Take pictures first !!! The location made our dinner much better. For our party of five the bill came to $400.00 !!! Not worth the money.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

My DH and I splurged and treated ourselved to CG to celebrate our (belated) 15th Annivarsary. We were very unimpressed with the food. It wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, but was not great at all. The bst part was the flatbread. I had the fillet there as well as at LeCellier and felt the one at LeCellier was much better and much more tender. My dh had the salmon there and at Akerhaus and prefered teh salmon at Akerhaus much more. Desserts were not great either. It was our worst meal of ourtrip, again not bad, but not very good.

Our server was very nice, though. And the view was amazig. But food wise, we both said we wished we had gone away for the evening, gone to WPE (sooo darn good!) and used the creits elsewhere. Live and learn...

 

[natalielongstaff]

Disney really needs to up its game on the upscale dining experiences

 

[DisneyTinkerbell]

Agree! If they are going to charge you 2 TS on the dining plan or if they are going to charge higher prices for the meals, it should be one of the best dining experiences in DW.

 

[onelilspark]

I think the issue is that there are certain places that people go because of the atmosphere. CRT, Cali Grille, and Narcoossee's all fall in that category. In many cases, the standard of food drops (not all the time, but I don't think the same stardard applies.) Because people keep coming back to it because of the view.

For excellent signature meals, try Jiko, Citricos, or Bistro.

 

[MrsG]

We also ate at Citricos last year for the first time and it was an excellent meal. We even commented how much better it was than our recent CA grille experience. We will probably eat there again in July instead of CA grille. DH wants to try Jiko, but I'm not big on spices. We'll have to look over the menus and decide.

Again, we wanted to love it, but it was just not up to the 2 TS credits as it has been in the past.

 

[onelilspark]

We also ate at Citricos last year for the first time and it was an excellent meal. We even commented how much better it was than our recent CA grille experience. We will probably eat there again in July instead of CA grille. DH wants to try Jiko, but I'm not big on spices. We'll have to look over the menus and decide.

Again, we wanted to love it, but it was just not up to the 2 TS credits as it has been in the past.

I like spices, but my stomach doesn't, I tend to listen to my stomach Jiko is my favorite. The "spices" used at Jiko are very mild, especially on the filet. I'd give it a try.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

We were pretty disappointed with our meal at CG this past December. We had a wonderful view and an attentive waiter, though. This was our third meal at CG and I was looking forward to the sushi--even that was so-so this time around. I think we'll be taking a break fron CG for a while and maybe try Citricos or V & A for our upcoming trip.

 

[SunShineGurl]

we are another family that left CG somewhat disappointed. The first thing we noticed was the noise level - we were expecting it to be a little noisy, as it is an open kitchen. But, we have been to character meals that did not seem as loud.
Our server was overworked. We were a party of 3, but he was also waiting on tables seating 6 and 10 with no assistance. There were long waits for drink orders, delivery of drinks, meals, and the check. He was not having a good night and it was reflected in his service.
Once food started coming we felt a little better - the appetizers were amazing. We had sushi, flatbread and mussels. The entrees were a different story = the food was missing something.

 

[Krissalee]

I have had some great experiences at CG, and some that were less than stellar. I guess it is hit or miss. We are taking a break from CG for a few trips, because our last two visits weren't as great as years past.

I think the kicker was in October, when DH had a piece of glass from the wine bottle in his wine glass. He took a sip, and then spewed the wine all over the table, as he got a pretty nasty cut on the inside of his lip. The waiter was wonderful, the manager, not so amazing. I think this really made us want to take a break from CG, because after that, the rest of our meal was not so enjoyable (we even skipped dessert, so it had to be bad ).

 

[MrsG]

I guess I'm seeing a pattern here. Overall, the "something special" that this restaurant had seems to be missing. Maybe the wait staff is too stretched, maybe there is a new chef, maybe there are too many tables for the space. Maybe it's all of the above. I feel really bad that our favorite has gone from fabulous and special to just OK.

 

[spotty]

Thanks for the honest review. We used to go every year, it was a favorite. But once the DDP took over, we saw items like frois gras and other specialty items disappear and the atmosphere get louder and less special. We stopped going a few years ago.

We were going to put it in the rotation this year, but you have me wondering if we should bother.

 

[MrsG]

Thanks for the honest review. We used to go every year, it was a favorite. But once the DDP took over, we saw items like frois gras and other specialty items disappear and the atmosphere get louder and less special. We stopped going a few years ago.

We were going to put it in the rotation this year, but you have me wondering if we should bother.

I was hoping that our visit was just a fluke. I agree, not I'm not so sure. You brought up a good point about the DDP. Come to think of it, I have noticed a change before this visit. I think it happened when they didn't allow appetizers on the DDP anymore. You are right, the menu is just ordinary, not special anymore. Good observation.

 

[snackyx]

I agree completly. We eat at the higher-end WDW restaurants every trip and have been to CG at least a dozen times. There has been a noticable lack of "something special" here, from the good but not great food to the cramped and loud atmosphere. I will spend the $$$ but want to leave with the feeling that it was worth it. CG has left me underwhelmed. My best experiences in recent trips has been at Narcoossees.

 

[Mich123]

I totally agree! We ate at CG on 2/20 at it just wasn't excellent, which is my expectation for signature dining. We'd had a really great meal at Brown Derby (despite an overwhelmed server) two days earlier, so I know Disney can do it!

We had ADRs for 7:30 p.m. and weren't seated until at least 8:10 p.m., which was a bad start. The bar area was crowded, it seemed people were eating full meals at small tables by the bar and then there wasn't enough space for those waiting. This was our second dinner at CG and both times we had long waits.

Atmosphere wise, I thought that the restaurant seemed chaotic--it didn't help that a 6 year old tipped her chair over during Wishes and hit her head on the floor (it was awful!)--and a bit disorganized.

The flatbread pizza was good as was the apple salad with winter greens, which I'd highly recommend. For our entrees, DH, DD12 and I all ordered the filet. DH seemed to enjoy his, but mine was a bit undercooked for medium rare and it was really tough. The server had described the filet as "really tender, not as tender as Kobe, but close to Austrailian." I literally hacked at it. In addition, the asparagus was overcooked and over-buttered. By the time the server realized that my meal just wasn't right (he seemed to prioritize his other tables ahead of us the entire meal, forgetting DD12's drink and rushing around), DD9 had literally fallen asleep at the table. He offered to make it right, but I was tired of CG at that point and just wanted to keep the meal moving.

For dessert I had the creme brulee, which was good, but almost too cold. DH had the caramel apple pie, which he liked and DD12 had the kids' rice crispie sushi which was really fun.

We left the restaurant at 10:30 p.m., so it was three hours from entering the restaurant for our 7:30 p.m. ADR to exit. That's just too long. I love a great meal, but one that drags along due to a long wait for a table and slow service is a problem.

 

[MrsG]

Michele,

I had the same experience with the beef fillet. I like it with a pink center so I ordered medium. It was a little overcooked (I always get the same meal and never experienced this there before) and OK. I was so hungry that I didn't send it back. The size was also much smaller than I remembered. I had an excellent beef fillet at Chefs de France and it was a little larger. We noticed the change as soon as our server came to the table. She asked if we had been there before, and when we said we had, she just left the menus and said she'd be back. I realize they were crowded and every server is different, but that was very unusual. Again, she was good, but not the usual caliber of waiter that has that "special something" level of service.

 

[cdtommie]

Probably will get a lot of disagreement on this but if you're going to CG and end up ordering just a filet, you're not really having what makes CG special...a filet is pretty much a filet everywhere at Disney...not much creativity goes into preparation of this.

 

[MrsG]

Probably will get a lot of disagreement on this but if you're going to CG and end up ordering just a filet, you're not really having what makes CG special...a filet is pretty much a filet everywhere at Disney...not much creativity goes into preparation of this.

I absolutely agree, but I am on a special diet and restricted to what I could eat. I did notice, however, that their menu is not as eclectic as before and many items that were "different" from the norm are no longer offered. Even the presentation on the dish was not like it used to be.