Disappointed in Mama Melrose

[3girlsfun]

We just returned from Disney late last night. I am so disappointed that we ate at Mama Melrose. I really wanted to try a few new restaurants this trip, and this was one of them. We did the F! package, and this was the main reason we chose MM.

Anyway, the service was pretty bad. The server didn't know or understand how the F! package worked...I had to fill her in (this happened a lot on this trip actually), and then she forgot to give us our F! ticket.

The food was pretty bad. I had the Chicken Campanelle. Let me just say, that my DH will eat anything....he took two bites and said, wow, that is bad. They were however willing to replace the dish with another dish. I had them just bring me noodles with butter on it.

We had to ask for salt and pepper, ask for grated parmesan, ask 3 times for extra napkins, beg for refills, etc.

it was just a disaster. We were there almost 3 hours.

So, I say all of this ask...is this what others have experienced? I don't like to jump to conclusions, and always like to give a place a second chance.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I don't remember the service being bad or slow like you're describing, but the food is so terrible we'll never return.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We had AMAZING food and service at Mama Melrose 2 years ago. Service was so great that I remember our server's name: Kevin, and our meal was very good too. We didn't have the Fantasmic package, just regular DDP, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it (although I'm not sure why it would). Sorry you had such a bad experience.

 

[Mousemommy1]

I have no recent experience with Mama Melrose. The last time DH and I ate there was in 2000, but we remember that as being a great meal!!! (of course, to 2 21 yr old college seniors, anything probably would have been great ). I always remember Mama Melrose for starting my love affair with Gorgonzola and blue cheese...I have wanted to go back, but a lot of recent reviews are not so good.

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Three years in a row, we had some of the BEST meals ever at Mama Melrose. As far as speed of service, it has always been hit or miss, but the food was outstanding in 2008, 2009, and 2010. If the food is good, I do not mind slow service.

Then, during our last trip August 2011, the food was awful. We ordered the tuna, like always, and they had completely changed it. The flavor was horrible. Plus, the service was slow and inattentive. I didn't say anything, and I know that I could have sent the order back to the kitchen. We were tired, though, and no one asked us why we were not eating our food. I just decided that, this time, it wasn't worth my energy to try to resolve the problem. I was happy enough just to have a place to sit in the cool air-conditioning. At that point in our day, I would have paid $100 just to have that.

During that last visit, everything we asked of the waiter, the answer was immediately, "No." He wasn't even willing to check for us. For instance, there was some sort of cookie or decoration that came with my daughter's dessert, and I asked if I could buy a second one, as I accidently dropped her first one on the floor.

He immediately said, "No."

When he came back to our table, I explained that I did not mind paying full price for a second dessert. I just wanted my daughter to have the cookie. He said, "We have to save those in case someone else orders that dessert."

I said, "I am someone else, and I would like to order a second dessert."

He finally did bring it to us. I am not sure why he said, "No." I am guessing that he wasn't really listening to my request, and he just assumed that I was asking for something for free.

Anyway, it left me feeling like the restaurant management did not care whether we had a good experience or not, and that was disappointing. It was just me and my seven year old daughter, and we were not asking for much. What we received was bad food and service from someone who made us feel as though our presence was a bother to him.

I will go back and hope that the food is better next time. I will try ordering something different. I like the atmosphere in the restaurant, and I don't really care about the quality of service, if the food is good.

 

[anjalee6]

We have had the opposite experiences. The last three times we have been there, it has been one of our favorite overall meals and maybe we have just lucked out but we have had awesome servers. Two summer's ago, we were full and couldn't even think of dessert and our server told us about coffee drinks we could get as desserts. It was a great suggestion especially on a hot day. Lazy summer in June our food was great. We did not do the Fantasmic pkg. but when we got there our server asked if we would like to see Fantasmic that night and gave us tickets anyway. She was incredibly attentive. We went again in September and my mom's steak was a little overcooked. We had all ordered steak. My husband's and mine were perfect. They brought her a whole other steak and very quickly....our waiter said he would make sure it was right. We are eating there again in July. I know some people do not like it, but we have never had a bad experience. Hope we don't in July either.

 

[disneydee6]

We liked our experiences there. Service has always been fair. We have little italy right near us and have been often, so needless to say we know good italian and this is far from it. Knowing we would be snobs about the food there, we opted to just get salads and bread and we always share a few of the flatbread pizzas as a family. It's a decent meal, and sharing the flatbreads offers a cheap yummy meal

 

[catne]

we've been there many times on the F! package. While the food has been good every time, the service has been very, very slow most of the time. We rarely get seated on time, even when we check in 20 minutes before ADR...we have waited as long as 30 min. past ADR time to get seated. Service has been adequate to terrible. Many times we've had very long waits between courses.

Two hours from the time we check in until we're walking out is about par for Mama Melrose...by contrast, most Disney non-signature restaurants it's 60 min from check in until walking out. And we've been to most of the Disney restaurants

 

[Kay1]

I'm not crazy about current menu but I've always had good experiences at MM, though once my son ordered an eggplant dish that was very skimpy and not enough for an adult to eat.

Sorry, OP. Better luck next time.

 

[Dreamsdocometrue9112]

We had a terrible experience. We had ADRs and still waiting an hour to be seated. Once we were seated, we basically ignored by our server. The food was not good either. I was very disappointed and don't plan to go back.

 

[goofy4tink]

Have to wonder if we had the same server???!!! I've eaten there three times. The first time it was wonderful...I was with friends and had the Penne alla Vodka..and it was delicious. Our server was incredible..knowledgeable and fun. So, I go back again. I get mediocre service and ordered the same meal...and it was awful. It was so awful that I started thinking that maybe I had been drunk the first time...but I doubt 2 glasses of wine would do it.
So....I go a third time, with my dd. We both love chicken parm, so both order that. It was almost inedible..burnt, nasty tasting. I had ordered a salad without any gorgonzola cheese on it..regular house salad. When it got to me, it looked like the greens had been left out for a week. Terribly wilted and limp!! It took our server about 40 mins to get our food out to us...kept bringing us bread. She must have known how the meal was going to turn out. We had to ask 3 times before she actually remembered to bring us soda refills. She never came back to check on our food quality. When she finally returned, about 30 mins after dropping our meals off, she looked at our plates and said..and I quote...'Are you guys all done?? WAnt me to take those plates away???' Now, understand...our meals were about 1/3 gone...it was obvious that there was an issue with the food. I told her that yes, we were done and that we hadn't really enjoyed it. She said...'Oh my, that's not so good. Can I bring you dessert then???' I just couldn't believe it. It took another 20 mins to get our bill. It was one of two very bad meals I've had at WDW in over 10 years of going.
I didn't leave her a tip, and I did mention it to the manager on the way out. And he didn't seem to be overly concerned either. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all. And I was actually quite pleasant..I didn't whine at the manager or scream. I merely explained our situation and why we hadn't left a tip..just in case the server was confused. I hate doing that, but I refuse to tip a server who was really subpar.

But, I have many friends that love eating at Mama's!!!

 

[princessbride6205]

Our experience was just okay. We went March 2, 2012. We had an early dinner of 4:20pm with the Fantasmic package. We only waited 5 minutes for a table but it was still a 2 hour experience. Our server really seemed to be trying hard and friendly, but lots went wrong. The biggest setback was DH's appetizer was burned so badly they didn't serve it. I don't understand why but it took 20 minutes to get him a new one. Since we were on the F! package, we couldn't cancel the app and get a discount on the package price - I asked. We also didn't like the two desserts that are served with the package (for some reason, I didn't know we wouldn't be able to choose from the normal menu).
I'd be willing to try the restaurant again, but would not choose the F! package, since it wasn't a good value for us.

 

[ncc1701]

We've only done lunch but never had an issue with service or the food.
We spilt one of the salads and then share 2 flatbreads/pizzas. Food was very goodand we will be back.

 

[tink65]

We ate there once a few years ago.....swore we'd never go back. Service was ok but food was not good at all!

 

[LILOLO]

My experience (in 2007) was similar. the food was awful (tasted like microwave dinner-quality) and i remember asking twice for salt and pepper. it never came. we also never got our f! ticket after 40 minutes of waiting for the bill. anyway, that trip was with my ex, this sept will be a trip with dbf, who wants to eat there. reeeally hoping things have improved, though im not feeling so confident after reading the reviews.

 

[LILOLO]

My experience (in 2007) was similar. the food was awful (tasted like microwave dinner-quality) and i remember asking twice for salt and pepper. it never came. we also never got our f! ticket after 40 minutes of waiting for the bill. anyway, that trip was with my ex, this sept will be a trip with dbf, who wants to eat there. reeeally hoping things have improved, though im not feeling so confident after reading the reviews.

 

[BLLB]

We just returned from WDW this Saturday. MM was our best meal by far, except for the wretched dessert that came with the Fantasmic Dining package. We also didn't have a great server, but our food was excellent.

I had some type of fish dish, not tuna. It was excellent. DH had steak which he enjoyed and DS had chicken parm. Other DS had childrens pasta, which he liked.

The desserts were a trio, some type of filled chocolate cake, which was good. A panacotta (sp?) which none of us cared for. It tasted like it was supposed to, but we would not have chosen it. The third was some type of cheesecake that was horrible. It had an overwhelming almond extract flavor.

I would definitely return to MM, maybe not for the package though.

 

[BDL]

We went to MM in Dec. of 2010, and it was easily my least favorite meal of the trip. The wait time was longer than any other restaurant (even Le Cellier). Service was slow and absent at times. The food was sub-par.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We have had great service here and not so great service here. Food has always been "OK" but we stick to flatbreads etc.

I agree with a PP that I wonder if a lot of us with the "not so great" service have had the same server We ate here close to 9pm last year after SWW, and we were seated almost 30 minutes late, service was slow, the server definitely wasn't warm and fuzzy and we were about ready to fall asleep at the table.

FWIW, we tend to do better service wise at lunch vs. dinner.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have eaten there twice, both with the FP. First time it was good, last trip it was GREAT. The food was really good (one of the best steaks anywhere on property) and our waiter was wonderful. I had a very tired, grumpy 5 year old and the guy got him to eat! I was amazed. He also not only figured out how to get the FP ticket for my husband that could not attend the dinner but was hoping to get the show, but packed up a meal for him for me to take back to the hotel. He really went beyond the call to duty. He was over worked as they seemed to be understaffed but he never let us go without what we needed.