Artist Point, what happened to you?

[Mackey Mouse]

In the beginning when they first opened, it was an unusual dining experience and enjoyable. Service was impeccable, the place was decorated so nicely....we use to love it.. Notice the words use to love it.

We took friends to dine there this past week, I am sorry something really happened there? First, we were told by the server, who was nice and working hard, that this restaurant is voted no. 1? I am wondering who voted because clearly, it is not the no. 1 restaurant on property.

We all had appetizers.....my two friends ordered the spinach salad, it came and it was not dressed...how hard is it to complete the salad as ordered, I had the venison spring rolls.. they were decent, and my husband had roasted quail which he felt was not great, it was ok, a little tough and not as tasty as he remembered.. Also, the helpers to our server, had no idea who was getting what??? Doesn't a signature restaurant pride itself on knowing where the plates go... they did not get one right.

For our meal, two of us had the pork chop which was good, not great, but good, it was a little dry and not a lot of taste, the other two had the steak, which was not good....not a great taste and just a nothing steak.....they are many places who serve just ok steak for lesser prices and that is something to be considered when thinking about ordering the steak at Artist Point.

One of my friends ordered a martini, first time around, they sort of got it right, he waited for his olives, ordering the second drink, he got what he refers to as glass of vermouth, maybe someone might have splashed some gin in there, and wedge of lime. Who changed the drink, he didn't?

Foolishly we plodded on thinking, well maybe the dessert will be a wow... warning.. do not order the warm fig clafouti even when the server recommends it. The words doughy, tasteless, mushy come to mind and the buttermilk ice cream had a biscuit in, the kind that you might use in clam chowder......when I questioned it, I was told it was so that ice cream did not hit the plate and melt as fast. OK??? The others had artist point cobbler, I noticed no one finished their dessert and since the meal was more than mediocre, I have to think here the dessert was as well. Also, my husband ordered coffee and got a cup of well burned coffee that had been sitting around for a while...the smell was overpowering at our table. The server did replace it with a freshly brewed cup.

Now we never punish the server for the inadequacies of a kitchen or bartending mistakes, she served the meal, we tipped her accordingly......20%

BUT, my husband and I have put this restaurant in the penalty box, we will never eat there again unless something wondering and magical happens to that kitchen. No. 1 Restaurant, think again Disney, there are far better restaurants on property and we will frequent those, not Artist Point...

What happened to you Artist Point? One more thought....they removed their signature dish, buffalo steak??? Why?

 

[Belle5]

My opinion may already be outdated, because when we dined there less than three months ago--buffalo steak was still on the menu and devoured by someone at our table. So, now realizing that everything may have indeed changed since then, our experience could not have been more different than you are describing. From A-Z our meal was near perfection for the seven of us dining that evening. That perfection could not have been more different than our experience at AP years ago--which mirrored much more your own experience.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I dined there a long time ago back in late Dec 2006 and I had the Salmon which was out of this world. Everything else was just okay. Anyways... our service at that restaurant was horrible. We had waitress that had us sitting there for an hour before she even noticed us. At first, we just thought she was busy but then the people next to us wondered what was going on. Finally, when she did come to our table I asked her if there was problem as her service seems a bit SLOW. I can understand things happening, etc.. but my kids were straving. Anyways... she turned beak red and ran off and had the manager come out. The manager ended up serving us the rest of the night. I guess we smelled or something becuase she didn't want to serve us. At the time we were on the dining plan so, he didn't charge us for our meals but honestly we didn't really need the extra credits as we were leaving soon. So, then, he brought me out a cedar plank with the salmon recipe. I really like that even though I never made the salmon as the recipe is very expensive to make.

We'd probably eat here again if it fits into our schedule. We just happen to be staying at VWL so, it made it convenient.

So, even though my experience happened over 2 years ago it did leave a lasting impression. Maybe Disney restaurants don't rely on repeat customers as much as we think.

 

[sotoalf]

Amazing! We ate last Friday, and had a different experience. A couple of the new additions were outstanding: a parsnip and quince soup, which worthy competition with the portabello mushroom soup; and a quasi osso buco made with buffalo and scalloped potatoes instead of pork and carrots. Our server was a delight: enthusiastic and knowledgeable about wine.

 

[Lmichele]

Amazing! We ate last Friday, and had a different experience. A couple of the new additions were outstanding: a parsnip and quince soup, which worthy competition with the portabello mushroom soup; and a quasi osso buco made with buffalo and scalloped potatoes instead of pork and carrots. Our server was a delight: enthusiastic and knowledgeable about wine.

I second that....AMAZING! DH and I shared the venison spring rolls, I just loved the sweet and sour sauce they came with. I ordered the cedar plank roasted salmon and DH got the roasted chicken breast. We both loved our dinners, the server was spot on and washining apple martini I got was just like it should have been...excellent. Oh..not to mention the sourdough bread...yummo! This was our first visit and will not be our last.

 

[bobbafett]

I have eaten in Artist Point about 12 to 15 times and every time over the years the service is great, I have never found Cast Member service lacking any where!! The food is always good and very consistent, year after year the salmon is exactly the same, I have tried 89% of the restaurants in WDW and have fount Artist Point to be one of the tops, People love to complain more then compliment but it is fair to list your disappointments. I have never had a bad meal and my DVC friends haven’t either. Please try it you won't be dissapointed!

 

[iluvpluto27]

We've only eaten here twice (last time was a couple of months ago) but we found it to be a nice restaurant with good food. The mushroom soup and salmon were fantastic last time, and service both times has been very good.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal, hopefully they were just having an off night.

 

[SoonipiLady]

My opinion may already be outdated, because when we dined there less than three months ago--buffalo steak was still on the menu and devoured by someone at our table. So, now realizing that everything may have indeed changed since then, our experience could not have been more different than you are describing. From A-Z our meal was near perfection for the seven of us dining that evening. That perfection could not have been more different than our experience at AP years ago--which mirrored much more your own experience.

I have to agree with Belle5, Artist Point was by FAR our best dining experience in September. DH had the salad, I had the portobella mushroom soup..both were fantastic. For dinner DH had the pork chop which was tender and juicy, I had the buffalo steak with the onion jam which was out of this world. We both had dessert, me the cobbler, DH the chocolate tart, again both were outstanding. Stephanie was our server and she was top notch (and I am a server myself, so we tend to be forgiving, but honest...she provided some of the best service we have ever had!) She even suggested for what we SHOULDN'T order (the Salmon she said was not good that time of the year if you really like salmon, we should try back in ?????-can't remember when she said now!)

I hope you won't totally give up on AP. We had the same horrible experience at Chef's de France this time around, so I know it's hard to give some place that was so bad another chance, but we've had good luck there too, so we won't totally write it off, just give it a break!

Karen

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I never feel sensitive about the reviews I write...maybe it was an off night... who knows? But something was definitely wrong that night.

And I will write other reviews of many restaurants we ate at this trip.. Citrico's, incredible, Blue Zoo, WOW, Teppan Edo, always consistently good food cooked in front of you, and Brown Derby, another consistently good restaurant at WDW. The key here is consistency...my vacation time is limited so I cannot take a chance to go to restaurants that may be having an "off night." I have a week, you can be darn sure that the restaurants that I will continue to patronize are the ones who consistently have served this family incredible meals.

 

[TigerKat]

I never feel sensitive about the reviews I write...maybe it was an off night... who knows? But something was definitely wrong that night.

And I will write other reviews of many restaurants we ate at this trip.. Citrico's, incredible, Blue Zoo, WOW, Teppan Edo, always consistently good food cooked in front of you, and Brown Derby, another consistently good restaurant at WDW. The key here is consistency...my vacation time is limited so I cannot take a chance to go to restaurants that may be having an "off night." I have a week, you can be darn sure that the restaurants that I will continue to patronize are the ones who consistently have served this family incredible meals.

Will you be posting your other reviews of Citricos & bluezoo on this thread? ITA on the consistency issue. AP was on my list but the menu just doesn't WOW me like the other signature restaurants do.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I was kind of bored with my dinner there a few months ago. It was good, but not as good as it had been in the past.

 

[oybolshoi]

We dined at Artist Point in May 2007 and did not have a good experience there. Poor service, mediocre food, limited choice, and anything but a relaxing atmosphere.

We have no desire to ever go back and we've dined at almost every other signature restaurant on property. I concede that we could have been there on an "off" night, but that doesn't lessen the poor experience we had there.

Not impressed at all and there are far better places to spend money for a quality meal: Citricos and Blue Zoo, among them.

 

[Missin'Disney]

AP was hands down our best dining experience at the World in our 3 family trips that have included the Dining Plan & some sig experiences.

The service was outstanding (DH and I have many years of server experience under our collective belts). The atmosphere was upscale but not pretentious at all. The food was surprisingly well prepared. The mushroom soup was quite memorable. The manager stopped by to talk with us and see how we'd enjoyed everything. Even told us they know all about us crazy DIS'ers and had heard the recent podcast review of AP (August '08).

All in all it was worth every penny IMHO.

I hope everybody gives it a try someday if they get the chance. I know we can't wait to go back!

 

[DVC92]

Artist Point has always been our favorite upscale restaurant, but our last visit was anything but memorable. We dined there Xmas day. There was no buffalo on the menu that day. The meal started out fine with with our first course; however, our entrees arrived prior to finishing the salads. No apology was made. The cedar plank salmon was apparently misnamed on the menu because it came out minus the plank; unattractively thrown upon some potatoes with a sprinkle of pork belly hash. The waiter never offered to refill any of our drinks. When hot tea was ordered, he asked what kind did we want in lieu of bringing the serving box to our table.

I have visited this restaurant yearly for a number of years, but it is now, unfortunately, off my list. I had a better dinner with a more attentive server at the Plaza restaurant in the MK.

 

[Missin'Disney]

Seems to be a grave inconsistency in AP's overall performance. I wonder what the deal with that is?

 

[granmaz]

We ate at AP in Dec 08, and I was really looking forward to it, having had some great experiences of Disney's signature restaurants in the past.

I think we too must have stumbled on a bad day and we were very disappointed - even our waiter seemed like someone from a comedy show. Nothing much went right, and the restaurant just did not seem signature - more like a noisy cafe. The food was ok, not too special though.

In some ways I would like to give it another try as I realise a few negatives in a meal can taint the whole experience, but we have found a great restaurant off site now that gives us that signature feeling at less cost.

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

We just had a wonderful dinner at Artist Point on Oct 13th. I did a short review with pics here in my Trip Report...

Dinner at Artist Point - scroll down to see review & pictures

We are headed back to Artist Point next week, and I'll report back to this thread to let you all know if it was good, or if we hit an 'off' night. (I hope we don't!)

 

[DWFan4Life]

I haven't tried eating in Artist Point but I have plans in mind. Until I read this thread, I'll better think twice and look for the best.

 

[bgdiznee]

I have to agree with OP. We had dinner at AP Nov. 14 at 930pm. I have to relay the time because the restaurant was literally closing down around our party's ears.

The wait staff could not have made it clearer unless they placed a placard on our table that we were ruining their early escape plans.

I have no idea why Disney Dining made an ADR for us at 930pm if thats closing time. There were several other tables getting the "bums rush" as well.

I can't even talk about the food. Lets just say it was obviously on "life support" in the back.(kitchen).

So I don't know what happened to my wonderful AP either, but I sure wish someone would find it.

On a more positive note, we went to Yachtmans steakhouse the next night and absolutely had our socks knocked off it was that good!