Beirgarten opinions please

[pooh2001]

DS really wants to eat at the Beirgarten.
DH concerned about sitting with others.

Our ADR is for 7:15 pm on a Monday.
The band plays at 7 pm and 8 pm - for 25 minutes.
We may either see the end of the band playing or just the beginning of the band playing with our ADR time.

Food - the good, the bad, the ugly ?

It will cost us about $160 - for 4 adults (everyone is over 15 years old)

Should we keep our Beirgarten ADR ?

Thanks

 

[ilovepete]

My DH LOVES the Biergarten and always wants to go there. My kids love the show, the food, not so much. I don't love it, but I tolerate it for DH's sake. The food just is a little lacking in my opinion and pretty boring. I'd much rather eat somewhere else, but DH loves it so much that I try to suck it up for him.

 

[unfreshdiva1]

I love this place! Food is pretty good IMO (yes it may not be "traditional german food", but I like it). Love the pretzel bread and of course the giant beers. We like to go for lunch (about $10 cheaper than dinner and basically the same food with a few exceptions).

 

[Eliza32]

We love, but usually do a late lunch rather than an evening meal. Food is OK, I've been to Munich a couple of times and feel it is quite authentic for that area of Germany.

As for the 'sitting with others' question, we shared with a family of 4 who made it quite clear that apart from saying 'hello' they were not going to socialise with us (The mother was picking on the 2 kids all of the time - stop sniffing, you're not holding your knife/fork/spoon correctly, we will say grace again before you eat your desert etc. etc - All of this whilst Daddy downed 2 beer flights!) The othher couple were lovely, older than us, but turned out they were also staying at POP and we had polite conversation throughout the meal. We would have been just as happy to keep to ourselves though if they had not wanted to talk.

 

[iloveeeyore]

We really enjoy Biergarten! The food is very nicely prepared, fresh and tasty. It is authentic German, so nothing at all exotic (as PP mentioned, this could get a little "boring"), but we find it satisfying. The desserts are surprisingly delicious, amongst our favorites at Disney! And of course, the beer! The band is terrific!

We went for lunch last summer because we were paying OOP and thought that sounded like a better deal. We are a party of 4 and had a table to ourselves, but were prepared to share with others. We haven't been for dinner in a long time, but I know they have a few extra items on the buffet. The sauerbraten, which I love, is only offered at dinner, but honestly, there were enough other items I didn't even miss it.

"Worth" is a highly subjective concept. We think it's a good deal, but if you're concerned about the cost, try it for lunch. We are using the DxDP this summer have a lunch ADR. Wouldn't hesitate to "spend" the credits on lunch or dinner here.

 

[bigdave10000]

We also love Beirgarten. I think lunch is a good value don't think it is worth the extra charge for dinner.

 

[scdufek]

Biergarten is our must do every time! All 3 of my children loved the food and band. As for sharing a table, we are a family of 5, seated with a party of 4, and a party of 1(the guy loves the place and his family opted for someplace else. We all had pleasant small talk, but mainly kept to our own families. The other party of four did give us their Soarin Fastpasses which was really nice!

I do agree with a previous poster that lunch is the better value. Big difference in price and the lunch and dinner menus are pretty much the same.

 

[Quin]

Another vote in favor of Biergarten. mmmm......pretzel bread..... For some reason this buffet seems to work really well for picky eaters, too. As some prior posters noted, this is a location to go for dinner when you are on the DDP but for lunch when you are paying oop. There are only a few extra items at dinnertime. The band does play several times during the afternoon as well.

As for DH - seat him at one end of the table with a family member across from him and a family member beside him. He won't have to interact at all with anyone else you might be seated with. People tend to be pretty respectful of boundaries. They'll be pleasant and chatty if you are pleasant and chatty. If you smile and nod when first seated but then clearly only talk to your own family, they'll leave you alone.

 

[sephorachick]

My first time there was this past nov I'm a picky eater and found a lot I liked.the show was great and we sat w a cool family who were very nice. I say go for it!

 

[MariDisney]

Biergarten is one of our favorites. We're a party of 3 (myself, DH and DD 12). We enjoy meeting others seated at our table. One time we happened to be seated with a fellow DISer. Last fall we were seated with a fun family who included us in a birthday celebration they were having. We always go with an open mind and try to be friendly. You just never know who you might meet!

The food is a good variety and very tasty, and the show is fun. If you're ADR is 7:15 and you eat at a relatively leisurely pace you'll catch the 8:00 show. It's likely that you'll wait a few minutes to be seated anyway.

DH always like to try various beers and I enjoy a wine flight. My DD really likes German food, so it's a hit all around.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We were not impressed. The food was just OK but the annoying part was we have a 12 noon ADR and we arrived 15 min early. There was 1 family checking in ahead of us. BUT they did not start seating anyone until 12:40pm. I was ticked Of course by the time they opened the doors to start seating people the waiting area was packed. Then they sat probably 6 table before our name was called. For about 30 minutes we had to listen to a family with 2 kids screeching the whole time and we joked that we better not have to sit with them. Guess who we had to sit with, OMG Actually they were nice enough and the kids were just hungry I think and there were no issues. Though by then we were so annoyed we just ate and got out of there We didn't stick around for the promised show. We will NEVER go back, the food wasn't good enough to wait an hour for at lunchtime

 

[WDWsweetsixteengirl]

Keep the reservation. Even though I don't like it there my parents adore the place. I just don't like German food.

 

[MHSweb79]

We love the Biergarten and usually go for lunch. Make sure you don't get a very early ADR as the show doesn't usually start until after 1pm or so. It's also usually easy to get a walk-up here.

As for table mates, sometimes we have great interaction and sometimes folks prefer to keep to themselves. We've never gotten anyone really unfriendly, and frankly they tell you many many times that you'll be seated with others, so if that's a deal breaker go somewhere else.

It's really not that much different from our last experience at LeCellier- there was just about 10" of space between us and the next table - those people weren't techically seated "with us" but when they sprinkle the pepper shaker and you sneeze, it's probably a bit too close.

 

[NJMouseLover]

My husband and I went there on our honeymoon at Disney. It was the only restaurant we majorly disliked. Food was dry and bland. For $40 a head, you should be able to have a fantastic meal. My husband and I are foodies, we are willing to try almost anything. I'm not saying I didn't like it because we don't know "other types" of food. We eat all kinds of food. It was just very bland and dry..and LOUD! LOL

 

[MNCruzn]

Having grown up in a house full of full-blooded Germans who knew how to cook german food, I would say that the food here that is trying to be "german" is very "americanized" german. It's good, but in trying to please the broader pallet, it's pretty "flat" as it relates to traditional german flavors.

However, as it goes sometimes with Disney, it's not just the food, but the experience as well. I do think it's totally worth it from that perspective. The dining hall is really well themed, and if you have the time in your schedule, I think it's time well spent.

Some of the previous posters noted some issues regarding seating and opening times; we did not have any such issues.

Regarding sitting at a table with other...well, it really is a roll of the dice, but we never had a bad experience. Go with an open mind and a bit more patience, perhaps, and remember that everyone else there is in the same boat as you are...