Biergarten - Never Again!

[luvmarypoppins]

We chose the Biergarten as our CP dining option. I chose it for a few reasons, price, location, closer walk to AG venue and entertainment factor. I remember I posted a thread about the seating concerns I had. That was secondary compared to the dining experience itself. The buffet lines were really long. The restraunt itself was so dark it was hard to see the food and where you were walking with a full plate etc. When we went up to the buffet. The salad was almost empty, the carrots, potatoes,roasted chicken and chicken shnitzel were empty as well as the rolls, not to mention in the chicken soup there was no chicken, basically broth. Our server was non existent alot of the time, but towards the end refilled our drinks alot. She didnt actually speak to us, I did ask her where she was from. We had a table of 8, our own family of 5, dh, myself and the 3 teen ds, we were seated with a approx 90 year old grandma and her son and daughter from Calif. He said his family sold walt disney land for disneyland and he worked at star tours in disneyland. We were so squished with the table behind us etc. My 3 ds begged us never to go back there again. The positives were the pretzel bread type rolls and the apple strudel dessert and some almond thin type pastry.

 

[beccasmom]

Some of my family like it there, but I can't say I'm wild about it either. The first time we visited was loooong ago when Epcot was first open and restaurants were hard to book and that was the only one we could get. It was okay, but I was never eager to return. It was not a buffet then and the menu was rather sparce, IMHO.

DH and other family members have since returned and they thought it was okay, but they're not going to rush back either. They thought the food was okay, but I felt it was overpriced for what was offered (even taking into account that we were in WDW).

 

[monica31671]

My family loves this place.
We were there in June and the food was piled high and our server was very friendly. It sounds like we had better service than you did.
We had wonderful people at our table, too. That alone might make or break someone's experience here.

 

[jann1033]

we enjoyed it also and didn't have any of the problems you encountered although it sounds like they were really busy which is, i am guessing, probably why the buffet wasn't stocked...they were good on keeping things fresh and full when we were there but if there were tons of people that would make it harder to do so.

Ahhh, I love going to WDW off season with no special events, such a relief

 

[disneymom2one]

We chose the Biergarten as our CP dining option. I chose it for a few reasons, price, location, closer walk to AG venue and entertainment factor. I remember I posted a thread about the seating concerns I had. That was secondary compared to the dining experience itself. The buffet lines were really long. The restraunt itself was so dark it was hard to see the food and where you were walking with a full plate etc. When we went up to the buffet. The salad was almost empty, the carrots, potatoes,roasted chicken and chicken shnitzel were empty as well as the rolls, not to mention in the chicken soup there was no chicken, basically broth. Our server was non existent alot of the time, but towards the end refilled our drinks alot. She didnt actually speak to us, I did ask her where she was from. We had a table of 8, our own family of 5, dh, myself and the 3 teen ds, we were seated with a approx 90 year old grandma and her son and daughter from Calif. He said his family sold walt disney land for disneyland and he worked at star tours in disneyland. We were so squished with the table behind us etc. My 3 ds begged us never to go back there again. The positives were the pretzel bread type rolls and the apple strudel dessert and some almond thin type pastry.

This was our exact experience last year with Biergarten and the CP package. We won't be back either (and we'll be there for two weeks soon - with 18 ADR's). The tables are simply too close together. It's dark. And service for us was almost nonexistent. The buffet wasn't that great either. We pretty much left without eating and chalked it up to a bad experience and a lesson learned. It is the only restaurant (in 20+ trips to WDW) that we would never go back to.

 

[bicker]

We enjoy this place, mostly because the sausage and red cabbage are both SOOOOOO good. It is one of the least expensive options available, short of counter-service, so we've never expected haute cuisine nor superlatively fine service. Given that we're also paying for the entertainment (whether we stay long enough to watch it or not) and for all we care to eat, it come across to us as a singularly great value.

 

[WDWNicole]

Being of Germany decent with 2 German cooking grandmothers and a German cooking mother, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and selections at the Biergarten, but bad service can ruin a meal. However, you can get bad service at any restaurant.

 

[LindaR]

We despise this place and won't ever go back. Our last lunch was something that we'd like to forget. DD16 and I were seated with a man and his teenage son, they both spent the entire meal staring at my daughter to the point where she was so uncomfortable that she could not eat. I found a lovely curly long hair in my cabbage. We asked for the check. I asked for the manager and expressed my disappointment. He just looked at me. We get better service at McDonalds.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have gone many many times and never had the negative experience that you did, I am sorry you did not enjoy yourselves. The food is always soooo good!! I try to make reservations at the 5pm hour to avoid heavy crowds.

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

So sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. This is one of my favorite restaurants not only at Disney but anywhere and I hate to hear you had such a bad time. We just ate there last Thursday and the food and service were excellent....sometimes you can just hit places at a bad time. I was worried about taking DMIL and DFIL there because neither of them like German food but they loved the meal and actually wanted to see if we could get ADR's the next night...it was their favorite meal of the trip. If you get the notion sometime I would give it another shot and maybe it will go beyond your expectations.

 

[MTstitch]

This is my favorite place to eat in the World. So sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

 

[kaybird]

We had a good time, thought the food was plentiful and a good value. We tend to like fancier food, but loved the entertainment. I was particularly fond of one dish that I can only describe as something like fish and whipped cream. Probably not what it's called.

ttfn-k

 

[raidermatt]

We've eaten there once and enjoyed it, but I can understand your frustration. Had our experience been like what you described we would not likely want to go back either.

 

[cobbler]

Sorry you had a bad expirence. We just came back and had a great time. It is a little dark in there but it is supposed to be the traditional Biergarten where you eat ourdoors. We would go again.

 

[musicmama]

OK, this was in 2000, but the basic premise hasn't changed. DD and I do not like German food. We ate dessert. DH loves good German food. He ate well. However, DD was picked to be the "kapellmeisterin" (aka conductor) for the oompah band. She was 7. She LOVED the experience. DH and I loved it for her even more. (Half an hour later, DD and I had a meal from the CS place at China.)

However, we haven't been back again. I did tell DH if he didn't like the other places we chose for the upcoming trip that he could go there alone. He's thinking about it - but he'd really rather try Le Cellier.

 

[canwegosoon]

While I agree if you get a server who is tired(and perhaps new...I forget how long the servers come for from Germany), and you have to wait for the food to be refilled(at least you are getting the really fresh food), and you don't really like the concept of sitting with others (although I have wild stories from Austria and sitting with people I didn't know-it's a traditional cultural thing), I agree you shouldn't go back.

Me, personally, I go every trip...I love it. I take my time, enjoy the show, and the good food. We usually go around 6 pm, and it always seems great to us. It is a very busy popular place, and with the food plans they may be a little off. I check it out in 90 days!!!!

 

[we3disneygo]

last trip we wanted to try it but ate at the counter service outside.....this time I think we have to try it. last trip we made hardly any plans for eating and ended up having pizza in our room a couple of nights not this time !!!!

 

[IStoleMyKidsPins]

My DSIL and DBIL both love it there. He was picked as Burgermeister on our last trip in October!

 

[agnes!]

We used to love the Biergarten, but have had bad experiences the last couple of times we've gone, and we've visited at various times of the year. There always seems to be a problem with the ADRs, the reservation stand outside doesn't seem to communicate very well with the hostess stand inside, we *always* have to wait a loooooong time to be seated even at off-times of the year, the buffet isn't replenished...*sigh*.

agnes!

 

[athenna]

We had a great experince there. We ate there Friday night. We didn't even have ADR's, it was like a last minute decision, they gave us one of those pagers, we went in the shops. I think we waited maybe 10 minutes. The buffet lines were not long, the food was good and hot. The waitress was very nice and attentive. It was decorated nicely for Christas, the entertainment was nice, and I can't wait to go back in the fall, it is the 1 place my boyfriend has requested we make ADR's for.