Cake Bake Shop at the BoardWalk is now open

[TigrLvsPooh]

We had a dinner reservation Sunday night at 7:15pm, booked through Open Table. We arrived at 7:10 to check-in and there were quite a few people at the podium in a heated conversation. Apparently they take names for the bar area and a group had been quoted 45 minutes but they'd already been waiting 90+ minutes. Needless to say they were not happy. Once it was our turn the host seemed frazzled, he said their wifi wasn't working so he had lost contact with the host desk inside. Finally after walking back and forth in and out of the restaurant several times he was able to check us in... then we waited about 20 minutes to be seated.

First thing I noticed upon entering the restaurant was the dining room was less than half full. The host told us they weren't operating at full capacity yet due to the need to train many new employees. We were led to the bar and seated in a booth.

The young bartender came over to take our order, and my first impression was that he wasn't used to serving tables. I had watched several Disney vloggers on YT leading up to our trip and we did not receive anything similar to the greeting and welcome to the restaurant, or any backstory or explanation of the theme, etc. No big deal. (although my daughter in law was sad she was never shown or offered the glitter wish we'd seen online)

Here's where things sort of take a nose dive. After our food was delivered to our table the bartender became engrossed in conversation with two other young people at the bar, one who identified themselves as a fellow castmember. It was clear they had much to talk about, had mutual friends, etc, and we were completely ignored for a very long period of time. No drink refills, no checking back on the order, and a long period of time just starting at our empty plates in front of us. It pretty much ruined the mood of the dinner we'd been looking forward to experiencing.

As for the food, the three of us experienced a variety of appetizers and entrees, none of which felt worth the price. For example the Gumbo was a plain bowl of brown liquid, no sign of any sausage, a couple of lumps of chicken, not up to par in my opinion having been to New Orleans many times. There was zero presentation, no plating techniques or embellishments, just basic, no frills, mediocre food. As an example, I would consider the Grand Floridian Cafe a far step ahead, if that helps for comparison.

Once the bartender decided to come back to our table after we'd been there nearly 2 hours, we each ordered a slice of cake. Overall consensus, it was fine. Nothing mind blowing, just decent cake you'd expect from any restaurant. Fairly forgetful to be honest.

Would I eat here again? Maybe. I might consider trying breakfast or brunch next year, hopefully by then they are fully operational and the staff has better training.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

Oh gosh I have GF cafe breakfast booked as a back up in case I can't get a CBS breakfast reservation for my daughter's birthday.
We've eaten dinner at GF cafe and enjoyed it but I wanted something a little more special.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

Oh gosh I have GF cafe breakfast booked as a back up in case I can't get a CBS breakfast reservation for my daughter's birthday.
We've eaten dinner at GF cafe and enjoyed it but I wanted something a little more special.

I hope your experience will be better!

 

[Genie+]

I don't understand the comparison to the Four Seasons, Ritz, NYC, etc..

This is her restaurant and she's allowed to charge whatever she wants. Why can't she charge similar prices as the big establishments? If she doesn't deliver then she loses her patrons.

Just to see where it lies for this type of experience elsewhere. It came in where I’d expect, the middle.

 

[Lesverts]

We’re visiting WDW next week. Not really any room left in our schedule to book this, and anyway DH was put off by the $36 cocktails miraculously dropping to $20 after the online backlash. Kinda made him wary which I can understand.

We are returning in Feb for a couples trip and I’m booking CBS for us. Overall it is impressive. I plan to look at which selections seem worth the cost before getting there. Proactively make sure we don’t choose the things more likely to disappoint at their price point. I don’t love needing to do that… but it’s not an uncommon part of WDW or business today.

With the price of some trendy ingredients for cocktails right now 30$ isn’t unfortunately outrageous anymore.

Nerdy example and a drink that is available at the Magic Kingdom at most of the restaurants. The Last Word. It has about 5$ worth of alcohol in it. Another 1$ for the lime and sugar. So costing that 6 dollars of ingredients would come out to about 24$ on menu. Food cost being 25%, Labour 35% and 40% margin. Disney charged 18 to 21 for this. With a cheaper gin than I’d use. And I just noticed it has been taken off the menus and now I am sad.

 

[focusondisney]

@TigrLvsPooh, sorry you had such a poor experience. Were you,asked if you minded sitting in the bar? We don’t really drink & don’t enjoy bar an atmosphere. So we wouldn’t like sitting in a bar, particularly if there’s no actual servers & the bartender has to wait on you. What if he gets busy with bar orders??

I have been looking forward to this place since it was first announced. We’re at WDW Christmas week & had been planning to try to get a reservation. This is making me rethink it for sure. Maybe I should wait til our trip in May til the kinks are worked out.

 

[Genie+]

With the price of some trendy ingredients for cocktails right now 30$ isn’t unfortunately outrageous anymore.

It was that -

the same drink priced at $36 was dropped down $20 three days before opening (along with dozens of others)

the same $400 bottle of champagne was dropped down to $240.

That did give me some pause as well. If I called for a roof estimate and they came in at $40k, I made a frowny face and they said OK how about $25k, I have to wonder if they tried to take me as a sucker the first time.

 

[Dave006]

We had a dinner reservation Sunday night at 7:15pm, booked through Open Table. We arrived at 7:10 to check-in

Thanks for the detailed review but I have a few questions about how you ended up being seated in the bar vs one of the other normal seating areas? Did you ask to be seated there or ask for another area?

I had watched several Disney vloggers on YT leading up to our trip and we did not receive anything similar to the greeting and welcome to the restaurant, or any backstory or explanation of the theme, etc. No big deal. (although my daughter in law was sad she was never shown or offered the glitter wish we'd seen online)

Bartenders don't tend to do much related to food service. Their job is tending bar. I would never expect the full experience in booth in the bar area.

Once the bartender decided to come back to our table after we'd been there nearly 2 hours, we each ordered a slice of cake.

Please don't take this the wrong way but you are in a bar so walk up to the bar and let them know what your booth needs.

Dave

 

[Lesverts]

It was that -

the same drink priced at $36 was dropped down $20 three days before opening (along with dozens of others)

the same $400 bottle of champagne was dropped down to $240.

That did give me some pause as well. If I called for a roof estimate and they came in at $40k, I made a frowny face and they said OK how about $25k, I have to wonder if they tried to take me as a sucker the first time.

Your comment makes me miss Josh at easywdw. He was really good at doing price analysis of drinks and bottles.

 

[Dave006]

the same $400 bottle of champagne was dropped down to $240.

They are going to make it up in volume but I don't understand how many bottles they will sell there at the reduced price of $240...

Dave

 

[fla4fun]

Looking at the menu for the tea experience, I don’t like any of the sandwiches. So having tea service will not be on my list. I will stick with going to the bakery for a treat. That was one thing I liked about the tea at GF. There were a few options to choose from as far as the food served, some with sandwiches and some without. I always chose one without because I don’t like most of the types of sandwiches served for afternoon tea (don’t like mayo, cucumber, watercress, or fish).

 

[Lewisc]

Looking at the menu for the tea experience, I don’t like any of the sandwiches. So having tea service will not be on my list. I will stick with going to the bakery for a treat. That was one thing I liked about the tea at GF. There were a few options to choose from as far as the food served, some with sandwiches and some without. I always chose one without because I don’t like most of the types of sandwiches served for afternoon tea (don’t like mayo, cucumber, watercress, or fish).

Guests who don't want a traditional high tea menu and presentation are free to make a regular reservation. Order exactly what you want. You'll probably pay less.

 

[snacks]

I was one of the people in the camp of not being bothered by the high prices, but after eating lunch there last week I can't imagine any reason that we would ever go back.

An unexpected downpour happened when we were about 10 feet from the door. As we entered, there were three employees behind the reception desk. No one greeted us. After 2-3 minutes one of them finally looked in my direction, took my information, and told me we could wait in the waiting room until we received a table ready text. I asked her to please point me in the direction of the restroom so that I could try to dry off. She informed me that they were out of towels and that I shouldn't go there. Yes, this interaction was as odd as it sounds.

We went into the waiting room and did our best to dry our faces with a package of tissues that I had in my handbag. The waiting room is between the entry to the restaurant and the walk-in bakery counter. It was full of people who seemed to be sheltering from the rain. Many of them had drinks and food from other locations on the boardwalk. We seemed to be the only actual CBS customers.

When our table was ready I received a text but then we had to hunt down the person responsible for showing us our table. There were just two of us for this reservation. We were led to the smallest table in the outer section of the restaurant, separate from the main dining room. I have a pet peeve about being seated at a two top as a couple when a place isn't busy. I certainly understand two people being given the undesirable, tiny, badly located table when many tables are in use and other patrons are expected soon, but when the place is only 10-20% full this annoys me. This isn't something specific to CBS but it definitely added to the feeling that no one cared whether or not we were comfortable.

This side room area is very plain, all glass and white with the exception of simple lighted swags hanging from the wall sconces. We had no view of the main dining room or any of the decorations and design elements that everyone is gushing over. Our table had a glass covering over it with many crumbs stuck between the table and the glass. There was also a small lamp on the table which was dusty. This side room has very bad acoustics. There were only three other occupied tables and it was extremely loud. Every voice, every tap of cutlery on a plate, turned into an echo. It was difficult to hear each other. Not a good start.

Our server arrived to take our drink orders but then left abruptly before we even spoke. He came back maybe 10 minutes later. We each ordered a pot of tea. He seemed confused that there was tea on the menu when they aren't actually doing tea time yet. He had the handheld device that others have mentioned. He seemed very unfamiliar with how to use it. The ordering process was extremely inefficient, not just when ordering our beverages but also later when ordering our meal. It took at least another 20 minutes for us to receive our tea and glasses of water.

At this point we asked what the soup of the day was. Our server had to go find out. After another long wait he returned to tell us it was tomato. This seemed kind of ridiculous since tomato soup is extremely common on menus at Disney World including right next door at Boardwalk Deli where it is the only option. We had some other menu questions for our server as well but he just didn't seem familiar with any of the items. We discouraged him from going off to hunt down the answers since we had already been there for the better part of an hour.

I ordered the French onion soup. My husband went with the gumbo. The description for the soup says, "Topped with French bread and Gruyère cheese and baked until golden brown. Served with a freshly toasted half French baguette and salted European butter." My soup arrived with just the soup, mostly broth with a few small pieces of onion in it. No bread or crouton on the soup and no cheese. The broth was flavorless with the exception of salt. The French baguette served on the side was rock hard. I was able to pull off a piece but decided not to try to eat it for fear of breaking a tooth. My husband's gumbo was mostly broth with only a few small pieces of meat and veg, even worse, it was cold. His baguette was similarly inedible.

After sitting there staring at our disappointing soup and gumbo with no one checking on us for at least 30 minutes our entrees arrived to our small table and were dropped off by a kitchen runner without the previous plates being cleared. I had ordered the crab cakes. In the description jumbo lump crab is mentioned. I can assure you there were no jumbo lumps of anything in those crab cakes. The cakes were plated on a puddle of remoulade sauce, which I usually like, but this was very bitter and there was a great deal of it. The crab cakes themselves were room temperature which seemed almost impossible given that my plate was so hot that I burned my finger on it. Did they put previously prepared cold crab cakes on a heated plate hoping it would warm up the crab? I don't know but I was not willing to take a chance on seafood served at an unsafe temperature so I did not eat anymore after the first taste.

My husband's entree was the shrimp po' boy. The roll was fine but nothing special. The shrimp on one half of the sandwich had no breading/batter on them. The shrimp on the other half where covered in a thick coating but it wasn't cooked through. The fries served with his sandwich were pale, translucent, and very hard. I believe this happens when the cooking oil isn't hot enough.

Finally our server came to check on us. At this point we were ready to leave. Our server didn't ask us how the food was just asked if we needed boxes, to which we both replied "NO" in unison. He tried to give us a dessert menu but we told him we had already been there for almost 2 1/2 hours and had no interest in staying any longer. He scurried off to prepare our check leaving all of the plates on the table from both courses. At this point a manager wandered by, asked if we were enjoying ourselves, and kept walking. He didn't seem to notice that he never even let us answer the question.

The whole thing was just weird, and there is no reason we'd ever go back again. We walked out at 4:10, hungry, after arriving on time for our 1:30 reservation.

One thing that really baffles me is that I had read several times that the staff here was hired in March so that they could receive exceptional training. Yet no one, from the hosts, to the servers, to the runners, to the manager on duty, seemed to be familiar with the basic tasks of their positions.


Edited to try and clarify what was on the shrimp but I'm really not sure whether it was a batter or breading. In any case, it was missing on one half of the po'boy and in abundance not fully cooked on the other half.

 

[Madteaparty001]

Guests who don't want a traditional high tea menu and presentation are free to make a regular reservation. Order exactly what you want. You'll probably pay less.

There are dozens of tea and finger sandwiches that don't include fish or mayo, I fault the restaurants for being uninspiring in their menu choices.

 

[snacks]

@TigrLvsPooh, sorry you had such a poor experience. Were you,asked if you minded sitting in the bar? We don’t really drink & don’t enjoy bar an atmosphere. So we wouldn’t like sitting in a bar, particularly if there’s no actual servers & the bartender has to wait on you. What if he gets busy with bar orders??

I have been looking forward to this place since it was first announced. We’re at WDW Christmas week & had been planning to try to get a reservation. This is making me rethink it for sure. Maybe I should wait til our trip in May til the kinks are worked out.

My experience was that there are many, many kinks. I like your optimism that they can be worked out. It was so nice to finally see the Boardwalk without a huge amount of construction after such a long time of work being done on CBS compounded with the renovation of the resort rooms. I really wanted to like this place but it will take a lot of stellar reviews for me to set foot in there again.

 

[Dave006]

@snacks thanks for the complete review of your unfortunate experience. It should not be this hard to deliver food that matches the menu. Your description of your French Onion Soup is not even something that should have been served in an dining establishment much less a "High" End establishment. Your description of your Crab cakes or your husband's shrimp po' boy were even worse than the soup.

I certainly understand two people being given the undesirable, tiny, badly located table when many tables are in use and other patrons are expected soon, but when the place is only 10-20% full this annoys me.

This is sometimes caused by front of the house software used to allocate tables. And Open Table offers this function as part of the restaurant management system. When I am offered these 2 top tables in an otherwise empty area I politely ask to be seated in the main dining area. If you don't share your preference the host can't offer you an alternative.

It is odd that we have had a few reports of guests getting that "Patio" area with the windows and the main room with the Carousel is mostly empty.

We had no view of the main dining room or any of the decorations and design elements that everyone is gushing over. Our table had a glass covering over it with many crumbs stuck between the table and the glass.

The Glass top vs a simple white table cloth shows many minor defects. There should be no dust in the lamps this early in the opening. That is just lazy teamwork.

One thing that really baffles me is that I had read several times that the staff here was hired in March so that they could receive exceptional training.

There were 1 or 2 reports of staff being hired in March but it just does not appear to be true or they moved on before CBS could actually hit a Soft Opening. A server not knowing the soup of the day by 1:30 PM shows very limited or no preparation.

Dave

 

[snacks]

@snacks thanks for the complete review of your unfortunate experience. It should not be this hard to deliver food that matches the menu. Your description of your French Onion Soup is not even something that should have been served in an dining establishment much less a "High" End establishment. Your description of your Crab cakes or your husband's shrimp po' boy were even worse than the soup.


This is sometimes caused by front of the house software used to allocate tables. And Open Table offers this function as part of the restaurant management system. When I am offered these 2 top tables in an otherwise empty area I politely ask to be seated in the main dining area. If you don't share your preference the host can't offer you an alternative.

It is odd that we have had a few reports of guests getting that "Patio" area with the windows and the main room with the Carousel is mostly empty.


The Glass top vs a simple white table cloth shows many minor defects. There should be no dust in the lamps this early in the opening. That is just lazy teamwork.


There were 1 or 2 reports of staff being hired in March but it just does not appear to be true or they moved on before CBS could actually hit a Soft Opening. A server not knowing the soup of the day by 1:30 PM shows very limited or no preparation.

Dave

Thank you for your comments, Dave. I agree with everything you've pointed out.

It is on me that I didn't ask to be moved. I know better. We had gotten dressed up expecting an elegant experience, and then I made the mistake of not bringing an umbrella. I think coming in the door wet threw me off and then being told there were no towels and to avoid the bathroom, it just wasn't the best first impression. Then hunting for the person to seat us, it just felt already at that point that they didn't care.

Like you said, glass is going to show defects easily, and all of that white is going to need a lot of attention. Unless they up their game the entire place is going to look sloppy very quickly. The floor was very dirty and there were finger prints in various places.

I do hope they fix things and that others have positive experiences. This was anticipated for so long and the Boardwalk really needs it, especially right now, and especially a place that is open in the afternoon. I can overlook a few things but really nothing at all went right for us and I'm currently not optimistic that we will return.

 

[focusondisney]

My experience was that there are many, many kinks. I like your optimism that they can be worked out. It was so nice to finally see the Boardwalk without a huge amount of construction after such a long time of work being done on CBS compounded with the renovation of the resort rooms. I really wanted to like this place but it will take a lot of stellar reviews for me to set foot in there again.

I didn’t see your review post until just now. OMG what a cluster that was. You must be a very patient person to have put up with that with & lack of service. Thank you for posting. Looking like I’ll give this a pass until things improve.

 

[Dave006]

Thank you for posting. Looking like I’ll give this a pass until things improve.

It really looks like CBS is off to a slow start and just before the Holiday period. This is not a good start.

Dave

 

[Lewisc]

I was one of the people in the camp of not being bothered by the high prices, but after eating lunch there last week I can't imagine any reason that we would ever go back.

Hopefully what you experienced was soft issues.