California Grill or Citricos?

[Disneychix]

I have a surprise birthday dinner planned for DH. Right now I have a 9:05 ADR for Cali Grill and a 8:35 adr for Citricos.
I had originally planned on Cali Grill but just yesterday I was reading some questionable reviews and booked Citricos. DH has always wanted to try Citricos but I'm thinking Cali Grill will be excellent for a b-day dinner.

We won't want sushi as we'll be going to the Poly for sushi at a later time in the vacation. Dh does eat fish but loves his steak too.

Can anyone help me decide? What did you love or loathe about Cali Grill or Citricos?

 

[carps09]

We ate at both restaurants on our honeymoon this past October. Both are great restaurants, but for my personal taste, I would return to Cali Grill before I went back to Citricos, mostly because I enjoyed the food at Cali Grill more (the menu at Citricos was a little too fancy for me).

Citricos is definitely quieter and more romantic, and has excellent service. However, like I said before, the food was a little out of my realm of taste. I loved my appetizer there (I think it was the gateau of crab), but when they brought me a tiny fork to scoop out the bone marrow in my veal shank, they lost me. My husband thought his steak was phenomenal.

Both of us loved Cali Grill, and even though it was definitely busier than Citricos, the atmosphere was still nice. We watched the fireworks before we ate, and after the fireworks it did clear out a bit. I LOVED everything I had at the Cali Grill, including my husband's dishes. Everything was delicious!!

 

[Disneychix]

Thanks carps09!

 

[engle]

Hmm....not sure what the pp meant by fancy because I love fancy food but I prefered Cali Grill. I thought the food was just plain better with more choices. However, the one time I did go to Cali Grill the service was TERRIBLE. It is always hit or miss at WDW though, even at signatures, so I wouldn't use that as a determinant. The atmosphere is more romantic at Citricos and the food is good, just like Cali Grill better.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Love both and if I can only go to one no ? it would be Cali Grill you have 3 great things there the food, the atmosphere & the view. It don't get better than that imo.

 

[Uncleromulus]

carps09 set it out pretty well--all depends what kind of food and what kind of restaurant you prefer. California Grill has those excellent flatbread appetizers and of course the view as well. But it is rather noisy and crowded at fireworks time.
We're doing both in our upcoming May trip, but if forced to choose just one, it would be CG by a narrow margin.
IF you do pick Citrico's, do try the veal shank or the braised short ribs. Both excellent!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

They are both wonderful and I love the pork at Cali Grill but Citrico's was just amazing.....

 

[Disneychix]

Thanks all, you're making this a hard choice! Wish I had time for both

MickeyNicki-Do you have a Citricos review in any of those dining reports in your siggie??

 

[Pakey]

We've eaten at both of them many times. We enjoy the sushi at CG but if they did not have the sushi, we probably wouldn't dine there. It's so noisy and the entrees are not as good as the sushi. On the flip side, we've eaten here a few times where it was not noisy and it's then almost magical with those spectacular views. We prefer Citricos but my complaint about this restaurant is that the menu doesn't change as frequently as CG so there isn't as many opportunities to try new things here.

Overall, we have had better service at CG. I've read many comments on here about poor service there but we have never experienced it. It's some of the best service we have received at any WDW restaurant.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I love both, it would be hard for me to decide between the two. CA Grill has an amazing view, if you can time it with the fireworks, that would be the deciding factor for me. It is nosier and busier though.

 

[sotoalf]

Citricos, no question. The service is probably the best in WDW outside V&A's. Your servers will go out of their way to make your deal enjoyable. Plus, it's quieter.

 

[gillep]

DH and I ate at both in January we were on the DXDP so we each had apps entrees and desserts and both were very good. We sat in the wine room at Cali Grill which made it much more quiet and very intimate then went outside to watch the fireworks it was very nice. We had excellent servers at both locations however the ones we had at Citricos were really top notch and a ton of fun by far the best of the entire trip. If I had to pick based only on food I would say Citricos hands down. Cali Grill had some really good food (although I did find a few of the dishes extremely over salted) but the food at citricos was AMAZING espically the veal shank and the desserts are all presented so beautifully at citricos.

All in all I say you can't go wrong with either but as much as I loved the whole experience of cali grill I would return to citricos much sooner!

 

[psac]

Our last trip we went to CG once and Citricos twice. We booked the second Citricos dinner after the first was AMAZING, both in food and service. The second time we weren't nearly as wowed, and thought it was just "good." For Cali Grill, I was really really sick, and we had to leave early. The waitress went out of her way to box up deserts for us to take with us, since we were on the DxDP. The filet she recomended as the "award winning best in Florida" was just so-so (had better at 3 other restuarants that trip, including Citricos), but my wife loved the halibut.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

California Grill. While Citricos is very good nothing beats California Grill.

 

[disneychic]

Definately go to California Grill. We always have a fantastic dining experience there. One of our absolute favorites for special occasions!