California Grill with young kids?

[Lamandpercy]

There were lots of kids there when we went last year. It's Disney, people expect kids in restaurants. We had our anniversary meal in there and it we both loved it so much we have CG booked twice for our August trip. What made my night was a little boy probably about 5 said Happy Anniversary when I went to the bathroom, so cute.

The food was to die for. I can't recommend the pork tenderloin enough, it was heavenly. People did walk around outside and by the lifts, it is a noisy place so as OP said I don't think one crying baby will cause upset for others. Take some crayons and things to keep DS happy while you are waiting for your food. We had no wait for our table - we went straight up in the lift and then to our table.

HTH

 

[crisi]

I'd say dinner was at most 90 minutes long, definately NOT 2 hours...everything moved along fairly fast, and we even had appitizers. We were on the dining plan so cost wasn't a huge issue, but out of pocket it would have cost us over $200 for the 6 of us.

We do four courses at the CG, sometimes five (appetizer, sushi, cheese, entree, dessert - everything split so we don't explode) - plus a bottle of wine - which means that the meal EASILY stretches two hours.

You can also EASILY get out of their faster, but thats sort of what I mean by not doing the restaurant any favors - in order to do justice to this meal (and a few others at WDW) I WANT to take two hours, or more. I wouldn't dream of skipping the cheese course here - its incredible. Lingering over a bottle of wine is part of the wonder of this restaurant. If I wasn't going to take time to eat this meal, I'd eat somewhere else.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We do four courses at the CG, sometimes five (appetizer, sushi, cheese, entree, dessert - everything split so we don't explode) - plus a bottle of wine - which means that the meal EASILY stretches two hours.

You can also EASILY get out of their faster, but thats sort of what I mean by not doing the restaurant any favors - in order to do justice to this meal (and a few others at WDW) I WANT to take two hours, or more. I wouldn't dream of skipping the cheese course here - its incredible. Lingering over a bottle of wine is part of the wonder of this restaurant. If I wasn't going to take time to eat this meal, I'd eat somewhere else.

ITA in every way. When we go we are there to go all out and enjoy every course not just plow through, although you could, but you wouldn't come away with the same experience. We've never been out in less than two hours.

 

[_queenie_]

No worries, there are plenty of kids. It's a big, somewhat noisy restuarant that we've brought our kids to since they were infants. It was my DD's (then 3.5), favorite restaurant. Much like your children, we always bring our kids to restaurants and they've always been fine with it. True, it is a long wait, but make sure to go on a night with fireworks, it breaks up the evening a bit. I wouldn't be concerned if they're used to dining out, especially with the noise. Sometimes you can't even hear yourself!

I have to say though, do NOT order the crab salad. My DD13 got food poisoning (and yes, the doctor confirmed it )!

 

[DreaminDisney]

My kids were 7 & 10 when we were there and we saw a lot of kids/families there. DH and I both really enjoyed CG. Kids loved seeing Wishes from there but they didn't like the food.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I could see entertaining a 4 you for possibly 2 hrs, but an infant? There are better choices for kids. You might try O'hanas, WCC or 50's PTC if you're trying to avoid character meals.

I've been to all of these places, and while we enjoy them and have fun, the food cannot compare to California Grill. If you want really good food, you need to go to a signature dinner. My kids have been going to nice dinners since they were babies, and we enjoy our leisurely meals.

We've been to CG, and it is fine for kids. It was our first signature dinner to try, and my DS still talks about the dessert sushi.