California Grill

[jeanninepl]

We were thinking of leaving the kids with grandma and grandpa while we had a dinner for two at The California Grill. Is it worth it?

 

[Hootch]

the food has always been outstanding for us. The one draw back is that it sometimes can be a bit loud.

ADRs around the Wishes time are in great demand. The servers will generally work around people who want to view the fireworks during their meal. The music is piped in. If your meal is earlier, you can gain readmittance to watch from the deck by showing your dinner receipt for that night.

 

[TDC Nala]

Food's good. But it is not a quiet romantic atmosphere. This is a very busy, bustling restaurant. The closer you get to fireworks time, the more busy and bustling it is. There's a wine room that may feel a little more private if you'd like to ask to sit there. There is no Magic Kingdom view from the wine room though.

 

[disneylovin24]

The food is good, I've had better in disney, but the view is the great part. But, like the person above said it isn't the most romantic place. I think there are better places in disney for a romantic dinner for two.

 

[Art 1]

I think it is.

 

[TxRabbit]

It's defintely worth dining at, but it is also a kid pleasing restaurant, so I'm not sure if it's the WORTH it restaurant to do without kids. We went with DS around sunset, which was a little weird, all the shades were down so the view was funny, but it was very quiet at that time, with few diners. It definitely got louder as the night went on...

 

[katmittens]

We just ate at Cali Grill in Jan. I think if you are close to the bar it is very noisy, but it doesn't bother us. I love the food. I did have a bad dessert this last time, but I think it was what I picked. I thought it was going to be something else that I had in my mind. We have sat right next to the window and this time we were at a table in the next row of tables from the windows. DH and DD stayed inside to see the fireworks, but DS came outside with me and it was so cold (it was during the record cold in Jan), but if you are lucky to get a table by the window you can watch from there. Check the time for WIshes, when we were there Wishes was at 8:00 and our reservation was for 5:45 and I think we were seated by 6:00 or a little later and we saw the fireworks and then had our dessert. There were four of us. We had appetizers, entrees and dessert and drinks before we ordered. Have a great time if you go.

 

[mstew99]

It has been over a year since I ate there (only because it was the last time I was at WDW) but I found it to be probably my favorite meal of the trip. We used the deluxe dining plan for a week, so we had a LOT of meals haha. We were sat in the wine room, and it was peaceful and would make a nice romantic dinner. We were seated about an hour before wishes, and from the window by our table down below we could see the end of the electric water pageant. We had to leave our tables and go outside to see wishes, but it was neat seeing it from a different perspective. I thought my appetizer, entree, and dessert were all top notch.

 

[JDUCKY]

Was there last May and had an incredible meal. We had a table right in the SW corner so we had a great view of the entire area (and the storms that were coming in)

The food was awesome (I had the pork, my gf had the filet and I wish I'd gotten that!)

The service was excellent, as well.

Might be making a return trip at the end of Feb...depends on if we do the Deluxe Dining Plan (and save up a couple of TS) or not.

 

[tinkandpan]

it is one of my families favorite places to dine in WDW. It is really really noisy though, so if you are looking for a quiet romantic dinner, or just quiet- you won't get it here.

 

[GailT]

We just ate there Christmas Eve of "08 and loved it. I agree with the others it isn't romantic but its worth the experience, hopfully you'll be seated near the window and if you get a 9 o'clock ressie like us you can see the wishes.

 

[MAGGIED]

One of our favorite places to dine.... if you plan on getting dining while you are watching the firewors you want to make your reservations for about 1 1/2 hr before the fireworks... many times folks just hang out at their tables for the fireworks... turnover of tables is slower around that time... I know people that have been disappointed because they made an 8:30 reservation with Wishes being at 9pm and didn't get a table until after the fireworks....

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Yes, Yes, Yes. CG is our favorite place to eat at WDW.