Carthay Circle or Napa Rose?

[amlc]

Going back to our happy place in a few days, have reservations at both Carthay Circle and Napa Rose but leaning towards dropping one as we want to try some QS places and only have so many days. We've eaten at Carthay Circle a couple of times and loved it - the atmosphere, the cocktails, and the food (my son still raves about a strawberry rubbed chicken). We've never had dinner at Napa Rose. I wanted to try Napa Rose but, after watching a bunch of YouTube video reviews, it looks rather like a bright, hotel restaurant. If you had to choose, which would you pick over the other?

 

[DLgal]

Going back to our happy place in a few days, have reservations at both Carthay Circle and Napa Rose but leaning towards dropping one as we want to try some QS places and only have so many days. We've eaten at Carthay Circle a couple of times and loved it - the atmosphere, the cocktails, and the food (my son still raves about a strawberry rubbed chicken). We've never had dinner at Napa Rose. I wanted to try Napa Rose but, after watching a bunch of YouTube video reviews, it looks rather like a bright, hotel restaurant. If you had to choose, which would you pick over the other?

Napa Rose all day, every day. But be warned it's a long dinner. It is properly spaced out courses and they even come in with a palette cleanser before the main entree. It takes at least 2 hours. The atmosphere is very nice. It's not "just" a hotel restaurant. It's a AAA 4 diamond restaurant.

If I may make 2 suggestions: order the focaccia bread service. It's amazing. And order a Kate & Ella cocktail, if you drink. It's fantastic.

 

[amlc]

Napa Rose all day, every day. But be warned it's a long dinner. It is properly spaced out courses and they even come in with a palette cleanser before the main entree. It takes at least 2 hours. The atmosphere is very nice. It's not "just" a hotel restaurant. It's a AAA 4 diamond restaurant.

If I may make 2 suggestions: order the focaccia bread service. It's amazing. And order a Kate & Ella cocktail, if you drink. It's fantastic.

Thank you! I was wondering if the reviews we watched were victims to over lighting and phone cameras -it honestly looked so bright and cheap (quality - not cost) that I was having a hard time reconciling my image of Napa Rose as the best restaurant in Disneyland (Club 33 excluded) with what I was seeing. What did you have there? The mushroom "cappuccino" intrigues me.

 

[Iceman93]

Normally when this question comes up I recommend Carthay Circle because it is just such an incredible dining experience inside an actual theme park. Napa Rose is nice, but there are nice hotel restaurants all over the globe. But in your case, since you've been to Carthay Circle multiple times, I suggest you give Napa Rose a try!

 

[Ladyslug]

We loved our Vintner's Menu dinner at Napa Rose (though it was long and our 7yo son got a little bored by the end). We were seated in a little out-of-the-way enclave, the servers were very attentive and informative, and the food and wine pairings were excellent (spoken as a person who grew up in California wine country).

Carthay Circle was nice, and the atmosphere and cocktails were quite good, but I felt that the pasta dish I had was on par with pasta dishes I've had at Docking Bay 7 (extremely enjoyable to me, but not worth a Carthay Circle price premium).

I agree that if you've already had Carthay, try out Napa Rose -- that's the one we would choose to go back to every time!

 

[JavaDuck]

Thank you! I was wondering if the reviews we watched were victims to over lighting and phone cameras -it honestly looked so bright and cheap (quality - not cost) that I was having a hard time reconciling my image of Napa Rose as the best restaurant in Disneyland (Club 33 excluded) with what I was seeing. What did you have there? The mushroom "cappuccino" intrigues me.

The mushroom cappuccino is delicious. I had it when I did the Chef's table.

Napa Rose is brighter than Carthay Circle. The food is delicious. I recommend the Smiling Tiger Salad.

 

[evilmommie]

Napa Rose for sure. I love both restaurants but the service, wine and food just have that special feel to me at NR. I like to start with a cocktail on the patio at dusk. Magical!

 

[SpaceMan5]

This is all great info. I have looked at these restaurants before but kinda felt it was more of a couples vibe. Maybe not so?
I am going back this January with DD23 and DD21. Would you suggest taking a longer look at one or both of these?
I have to agree that I like what evilmommie said about a cocktail on the patio at dusk. What a great feeling after a long day at the parks. Tough decisions!

 

[DLgal]

Thank you! I was wondering if the reviews we watched were victims to over lighting and phone cameras -it honestly looked so bright and cheap (quality - not cost) that I was having a hard time reconciling my image of Napa Rose as the best restaurant in Disneyland (Club 33 excluded) with what I was seeing. What did you have there? The mushroom "cappuccino" intrigues me.

Kate & Ella Cocktail

Focaccia Starter

Sautéed Prime NY Bites

Filet Mignon

Lemon Feather Cake

I have also had the Smiling Tiger Salad. It's very good. It's a staple that is always on the menu. It's light, not a "dinner" salad.

 

[DizMe]

I'm the dissenter. I don't like Napa Rose. I've given it multiple tries and I likely won't go back. I really fail to see why it's so popular. They've been rude every single time I've gone. The prices are too high for what you get.

The exception would be something like Chef's Counter, which is an experience worth the cost.

On the other hand, I love Carthay. I think it would be good to try NR since you've never been and it does seem to appeal to a lot of others, but I personally don't get it.

 

[MillauFr]

Just got back and dined at both. Napa Rose is far superior. The food at Carthay is nothing special and it was extremely loud there.

 

[LKing]

It really depends on your taste. We feel that the focaccia is just filler that is not worth the money or calories. We tried it once, but haven't ordered it since. The first time, we both ordered the prix fixe menu with different selections so that we could taste everything. It was a lot of food. Since then, one of us orders prix fixe, the other orders an entrée, and we share the appetizer, salad and dessert.

 

[emmybee]

Another vote for Napa Rose. We've had challenging experiences since covid at the Carthay, but the NR has always been excellent. It's my husband's favorite spot for family dinner with our teen and up girls. He's difficult to please, but he'll still talk about last year's corn ravioli. Two precious pouches split between the table

 

[gmi3804]

Napa Rose has the more serious food. I love the Arts & Crafts decor and fine dining experience.

Carthay Circle has better than necessary food, but it's not on the level of Napa Rose's. The "movie set" atmosphere is sexy.

 

[DLgal]

I'm the dissenter. I don't like Napa Rose. I've given it multiple tries and I likely won't go back. I really fail to see why it's so popular. They've been rude every single time I've gone. The prices are too high for what you get.

The exception would be something like Chef's Counter, which is an experience worth the cost.

On the other hand, I love Carthay. I think it would be good to try NR since you've never been and it does seem to appeal to a lot of others, but I personally don't get it.

It's fine to not like it. I have eaten here a dozen times, at least, and have never had anything even close to rude service. Sorry that was your experience. Its a fine dining restaurant. And it's a good one. It's not about "value" or large portion sizes. It's about quality. And on that, it never misses.

With that said, because of the nature of the restaurant, the menu items change almost weekly. Sometimes there are misses. The chef is extremely open to feedback, so tell them what you liked and didn't like. On our last visit a month ago, one of the desserts we ordered was too heavy on almonds, almost to a comical degree. I talked to our server about it in a joking way, and she said it was a new dessert and she'd give the pastry chef the feedback, and she said they love to hear it and often make tweaks to items based on it.

 

[joseph821]

Napa Rose has the more serious food. I love the Arts & Crafts decor and fine dining experience.

Carthay Circle has better than necessary food, but it's not on the level of Napa Rose's. The "movie set" atmosphere is sexy.

I wish Carthay Circle would bring back lunch. They had a great burger on the menu.

 

[DLgal]

I wish Carthay Circle would bring back lunch. They had a great burger on the menu.

I agree that burger was delicious. A better version (IMO) is now available at Lamplight Lounge.

 

[joseph821]

I agree that burger was delicious. A better version (IMO) is now available at Lamplight Lounge.

Great!! I'll have it when I go!

 

[Disneysince82]

I'm the dissenter. I don't like Napa Rose. I've given it multiple tries and I likely won't go back. I really fail to see why it's so popular. They've been rude every single time I've gone. The prices are too high for what you get.

The exception would be something like Chef's Counter, which is an experience worth the cost.

On the other hand, I love Carthay. I think it would be good to try NR since you've never been and it does seem to appeal to a lot of others, but I personally don't get it.

THIS IS NOT OK!! I don't care if it was Ruths Chris but even more so at DL. When you add in that it is really held to be their best & also most $$$$ it goes to another level of NOT OK.

It's almost funny seeing this because I was looking reviews for NP earlier this year & I had read a few people say they had dismal service. I sort of played it off as maybe it was the price didn't make it feel like it was worth it -- I sadly have had that happen to me a few times. It happening more than once makes it so much worse. Please tell me you reached out to Disney or at least left a review.

I have both of them on my list to go to next visit. We will be going to NP for the Princess Breakfast(I know its not the same) and my my DH and I were planning on going alone to a meal. I have always heard Carthay Circle service, ambiance(history!!), and food is amazing. OP you haven't been to NP so I might try it of that reason to check it off the bucket list.

 

[DizMe]

THIS IS NOT OK!! I don't care if it was Ruths Chris but even more so at DL. When you add in that it is really held to be their best & also most $$$$ it goes to another level of NOT OK.

It's almost funny seeing this because I was looking reviews for NP earlier this year & I had read a few people say they had dismal service. I sort of played it off as maybe it was the price didn't make it feel like it was worth it -- I sadly have had that happen to me a few times. It happening more than once makes it so much worse. Please tell me you reached out to Disney or at least left a review.

I have both of them on my list to go to next visit. We will be going to NP for the Princess Breakfast(I know its not the same) and my my DH and I were planning on going alone to a meal. I have always heard Carthay Circle service, ambiance(history!!), and food is amazing. OP you haven't been to NP so I might try it of that reason to check it off the bucket list.

I did reach out to Disney but never heard anything back. I didn't really expect to as I'd left feedback when I went with a party of 6 and again, rude service and in that instance some poor planning as some of our food was delivered lukewarm and others were the wrong item. We are friendly and willing to pay and tip well, but for that I expect good service. At this last Christmas season, we (my sister and I) were left just sitting and waiting for our final course for a very, very, very long time. We thought maybe something had happened to our server, so we finally flagged down another server and he went to see what was going on. She eventually came back and said she'd been on her break but...I've NEVER been left without service like that and she was complaining the whole time she finally returned about personal health issues. When we finally got our dessert, it was nothing special at all and we wished we had skipped it.

On the flip side, we went to Carthay for dinner the night before and the service was so incredible that we asked our 2 servers to pose for a picture with us. The meal was perfect, with several smallish sized portions of various menu items. The ladies who waited on us were FABULOUS. That has been my experience at Carthay restaurant every time but one, which was year before last. There was something wrong with the kitchen and the heating/cooling system. It was FRIGID in the restaurant. Service was backed up and incredibly slow because they were unable to prepare the things on the menu. We ordered a glass of wine and we got it about 45 min later! We were so freezing cold but our waitress assured us our meal was coming. It wasn't. I had a temp app on my phone and the inside of the restaurant was 47 degrees--way, way too cold for me and they couldn't seem to get the AC to turn off. The people around and including us were covering themselves in the cloth napkins for a little warmth. I didn't reach out to Disney but I should have. We were comped with a really bad lava cake that was cold and not tasty at all. I think they should have refunded a good portion of everyone's bill. It wasn't really their fault, but it certainly wasn't ours and I don't think they should have charged full price. I attached a picture of the guy next to us, trying to stay warm. I also added a pic of my sister and me at Napa Rose a very long time ago when I used to love it. We did a wine pairing dinner.