Chefs de France - December 21

[happymommy]

After a long afternoon at the pool, DH and I strolled over to Epcot (we were staying at the BWI) to grab something to eat. The kids were ready for bed and not hungry, so they stayed behind. It was about 7pm.

We were an hour late for our ADR at Chefs, but made a bet (he said they'd have a table, I said no way, he won). We were seated right away.

It was SO BUSY in there, but we didn't mind. I mean there were empty tables, but it is loud in there.

Our waiter, Maximillian, was very busy and distracted. We ordered onion soup (planned on paying for that out of pocket, as we were on the basic dining plan) and both ordered the filet, DH medium rare, me rare. Well, the onion soup is excellent! It took a half hour to get it though, and we didn't see our waiter more than once every 15 minutes. The service was really awful. Literally, in the total hour and a half we were there, we saw him 4 times total.

Okay, finished the soup, 30 minutes went by, and he came and explained there was a problem with our dinners, I gathered from him the loud crash we heard was the tray with our dinners on it in the background about 20 minutes prior. So, he hadn't come right away to tell us this.

Finally, an hour after we got there, he brought our plates. Told me to be careful, they are very hot... Well, our plates had obviously been sitting under a heat lamp for a LONG TIME - I cut into my steak, it was completely well done and dry as a bone. I looked at it, and told my husband that it smelled like airplane food, and I was sending it back. DH took one bite of his, said it was awful, and even the veggies were dried out on top. So we waited, *****ed to each other about it (quietly, not meaning to be overheard), then some manager came over and was very curt with us, said he overheard us that the steak was awful (I think he was angry with the kitchen, and he should have been!). I said I just wanted to pay for the soup and leave, we'd been there over an hour, and I needed to get back to the resort. He said we didn't have to pay for the soup, and he would send out some packaged up creme brulee for us to take with us. I'm like, fine, whatever, I didn' expect that but okay. Then, Max comes back (after a LONG TIME since he brought the plates) and basically said we were free to leave... It was all so weird and very not polite to say the least. We didn't wait for the nonexistant dessert, just left.

A table right next to us commented at one point, were we waiting for our dessert, and I said, no, our entree, and they were like, what????! Yes, it was that obvious.

It was such a waste of time, and we wouldn't give this restaurant another shot. We've been to the upstairs place, Bistro de Paris, which was wonderful, and this place was simply awful service and food (except for the soup).

I just wanted to share this - I don't know if this is typical but be careful there!

 

[Anita_Radcliffe]

We also had a poor experience at Chefs de France, during lunch last week. Our waiter was a young kid still in training, and they had given him only three tables to wait on until he got to know the ropes. After an hour, and I'm not exaggerating, we had received only our drinks and appetizers, and our waiter hadn't bothered to come back to take our order for the main course. At this point, we flagged down another waiter to ask for our bill. Even though we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, we didn't want to hang around still longer for the rest of our meal. What food we got was very good, though. We ate at lots of restaurants during our nine days at Disney, and Chefs de France was our one negative experience. I would never eat there again. Nobody gave a dam about the appalling service. Our waiter didn't bother to apologize either. He indicated that Americans always seem to be in a rush

 

[natalielongstaff]

thats very dissapointing what awful service !

 

[happymommy]

We also had a poor experience at Chefs de France, during lunch last week. Our waiter was a young kid still in training, and they had given him only three tables to wait on until he got to know the ropes. After an hour, and I'm not exaggerating, we had received only our drinks and appetizers, and our waiter hadn't bothered to come back to take our order for the main course. At this point, we flagged down another waiter to ask for our bill. Even though we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, we didn't want to hang around still longer for the rest of our meal. What food we got was very good, though. We ate at lots of restaurants during our nine days at Disney, and Chefs de France was our one negative experience. I would never eat there again. Nobody gave a dam about the appalling service. Our waiter didn't bother to apologize either. He indicated that Americans always seem to be in a rush

Maybe we had the same waiter?!

We also had no other bad meals our trip - the new Tusker House at Animal Kingdom was fabulous! Also, as usual, the Sci Fi was a great great lunch, and Wolfgang Puck Cafe was, as usual, super great!

I was so disappointed to waste so much time. I'd go there again, just for the French Onion Soup, though, but not a meal!

 

[SpecEdismyLife]

Ok happymommy I just saw your response to my post and so you can ignore the question over there about when you were there lol!

We were at Les Chefs at 8pm on Dec 14 and were VERY disappointed. We waited a long time to be seated and when we were we were excited because we got a seat my the window. We waited about 10 minutes before our waiter came over (also new, said he was in training and from Marsailles and had been there 2 weeks). He was friendly enough but he must have liked the could who sat down next to us five minutes later better because he was all over them immediately. They ordered before us, were served their food before and were dome before us even though they sat down about 15 minutes AFTER us. I ordered the tenderloin, medium which had also been under the heat lamp or broiler as it was charred and had a wierd fumey/chemical taste to it I assume from the charred sauce sitting around it, and my DH got the shrimp scallop dish with the black pearl rice. He said his was edible, mine really wasn't but I ate it because I was starving and we had been waiting over an hour by that point. We both ordered Creme Brulee and it was a sad excuse for Creme Brulee. Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream is better than this stuff. Not thick, more like flan texture rather than creamy, and very little sugar topping. We were disappointed all the way around, mostly because we had heard wonderful reviews on this place. I did notice what others had complained about in regards to the waitstaff hanging around and talking. All in all I agree with the OP, we will never return.

 

[jezebella]

We went to Les Chefs on Dec. 26th as part of the Processional package. We had never eaten here before and I forewarned my family that I had heard not so nice things about the service. Much to our surprise, our server was EXCELLENT!!! Probably the best service I've had at a Disney restaurant in the past year. His name was Julian (of course it was his last week there) but the other servers around us were also very responsive and polite.

 

[BriarRosie]

I think the people who are "new" (aka just arrived as part of the International Program) will soon realize they won't get good tips if they continue to work that way. It seems that those who have almost finished up their year have been great, just in time for their program to end and to go back home.

 

[DizWisher]

I'm sorry Chefs wasn't a better experience! In October, it was our most "magical" meal:
I need meds every day at the hospital for chronic blood infection (I'm immune deficient due to an extremely rare form of muscular dystrophy and I use a powerchair and ventilator.) Long story short, the hospital that was to do this was highly inexperienced-- to the point of not knowing, in one nurse's case, what muscular dystrophy was.
We spent our first two days of vacation there-- 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
After that, my doctor overnighted the meds, home nursing from MDA trained my nurse, Dennis, on it and all was well.
But I had decided by the end of the second day that we were fools, we should cut our losses and go home, any number of self-pity cliches.
So we missed Biergarten the first night. I wasn't heartbroken. But we missed Chefs the second and I WAS. I "eat" IV nutrition via central line, but I LOVE tasting food. I just don't swallow. We go through many Dixie cups.
DH and nurse decided against hope to plow us through Epcot to find something for them to eat (They apparently take nutrition through their mouths. How primitive!)
We ended up at Chefs, and the door was still unlocked, so we spilled in, a bedraggled mess, apologizing for missing our reservation, asking if they were still serving.
The lovely young male CM asked us to wait a moment, and out came the manager. He explained that the kitchen was not preparing new dishes, but he would be delighted to serve us a meal of already made foods. We were seated like royalty, and served a four course meal, French onion soup, salad in vinaigrette, lamb with navy beans and full dessert selection. DH had creme brulee, nurse had profiteroles and I had crepes stuffed with sauteed apples and topped with cinnamon ice cream. Our manager sat at table, asking where we were from, our tastes in food, etc. I was a bit shy about trying his yummy food and spitting it into a paper cup, but he was impressed that I still tasted food even if I couldn't eat it (good thing I can't eat, or I'd be very, very large.) He insisted DH and nurse would have lukewarm or melted desserts, respectively, if they fed me while they ate, so he fed me my entire dessert, handling the no-swallow with aplomb. Turns out he has a nephew who died of Duchenne MD, and he couldn't eat for his last seven years.
We were on ddp, just oop for appetizers, etc., but they would not take one credit, one cent-- we snuck $20 under a plate so we'd at least leave a tip, but it was probably nowhere near enough even for a tip.
Next year, first night: CHEFS! Everything was covered in pixie dust, but I still know they make a very rich, authentic onion soup, the lamb was medium rare and very tender and my dessert was great. I hardly ever get a whole plate of something. DH and nurse concur, add that the greens were fresh and crisp even late, and the beans had almost a curry flavor that brought out the lamb well.
For all three of us, that was our turnaround, and our great time began.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I ate here solo for lunch in early December and had a great time. My server was Michael and he was attentive and charming. I ordered the French Menu (traditional onion soup, a croque Monsieur (ham and cheese hot sandwich) and creme brulee. It was a huge amount of food. The onion soup was the second best I have ever tasted and a couple at the next table ranked it as their best ever. The sandwich was tasty and freshly-made. The creme brulee was fantastic!!! It is served with a small madelaine soft cookie and a half-strawberry. The combination of the brulee and the berry was so good I asked Michael if I could have another half piece and he promptly brought me 2-3 cut strawberries.

It is not a place to rush. But there are ways to speed up the process. Decide what you'd like before going in (all menus are posted outside). If you are in a hurry, please tell your waiter and ask for his recommendations for a quick meal. Then ask your dessert is served, ask for the check. It is customary through Europe to wait to be asked for the check before presenting it.

I told my DH about this and he is looking forward to eating here again (the last time was 1988). I have eaten here many times and have never had a bad meal or really bad service.

 

[patbri]

We had lunch here the 30th. There were 13 of us and the service was great. And we were not an easy group -wine, beer, appetizers, soup, entrees dessert. We had a young man from France; he's been here 4 months and he did an excellent job. It is slower than an American restaurant but that made it seem more authentic to me.

 

[ArabianNights]

This restaurant is a curious thing. Everyone seems to either have a great meal or a terrible one.

Personally, I have had two wonderful meals here. On both occasions the servers were attentive and friendly (perhaps due to my passable french ) and the food has been very good. I would especially recommend the shrimp and scallops (one of my favourite dishes in recent memory) , or the flatbread appetizers which are large enough for an entire meal.

But again, it's hit and miss. Personally I can't imagine an experience such as what you describe there, but it happens.

 

[happymommy]

Yes, it was horrible. I would have loved to have enjoyed it, but it was simply awful, service and our entree.

I wish we were willing to give it another try, but on vacation it is hard. You only have so many nights for a good dinner, and when it is so awfully screwed up, it really puts a damper on the trip (although we didn't let it get us down at all, but it could).

 

[DWFan4Life]

I'm sorry to hear that, it's really disappointing. I hope it never screwed up your entire trip. Maybe you enjoyed other activities, right?

 

[happymommy]

Yes, we totally always enjoy Disney! It was just such a shame, it was our last night, and to go away with that memory was just awful.