Chef's de France lately?

[Simba's Mom]

Has anyone here eaten at Chef's de France in the last few months? If so, how was it? I loved my rattatoui (sorry, I can't spell it) there a few years ago, and I'd love to go back. But 1-2 years ago, there were some really poor reviews. I was wondering if they've gotten better again? Any recent reviews?

 

[DL1WDW2]

I just enjoyed the Ratatouille Crepe at the Creperie in France yesterday .
They use buckwheat flour but the dessert crepe has the white flour.
We ordered one caramel apple crepe
It was like eating a caramel apple with silverware. I could have licked the plate clean ! The banana dessert crepe was also really good.
My friend ordered the egg and ham cheese buckwheat crepe and it also was excellent.
Sorry I’m not sure about the Chef de France but it always looks busy .
Must be good !

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I had a very good meal there in September. Steak was a surprisingly good cut, and cooked perfectly. Appetizers, side dishes, and dessert were all excellent. I was pleasantly surprised, as I wasn't as impressed with the place when we went a few years ago.

 

[zackiedawg]

I wrote it off after my last visit there last December as the food quality was at chain buffet level - just didn't impress me at all. Had eaten there many times previous and it was usually reliably good. I'm hopeful some of the more recent comments I've seen over the past few months are that maybe they course-corrected and improved.

I've had so many Disney restaurants that were great, then mediocre to poor, then pretty good again - as chefs change menus and overall food mission changes, things can fluctuate.
Maya Grill was a regular go to for my family for a decade when it had really creative European/Mexican spiced foods with cuts of meat and great flavors - then at one point, it was down to almost Taco Bell level, with bland stereotypical American Mexican food for a few years. It recovered since, and while not as good as the original, is back to decent grilled meats blended in with more typical American Mexican dishes - at least those are better prepared and cooked too.
Turf Club at Saratoga is another - it started out as a great hidden steakhouse with good cuts of meat and preparation. Then it tried to go 'Friday's' with burgers and chicken fingers with more families and kiddies, and was bland as dirt. It had a few attempts to improve back towards steakhouse during a few chef changes, but it was never more than mediocre. About a year and a half ago, a new chef came in and overhauled again - and I found the food quality and preparation had notably improved - it's now back on my list as a good secret spot to book (unless it changes again).

There are the restaurants that have generally always been fairly poor to mediocre that for a brief flash had something really great, restaurants i had never booked for years and suddenly tried it and thought 'WOW! This new version is so great it's on my permanent list!' Then when I went back the next time, it was back to terrible, and I never went again.
Tony's Town Square I always considered pretty bad and never went there, then one time after I heard of some changes, I decided to try it and found it surprisingly good - it was some kind of deep bowl with pasta, meat, and cheeses baked together and was very good. So much so I went back a year later, and even saw 'baked rigatoni' on the menu - figuring that was it, I ordered it and NOPE! Back to out-of-the-can tomato sauce, overcooked pasta, and just not very good. I think they had a chef there that tried something new and really improved things but then they moved somewhere else, and it went right back down hill again.

 

[japanese maple]

I hate to write this as we were really looking forward to this one.

We did not enjoy our dinner there a couple weeks ago. The service was great, bread was good.
The french onion soup had barely a tiny crouton in it.
I got the salad that normally has lardon, but for Disney it was pieces of bacon. It looked like they dumped the last remaining dust of the crumbles of bacon bits from the bottles on the salad. I was coughing from the dust.

Then we both got the chicken cordon bleu - honestly, the chicken was so dry I couldn't swallow. My husband (who is easy to please) also said it was soooo dry. No taste.

I'm betting we just had a bad night, it was very crowded. But it was bad enough we probably won't ever go back, just because other places that are better.

 

[gharter]

It has been a few years since we dined there. It used to be a favorite, but after 2 mediocre (at best) meals, we were done. I'm not sure what happened for the quality to have gone down so much, but we would not go back. Haven't read anything recently to show that anything has changed.

 

[Disneydawg74]

We had written it off too, but are trying again in a few weeks.

 

[_19disnA]

I generally don't decide to where to eat based on reviews. Far too many online reviews seem like an effort to outdo others by exaggerating how bad their experience was. You might also find those who dislike many things and always write bad reviews. Running out of breadsticks isn't a reason to write a terrible review, but often see that as well. If there already 20 good reviews for some restaurant, I think others are less likely to post their good review. Reviews tend to attract mostly those who want to complain about something.

 

[CarolynFH]

Post in thread 'Funny Memes'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/funny-memes.3796645/post-66443259

 

[AcusTwinhammer]

I ate there this past week and was happy with it. In fact, I ate at both Chefs de France and Be Our Guest and had pretty much the same meal--escargot and the beef bourguignon, and I found Chefs de France to be better, for whatever that's worth.

That being said, I rarely eat at French restaurants, so it's harder for me to critique the quality, as opposed to say a BBQ or steak place.

 

[fla4fun]

The worst thing about Disney restaurants is their inconsistency.

I had my best and worst meals ever at Disney during the same vacation at the same restaurant! The first visit, anything that could go wrong did. The food was overcooked (yet still managed to be ice cold), the service was almost nonexistent (the server disappeared three times for nearly an hour each time, and did not refill my beverage at all during the meal) and I was very close to canceling the reservation for later in the week. But it was a restaurant I had enjoyed in the past so I thought I should give it one last try. The second visit, I ordered the same meal. Everything was cooked to perfection and served at the appropriate temperature. My server, a different one, was thorough without hovering, making sure I always had my beverage refilled and bringing the check promptly without me having to track them down and ask for it. Although the second meal only took half as long as the first one, it felt so much more relaxed because everything was spot on and paced well.

If my only experience with the restaurant on that trip had been the first one, I would have been one of those people writing a scathing review and probably never returned. Fortunately I had made the two reservations and kept the second one, as I would have missed out on a wonderful dining experience.

For what it’s worth, we have eaten at Chefs several times and not had a disappointing experience. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen, but it hasn’t happened yet.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, inconsistency is typical and I hate spending the money for sit-down, then have a bad experience. But I think I'm going to try it, then hope and pray when I'm there that everything's OK. If it's good, I'd hate to miss it.

 

[kboo]

Just adding - we have had two really terrific meals back in August 2025 and November 2024. We are going again for lunch as part of the Candlelight processional dining package (which we did last year, it was the only restaurant that had the best combination of price and time). We liked it so much last November that my 9-year-old asked to go back in August and again this weekend. (We had previously tried it in 2021 or 2022 and didn't love it, but last year the servers pointed out that the French kitchen staff and servers were not there during COVID...)

Service is excellent - last time we were a group of 8 with a baby and a toddler, and the servers were amazingly accommodating of all of our needs (and moving around, and kids needing to go outside for a walk ... ) The food, while basic French fare, is very good. Steak frites with the best frites around, the "macaroni and cheese" is superb, and I think the salmon, lamb and pork shank are all excellent. The bread is comparable to that at some of the signature restaurants. It sticks with the basics of French cafe and bistro food and does a very good job with it. Definitely ask for recommendations from the servers. I hope you have a good experience. Our last two times were good enough for us to choose to go again!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We ate there October 2025. It's been on our list for a while. Husband and I both ordered ratatouille and french onion soup. The french onion soup was good, the ratatouille was just fair at best. What I didn't like is that all the food served was luke warm. The service was good and fast and staff was nice. It's a one and done for us. Not worth the cost.

 

[LoveDaisy]

The food has always been fine when we ate there but they make my favorite cocktail at Disney so we go every trip. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to recreate it for years!

 

[garada3]

The food has always been fine when we ate there but they make my favorite cocktail at Disney so we go every trip. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to recreate it for years!

and the name of your favorite cocktail?

Always on the lookout for recommendations - thanks!

 

[LoveDaisy]

and the name of your favorite cocktail?

Always on the lookout for recommendations - thanks!

It is the French martini. They put a lime foam on top that takes it to another level. I’ve never had the foam anywhere else and all my google attempts have not recreated treated it correctly.

 

[ScarletFire]

We have an ADR for my upcoming birthday. I rescheduled Chef's for lunch so that I can use my AP discount. I want it to be good but I've recently been disappointed with Disney table service food. We had excellent service at Le Cellier but they could not cook a steak medium rare. And Narcooses was a huge disaster, inattentive service and old seafood. Both restaurants adjusted the cost but I hate the wasted dining experience and dissatisfied experience. Is it wrong to expect well prepared and fresh food at Disney's signature restaurants? We've had some good meals recently; Boma, Sebastains and LTT but those are family style/buffet and I want something more intimate. I understand Chefs is not signature but I am afraid to commit. The menu looks good.

Opinions??

 

[zackiedawg]

I've personally decided to avoid it for a while based on my last experience - and just keep watching for the overall consensus of reviews to see if things improve. Some restaurants at Disney can be fairly consistent, while others can vary widely, both in changing menus that get better or worse, and in just food quality and freshness going up and down on different visits.

I didn't consider Chef's to be so bad it was inedible - it just came off as cheap chain restaurant quality - like an Olive Garden level. Still edible, but nothing special. That is often the worst that Disney restaurants get for me - rarely would I consider any of my experiences there INedible. In fact, only once. Sebastian's. Just before the Pandemic, they had switched to a la carte menu items and an all new menu and chef - I was blown away how good it was and couldn't wait to return. Then after the pandemic when I got back, they were on their current all-you-care-to-enjoy menu, which I still heard people rave about - so I went back - everything that visit was terrible to me. Pull-apart rolls stale and cold. Salad had so little dressing I couldn't taste it and the greens were wilty and had been sitting in a fridge clearly for hours or more. Mojo pork was tough, chili-rubbed beef was so hard I couldn't cut into it, and chicken was dry and almost flavorless. Rice was room temperature. Only the dessert was OK. It's one of the very few times I've had most of my food untouched, declined a doggie bag, and actually stopped at a quick serve spot at Disney Springs to get food since I ate so little.

I've had some very average to mediocre meals - which is where I'd put Chefs on my last visit...along with Tony's, Plaza, and Nine Dragons. All edible, but not impressive and made me tend to not want to go back. So far, most reliably good spots have been Jiko, Tiffins, Toledo, Steakhouse 71, Geyser Point, and most of the Disney Springs restaurants (Except Paradiso which is in that mediocre category).