Citrico's, Citrico's, Citrico's........WOW

[magicmouse2]

Our youngest is 9 and all our kids are very well behaved in restaurants. Its DH I worry about They love the way the servers treat them like young ladies and behave so too. Narcoosees give crayons and coloring pictures - do Citricos ? Also how is the lamb? I am looking at the menu and thinking shrimp, or ginger soup, followed by the lamb and lemon cheescake

 

[ducklite]

Our youngest is 9 and all our kids are very well behaved in restaurants. Its DH I worry about They love the way the servers treat them like young ladies and behave so too. Narcoosees give crayons and coloring pictures - do Citricos ? Also how is the lamb? I am looking at the menu and thinking shrimp, or ginger soup, followed by the lamb and lemon cheescake

My husband likes the lamb there. I usually get chicken or a steak, and the sauteed shrimp appetizer is a too die for must!

Not sure about the crayons, I've never taken children there except DH--although he likes to color at Macaroni Grill, he controls himself at Citrico's LOL!

Anne

 

[goofie4goofy]

We love love love Citricos as well. On a 5 night trip we eat there 2 maybe 3 times per trip..

The food is ALWAYS excellent as is the service. We request our favorite waiter Jamie. He always remembers us and is an absolute rip we love him

From going to Citricos for years now, I have noticed that they do try to seat the families together and save a quiet area for couples and adults without children. It helps quite a bit...I don't know how it is during the busy season, but always request a table away from families...they will accommodate.

I also do not buy into the thinking that "it's Disney" and it's ok for children to misbehave or to not take your crying child outside. WDW is not just for children, there are many adults without kids, honeymooners and couples looking for a romantic dinner alone. If your child is not used to dining in this kind of restaurant you should either get a babysitter or go to the hoop de doo review. Every restaurant is not a free for all because it is WDW. My DH and I go to Citricos, V&A's, and Cali Grill to AVOID this kind of thing. We understand and respect the parents that are looking for a nice dinner and when their child acts up, takes them outside until they calm down...that is the proper and respectful thing to do and is very much appreciated.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Ducklite
I color at the Macaroni Grill too!!
But I STILL can't write my name upside down

Meanwhile back at Citricos--I remember when they had a ravioli appetizer that was filled with that wonderful veal shank they have!!!
Gone now tho--

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Thank you for the review. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Now I'm rethinking my dining choices, might have to add Citrico's. We already have Narcoosees reserved one night on our disneymoon...should we stick with that or maybe change to Citrico's??? Any opinions welcome

Laura

 

[wintergreen]

FYI--there are kids' menus and crayons at Citricos.

Also, I don't think that our experience was terrible, the service was just not very even. It did not seem terribly crowded that night, so I was a bit surprised. Perhaps the restaurant simply did not have enough wait staff on duty.

I had the swordfish, which I thought was quite good. I can't remember what DH had, so it must not have been memorable. Our dining companions had beef of some kind, which they thought was overly seasoned. Most of the kids had the children's grilled filets of beef (one PB&J die-hard in the group), and they were all VERY happy.

All of the children in the restaurant must have been well-behaved the night we were there, because I honestly don't remember much noise at all. I liked the place, and would probably return, but I think that I remember liking Narcoosees better.

 

[WithFaith50]

... But they MUST stay seated at the table, not cry or fuss for more than a moment (and the parents must immediately attend to whatever their needs are), talk in inside voices, not throw food or dump it all over the floor around them, and not shriek, or they should not be welcomed. That's for their own safety as well as the comfort of other guests. It's also jsut good parenting and good manners.

Anne

Obviously this is YOUR opinion which is fine. My main point is that everybody can have a different opinion of what is considered "well-behaved". If I disagree with you, does that mean I'm showing "bad parenting" and "bad manners"...of course not ! So, if I make the decision to bring my child to a restaurant that ALLOWS children, should I allow a stranger's opinion (other than restaurant mgmt) influence my dining experince ? Definately NOT . Do you have to agree with me? YES...I mean of course you don't have to agree with me . Does it make you guilty of bad parenting and bad manners to disagree with me...NO.

We are all different with differing tolerance levels. For instance, I could care less if a child got up from his table, cried/fussed, talked with "outside voices", or shrieked (I draw the line at "throwing food" ). But, since we are all adults, we can agree to disagree...right?

BTW...I do have a four year old who happens to do well in restaurants. I just never had a problem with kids who still "have issues" dining in public.

 

[ducklite]

Obviously this is YOUR opinion which is fine. My main point is that everybody can have a different opinion of what is considered "well-behaved". If I disagree with you, does that mean I'm showing "bad parenting" and "bad manners"...of course not ! So, if I make the decision to bring my child to a restaurant that ALLOWS children, should I allow a stranger's opinion (other than restaurant mgmt) influence my dining experince ? Definately NOT . Do you have to agree with me? YES...I mean of course you don't have to agree with me . Does it make you guilty of bad parenting and bad manners to disagree with me...NO.

We are all different with differing tolerance levels. For instance, I could care less if a child got up from his table, cried/fussed, talked with "outside voices", or shrieked (I draw the line at "throwing food" ). But, since we are all adults, we can agree to disagree...right?

BTW...I do have a four year old who happens to do well in restaurants. I just never had a problem with kids who still "have issues" dining in public.

I have no problem with this type of behaviour at Chuck-E-Cheese, but it's utterly unacceptable at a nicer restaurant when people are trying to enjoy a finer dining experience.

I don't care if it's at Disney or not, manners do not go out the door when one goes on vacation. And it's pitifully poor manners to allow your child to disturb other diners. And I think that 99.9% of the people here will agree that those types of things are disturbing.

And FYI, it's bad parenting to allow your children to wander around in a restuarant, as it's very easy for them to have something hot spilled on them or for them to be tripped over by a server. That's flat out a safety issue.

Anne (Who unfortunately saw a kid get second degree burns when a waittress carrying a hot coffee pot tripped over him in a restaurant she worked at 25 years ago. An entirely preventable incident if the parents had had any common sense.)

 

[WithFaith50]

...And I think that 99.9% of the people here will agree that those types of things are disturbing...

Even if this were true...those "99.9% of the people" will still have different views on (for example) what qualifies as a "shriek" or how many seconds/minutes of crying means that "you must remove" the child, etc.

...And FYI, it's bad parenting to allow your children to wander around in a restuarant, as it's very easy for them to have something hot spilled on them or for them to be tripped over by a server. That's flat out a safety issue.

What I said was that I would not have a problem with a child getting up from his/her table...NOT that it's okay to allow a child "to wander around in a restuarant" unattended. See, that's one point that we can agree on !

It's okay, I'm not asking you to agree with me. You are more than welcome to your own opinion as I am to mine...

 

[magicmaster]

I have no problem with this type of behaviour at Chuck-E-Cheese, but it's utterly unacceptable at a nicer restaurant when people are trying to enjoy a finer dining experience.

I don't care if it's at Disney or not, manners do not go out the door when one goes on vacation. And it's pitifully poor manners to allow your child to disturb other diners. And I think that 99.9% of the people here will agree that those types of things are disturbing.

And FYI, it's bad parenting to allow your children to wander around in a restuarant, as it's very easy for them to have something hot spilled on them or for them to be tripped over by a server. That's flat out a safety issue.

Anne (Who unfortunately saw a kid get second degree burns when a waittress carrying a hot coffee pot tripped over him in a restaurant she worked at 25 years ago. An entirely preventable incident if the parents had had any common sense.)

Consider us in the 99.9%.

When I was a child my parents took us to restaurants all the time. We were not alowed to talk loud, shriek, make cartoon noises, get up from the table or act out in any way. We were taught that you were in a restaurant and there were other people and they needed to be respected. We were very happy with our Shirley Temples and dining in a restaurant was such a treat in itself. Today it is a completely different story. It seems that there is a higher tolerance level by other people who also have unruly children, so therefore it is deemed "ok".

As a frequent visitor to WDW and also a frequent diner at Citrico's, I can tell you it is not ok. We go out for a nice dinner, spend a few hundred dollars on a meal and nothing is worse than to hear a child shriek or run around throughout the meal or just not behaving, outside voice is not acceptable. Just because it is WDW restaurant does not mean the children can run around and act like they are in the MK.

It amazes me that so many people allow this behavior everywere, not just WDW. It amazes me more when you always hear comments on how society is getting more and more rude.....hmmmmm....I think we found a common denomator here.

 

[Hopefully]

I too am in the 99.9% group.
We will be dining in Citrico's in April. It is expensive. I expect a nice evening and listening to someone else's child, who is over tired or just plain misbehaving will spoil my evening.
As Anne said, there are restaurants where this is more acceptable, Citrico's and finer dining establishments are not those.

 

[ElenaP]

Mmm... I don't think any of the previous posters (me included) thinks that a child misbehaving, over-tired, shrieking and running around is acceptable behaviour (although I think in that case the parents are behaving unacceptably, not the child...).

I am of the same idea of magicmaster's parents: you bring your child to every type of situation, and teach him how to behave. It means that if it starts screaming, you will tell him not to. He goes on, you pick him up, bring him out and keep him out until he calms down.
It takes time and patience, and spoil a lot of your meals... but a bit at the time it gets better, and he learns what he can and cannot do.

You can't never expose your babies to public situations, and then expect them to behave properly as young people/adults. It has the same type of negative effect that you would have letting them do whatever they wish, whereever they are!

All of this, IMHO of course

Oh, magicmaster: what is a "Shirley Temple"??? I know WHO is Shirley Temple, but not WHAT it is... I am just a poor alien

 

[maddhatir]

I NEVER even thought about eating here! I am SO glad i found this thread! DH and i were going to try CG- but some of negative reviews i have reading lately is making me rethink that decision!

we are going to citricos!!

Thank you all so much for changing my mind!

 

[magicmaster]

A Shirley Temple is a childs drink, usually 7UP marachino cherry juice and cherries.
You can still ask for them, my neice always gets one.

 

[NMW]

I think Disney is somewhat unique with the large number of families. If they stay in hotels, they have to eat somewhere, right? And yes, I kow they can go to Hoop Dee Doo.
These same families that go to places like Flying Fish, Citricos, etc. may not go out to eat very often, or at all for that matter, at home.

My kids are 9,7 and 4. Would I take them to Citricos? In a heartbeat. I would have taken them to Citricos 2 years ago. My children are very used to eating in more "adult" restaurants and eating out in general. In fact, they love to go out to eat. I have friends who never go out to eat with their kids because they say it would be a "nightmare." I just don't understand this and I KNOW that when these same people go to Disney, they go out to eat. I don't think it's the kids fault, I think the parents should have taught them how to eat out with good manners BEFORE they got to Disney. Also, if they really think their kids will be that bad at a restaurant, they probably should go to a place that's really loud. Disney has a ton of them-Crystal Palace, RFC, Chef Mickey's, ...I could go on and on.

 

[magicmaster]

For those looking for a quiet dinner, make sure you request a quiet table. They do try to accommodate as they try to seat families in one section of the restaurant. As the host is taking you to the table, request it.

 

[reggiemcp]

Hi

I was very happy to see your comments. I just made reservations there for my birthday on 5/7. Not sure if we would like it but heard some good things and am taking a leap. Also want to try something new, not many left to try after so many trips. Can you tell me more about your dinner there, what you ate and don't forget the deserts. Thanks.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Fortunatly all of the times I dined at Citricos, I never had to deal with any kids that were screaming. All the kids I saw were well behaved. I was seated directly next to a baby in a high chair and asked to be moved as a premptive issue. There was food around his chair and I didn't want to be in the line of fire and yes I have seen babies throw food.

Just as a note, starting in February Chef Gray - my food God - has been moved. The chef from Narcooses is now at Citricos and Gray is at Narcooses. This is the reason that the menu is changing and the fois gras raviolli is gone. The new chef wants to add some of his own dishes. Fine. Still don't like him as much as Gray.

The food was really good still, make no mistake but it lacked that tiny edge that made me cry because is was sooo good. My next trip I will be going to Narcooses. I've heard that place needs a hand and am looking forward to seeing that Chef Gray does with it.

Here are my reviews of Citricos with pictures - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1028850 Page 2, post #30

 

[kimberlym4]

I agree that parents should encourage/enforce good manners. Having said that, I know kids sometimes melt down unexpectedly when they are overtired or not feeling well. The very few times mine have acted up I think I was more stressed trying to calm them down or remove them than the people were who were listening. So... Now that mine are 9 and 6 (and much more predictable with very good manners) when I am around a screaming child in a restaurant or airplane or church I just sit back and relax comfortable in the knowledge that HE OR SHE ISN'T MINE!! And I don't have to be stessed, upset, embarrassed or think of ways to minimize the problem!