Citrico's disappointment!!

[rbuzzotta]

We have been in the world for the past 15 days. We leave on a very early flight in the a.m.

Last night we put our 2 DD's in the Mousekeeteer club and planned to have a leisurly dinner at Citricos.

We arrived early for our reservation and wanted to sit and have a drink. We sat at the bar and as soon as our drinks came, the hostess said our table was ready. DH asked if we had to be seated now or could we have our drinks here at the bar (we were 30 minutes before our scheduled reservation). She gave a look of disapproval to us and we decided to be seated for dinner.

Our waitress came over and began with, "Oh you already have drinks, are you ready to order?". We said we had never been here before so she explained the menu to us. We felt rushed to order!!

We ordered. The crab appetizer was very good and my goatcheese salad was good. DH didn't particularly care for his soup. We both ordered filet mignon medium. Mine was fine but DH's looked like it was ready to get up and run away!! Now, our waitress is no where to be found.........she had been rushing us all night to order and now when we needed her we couldn't find her. The head chef saw that DH was justing looking around (we were seated right next to the kitchen, even though I requested a window seat!!). He approached us and took DH's filet and had another one cooked and he brought it back to us......This one was cooked a little bit better, but not quite medium. My filet now was cold!!! DH just ate it instead of sending this one back too!!

Finally the waitress shows up,after we have eaten our meal and asks how everything was! DH says, "The second filet was just a little better!" She looked puzzled and I interjected and told her the chef had to take his back because it was not cooked right!! She just had a look of disbelief on her face.

We had dessert, tiramisu for me and mango creme brulee for DH. Both were very good. As soon as the dessert and coffee were placed on the table, so was the check!! WE just sat and tried to relax and enjoy our evening alone. The waitress came over and asked if the check was "all set" while we were still finishing dessert and DH said, in a very sarcastic borderline rude manner,"NO". She said "oh!" and walked away! We finished our dessert and paid the bill (130. with no alcholic beverages).

It was an expensive dinner and mediocre at that! What disappointed me the most was how rushed we were made to feel.

It wasn't waht I had hoped it to be.....................

 

[lat]

I am sorry that you did not enjoy the night out.

Your experience was very similar to ours at Ohana in May. We were so rushed that everything was done in 20 minutes. I was so mad at the waiter (no refills, no replenishments), the only time he came over after the first serving of the food was the bill.

We really liked it when we went in Feb and decided to go again in May. I could not believe how he rushed us. I decided to just sit there for half hour more just to get some satisfaction from the waiter's rushing.

However, we were at Citrico's in 2000 and had a great dinner. I guess it would be a hit or miss. Sometimes things happen and maybe you should give it another chance sometimes in the future.

For us, we probably won't go back to Ohana for a while.

 

[ducklite]

Wow! Sorry to hear you had such a bad time!

We've eaten at Citrico's twice, and never felt rushed. In fact we felt more rushed at V&A's then Citrico's.

Look at your reciept and the servers name will be on it, Please send a letter to WDW Guest Services, PO Box 10,000, LBV, FL 32830. That type of service is unaceptable in a restuarnt of that caliber. But unless the management is made aware of it, nothing will ever be done about it

Anne

 

[Val]

VERY interesting. July 13th we had an 8:30 for Cape May Cafe. Got seated at 10:00 (after the restaurant technically closed- only because we had 4 hungry kids and complained to the manager). They were vacuuming and taking the food away- manager intervened and then picked up our drinks.....so what does this have to do with the above 'feeling rushed"......mangager told us that the powers that be are expecting tables to turn over much faster than they actually do- which screws up the later PS's and the staff are forced to "rush" people. I guess this kinda confirms that.....maybe the powers that be ought to be "rushed", too!

 

[SuiteDisney]

We've had similar experiences at Citrico's. After two bad experiences there we won't be going back.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Sorry to hear about your Citrico's experience. This restaurant can ill-afford to have bad service, as it struggles for business in competition with the other GF restaurants.
As Ducklite suggests, perhaps a word to Disney management would be in order.
Just a quick question--how busy (or, as I suspect, "un-busy") was Citrico's the nite you ate there? If it wasn't busy, there is even less excuse for the service you recieved.

 

[miko]

Sorry to hear about the dissapointing visit to Citrico's. We have had several dinners there and never have had an experience like you described.
I can't imagine why rushing should be required, attendance is still down and on site property utilization is down 7-10% from last year which was down almost the same amount from the year prior to 9/11. PS's are easier to get and walk in wait times are minimal (early July anyway).
It is a serious cycle WDW is facing, reduced attendance often requires reduced services which in turn creates situations like you described.

 

[BCV23]

We've had less than the usual WDW standard of service there a couple of times but nothing like your experience.

Can you imagine how frustrating for the chefs to be doing their best in the kitchen and be able to watch as the patrons' dinner is affected by a server's indifference?

 

[mrsltg]

Boy am I surprised to hear that about Citrico's. I am so sorry that your evening was so disappointing! I can tell you that the experience you ar describing is the opposite of what my DH and I experienced in November. We rave about the place! I hope that this is an exception and not the rule!

Erin

 

[rbuzzotta]

To answer your question uncleromulus......Citricos was not at capacity by all means. There were plenty of tables available and some at the window (although they did not look like tables of 2).

However, I don't think it was just my waitress that was rushing. There was a party of 3 that sat next to us (another waitress), they were seated about 15 minutes after us and left 5 minutes before us!!

There was a gentleman from the UK next to us and had a table of about 8, they were very much relaxing. laughing and drinking wine. He had a complaint about his bill at the end, what I don't know but the manager came over to clarify it.

My waitress was not overstressed. From what we could tell, we were her only table. WE figured since it was slow, she wanted to get the heck out of there...............

 

[PrincessAurora]

Just a small note since I use to be a food server. Communication is a two way street. Different customers want different things.

First was the Hostess. I admit that was a bit rude but why didn't you just say in a pleasent but firm manner "No thank you, we wish to finish our drinks here and will be ready at our reservation time in XX minutes."

Then when you sat down, the waitress may have assumed that someone else took your drink order at the table and that you were ready. Some people, such as myself, have a good idea of what we want when we sit down and I get "antsy" if I have to wait for my order to be taken.

See? You wished for some more leisure time and thought asking for an order right away was too pushy whereas I would have thought that leaving me too much time was a bit lazy. Same situation, different perceptions.

I agree with the steak (though my problem is when people cook it too much. I like mine bleeding). I have noticed that servers tend to not be as on their game when they are not busy. You don't want them hovering over your shoulder as you eat and then sometimes (since they are not hoppin), they are in the back talking, whatever and THAT is always the time you need something.

Don't know how to fix it. One nice restaurant I was at had a small bell on the table that you could ring for service or a question.

Either way, she SHOULD have been in touch with her tables enough to know there was a problem and that something had been sent back.

The check after dessert is another perception issue. I personally WANT my check with dessert. I want to pay right away. I hate waiting for the check to come and then for them to process the card. I want it out of the way. You don't. Different perceptions but that specifically is not poor service.

Perhaps telling the server when you order dessert when you would like your check would solve that in the future.

 

[hoosll]

I like some of Aurora's suggestions.

I will often say to a server that we would like a relaxing meal- give us a few minutes to enjoy our drinks and think about the menu.

Sounds like you were lucky the chef noticed you were unhappy with the steak. I am not shy about flagging a server or busser to send my waitress to the table. One of the problems with returning food is the "good" meal will be cold if you do not eat.

We all hope that we don't experience a bad meal especially when we have hopes for a great meal. There are nice ways to be assertive in a restaurant. In the end let your tip reflect how you feel about the service, but only if you have asked for certain services and been ignored.

 

[mitros]

I don't know, everytime I hear someone say they have had a bad time in a restaurant at WDW, I feel sad. We have been to the resort over 100 times and have eaten hundreds of meals there, and I can safely say that we have never had a bad time. Maybe once or twice the food was not great and the check was a little slow in coming, but our experiences were always {and I don't mean to sound corny} magical. We love kibitzing with our waitperson, most of them are very funny and talkative, always ready for a good conversation, and very efficient.. Sorry you had such a bad time, especially when you must have spent a small fortune on a 15 day trip. I'm willing to bet you did not have a lousy time at any other restaurant.

 

[rbuzzotta]

My DH and I are used to dining out. WE dine out often and have gone to some very exclusive upscale restaurants in Boston, FL and Bermuda.

We had just spent the previous 14 days dining out for every dinner, and most lunches (yes, we tipped the scales when we came home today!!LOL!). I can say that we enjoyed all of our meals and service we recieved. DH is not one to hold back on conversations..............he for one initiates many of them.....

I just think, this one particular waitress was not up to par either that night or if that is her service.

I understand Aurora about communication being a 2 way street but I guess we had different expectations when it came to this meal. When we dine at up scale restaurants, we usually follow the lead of our host, wine stewards, wait staff etc.......we feel that this is their profession and if the restaurant is awarded 4 diamonds, then it my be the best (don't know Citricos' status).

WE plan to try V & A's next summer when we go back. It reminded us of a restautant we dined at in Bermuda at the Southhampton Princess (Newport Room)................

 

[Werner Weiss]

I was really surprised to read the negative comments about Citricos in this thread.

We've only been to Citricos one. It was October 2002. We dined with another couple, and it was a excellent experience for all of us. Our server was attentive, professional, knowlegable, and friendly. The food was outstanding. The dining room is nicely designed. And they have a wine package that provides a glass of wine for each of three courses, perfectly paired to the course (but they'll gladly substitute other wines by the glass), for a set price.

We're meeting same couple again on a future trip to WDW. Guess where they wanted to have dinner this time? Citricos, again.

So, based on our experience, I rank Citricos right up there with the California Grill and Flying Fish -- and much better than Emeril's at Universal Florida, where we dined two days later.

I'm sorry that Rosemary had a disappointing experience. Needless to say, I hope our next experience will be like our last one, not like Rosemary's. And I expect that we won't be disappointed.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Werner Weiss, I, too, hope that your next experience at Citricos was not like mine!!

I was disappointed and this was the first time in going to WDW that we put the girls in a club to enjoy a night to ourselves!! Next year, we will do V & A and get the night we so hoped for this past!!

I hope I don't sound like I am bashing Citricos, that is not my point here. I chose that restaurant because of all the positive reviews from this board. I think we just got stuck with a bad night!!!!

 

[WilmaBud]

rbuzzotta, not to hijack your thread or anything, but you brought back memories for me when you mentioned the Southhampton Princess! We honeymooned there, and we loved it. It was a long time ago, but I remember the Newport Room. We loved all the restaurants there. Someday we'd love to return to the Southhampton.