Citrocos or California Grill?

[chrisw127]

My husband and I are going out for our anniversary on our next trip and leaving the kids with a sitter. I have been to CG a few times but my husband has never been; neither of us have gone to Citrocos. Which would you choose? I've heard really good things about Citricos lately, but have heard that CG has been spotty to bad in the last few months (this is from locals who go often). Personally, I've never had a bad meal there, but I am concerned about their recent experiences. We're going to the Magic Kingdom afterwards, so the location is fine for both. We're really not big fireworks people, so being there during that time isn't a big deal.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[kbmaggs]

Citricos is, in our opinion, a far superior dining experience. It's much quieter, the food is delicious, and service has been spot-on each time we have eaten there. We found CG very noisy (even in the wine room) and the meal was rushed by our server, even though we made it known that we were interested in a leisurely meal..... the food wasn't worth the cost to us.

 

[dgaston]

We had a spectacular experience in the Wine Room at California Grill in Sept. There were 10 of us celebrating my Dh's retirement from teaching HS, and we had Stephen as our server. He helped make it a true celebration.

Of course, you are talking about a much more intimate experience, YMMV.

 

[chrisa71]

I have dined several times at both, and prefer Citricos. I always recommend Citricos to all my friends who visit WDW.

 

[cbg1027]

My husband and I are going out for our anniversary on our next trip and leaving the kids with a sitter. I have been to CG a few times but my husband has never been; neither of us have gone to Citrocos. Which would you choose? I've heard really good things about Citricos lately, but have heard that CG has been spotty to bad in the last few months (this is from locals who go often). Personally, I've never had a bad meal there, but I am concerned about their recent experiences. We're going to the Magic Kingdom afterwards, so the location is fine for both. We're really not big fireworks people, so being there during that time isn't a big deal.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I think both places have absolutely outstanding food. I would choose based on two things:

What kind of environment do you want? CG can be pretty boisterous, Citricos is much more relaxed and the noise level seems to be much lower.

What kind of flavors in your food do you like? Citricos takes their flavor profiles from Spanish, French, and Italian food. CG has flavors from all over the world and a sushi menu.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Just fyi, Citricos is pretty easy to get an ADR for, even last minute.

 

[aubriee]

I was at WDW Sept 26th-Oct 4th and dined at both. I much preferred my meal at Citrico (better service, much quieter, better food).

 

[carps09]

My DH and I ate at both restaurants last week on our honeymoon. Both were fantastic, but if I could only choose one on our next trip it would be CG. To be fair, I will say that I'm by no means a foodie, so that could be contributing to my liking CG more. The menu at Citricos is by far more "gourmet" and though the food was delicious, there was much more on the CG menu for us to choose from. (For example, I ordered the veal shank at Citricos and it was very good - but I couldn't stomach trying the bone marrow that the server kept coaxing me to try!) If we were to go back to Citricos, we would probably end up ordering nearly the same appetizers, entrees and desserts; if we went back to CG, there are several other things that we would like to try. Citricos is significantly quieter than CG...so, I think it just depends on what kind of dining experience you're looking for. (P.S. My selection of CG has nothing to do with the fireworks - we would happily go back to CG at 5pm with no fireworks. In fact, we would prefer an earlier dining time next trip; I'm thinking it will be less crowded and the view in the sunlight would be gorgeous.)

 

[madalex]

I have eaten at both many times (most recently, was at CG last week and went to Citrico's twice during a Feb 2009 trip). They are both fine restaurants, with great food and service, although I give the slight edge to Citrico's in this regard. However, CG gets very loud, which is a turn off for me. If you aren't terribly interested in the foreworks and have never been to Citrico's, you should definitely try it out.

 

[PoohsFan1]

My DH and I ate at both restaurants last week on our honeymoon. Both were fantastic, but if I could only choose one on our next trip it would be CG. To be fair, I will say that I'm by no means a foodie, so that could be contributing to my liking CG more. The menu at Citricos is by far more "gourmet" and though the food was delicious, there was much more on the CG menu for us to choose from. (For example, I ordered the veal shank at Citricos and it was very good - but I couldn't stomach trying the bone marrow that the server kept coaxing me to try!) If we were to go back to Citricos, we would probably end up ordering nearly the same appetizers, entrees and desserts; if we went back to CG, there are several other things that we would like to try. Citricos is significantly quieter than CG...so, I think it just depends on what kind of dining experience you're looking for. (P.S. My selection of CG has nothing to do with the fireworks - we would happily go back to CG at 5pm with no fireworks. In fact, we would prefer an earlier dining time next trip; I'm thinking it will be less crowded and the view in the sunlight would be gorgeous.)

I couldn't agree with you more....even though we have never eaten at Citricos, we have looked at the menu there for our upcoming December trip and my DH and I both shook our heads and said that there is nothing there that would appeal to us. As for CG....that is by far our absolute favorite restaurant in all of Disney (even my 6 and 8 year old feel the same way). They have awesome food, a spectacular view, and outstanding service. We have never had a bad meal there (therefore, we are a bit more bias over CG then at Citricos). We always get the earliest seating (5:30pm) therefore we always have a table by the window facing MK. CG is on our "must do" restaurants for each trip. I am just drooling over my computer as I am thinking about their menu.

 

[headgorilla]

Is there a view of the MK? In the review it only stated that there is a view of the court yard. We are planning a trip in Feb and were going to eat at CG because we love the view and the food was excellent the last time we went. Citrocos sounds wonderful too so now I am unsure.

 

[Pakey]

We have dined at both several times and overall, Citricos provides a much better dining experience. CG has the view and the sushi but other than that, Citricos is better in every other aspect.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

While CG is my favorite, mainly because of the Spicy Kazan Roll, I would have to give the edge to Citricos. If CG wouldn't have that roll, I wouldn't feel that I would need to dine there again. Citricos is normally a much more adult experience, of course there are always times when it is not. The food at Citricos is amazing and more reliable than CG in terms of quality.

So even though when I have to choose between the two I always pick CG, it is prob not the better choice over all.

 

[Tiger926]

Agree with everyone else that Citricos is fabulous! Although they do provide 2 different experiences, we much prefer Citricos for service and food. CG is neat the 1st time one sees the castle, but it is very crowded, noisy and takes a long time to get through a meal. Our food was not that good at all, whereas at Citricos, it's outstanding! Not only that, they custom designed a dessert for my DD's 5th birthday last year as she is allergic to berries, so I got to speak to the executive pastry chef directly, and they brought her out a milk chocolate slipper and chocolate Mickey combined dessert plate with her name and birthday on it, for no charge! Incredible attention to detail here and amazing food!

Happy eating, Tiger

 

[LisaZ1113]

CITRIOCS all the way.
It was OUR BEST MEAL of our whole trip, two weeks ago.
If you loke goat cheese, get the goat cheestruffle salad appetizer...YUM. Enjoy! Happy anniversary!

 

[wezee]

While CG is my favorite, mainly because of the Spicy Kazan Roll, I would have to give the edge to Citricos. If CG wouldn't have that roll, I wouldn't feel that I would need to dine there again. Citricos is normally a much more adult experience, of course there are always times when it is not. The food at Citricos is amazing and more reliable than CG in terms of quality.

So even though when I have to choose between the two I always pick CG, it is prob not the better choice over all.

DH and I ate at both restaurants last week and I too, am now addicted to the Spicy Kazan Roll. DH really enjoyed the flatbread.

We enjoyed both restaurants, but fell in love with Citricos, which is much more adult ....we only saw 2-3 children while we were there. DH said his steak was the best he ever ate at WDW and we have eaten at every signature and Shula's.

Next trip we will go to Citricos for a meal, but will probably go to CG for just appies and a glass of wine.

 

[Tam1067]

We had dinner at both in August.

The atmosphere is more refined at Citricos, so if I had no kids with me, that's probably where I'd go. California Grill is louder and busier.

That said, our food was very good at both places. DH liked Citricos better. And I liked both though at California Grill, I liked the appetizer and dessert better than the entree I had. Our server at California Grill was better.

Sorry I can't be more helpful!