Do you give restaurants second chances?

[figment814]

I've noticed in threads that I will read something like...

Food was good, but service was terrible, I will never eat there again!

It was the worst chicken I've ever had, I will never eat there again!

In my real life, I have only ever eaten at one restaurant that I wouldn't give a second chance to, and in my Disney life I don't think there is a single restaurant I'd say no to if someone in my party desparately wanted to go.

So I'm wondering a couple of things...

Are you more likely to forgive bad service or bad food?

Are you more or less likely to give a second chance to a restaurant at Disney then at home?

Finally, have you ever given a restaurant a second chance and been glad you did?

 

[Cinderella94]

There are some (H&V, Coral Reef, Le Cellier) that we've just never had the desire to return to, but if someone we were traveling with wanted to go there, we wouldn't say no. Maybe the second time around will be better, or we caught them on a bad night, etc.

We'd forgive bad service more quickly than bad food. We'd give a Disney restaurant a second chance more quickly than a restaurant here at home, probably. And nope, those few restaurants are the only ones we've never really wanted to go back to, and we haven't.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Yes I will give a restaurant a second chance. I am more likely to forgive bad service than bad food, bad service can usually be blames on the individual server. I've ate at several restaurants that I've gave second chances and usually they are worth it, but there has been a few times that I went again and it was just as bad or worse the second time around.

 

[RMulieri]

Yep. I generally give a place at least 2 tries .

 

[Lynn5700]

If the food is good I will give it another chance. I don't let the service bother me unless it is really really horrible. Thank God we have never had an issue with bad service in Disney.

 

[KatMark]

We normally give every place two tries. We didn't like Biergarten or Mama Melrose the first time we went and went back a second time. They are now favorite restaurants. We did give H&V a second time...that is one we should have stopped after one. We've not given Boatwright's, Whispering Canyon Cafe or Brown Derby a second chance and I doubt we will. Boatwright's and WCC are not at resorts we stay at so it is too much trouble, even with driving, to get over there for meals we may or may not enjoy. Brown Derby we haven't decided on. We always have the dining plan and just don't know if we want to use table service credits on it when we have so many other restaurants we really love and still want to try.

 

[Golden Rose]

I give restaurants second chances more at WDW than at home, as there are far fewer options on property as there are in Houston. Even so, it will generally be many years before I am willing to risk going back somewhere we had a terrible experience.

Thinking about it, I've had more really bad service issues than really bad food issues, but we generally go to the higher end TS restaurants (both at WDW and in our normal lives) anyway.

One of the worst experiences I've ever had at WDW was at the Brown Derby about 15 years ago. The food was fine, but the service was so bad I swore "never again." We eventually went back, maybe 10 years ago (I figured the terrible waiter had to be gone by then), and had a lovely meal with wonderful service. We've been back several times since then, and we've certainly had better and worse servers, but it has been back in our regular rotation for a while now.

Our last dreadful "never again" meal was Citrico's, where we had a couple of amazing items and a couple of very much "not worth the money" items and the worst service I've ever had at a higher end restaurant. It will take a long time for the memory to fade, and I don't know if we'll ever go back. It's still very low on our list of places to go, and I can't see us returning for several more years at the soonest. I have a really hard time forgiving bad service at expensive restaurants.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

So I'm wondering a couple of things...

Are you more likely to forgive bad service or bad food?

Are you more or less likely to give a second chance to a restaurant at Disney then at home?

Finally, have you ever given a restaurant a second chance and been glad you did?

We'd be more likely to forgive bad service than bad food, but we will usually give any restaurant a second chance or two. (Although there are some restaurants at home that have COMPLETELY struck out at this point, and we will not return to for any reason.)

I think we're equally likely to give Disney restaurants second chances. We made ADRs this morning for 'Ohana, after an abysmal breakfast there last trip - lousy service, an insanely long wait when two-thirds of the tables were empty, and cold, nasty food. BUT, we figured it was the last seating of breakfast, and the food at dinner should be their specialty, as opposed to Mickey waffles and scrambled eggs - so we're trying again.

There are many restaurants we've been glad we tried again - we tend to try new restaurants as soon as they open in our area, and we often get mixed results as the chef and wait staff adjust. On trying again, many of the restaurants have improved.

 

[J&J]

will nt go back to a couple unless I am with someone who would like tio try it.

 

[Leanne1977]

I will be giving Le Cellier a second chance in May. First time round the food was just ok, nothing more than that but the service was very poor and extremely rushed.
So we will give it a second chance, order different food and hope to god we don't have the same server!

We have no desire to repeat the Maya Grill as the food was poor, the service was poor, the atmosphere was poor and pretty much every review is poor. So definately not going to repeat that!

Poor service I can forgive unless it is the same story each time we visit but rubbish food is harder to forget.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Oh yeah, I'm willing to deal redemptively with most any Disney restaurant. I've never had an awful experience anywhere. I'm a little hesitant with the ABC Commissary, because that's as close to a bad meal as I've ever had at WDW. We had basically NO service once at Pepper Market, but the manager took care of our complaints ... boy, did he ever!

Among table service restaurants, we had really iffy service and food at the old Concourse Steakhouse, but it's gone now. And while the food and service were OK at Big River, it was naaaaaassssty - floors, restrooms, the whole place. But there aren't any of these that I'd absolutely avoid.

Like some other posters, it's easier for me to forgive bad service than bad food. We've all had bad days. But fine service can elevate what might be a mundane meal into something special.

 

[Redwitch]

I'll give a place a second, maybe even third try. Chefs move about as do the other staff. I've also experienced instances where the second, third or even fourth try was the "Yuck! Whatever did they do to this place?" experience. There are so many restaurants at WDW that you could easily be years between visits and a lot can change in that amount of time. For instance, we had a marvelous meal at Citricos during our first or second visit to WDW. Fast forward 10 years, we thought - let's go there again - what a disappointment. Will I go again? Yes, but not in the near future.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm less likely to give a Disney restaurant a second chance, only because there are so many I haven't had time to try yet that I'd like to! In general, I'm more likely to forgive bad service because odds are against having the same server twice, but if I have a bad or just so-so meal at Disney, I'm not likely to try that restaurant again until I've tried all the other options in that park/area. So by that measure, an AK restaurant is more likely to get a second chance than a restaurant at EPCOT, just because of the scarcity of other options.

That said, I've never had an experience so bad that I've said/thought I'd never go back to a particular restaurant. We've run across a few servers that were slow on the refills or had to be tracked down to get the bill and a couple of menu items that were a little disappointing, but that's really the worst I can say about any of our Disney dining experiences.

 

[Pakey]

We definitely try a place more than once before saying "never". And even then, "never" is actually only for a year or two as chefs move around. The only never again that has stayed a never again for several years is San Angel.

 

[simonkodousek]

I do give restaurants second chances unless my experience was awful, horrible, disgusting, horrendous, etc.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

We had a pretty bad lunch at Crystal Palace one year, on top of the fact that it was Good Friday and it was just entirely too crowded. We went about 4 years later, and did dinner instead of lunch, and we enjoyed the food that time.

We had bad service and mediocre food at Le Cellier years ago, and I think I'm willing to give it another try, but I'd make sure we did dinner, because we did lunch before.

Boma, we all hated, and probably won't ever go back because it wasn't an off day, it just wasn't our thing.

 

[webray]

We usually give restaurants a second chance unless the overall experience was so bad we have no desire to return.