Epcot Dinner - Garden Grill Or Les Chefs de France?

[Delphinus317]

So, I've been going back & forth & back & forth & back & forth on what to do for dinner on our arrival day in Epcot day, between Garden Grill & Chefs de France. It's just me & DS5, paying OOP for all meals because I want to keep things in the meals department very flexible.

The issue I'm having is that I want to do Garden Grill for the characters, but I'm not feelin the "family style" type of meal & price they offer. Our other option is Chefs de France which gives us more flexibility with choices in both the menu & price, but seeing Remi isn't guaranteed.

I do have 2 character breakfasts scheduled already during our trip (Tusker House & CP). Other meals already scheduled are T-Rex, The Wave & Sci-Fi.

What would you do?

 

[pamickey]

Our family loves Chefs de France. We usually go for lunch, which is a little more "laid back" and less expensive. And we did get to see Remi last time, which was a plus to the meal. And Chefs is different from everything else that you are doing. You'll definitely see characters at 2 of the other meals, so I would go for Chefs for yourself. Then, make a point to seek out the characters that are at Garden Grill somewhere else in the parks.

Have a great trip.

Terri

 

[StitchFan73]

I would do Chefs. You have lots of stuff planned for your little guy why not have a nice meal for yourself. And there's lots of stuff for him to eat and you might even see Remy lol!

Do something nice for yourself too!

 

[USAswimmer626]

Chefs de France for certain. It's always a great meal and the service is excellent.

 

[CathieArms]

Only because it's your first night at WDW, I vote for Garden Grill. I think your 5 year old will like it much better.

The family style food was okay. It really wasn't bad. I just didn't care as much for the restaurant atmosphere as I'd have liked. But my kids absolutely loved it.

 

[purple figment]

I don't know what time you are thinking of having dinner, but at Les Chefs Remy mainly appears at lunch. His last circuit of the restaurant begins at 5:20 and he does not appear on Sunday. You would definitely need to make an ADR for no later than 4:45 just in case Les Chefs is running late. If you're seated after he visits your section of the restaurant, he will not come back.

If your son is a fan of Chip and Dale, then choose Garden Grill. Otherwise, it looks like you'll see plenty of characters at Tusker House and CP, and except for The Wave, the other restaurants you listed all have some form of entertainment, so it might be nice to start your trip with a more relaxing "chance to unwind" dinner at Les Chefs.

Kim T

 

[Tommy_B]

Is this a trick question??

 

[minimagic]

I would go to lunch in France and dinner at the garden grill. My son enjoyed seeing Remi. Remi does not appear at dinner.

 

[Jillinwonderland]

Chefs de France. Hands Down.

 

[pixarmom]

BOTH!!! I absolutely agree with minimagic. On our arrival day, we have ADRs at Chef's for lunch to see Remy. We have a light lunch and use our TIW discount, so it's not much more than a counter service meal. We really enjoy the food, Remy is cute, and the atmosphere is great. We've never been to Chef's for dinner, but I've seen lots of posters say they prefer lunch over dinner at Chef's.

Then we have ADRs at Garden Grill for dinner. The character interaction at Garden Grill is the best we've experienced at WDW and Garden Grill is our arrival night tradition. Our three boys (ages pre-school to pre-teen) love Garden Grill! They get to see Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale on our arrival night in a setting that we think is more relaxed than other character meals. And the family style service means no juggling buffet plates or missing the characters when they come around to our table. The food is good - I like the new mahi mahi much better than the catfish, and the salad and bread is particularly good. So while the food isn't as good as at Chef's, it's good and it's better than we've had at any other character dinners.

Good luck with your decision, and have a great time, OP!!

 

[ibcnu]

I would go to lunch in France and dinner at the garden grill. My son enjoyed seeing Remi. Remi does not appear at dinner.

We are doing that, with a princess breakfast at Akershus.

 

[Delphinus317]

Is this a trick question??

Haha... Sadly no.

Thank you so much everyone for your responses, you've been so helpful!!

I think I'm leaning toward Chefs. With all the traveling we'll be doing that day & park stuff we have planned, the idea of relaxing at dinner with a bowl of lobster bisque & glass of wine is just too divine to pass up. DS will enjoy their kids menu choices too.

We'd definitely go early enough to see Remy at 5:20. It'll be a long day between the early flight out of Philly at 7am, and if we last long enough, maybe staying to see Illuminations. If we were doing Epcot on any other day besides our arrival day, I'd definitely try to do both, but I'm just not sure what time we'll get to the park & don't want to feel rushed to make a reservation for lunch.

We'll make an extra effort though to find Pluto, Chip & Dale in the park. I hear they've been spotted in the American Adventure. And, we'll see Mickey at breakfast the next morning.

Thanks again!