Food at Buffets

[Ctsplaysinrain]

Honestly, how is the food at most buffets??? My kids could probably care less about the characters. We are not huge eaters. Most buffets I find kinda gross since the food quality is usually so low. The only buffet restaurant I really like is Sweet Tomatoes. Is the quality like Sweet Tomatoes or more like Golden Corral?

 

[Jimdvc]

Golden Corral?

Yup.

 

[Wendy31]

We don't like buffets either. However, of the buffets at which we've dined at WDW, only one has been like Golden Corral - Hollywood and Vine. We only ate there once (back in 2005), so it could be much better now. However, my DH said, "Never again" to Hollywood and Vine, and we haven't been back. The food was mediocre to not good, the service was average to non-attentive, and the tables were cram-packed together - you felt like you were eating w/ the people next to you. Very, very Golden Corral-ish. In fact, as we left, I think we compared it to Golden Corral.

The other buffets which we've tried - Crystal Palace and Boma - we really enjoyed. Crystal Palace is crowded, but the buffet has a wonderful variety and I wouldn't classify it as "Golden Corral-ish" at all. Boma is great too - lots of variety - plenty for an adventurous eater but plenty for not-so-adventurous eater as well. The desserts are terrific! I think I'd go just for the zebra domes. Crytal Palace is a lovely restaurant (although crowded), and Boma is in the gorgeous Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We also eat breakfast at Chef Mickey's which is a buffet. I've read mixed reviews on the dinner buffet, so we haven't tried dinner yet. The breakfast has typical breakfast buffet items - w/ the addition of Mickey waffles! I suppose some would liken it to Golden Corral as well. However, the atmosphere is so fun - for me, it's a very quintessential Disney experience. And, the food, while very "buffet-typical", is good. Our only experience is of breakfast, though; we haven't tried dinner.

 

[dzneelvr]

Since we find the food portions to be huge anywhere, we don't necessarily steer to the buffets. We've done about all of them over the years and our "every trip" buffet is Biergarten only. I have to disagree about the Golden Corral as a comparison-- no way did we find ANY to be at that level. We just didn't care for the service or set up of H & V; Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys were wonderful when the kids were small (great food and character interaction), but we outgrew the experience. We enjoyed the "event meals" tremendously over the years: Hoop Dee Do, Luau, Ohanas (every trip) to name a few.

 

[ChelleinNC]

As others have said, we did not enjoy H&V. That said, the quality of food at the rest of the Disney buffets is way way way above Golden Corral. Since Disney buffets have much higher "traffic", the food is always fresh & hot. Boma is one of our favorites, as is Cape May Cafe for breakfast & dinner.

We've found the buffets to be great to get everyone to eat and try new things. My DS decided he liked ribs after trying them at Cape May on our last trip. He never would have ordered ribs, but to grab one off the buffet (along with his chicken strips & pizza) it was worth trying it

 

[fuzzy164]

We were there in Sept. 07 and ate at most of the buffets. The DW loved H&V i found the food ok but nothing special. The food was hot and fresh but bland. I also agree with the other posters that I felt like I was eating with the family next to us and a feeling of being hearded to the buffet.
I LOVED Boma and would recommend it to all, fresh, exciting a huge variety of food and zebra domes to die for!!!!
You have to try the soups magnificent, the roast pork and beef are the best.
The Crystal Place was the DD and DGD favorites and the characters visited us twice when there. The food was great and the service was adaquate.
we also did the Princess breakfast which is great for the kids but very noisey but the food was quick when ordered and they will cater to special requests.
We did the Garden Grill in Epcot again basic food not well spiced but lots of it and deep fried catfish is great.
We ate a couple of other sitdown that were fine.

Hope this helps.

Fuzzy164

 

[septbaby]

Boma Dinner - Wonderful and a do over

Chef Mickey's Breakfast - Really enjoyed the food; vast buffet culdn't find room to try it all! We will definitely return; might try dinner

Hollywood & Vine Dinner(Fantasmic) - Good food and service in Sept 2007; not running back there, most ordinary TS meal of the trip

 

[Tricia1972]

I think they're more Old Country Buffet than Golden Corral. However, they're also about 300% more expensive than either one of those. (Compare your $7 Old Country/Golden Corral with Chef Mickey's Dinner)

The food is fine, but nothing really special. The possible exceptions to this would be Crystal Palace and Boma, which seem to be a bit better than the others.

I don't consider any Disney buffet to be fine dining, but it is fine food.

 

[banjobears]

I think they're more Old Country Buffet than Golden Corral. However, they're also about 300% more expensive than either one of those. (Compare your $7 Old Country/Golden Corral with Chef Mickey's Dinner)

The food is fine, but nothing really special. The possible exceptions to this would be Crystal Palace and Boma, which seem to be a bit better than the others.

I don't consider any Disney buffet to be fine dining, but it is fine food.

Disney buffets are much better than Old Country Buffet, and their dinner prices are now over $10.00. The quality of the food at the buffet is much better. I think Old Country Buffet is the worst buffet around, not worth the price. Chef Mickeys dinnner is much better, and even thought it is more pricey. You have to remember that at Chef Mickeys, you are paying for the charactiers and your dinner. Trails End buffet is problaby the most economical of all the buffets. Plus it is well worth the price.

 

[Tricia1972]

Disney buffets are much better than Old Country Buffet, and their dinner prices are now over $10.00. The quality of the food at the buffet is much better. I think Old Country Buffet is the worst buffet around, not worth the price. Chef Mickeys dinnner is much better, and even thought it is more pricey. You have to remember that at Chef Mickeys, you are paying for the charactiers and your dinner. Trails End buffet is problaby the most economical of all the buffets. Plus it is well worth the price.

It may just depend on the Old Country Buffet Location. I've mainly been to the ones around Minneapolis St Paul and the quality of theirs is very similar to Chef Mickey's for food. I don't remember paying $10, but even if they increased their prices it's still 200% more expensive.

The OP said that she doesn't care about the characters, and just wanted to know about the food. So in just discussing the food only I feel that the buffets are over priced for what you get. Personally we still go to the buffets for our kids, but it's not for the food - it's for the characters.

Like I originally said, it's not fine dining, but it's fine food.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Never heard of Sweet Tomatoes or Golden Corral but I give 2 thumbs up to:
Crystal Palace
Biergarten
Chef Mickey's Breakfast

I've also heard great things about Boma, but haven't tried it for myself.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I would go to Crystal Palace for the food alone at breakfast. Also, I love Boma, and eat dinner there once every trip.

 

[dreamscometrue101]

Back in September '07 we tried several of the buffets at WDW. My DS was 10 at the time and eating like a horse. His favorite was dinner at Chef Mickey's... so much so that he wants to go back and have his birthday dinner when we go next year.
We all loved Biergarten and the character breakfast at the Grand Floridian was amazing. The food was great and warm and all of the characters came by our table twice.
We also loved the food at the buffet at Fort Wilderness campground.

Overall the food was good and we will definitely be going back to most when we return next year.

 

[Steph9072]

I was pleasantly surprised by the food at the buffets. I loved the food at 1900 Park Fare. The Mussels & Strawberry soup was some of my favorite from the whole trip. The kids loved their station @ Chef Mickey and the food was good. The dessert area was amazing @ Chef Mickey.

 

[ransom]

The food varies at WDW buffets.

We've found breakfasts to be a safe bet anywhere, but lunch and dinner are another matter.

We really like the new Tusker House, but the others have been just average at best when it comes to dinner or lunch.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

If you don't like buffets in general, you're probably not going to like WDW's buffets either. To me, the big draw is the characters. Since our DS got old enough to no longer care about dining with characters, we haven't eaten at a one. I do agree that if we did go to another buffet, it would be for breakfast.

 

[Tam1067]

We've done buffets at Crystal Palace, Boma, Chef Mickey's, and Biergarten.

Of those, we did not like Biergarten, though this was several years ago and they could have improved since then.

Chef Mickey's seems to vary. We had one great dinner there (in 2003), one very good dinner there (in 2007), and one pretty dismal meal there (in 2006).

Crystal Palace dinner has been pretty good the three times we've had it.

Boma is very, very good.

This time, we're trying Tusker House (dinner), Chef Mickey's (dinner--the kids insisted), and 1900 Park Faire.

Generally, the quality is better than Golden Corral IMHO, and sometimes you'll get really good food.

 

[SarahKate]

PLEASE don't compare Disney buffets to buffets that we have out in the "real world". Comparing them to Old Country or Golden Corral is totally subjective. Because the OC in our hometown is total cr**, while we've eaten at really GOOD Golden Corral's before!

It's no different than comparing to other chain restaurnts, it's just subjective. One person LOVES Olive Garden, the next person doesn't.

And everyone's experience is different - we have such high expectations that a restaurant at WDW is going to be FANTASTIC and then it's a big letdown when it's not and we're quick to say "don't eat here!" But this really is not any different than going to a local restaurant. If you go pretty much anywhere more than a handful of times, you are bound to have a not so stellar experience - maybe a new cook, wait staff not attentive, etc. But it's different at WDW because you spend all those months planning and have this honeymoon thought of what it SHOULD be like!!!

Ok, that's my soapbox about WDW vs. chains.

With that said, Boma could NEVER be compared to any other kind of buffet. It is fantastic and this is one that we will definitely repeat next time. We've done Crystal Palace for breakfast and it was VERY good. Chef Mickey's for dinner - it was good, but nothing spectacular.

If you're really wanting something with unique food that doesn't feel so buffet-like, definitely try BOMA.

 

[irene_dsc]

Well, what is your motivation for maybe trying buffets? When I do choose buffets, it is for one of the following reasons:

- picky eaters can choose from a variety of foods without being stuck with what they ordered.
- I can have a little bit of everything (or, at least, lots of things).
- No wait for service or food prep (or very little)
- Fixed prices
- Perceived quality of food is, of course, part of the equation when choosing a particular buffet, tho normally I am not choosing among different buffets - there just aren't that many near me! Well, now near my office there are both a Chinese buffet and a Sweet Tomatoes, but those are very different in other ways, too.

Anyhow, we ate at both Boma and 1900 Park Fare, and I thought the food at PF was some of the best we ate our entire trip. I also really enjoyed Boma, tho the food varied - not so much a quality issue as far as a taste issue, since I tried a lot of things I might not normally order, and some were better than others. Fwiw, I chose PF for the characters - the food was a nice bonus, but I chose Boma for the food experience.

 

[TLSnell1981]

The only truly horrible experience I've had at Dis buffet is at H&V. The food reminds me of what is served in a school cafeteria. The service we received there was absolutely the worst I think I have ever had anywhere. I'm not crazy about Chef Mickey's food, but the atmosphere for kids is wonderful. It is my DGD favorite restaurant.