Garden Grill - what's up?

[jennykay]

Thanks guys! I guess it's like everything else, you have to try it yourself to know if you will like it. I just saw some negative reviews for Spoodles, and we really loved that place! So, Garden Grill, here we come!

 

[THEDISFANS]

We are going for the first time in june

 

[bairdbeth]

We went last November and loved it! Even though it was just DD and myself ( and she was11 and counted as an adult) they brought out both the adult and children's choices. She really loved making her own cupcake. We will definetly eat here again!

 

[Eeyore's Girl]

It's my family's fave meal at the World. My boys always insist in going there. It's comfort food - catfish, turkey and flank steak with potatoes and veggies - but miles better than the pre-packaged comfort food at Liberty Tree Tavern, in our opinion. Dessert has changed during the times we've been there, some are better than others. The fruit crisp is always great.

Character interaction is wonderful. We like to make our ADRs for off times because the characters will give you so much attention.

My boys love to watch the Land spin by (very, very slowly) and listen to the sounds floating up.

It's really relaxing for me, the mom, because it's family style and I don't have to jump up to run to the buffet every 10 seconds.

Ultimately, these reviews are so subjective. I think you need to try it for yourself to know if it suits your family. Have fun!

Yep - just like she said. Those are all the same reasons we love Garden Grill.

 

[nytimez]

The character interaction here is wonderful... and the view of The Land is nice if you are seated on a lower level. The food is nothing special, but it's not bad... I think this restaurant is a perfectly reasonable place to go if you are looking for a pleasant character meal. You get Chip, Dale, Farmer Mickey and Pluto... because of the way the tables are set ups - booths facing outward towards The Land - you generally don't realize a character is coming until they are at the next table, and when they are with you it feels like more of a personal experience than it does at the other character meal restaurants -- so that's something to consider too.

 

[Echo queen]

We had lunch there once, it was Oct 1,2007 Epcots 25th anniversary. We were the Honorary Family of the day we met the chef and he made us a special dessert, the food was good and we enjoyed the experience.

 

[2poohbears]

We've eaten there several times (loved it the first few times), but our last 2 trips we found the meal to be disappointing. The food just wasn't very tasty. We don't plan to eat there again next trip.

Character interaction is great - you get lots of time with each one. We've found it's a nice, quiet restaurant in the late afternoon. Previous posters mentioned this - if you sit on the 2nd level you don't really see any of the Land.

 

[kimsuenew]

The character interaction is good (and adorable).

The food was horrid, there was not one thing we liked.

We saw another table (we were seated in the upper level at tables, not the lower level in a booth) order the "kids" food (as they did not like their food either apparently) so we did ask our waitress and she brought us chicken strips, french fries, and mac & cheese.

We would never go back... even if it was free!

Every place has people that love it and people that hate it... you have to personally experience and make up your own mind.

 

[miss missy]

I have never been but wanted to try. I am on the dining plan. I cant get a dinner ressie for the day I want in May I got one for lunch, but keep calling and nothing for dinner is open.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I've never been to the Garden Grill, and I made ADR's for September. I have seen a few posts where people have disliked the Garden Grill - but no explaination as to why. What do you guys think? Have you been? Do you love it? Hate it? Why? I don't want to waste my time/money!
Thanks!!

This is my families favorite place to eat in all of Disney World! It's best at Lunch. Lunch and Dinner (same thing only at dinner you get a salad) With all that food you really don't have room for the salad. The place is great because it's small so the service is good and the characters come around a lot. They will even sit down with you and hang out! Once Chip set down with my daughter and wrote notes to her for about 10 minutes! I don't even know how many times we've been, probably 6-8 times and it's always been wonderful! Also the rest spins while you eat which the kids LOVE. (Dads too, lol.) I have some pics I believe...Also, this is one of the only rest at WDW that serves sweet tea!

Characters are so much fun here!

You get to meet and Mickey, Chip, Dale, and Pluto! You also get this for dessert (in the Summer). When I went during the Winter or Fall we got Bread Pudding. Still good though.

The catfish is delicious and I don't eat it anywhere else. The steak is very good too and you can have it prepared rare...well done, whatever. The veggies are grown there at WDW (you can take the boat ride through The Land before or after and see where they grow the veggies) and the kids get mac n cheese, chkn tenders, fries, and at the end they get to make and design their own cupcake! They can eat from your platter as well. (That's what my server told us) It's a must do anytime we visit Epcot!

 

[Melora]

It's our MOST favorite restaurant and we have ressies there for our next trip twice.
We love the food and we always go down and do the boat ride right after we eat so its a family tradition!

Here is a pic from last January

 

[Tam1067]

We thought it was OK, not great. Food is not the best. Character interaction is good. We're skipping it this trip because we were not overly impressed last time.

 

[DE2Disney]

My Family and I ate at the Garden Grill for the first time during Easter. Everyone thought the food was great, especially the beef. We were fortunate to have a very good server. The character interactions were very good also. I learned that the speed of the restaurant turning is adjusted depending on customer feedback. They start it out at faster turn and then adjust it down if they get complaints. The day we were there someone had complained earlier so the speed was really slow. We only went around about 1 1/4 times. Our server said that on a normal day you go around about 2 times.

 

[danceintherain]

This is the only TS restaurant I remember eating at. We lived in Orlando when I was little, so most of those restaurants are a blur and/or don't exist anymore.
We went over New Year's last year and it was the only ADR available for our stay (we got the first seating on New Year's Day) My parents aren't big planners, and the trip was slightly last minute (at least it seemed such to me as I was away at school and only received a call asking if I wanted to go)

Anyways...the character interaction is good. I don't remember the food being terrible, but I'm picky so I don't really rate my experience with food very well. Also, I don't expect restaurants to wow me with their food options. I think I stole some Mac & Cheese and chicken fingers from my little brother's plate to supplement the rest of my food.
I enjoyed it, but I usually rate meals based on the quality of interaction between me and the people I'm dining with, (and in this case the characters) not the food, because then I would never be satisfied. We only had one kid (my brother who's 10) at our table and the character's still interacted with us a lot.

Really it's something you have to try...

 

[Tess'smom]

My family had eaten there twice and we probably wont do so again. We love the character interaction, especially Pluto. The food is just ok. The service is pretty slow and not very attentive. The food on both visits has been almost cold. We tried it the second time just to see if it was just a fluke everything was so mediocre. If you are going to try it, definately ask for a table on the outside.

 

[jedi jen]

My kids love GG. We all have a great time. It is a fun and relaxing atmosphere. We ask for seating in the lower level so we can better see the Land. We have gone for dinner twice and are trying lunch for our next trip. Of course, it is a must do--just ask the kids.

 

[buzzrelly]

It's comfort food - catfish, turkey and flank steak

And this is exactly why my family hated the Garden Grill...just not our type of food I guess. To each his own. That is why I now check the menus before making any ADRS so we don't make the same mistake again.

 

[thumbalyna]

i have eaten here twice...2001 for dinner and 2007 for lunch....i agree the chararacter interaction is wonderful but i was disappointed when we were there this time...i would go back but not for lunch...our meal looked like slop thrown on a plate...our waitress forgot our drinks and the fact that i was allergic to mushrooms and needed the steak with out the mushroom gravy on it....everyone has a bad day and this was obviously hers. also when we were seated there was a 1/2 eaten cupcake above the booth and it stayed there the whole time until mickey tried to give it to my daughter....luckily she was 13 and also knew it had been sitting above her head the whole time

i would definately go back for dinner though

 

[Disneyof3]

We ate there for the first time in March. The food we thought was very good and the character interactions was good too but.... the restaurant revolves while your eating and DH got sick because of it. So due to that, it is now been removed from our list of ADR's forever. We went for lunch and the apple crisp with sweet butter was very yummy!!!!

 

[jennykay]

Thanks for sharing those super-cute pics, guys! I'm getting really excited about going now! Of course, I'm really excited about all things Disney right now! Too bad for me we still have 4 months of TN before we get to see the mouse. I guess I'll just keep spending all of my free time on the Dis...