Garden Grill

[thunderbug548]

We were there for lunch on Labor Day and while the characters were awesome and came around many, many times, the food was pretty bad. The kids didn't care for their meal although ds did eat some mac & chs. Dh's vegetarian pasta dish was terrible he said. The only thing I ate on my plate was the potatoes (asked for 2nds- they were yummy!!) and the veggies. Dh said he should have just ordered the potatoes for his entree, he really liked them. The catfish was bland. The mushroom gravy too sweet. I don't think we'll eat here again unless the menu changes or something.

 

[thepeach80]

We just went 2 wks ago and overall it was good. There were 9 of us counting the kids and the service was great. We always had drinks and had out plates refilled once w/out asking. I thought the food was really good, but my pickier than picky DH would not agree. He did eat a little of the kids' chicken since they liked our food too. My almost 3yo LOVED the potato casserole, and I have to agree w/ him. It would not be someplace I think I would go again just b/c I felt bad DH didn't get to eat much.

 

[themilesfamily]

We were there in 2005 for the character lunch and we really enjoyed it. I gave it an EXCELLENT.

1) Ask them to seat you on the lower level -- you'll have a much better view of The Land ride. This view really adds to the experience.

2) The character interaction was awesome. Chip & Dale were particularly good. They had my 1 year old laughing and laughing -- they gave her so much special attention.

3) The servers gave the kids crayons and something to color on while we waited for our meal -- kind of a nice thing for antsy kids. I remember this because my daughter proceeded to color on Farmer Mickey's nose when he was with her. Oops.

We were seated quickly and our meal was delicious -- the CM's were very sweet, too. I remember this meal as being very relaxing -- maybe because the restaurant wasn't busy when we were there. We went for an earlier lunch time that day and missed the crowds. Also, we were there in February, one of the less crowded times at Disney. If it was super-crowded I may have come away with a different feel for the place.

 

[Tink2312]

Ate here last Dec. Food was great,particularly the dessert Character interaction was best we had, spent time taking photos and having a laugh. Loved the fact the restaurant revolved too.

 

[grimley1968]

We were there in 2005 for the character lunch and we really enjoyed it. I gave it an EXCELLENT.

1) Ask them to seat you on the lower level -- you'll have a much better view of The Land ride. This view really adds to the experience.

Lower level? Is this new? I haven't been there in 3 or 4 years, but I only remember the one level there.

 

[loveDmouse]

I voted EXCELLENT! It was great. Food & characters. We went last year and have an adr for this year. We had eaten there before a few years back too and it has always been good. Have fun!

 

[themilesfamily]

There are two rings of seating. The lower level looks directly down on the Land ride and the scenery. The upper level looks down on the lower level and then the ride/scenery.

We actually sat in the upper level and it wasn't horrible, so don't freak out if that's where you end up sitting -- but the lower level is definitely preferable and the better seats.

One other pitfall about the upper level -- you may end up sitting right next to the kitchen entrance -- which we did and it was pretty noisy. (I don't know why we didn't ask to be reseated. We're not real pushy about things like that. I guess we just sit where we're told!)

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I just booked Garden Grill lunch for the CP package. Has anyone done it yet? Will a 2:00 reservation be early enough to make the 5:00 CP show without rushing? Thanks!

 

[toothdoc]

I have to explain why I voted satisfactory. I would actually give the food a poor and the character interaction excellent. We went in March '07 and I felt that the service was okay, but the food was over cooked, bland and just not that great. But the character interaction was 12 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The character interaction was so good that I agreed to schedule it again for our trip in March '08. I just get to eat what I want for dinner that night since that meal is for our daughter!

I concur. This used to be a go to restaurant and after bland, not exciting food in June '07 we may avoid on next trip. The best part is the characters and my sons love Chip and Dale. This may keep it on our list, but my wife and I discussed skipping next time. Hope this helps.

 

[Feigned]

I ate at the Garden Grill in August and then again a few weeks ago at the end of October. I had excellent experiences both times.

August- I ate there with my sister (who has celiac) and my cousin. They are both 19 and I'm 22. We made sure to have fun with the characters and we loved the interaction. It was so much fun and it was a much better experience than we had at Chef Mickey's for breakfast, where we felt like the characters just snapped pictures and left. The characters all came around several times and had a lot of fun with us. They even made fun of the picture rotation that we had made up and pushed us along through the booth (one slid out, the one behind them took the picture, until everyone had their pic taken). The food was very good. There wasn't really anything that I didn't like!

October- I was there with my mom this time and the character interaction was still really good. My mom almost spilled her iced tea on Mickey, but he jumped away just in time. Every time after that, he and the other characters made fun of her when they came back. It was a lot of fun. We noticed that the food was a little different this time around and I still enjoyed it! I did like the dessert better in August though. Does their menu change seasonally?

The food:
August- yeast rolls and buttermilk biscuits with honey-orange blossom butter, salad with a vinaigrette-type dressing and these chip things on top (can't remember what they were but they were a little spicy and very good), cheesy potatoes, flank steak with mushroom cabernet au jus, rotisserie turkey with cranberry relish, fried catfish, homestyle potato casserole, veggies that included carrots, green beans, and mini squash, and for dessert- very berry puff pastry

October- buttermilk biscuits, rolls, and cornbread with the honey-orange blossom butter, salad with a ranch-type dressing and croutons, cheesy potatoes, flank steak with mushroom cabernet au jus, rotisserie turkey with cranberry relish, fried catfish, homestyle potato casserole, veggies that included carrots, green beans, and butternut squash, and for dessert- apple crisp with caramel topping


My mom said that this is now tied for her favorite restaurant. We have a reservation there for when we visit in January.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

They are back from a wonderful trip!

They enjoyed Garden Grill very much. All 3 said the food was good and the Characters were GREAT! My parents enjoyed the meal and said everything was good. DD got a special cup cake for her birthday that she got to decorate. They said they made it just fine to the 6:00 show eating at 2. Even being there early enough to be in the first row! They highly recommend this option to see the CP. For just a few $$ more they got a character meal and no line for the show. A great option!

 

[ksbean]

We ate there on Wednesday for the first time and found the food and character interaction to be great even for us "big" kids.

 

[danielle782001]

We went went service was good (quick and nice), food was good (we liked the kids choices and the food was fresh), the character interaction was excellent!