How do you pick your Restaurants

[aljack33]

I was wondering how most of you pick your restaurants - Do you pick because of the menus or from reviews of other people. I kinda go by both but I pick mostly by the menu selection.

Although, we are trying Le Cellier because of all the raves on here. But when looking at the menu alone, that would not have been choice for us.

 

[Colleen27]

I mostly go by menus and location. I plan my park days first, which then gives me an idea of where to look for convenient restaurants to make ADRs at. Reviews tend to play more of a role when they're good than when they're bad, because I'm a firm believer that people are more likely to voice complaints than they are to voice praise. But either way, reviews are a distant second to the menus, because it doesn't matter how good a restaurant is if there is nothing on the menu that appeals to our tastes.

 

[aljack33]

That is what I think, too. Because I picked the GF Cafe because of the menu. DD13 will love the fondue and the menu appeals to us, but it hasn't gotten good reviews. I hope I won't be sorry.

 

[lynninpa]

I read the menus and look at pics of the inside of the restaurants. It's so much fun, too! Sometimes it is just a place that "caught my eye" on a previous trip. As for the opinions of others? I do read them yet take them with a grain of salt. When it comes to food, you can get a zillion different opinions on the very same dish!

 

[septbaby]

Menu, characters/atmosphere, location.

We want good food, nice experience/character experience and want to be able to get there. Though Olivia's menu looks good, probably would not travel via 3 buses for a meal there. Though LTT is right in MK, menu is not for us. Coral Reef isn't too bad to get to from MK, and boy was it worth it!

 

[Brian Noble]

I go mostly on atmosphere and the "experience". We have some very fine restaurants here in our little town, and Disney restaurants generally aren't anything special for us, food-wise. Instead, we go for places we can't get at home. For example, Le Cellier and the restaurant-formerly-known-as-Teppanyaki, though popular places in Epcot, don't ever make our list, because we've got perfectly fine examples of the genre here.

 

[kimberh]

I start with the park we are going to be in that day.

Then I do look at reviews, but I go with the type of food we really like. If a restaurants gets rave reviews, I will try it. I have to say that some that many don't like, we love.

I love trying new places and we always have a few favorites that we have to do.

We usually try one brand new TS restaurant a trip, sometimes two. If we are taking a large family trip, then certain Characters have to be seen. I will book to see those characters, unfortunately food is secondary at that meal or two, but no more than that.

 

[KatMark]

We mostly go by the type of food we enjoy eating (we don't like fancy food, etc.). We have also gone by reviews on this board. We have loved some of the suggestions (LeCellier, Liberty Tree Tavern, Mama Melrose, Biergarten, Cape May Cafe) and hated others to the point we won't go back (Brown Derby, Hollywood & Vine and Boatwright's). I think the most important thing is to go to the places that serve the type of food you enjoy eating and making up your own mind.

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

I pretty much agree with most of the pp. I love, love love food so I always look at the menu first. Than I go for the "experience" second. Lastly I will consider reviews. Although honestly I don't sit down and read review after review I more just kind of listen to the "buzz" and than check out the menu to see if it appeals to me.

 

[WDWBetsy]

I typically look at the menus, then at the "food porn" pics to see what people have had at certain restaurants, and also look for trip reports & restaurant reviews here on the DIS.

 

[wideeyes]

I go by the menu, I need to make sure that my DD(5) will like the food to so even if I like to try somewhere we might not be able to because the childrens menu is not what my DD likes.

 

[aljack33]

I think i will stick with how the menu looks. Everyone raves about Boma on here but after looking at the menu, I do not think my family would like it at all. Same with Raglan Road.

 

[kimberh]

I think i will stick with how the menu looks. Everyone raves about Boma on here but after looking at the menu, I do not think my family would like it at all. Same with Raglan Road.

Bomas is a must do for every trip, for us. Don't let the names on the menu fool you. My whole family loves Bomas and I have some picky eaters. We eat at Bomas on our Animal Kingdom Park day. It continues the theme of the day for us.

 

[suzimar57]

we pick restaurants by menu and location (based on what park we plan to be in that day) - plus which restaurants we've been to before....

don't give a lot of weight to what i read here as far as reviews go - one person's favorite could be another person's horror, where the menu choices as concerned

besides - we've gone so many times, it's down to a routine!

(plus my DH is not a very adventurous eater - he likes knowing ahead of time what he's going to eat, no big surprises)

 

[savannahjean85]

1st I look at what park we will be at that day then I look at the menu; I am a extremely picky eater so I have to make sure there was at least one thing I would eat.

 

[beroh2253]

I go to the All-Ears web page menus, read thru the different menus, print out the ones that appeal and ME and DW decide which ones to try.
Now that we have been there many times we go back to the ones we like then pick a few new places again looking at the web page menus.



http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

 

[A_NY_Outlaw]

Well for my wife and I, it usually is up to me to come up with a list of places we can dine, primarily because I am an extremely picky eater. This last trip back in April, I made a few poor choices, and a few good ones. I always look at the general listing of the type of cuisine offered...we usually like to stick with Italian or American fare, and I also listen to the reviews of fellow Dis'ers when it comes to portions and atmosphere.

If I make a bad decision, I have no one to blame but myself...The only restaurant that I listened to reviewers too much on was Mama Melrose's. Everyone seemed to have a good experience with it.....we had a miserable experience, but then again that summed up our trip.

I'm looking at our October 08 trip as a fresh start!!

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm trying to "eat my way around the world" so I'll try any restaurant once. I ususally like to try the recent "hot" Disney restaurants, so I'll troll around the boards and see which ones get the most buzz. I'll then plan my park days around my ADRS.

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

Mainly by what I'm interested in trying...I try not to read too much hype about the reviews, although I too will be on the phone at 180 days at 7am to get a spot of the coveted Le Cellier.

I also went to another site that listed the average "value" of a DDP credit and tried to pick the "pricier" restaurants that interested me...although I have to say I got Spoodles and Marrakesh from that list and those were just ok for me.

I'm gonna start my list for next year and get serious about weeding through some menus and picking....

 

[disneygal2007]

I always look at menus and make sure we like the food on them or if it is food we want to try then we look at reviews. BUt mostly we go for the atmosphere