If you don't like Ohana

[Mac4life30]

What made you feel that way? Food? Service? Value? Annoying lady with ukelele?

 

[jwfla422]

Always feel like it's a "hit" or "miss" meal, both breakfast or dinner. Last time we had dinner it was pretty good but we also had a great server. He was fun and showed up at our table many occasions. Food was good and plentiful.

However there have been other times where the service has been just ok, with the server rushing and barely showing up and food being over cooked. Breakfast was not good, cold, food that wasn't fresh. Service was ok and I recall her even trading out some cold stuff for fresher stuff and it was still cold.

The most annoying thing though, is even with an ADR the waits can easily be a 1/2 hr or more, why??

Value= not so great
Lady with ukelele= can be fun after a few drinks

 

[catne]

all 3...

the food was luke-warm to cold (I'm talking about dishes that were supposed to be hot, of course) Bread was totally cold and stale. Salad had virtually no dressing. The only hot dishes served hot was the noodles. The grilled meats were dry and way over-cooked...but served luke-warm (how do you even do that...over grill meat, but it's not hot) The only tasty item was the dessert, but it was too sweet to "fill-up" on. We actually left 'Ohana hungry.

Service was attrocious...server dropped off our cocktails and ice water...my ice water had a fly doing the back-float. It took most of the meal to get a new glass of ice water (had to have another server find our server, because he disappeared.) The serving dishes did not get cleared from our table for 2, so after awhile we were just stacking stuff....was ridiculous that salad bowl was still cluttering up the table when dessert arrived.

And the entertainment...OMG. If you have little ones, maybe this is great. But we found it incredibly annoying. And we have a high tolerance for silliness (I ran a child-care business for nearly 20 years and actually like little kids entertainment shows.) This woman can't sing, and she talks down sooooo badly to the kids...talking to 6 yr olds like they are 3 in that sing-songy voice.

I know a lot of people like it because it's all you can eat...our problem was what good is "all you can eat" when NOTHING was good enough to eat?

Incidentally, we had an early seating, so it wasn't a matter of late-night stale food being served...it should have all been very fresh at 5:30.

 

[kungaloosh22]

I've been there twice. Our first experience (with 6 people, including kids) was okay. Not great, but okay.

We tried again a few years later, (just 2 of us), due to all the raves. We figured maybe we had an off night the first time out. This was a mistake, as O'hana was easily our worst meal of a 2.5 week trip.

the food was luke-warm to cold (I'm talking about dishes that were supposed to be hot, of course) Bread was totally cold and stale. Salad had virtually no dressing. The only hot dishes served hot was the noodles. The grilled meats were dry and way over-cooked...but served luke-warm (how do you even do that...over grill meat, but it's not hot) The only tasty item was the dessert, but it was too sweet to "fill-up" on.

This describes our food perfectly. It was terrible, especially the cold, dry, overcooked meats.

Service was extremely slow.

Also, we had a table right in the middle of the room, which sounds good but didn't turn out that way. During the races, we had at least 3 strangers leaning on and over our table, right between us while we were eating, to get the perfect picture of their kids. No one asked if it was okay, nor did any apologize - it was like we were invisible. We're not unfriendly people by any means, but it really was intrusive for a table service dinner.

It makes me sad, because I adore the look and location of the venue!

 

[venessr]

After two tries was disappointed. Slow food service. It was great when it got there but a couple young kids in our party weren't great at waiting. Everything we had was very tasty and loved the food but not as good an experience as almost all of the rest of our trip. These kids got cudos for being so patient but was still a trial

 

[sazzifrazz]

i went for the first time in 2007 and thought it was great. Went again 2010 and thought it was good. Went in 2012 and thought it was barely OK. It has just gone down hill. The lady with eukele is SOOO annoying.

 

[smcabee]

Too rushed food comes out too quickly, yes I did tell them to slow it down but then it was like pulling teeth to get them to actually come back when we were ready for something else. We had a table on the "racetrack" and during coconut races, my shins took a beating from coconuts and broomsticks.

As Ive said before, we thought the food was very good just wished they tweaked the timing of the food and offered those without kids seats away from the "racetrack".

 

[meredith1]

I just didn't care for the food. I was so excited about it, too. Also, they put three of us at a two top-no room for plates and serving dishes. Just all around bad experience.

 

[lady_hlh]

I didn't like any of the food except the bread pudding and the service was really bad. My meat loving DH who is the least fussy eater ever told me that he thought the meats were disgusting and requested that we never eat there again. Our DD loved the games and the ukele lady but we've never been back. I'm very fussy and I have a culinary degree but I was shocked that my DH would ever hate a restaurant at WDW. I know other people love it but I totally don't get it. On the other hand we love Coral Reef and other people give it horrid reviews so trying something at least once is a good idea if you like the menu.

 

[Sparkly]

I actually liked Ohana. I thought the food was good, our service was decent but the ukele lady was REALLY annoying. At least she handed out leis at the end. I joked in the car that she should do us all a favour and shove the ukele up where the sun don't shine.

 

[Linda T.]

My family went for the first time in 2011 and it was one of the best meals of our trip. We loved the food and the atmosphere. We had a server who was very good. I will admit the ukele woman was a little annoying but we were sitting away from most of the activity so we tuned it out. We have another reservation for this July, and we are really looking forward to it.

 

[kerri0616]

Always have enjoyed the food and service.

However, I must agree about ukelele lady. Glad to hear I'm not the only one annoyed! Won't stop me from going back though...wonder if she gets a night off during the week...

 

[MrsB1228]

For us it was also all three. The bread was very dry and wasn't served with any butter. The first part of the meal came out at warp speed. The salad had very little dressing (so little in fact, that my DH was convinced they missed putting it on altogether), and was mostly lettuce and not much else. The pot stickers, wings, noodles and broccoli were cold and we didn't get any sauces. I know others have said you only need to request slower service, replacement food, etc. but the service was absolutely horrid. We never did find out who our "cousin" was really supposed to be, as the guy who came over and introduced himself after we were seated was never seen again. Never seen at our table, that is; we did see him serving others but could never get his attention no matter how enthusiastically we waved. When we finally flagged someone down to request sauces and hot wings/pot stickers, etc., she said she'd tell our server. So we waited ... and waited ... and I was watching the little vein in my husband's forehead start to throb ... when finally they came around with the skewers of meat. We got some of the steak, chicken and pork but the shrimp never made an appearance. The steak was very overcooked, even though we'd requested medium and the chicken was undercooked . The pork was the only thing that was decent, and we had less of that than the others, lol. Nobody came around to offer more and our table was never cleared. There were four of us and we were sitting at a four-top near the windows. We had such a pile of dirty dishes that I'm still amazed we didn't manage to send at least some of them crashing to the floor. By this time I was seriously steamed and just ready for this experience to be over. A runner arrived with our dessert, which we all agreed was just OK. To be fair, the fact that our frustration and aggravation meters were hitting the red zone probably effected our enjoyment of the bread pudding. We never got our replacement pot stickers/wings, etc., nor did anyone ever stop by to see how our meal was or to refill our drinks. The only bright spot of the whole sorry mess was the fact that we got to see Hallow-wishes, which was wonderful!

This was back in September 2010. We realize that any restaurant can have a bad night and I keep thinking we should give 'Ohana another chance, but our experience was so horrid that every time I suggest it, I get voted down immediately. Oh well, it leaves a space for the people that truly love this place.

 

[DLFan123]

I have never been to Ohana, but I want to try it someday. I have read so many good or decent reviews and just think it sounds like a neat atmosphere. But I'm not so sure about coconut races etc? I didn't realize all this happens in here. How does this work and what exactly happens? I would be very upset if strangers were leaning on my table or hitting my shins with broomsticks!!!

 

[VillianDiva]

I didn't really care for the breakfast because our food was served cold and we constantly had to ask for more of something and we aren't even big eaters. The breakfast skillet at WCC was much better.

For dinner we kept comparing it to Texas de Brazil and it just wasn't as good to us.

 

[ellie'smom]

All three. Particularly the service.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have never been to Ohana, but I want to try it someday. I have read so many good or decent reviews and just think it sounds like a neat atmosphere. But I'm not so sure about coconut races etc? I didn't realize all this happens in here. How does this work and what exactly happens? I would be very upset if strangers were leaning on my table or hitting my shins with broomsticks!!!

We went there last month with our family, which included our grandchildren, age 3 and 5. The food was good. None of the meat was overcooked. A few people didn't like the shrimp, but I did.

The kids liked the coconut races and the hula lessons. The five year old was more into it than the three year old. She mostly wanted to eat. We were center stage for the races and the hula, with the kids and the ukelele facing our table. I think it was fun for us because of our grandkids being in it. No one bumped our table trying to get pictures of their kids. It was a nice diversion.

 

[sandym718]

h...wonder if she gets a night off during the week...

Sunday, Monday actually! That's actually the only thing we don't like about Ohana. First trip we happened to have a Sunday, so it wasnt until trip 2 that we had the lady. Last time we specifically booked for Monday for this reason. We find the guy to be much calmer and quieter and makes for a more enjoyable experience.

 

[jenjifer]

1. Ukelele lady is SUPER-annoying.
2. Pork that was a little sketchy.
3. Wayyyy overcooked chicken.

that said, I loved the noodles and the bread pudding, so I'd go back, if only my family would agree. They (boys who were 6 and 9) hated it and refuse to go back.

 

[cbmcmahan]

We just got back today from Disney. We were able to get a last minute dinner reservation at Ohana for our last night there. I was so excited! I have to say, I really wanted to like it...it was okay, but we probably will not go back. The entertainment was by far the most annoying part. We have a 4 year old boy, so I don't mind being around a lot of kids, but this was just stressful. Just as we were about to start our meal, the lady comes out with the microphone and starts giving instructions. It was weird. It was so loud...I felt like I was dining in the middle of an elementary school cafeteria. With that aside, the bread, salad and dessert were very good. The meat was just okay. My husband can cook chicken, steak and pork better on our grill at home. We salvaged the night by watching fireworks from the Polynesian beach...definitely helped us recover from the stressful dinner!