Is Garden Grill as nice as it sounds?

[Rekenna]

Hi! We are planning on eating here for the first time on our next trip, late November. I was reading that there are booths and tables, we are a party of 6-3 A, 2 C, 1 Baby Highchair, will our only option be the tables then-or are the booths on the lower level large enough to accomodate all of us?

Thanks!

 

[wtccheermom]

This is our favorite character meal mainly because of the character interaction and it is not as rowdy as the others. The food is OK! I like the old menu with fried catfish but had this most recent one and it was still good. Also when we check in we request a booth on the bottom level and sometimes we have to wait a little longer but it is so worth it and we use the time to sit , relax and people watch in the land.

 

[smithpack]

Hi! We are planning on eating here for the first time on our next trip, late November. I was reading that there are booths and tables, we are a party of 6-3 A, 2 C, 1 Baby Highchair, will our only option be the tables then-or are the booths on the lower level large enough to accomodate all of us?

Thanks!

We are a family of six( 2A, 4C) and we easily fit into a booth on the lower level. This is one of our favorite places and we do it every year. I know some people don't care for the food, but personally we have always loved it. You can tell it is fresh, and they grow it all right there at the Living with the Land area. The character interaction is the best out of all the character restaurants we have eaten at. I think that is because they have Chip and Dale. THEY ARE HILARIOUS!!!

 

[pixarmom]

We love GG! We have 3 boys, and it's been their favorite restaurant forever. It's our arrival night tradition every time. We see Mickey our first day with no waits and no buffets - and our kids also love Chip and Dale, so that's a huge factor for them.

The food is fine - I like the mahi better than the catfish and I'm not a huge fan of the dessert - the rest is good. Not the best food in the world, but good.

I really like the family style service so much better than buffets - especially with the kids. No juggling plates or being away from the table when the characters stop by. The character interaction is the best we've had at Disney and we usually see each character twice during dinner. The lower level booths are great, the rotating scenes are a nice touch and it's really a lot more relaxed than any other character meal we've tried (or at least as relaxed as is possible for a character meal!)

 

[3smithboys]

We love GG and are actually going there for our 18th anniversary in August! The kids love it and so does my DH - it's there favorite character meal - they LOVE Chip and Dale!!! (DH loves the food...) and any place they are all happy makes me happy!

 

[Smithkids]

My girlfriend and I enjoy GG. The food is nothing special in my opinion. However, the character interaction is some of the best in all of WDW. It is worth going to simply for those crazy characters.

I agree...the characters are awesome there! I thought the food was yummy, but there is very small selection/choices, so I would recommend you take a look at the menu to be sure it will be food you'll like. If yes, then go for it!!

BTW_ the picture in my signature is from there- the characters were so much fun!!

 

[wtccheermom]

Hi! We are planning on eating here for the first time on our next trip, late November. I was reading that there are booths and tables, we are a party of 6-3 A, 2 C, 1 Baby Highchair, will our only option be the tables then-or are the booths on the lower level large enough to accomodate all of us?

Thanks!

This past April they told us there were no baby high chairs allowed on the bottom level which was new because we were there a year ago my son who was an infant and used a infant highchair and we were on the bottom level.

 

[kirbygump]

This will be our first meal at WDW this year when we get there in August. Haven't been before and are excited. This one and CP are our only character meals for the trip. Hoping for a lower level table.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

The Garden Grill is actually a must do for us every trip. The character interaction here is AMAZING. It's small in there, so the characters make their way around several times during your meal. Our food has always been fresh and delicious, and my kids always have a BLAST! You will love it!

Here's an old pic of my DD with Chip

 

[sumertime]

My opinion may be tainted because it was our first night after getting on an airplane super early in the morning and my nephew got sick all over my BIL (to the point he had to go buy a t-shirt from the giftshop in The Land). But none of us loved the food much at all.

 

[pickle's mom]

I have to agree with the other folks: the food was so-so, but really liked the character interaction and the restaurant theme. Howevery, I'm embarassed to say that I got dizzy!!! I have such a week stomach that the slow rotation bugged me. Just thought I would mention that in case there are any other motion wimps out there. That said, the kids loved it.

 

[princesslexis'mom]

On our last visit we dined at garden grill,we were seated in the booths (lower level),have to say we really had no view of anything ,just darkness,we felt like we were sitting at a food court in the mall,as everytime you spin to the entrance,there are people standing there waiting to come in and be seated. The food was not what we expected,(we hardly ate anything). On to the positives,the characters are fun and spend a lot of time taking pictures and entertaining the kids,as others have said go for the characters not the food.

 

[FINFAN]

NEVERMIND! I though this was for Garden Grove at the Swan! SORRY!
we really enjoyed it, have gone 3 times and once was for Christmas dinner buffet, VERY good. I would not hesitate to book it especially since it is a littel less to start with AND you can use AAA for 20% off ( not valid for alcoholic drinks tho)

 

[Rekenna]

We are a family of six( 2A, 4C) and we easily fit into a booth on the lower level. This is one of our favorite places and we do it every year. I know some people don't care for the food, but personally we have always loved it. You can tell it is fresh, and they grow it all right there at the Living with the Land area. The character interaction is the best out of all the character restaurants we have eaten at. I think that is because they have Chip and Dale. THEY ARE HILARIOUS!!!

Danka! What I needed to know!

We love GG! We have 3 boys, and it's been their favorite restaurant forever. It's our arrival night tradition every time.

We have 3 boys as well, and I would love to start an arrival day tradition, I thought Garden Grill would be a great start!

This past April they told us there were no baby high chairs allowed on the bottom level which was new because we were there a year ago my son who was an infant and used a infant highchair and we were on the bottom level.

Maybe DS2 can sit in a booth and not a highchair if we are able to try get a booth-thanks for the tip!

 

[DizDaD7]

We went 2yrs ago w/ a large. Group of 16. This is what made the lunch by far. Not sure we would've gone if it were just the four of
us.
1) I may be wrong but I think it's all family style. At least in our case it was. Food slightly above avg.
2) Character s characters characters. Plenty of interaction
3) Quicker than most meals. It feels like they hustle n bustle you in n out of there. That I didn't like.
4) The restaurant slowly rotates which isnt really noticeable until you're done n full. It feels like you just got off a cruise (sorta ) n have sealegs. All n all pretty much avg IMHO.

 

[pauly's girl]

The food is good but nothing special.....the atmosphere and characters were great. We sat on the upper level the first time and the lower the second time...I prefer the lower level. We alternate most meals every other year but will be going back again!

 

[Avery&Todd]

We ate at Garden Grill in June '09 and the food wasnt that good - our meat was dry and the kids wernt too excited about their food - but the dessert was DELICIOUS!!!

and the Character interaction was FANTASTIC!! I have many many pics of the DSs & the DH with Chip n' Dale and Mickey too!!

I thought the spinning was good - didnt make us too dizzy, and it was nice that the scenery changed - but as someone else said, it was kinda awkward when you spun around to the lobby, and there were all these folks waiting around...

We're skipping it next trip - the food wasnt worth it, and we like our Character meals, so we'll see the characters many other places!!

 

[Mississippianna]

Loved it! We were there with DD2 back in February and had a great experience! DH and I both really enjoyed the food. It was a nice atmosphere, quiet as compared to other character meals we have been to, but the Land boat ride you see from the restaurant was closed for refurb when we ate there so I can't speak to how that would affect the experience.

You can click here to read the review I posted, with photos!

 

[Tam1067]

This was our worst meal ever at WDW, though dessert was good, and the characters were fun. We have no desire to go back.

FWIW, we had dinner there in 2008.

 

[CathieArms]

I just stumbled upon it tonight and we got early dinner ressies for our July trip.
I don't know HOW I missed it.....

I liked it, but I wouldn't call it all that nice. I liked it because it was very relaxed and the kids got to meet the characters on the first night. But, in terms of "nice," it was the least nice of all of the restaurants we went to while we were there.

With that said, I wouldn't discourage you from going there. It's a great place to go on your first night when you're just settling in to visiting The World and want to ease into the madness that is WDW.