Joined Patina Groups birthday club

[RweTHEREyet]

Got the $30 voucher.

Now I am wondering should we choose Naples or or Tortilla Jo's at Downtown Disney?

I have printed off the menus, and both have items that would appeal to our group of 4, so I am wondering if anyone has any comments on either of these two restaurants.

Would I need a reservation for either of these?

 

[Sherry E]

You can make a reservation for either one if you want to, but I don't know if it's necessary. We have done Naples with and without a PS, and there always seems to be seating available at the times we go whether we have had the PS or not. In other words, it's not like the madness of Rainforest Cafe, where if you don't have a PS, you could be waiting an hour for a table!

Naples is a restaurant where it seems like people either love it or they just can't stand it. Tortilla Jo's is a place where some of our DIS-ers have reported getting food poisoning, while other folks love it and have had great experiences. I have not tried TJ's, but I do like Naples. Even the smallest pizza is big enough for 2 or 3 people (depending on your appetite), so I can only imagine that the larger sizes will feed a few more than that. My friend got a meatball sandwich there as well as a chicken dish and she enjoyed both. We've had really good service with frequent refills on our Naples visits. I had one pizza that was underbaked a bit, and I had another pizza on a different occasion that was a bit overbaked, but, strangely, I enjoyed them both because I liked the flavor!! I also really enjoy the outdoor seating at Naples, because it provides a nice people-watching opportunity (you can watch the people pass by in DTD).

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Thanks Sherry. Anyone else have experiences to share?

 

[DizMe]

I signed up for the birthday offer too, but my b-day isn't until January . Did we ever get a definitive answer on whether you get $30 off so long as you order more than $30, or they cover anything above $30 up to a value of $30? It got confusing!

As far as which restaurant to choose, I can't really help much. I've never eaten at Tortilla Jo's. I have eaten at Naples and did not care for it. We had a family pizza dinner which was both expensive and pretty awful, IMO. However, others really love it. As Sherry said, it seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of place.

I am planning to use my coupon at Catal's. Did you consider that one?

 

[toby78]

I signed up for the birthday offer too, but my b-day isn't until January . Did we ever get a definitive answer on whether you get $30 off so long as you order more than $30, or they cover anything above $30 up to a value of $30? It got confusing!

?

I just received my voucher today also and it says that with your purchase of $30 or more they will discount $30, so if the bill is $40, after the voucher itth will only be $10....My friend and I just each got one because our B-days are in April and they give you two months after your birthday to use them, so we are going this week and use both on two different days and try TJ's and Naples,,,it should save use $60....good deal

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I interpret the coupon another way, it says on the coupon:

"Spend $30 or more on food and beverage, and we'll give you up to $30 off your total bill. For example if your total bill is $88, you pay the first $58 and we'll pick up the remaining $30."

I dunno. I would like to think if your bill was $45 that you would get $30 off, but that sounds too good to be true. If it does work out that way, than how lucky for us.

I had not considered Catal, because I didn't pay attention to the list and wasn't aware there was a third restaurant at DTD, but I am now off to check out their menu, so thanks for pointing that out.

 

[lulubelle]

Since you asked for opinions, here goes.

We are big Tortilla Jo fans.
Naples, not so much. Quite frankly we feel the pizza is blechy and everything is waaaayyy over priced and mediocre. Granted, TJ's is pricey, but everything we have tried there is so good! I think you should decide based on weather you feel like Italian or Mexican. It's your birthday, live it up!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Well, actually, it will be DH's birthday when we are there. Like DizMe, mine isn't until January.

I just checked out Catal and I am not sure that their menu items would appeal to all in our group, so it will be either Naples or Tortilla Jo's.

I will be curious to hear from anyone that has used their birthday coupon as to how it did end up working out. I thought there was something posted about this earlier, but I can't find it now.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

We have eaten at both Tortilla Jos and Naples. Tortilla Jos we thought was just ok, but we have only been there once and it was several years ago. We have eaten at Naples twice, most recently last year, and don't care for that at all. We will most likely be using our coupon at Tortilla Jos.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks for the heads up on the voucher. I suscribed & was pleased to get a voucher even though my birthday had passed. My daughter & I went to Tortilla Jo's. I thought the food was okay, but have been there twice this year, and both times the beans tasted a little burned to me. Other than that the food was pretty decent.

The other restaurant is Catal. I haven't eaten there, but my son is planning to with his certificate.

Our bill came to almost $60, and we paid $28, and the other $30 was paid for by the voucher. So, the voucher is good for $30, and anything over is paid by the bearer. We did pay the tip off the total amount, not the amount we actually paid.

 

[toby78]

Would I need a reservation for either of these?

On the voucher, towards the bottom it says "Reservations must be made and the certificate must be mentioned at the time of reservation."....I wonder why that is??Will the tag your ressies and when you get there maybe give you a different menu maybe with items priced higher???? It does sound too good to be true...

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We didn't run into that issue. We told the server after we got the menu, and service was the same as when I paid full price earlier this year.

 

[Sherry E]

I interpret the coupon another way, it says on the coupon:

"Spend $30 or more on food and beverage, and we'll give you up to $30 off your total bill. For example if your total bill is $88, you pay the first $58 and we'll pick up the remaining $30."

I dunno. I would like to think if your bill was $45 that you would get $30 off, but that sounds too good to be true. If it does work out that way, than how lucky for us.

I had not considered Catal, because I didn't pay attention to the list and wasn't aware there was a third restaurant at DTD, but I am now off to check out their menu, so thanks for pointing that out.

That's exactly where the confusion came up in the other thread, like what DizMe was referring to above (that other thread was started by Prettyprincessbelle, who had used her coupon at Naples). I proposed the notion of a hypothetical $32.50 bill. Or let's just round it off and say a $35 bill. Would we then hand in the $30 coupon and bring our bill down to $5.00? That reallllly seems too good to be true.

I think some folks interpreted it like you did, RweTHEREyet - where we would have to actually spend at least a full $30 no matter what, and then Patina would cover anything over that $30, but only up to $30! So if we had a $35 bill, they would cover $5. If our bill was $40, they would cover $10. If we had a $60 bill, they would cover $30. If we had an $80 bill, they would cover $30.

If anyone has actually had a fairly low bill at one of the Patina restaurants - like $35 or $40 - and already used the coupon to bring it down to $5 or $10, I would love to know for absolute sure that this can happen. I think even the folks who don't like Naples or Tortilla Jo's would be willing to eat there again if they could get something for $5 or $10!!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Sherry E, you and I are thinking along the same lines here, and it would be great if we are wrong. Sometimes it happens.

Not quite the same deal, but my DH and I had lunch at McCormick and Schmick's for Mother's day. We are a member of their "club" and you always get a $30 voucher for your birthday. Since my DH's birthday is in May, we knew he was due the $30. We asked our server to check the credit on our card to make sure it was there and when he came back we were pleasantly surprised to have not only his $30 credit, but also one from my birthday in January, so $60 credit total. Our $77 lunch ended up costing us $17. And the meal was so delicious. So, sometimes too good to be true actually happens.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry E, you and I are thinking along the same lines here, and it would be great if we are wrong. Sometimes it happens.

Not quite the same deal, but my DH and I had lunch at McCormick and Schmick's for Mother's day. We are a member of their "club" and you always get a $30 voucher for your birthday. Since my DH's birthday is in May, we knew he was due the $30. We asked our server to check the credit on our card to make sure it was there and when he came back we were pleasantly surprised to have not only his $30 credit, but also one from my birthday in January, so $60 credit total. Our $77 lunch ended up costing us $17. And the meal was so delicious. So, sometimes too good to be true actually happens.

Yes, I most definitely hope we are wrong! Who wouldn't want a $5 or $10 dinner (that feeds multiple people)? That would be great!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks for the heads up on the voucher. I suscribed & was pleased to get a voucher even though my birthday had passed. My daughter & I went to Tortilla Jo's. I thought the food was okay, but have been there twice this year, and both times the beans tasted a little burned to me. Other than that the food was pretty decent.

The other restaurant is Catal. I haven't eaten there, but my son is planning to with his certificate.

Our bill came to almost $60, and we paid $28, and the other $30 was paid for by the voucher. So, the voucher is good for $30, and anything over is paid by the bearer. We did pay the tip off the total amount, not the amount we actually paid.

Maybe you guys missed the bolded part above.

I talked to the server and the voucher is good for $30, and you are asked to purchase the minimum of $30. So, if your meal came out to $29, you would pay nothing.

I talked to the waitress at Tortilla Jo's and she told me that the man who put this promotion into effect was essentially let go. The Patina group is hoping that people will return to their restaurants, or purchase a big meal over $30 to make the promotion worthwhile.

The waitress told me that there are people who get a meal for less than $30 and leave the voucher on the table without tipping the serving staff, so they are asking that people pay the tip for the total price of the meal, and not expect the voucher to also cover the tip, else the wait staff will be stiffed.

 

[toby78]

Maybe you guys missed the bolded part above.

I talked to the server and the voucher is good for $30, and you are asked to purchase the minimum of $30. So, if your meal came out to $29, you would pay nothing.

I talked to the waitress at Tortilla Jo's and she told me that the man who put this promotion into effect was essentially let go. The Patina group is hoping that people will return to their restaurants, or purchase a big meal over $30 to make the promotion worthwhile.

The waitress told me that there are people who get a meal for less than $30 and leave the voucher on the table without tipping the serving staff, so they are asking that people pay the tip for the total price of the meal, and not expect the voucher to also cover the tip, else the wait staff will be stiffed.

WOW that is great!!!I will try out my voucher this Thursday and Friday we will use my friends' voucher at Naples.....I noticed also that at the bottom of the voucher it said that you can only use it after 5pm...does anyone know if that is true???Or can you go during lunch time and can you just walk up without ressies??

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Maybe you guys missed the bolded part above.

I talked to the server and the voucher is good for $30, and you are asked to purchase the minimum of $30. So, if your meal came out to $29, you would pay nothing.

I talked to the waitress at Tortilla Jo's and she told me that the man who put this promotion into effect was essentially let go. The Patina group is hoping that people will return to their restaurants, or purchase a big meal over $30 to make the promotion worthwhile.

The waitress told me that there are people who get a meal for less than $30 and leave the voucher on the table without tipping the serving staff, so they are asking that people pay the tip for the total price of the meal, and not expect the voucher to also cover the tip, else the wait staff will be stiffed.

wow, so this really can end up being a great deal.

Mary Jo- had you made ressies or did you just walk in and then let you r server know of your certificate ?

 

[toby78]

bump

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

ohh this sounds so wonderful- how do I sign up? Does anyone have a link?