Lets talk FOOD!

[MinnieFan4ever]

Hi guys! I need some help. My husband and I are heading to DL for the first time next month and need some restaurant info. I am looking at the Birnbaum's guide and they put Napa Rose and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen as the best adult restaurant. Do you guys agree? We will be there for 5 nights and want a sit-down place for each night. The runners-up are Hook's Pointe, Catal Rest & Uva Bar and House of Blues. What do you guys think of the Vineyard Room?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Judy from Boise]

We are counter service commandos, so no personal experience.....but I have never read a bad report about Napa Rose.

 

[LuvTigger]

Food, my favorite subject!

Unfortunately, I'm not a huge help since I haven't dined at either of your top two choices. However, I've heard that they are both excellent. I took a tour of GC when I stayed there a few years back, and they took us thru Napa Rose, and it was just gorgeous! Keep in mind that Napa Rose is pretty pricey though.

I have eaten at Hook's Pointe, and we really enjoyed it! I had the scallops, and I think BF had some kind of pork chop dish. I remember the bread was very unusual, and very good too.

I also like Naples in DD. Food is good and reasonably priced. I'm not sure what kind of atmosphere/food you're looking for, but I thought Storyteller's Cafe was excellent too. It's more of a casual atmosphere (but fun!), but the food is great (esp. the corn chowder!).

Do you have Blue Bayou anywhere in your plans?

 

[DonnettaR]

We are counter service commandos, so no personal experience.....but I have never read a bad report about Napa Rose.

So what are your counter favorites

 

[2ndStar2TheRight]

ESPNZone has some very good food and a fun atmosphere. You can lounge in the bar area for a more "adult" setting, or go to the studio side for more interaction with DLR guests and such. Or, to take a break for lunch during a tiring day, eat in the recliner chairs that include personal speakers to chose between a plethora of TVs.

Ralph Brennan's has good authentic creole dishes. Pricey, but enjoyable, especially when the live music kicks in.

GC definitely has a more adult setting than the other Disney Hotels. I would guess any food they have to offer is worth it. After you eat there, head into the lobby to sit around the monsterous fireplace, listen to some live piano, and/or order some drinks from the bar to enjoy on the fluffy couches (or in the bar, if that is more your style).

If you want to eat inside of DL, Blue Bayou is always a cool experience. But you'll definitely want to get PS.

 

[tlovesdis]

We did not like Jazz Kitchen at all. We felt it was way overpriced, the food was mediocre, and the service was terrible!

Our favorite sit down places are Blue Bayou, Rainforest Cafe, and Bucca Di Beppo (down the street on Harbor).

 

[webray]

We just come back from 3 nights at the GC resort. I can definately tell you..Napa Rose..yuck. Stay away if you are used to fine dining with great food and wine. The food was mediocre at best which was hugely disappointing, since even zagats had rated them #1. The service, well, we considered it obnoxious. The snooty little waiter agreed with everything we said, and they couldn't pair wine to save their lives. He just didn't listen. Our party of 4 agreed that if this is number one in orange county, CA then orange county is in great trouble restaurant wise.

Now there is a restaurant above hooks pointe wine cellar..they were booked with a private party while we were there. They do however serve appetizers, in the wine cellar (same as on the menu upstairs). So, we enjoyed several wonderful wines and some oustanding appetizers. We wish we would have eaten up there instead of Napa Rose.

We definately were not impressed with blue bayou, again after all the hype, a huge letdown. Service was excellent though..just not the food. And, unlike the mexico ride going through the restaurant in WDW, the people riding through the ride at blue bayou are totally obnoxious.

La Brea Bakery was ok for breakfast, nothing special, good size portions.

Tortilla Joes...omg, the worst service and less than mediocre food. Stay away from there.

Overall, food wise, our trip to DL was less than satisfactory. Choose wisely.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll do a food report when we get back and let you know how everything was. I'm sooo excited.

 

[crasher11]

Well i guess our food experience at DL is over.... We plan on eating at each one of these places.... Oh heck I'm game will give them a try anyway.. Will let ya know what we thought when we return...

 

[YoHo]

I enjoy Hook's Pointe and the Wine Cellar. Storytellers is good food and Brennan's is good.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Well i guess our food experience at DL is over.... We plan on eating at each one of these places.... Oh heck I'm game will give them a try anyway.. Will let ya know what we thought when we return...

Bear in mind, different strokes for different folks! We love Blue Bayou and since it is consistently booked I am thinking the odds are in your favor! I have never had obnoxious people on the Pirates ride, maybe the occasional group of teenagers waving and saying hi but you are in an amusement park so it goes to reason. Tortilla Joes, not the best food but not so bad we stay away. Have always had great service there. As for Napa Rose I haven't eaten there but I find it hard to believe this place could be rated number one and be so awful. Personally I always wonder about people who don't like so many places, maybe they are just incredibly picky or very unlucky! I find the Disneyland dining to be superior in quality than where we have eaten at WDW, there just aren't as many choices. I also second Hook's Pointe and Naples in DTD. We have eaten at both more than once and liked them both very much!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

The more I read about these places, the more I think I want to try them all. At Disney World, we always plan our days around where we want to eat. If we want German food we spend the day at Epcot. Will it be hard to spend the day say at CA and head over to DTD for lunch or dinner?

 

[got2travel]

You will have no problems going back and forth. That's one of the things that will amaze you about DL since you are used to WDW. You can walk everywhere, from all the hotels to both of the parks. And do so within a relatively short amount of time.

 

[iceskatejen]

I had lunch at Tortilla Joe's on Christmas Eve day and thought it was really good.

 

[boosmom96]

I highly recommend Granville's Steakhouse in the DL Hotel. My DH and I try to eat there everytime we are in DL and have never had a bad meal. Hooke's Pointe is also wonderful. It's a very different experience from Granville's. We also make it a point to eat at The Blue Bayou everytime we are in DL and it is a wonderful experience. The food is not on par with the restaurants mentioned above, but it is good and the atmosphere is wonderful. I really can't say I've ever been bothered by the guests on the POTC ride. I've never done Napa Rose or the Vineyards, but , on our last trip, we did eat at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. They served a really good lunch and my DH and I stopped by for drinks one night and checked out the entertainment. We looked at House of Blues and Catal, but they seemed pretty loud. (A pet peeve of mine if I'm dropping $150-$200 on dinner) I think you will be able to find plenty to tempt your palate.
bon Appetít!! (As Julia would say!)

 

[challada]

House of Blues has an incredible Brunch Buffet if you are there on a Sunday (you can do it as Gospel Brunch and see the band too).

ESPNZone has great stuff, but is very pricey...you can join their VIPclub, though (free) and get a GC when you show up. Our little secret...you can eat in the BAR in the lounge chairs down front.

JazzKitchen was nothing stellar in my book.
Blue Bayou was nice food, but way, way, way overpriced and cramped (had to ask other table to stand up so we could get by to/from our table at the water).
LaBrea has decent bakery in the morning and is pretty quick.

The winery in DCA looks very nice, but I always have kids w/me so don't do that one.

 

[Snurk71]

I just want to give a shout out to an amazing dessert at Brennan's - a double chocolate bread pudding. It was amazing for a chocolate lover. Nothing like traditional bread pudding, but oh so good.

 

[LuvTigger]

Over the past several years, I've been pretty impressed with the food at DL. It wasn't bad before, but a couple of years ago, we stayed at GC and ate a LOT, and BF and I commented how pleasantly surprised we were that just about every place we ate was really good, and not as expensive as we expected (considering we were in a theme park). The only place we didn't care for much was ESPN. While the food was okay, and portions were definitely huge, we didn't care for the service (and the food didn't make up for what was lacking in service).

Someone asked about counter service -- just wanted to comment on a couple of places outside the parks. We had breakfast at La Brea Bakery, and we liked that a lot. I had the lox and bagels, and BF had a couple of pasteries. We thought that made for a good, light breakfast before hitting the rides in the parks. Another breakfast we enjoyed was Whitewater Snacks in GC (I think -- I always confuse the snack place in GC with the one in WL!). I ordered something that sounded like it was just a biscuit with some eggs and bacon on the side, but it turned out to be a great breakfast sandwich, with a couple of strawberries on the side. It was very reasonably priced (again, for a theme park) too!

In DL, we like Rancho del Zocalo (hope I got that one right) -- it has BBQ and Mexican food. We had the BBQ the last time, but were envious of the people who were eating Mexican because it looked REALLY good!

IMHO, we've had very good experiences with food in DLR.

 

[DonnettaR]

Any opinions on this Harbor Blvd restaurant?

 

[DevilDuckie]

We're here in the hotel relaxing before heading back tonight for Fantasmic. SO far our food report...


Dole Whip- with all the hype this gets we were disappointed that it turned out to be nothing but pineapple soft serve. The flavored lemonades on main street were a much bigger hit (the vanilla is to die for).

Ralph Brennans- last night we had dinner there. Okay, nothing to write home about. I found that the soup if the day plus one side item was enough since my son and I were sharing Bananas Foster (the high point of the meal and really quite excellent).

Club 33- Lunch today. Exquisite as always. The lingonberry savory bread pudding is excellent as is the pinot noir cream sauce on the tortellini. There was also a chicken mushroom asparagus dish on the cold buffet that was lovely and a quite nice pate.

Captain Kidds- Next door to our hotel. We do a hearty breakfast buffet there every morning thus far. Nice because it has good low carb options for the member of our group trying to stick to his diet.

Corn dog castle- wonderful! Hot link corn dogs rock!

Taste Pilot's Grill - a tried and true favorite. Still wonderful. We love the loaded fries.

Cucina cucamonga - Good and surprisingly reasonably priced.

Storyteller's - An excellent buffet. We went late after the Electric Light Parade and when I made a flippant comment about how it was a shame one couldn't take a box away from a buffet the waiter promptly brought me one to load with the desserts that we couldn't eat (the boys' eyes are bigger than their stomachs). We ate the five desserts later and the next morning in the hotel room. I imagine the fact that the buffet had closed at that time was a factor.

Have not tried Napa Rose. Maybe next trip.