Light Dinner at California Grill?

[PFopma]

I was able to get an ADR for CA Grill on my friends birthday. We have a 9:05 reservation. Since it is so late we would prefer to just have drinks, appetizers, and dessert. We mainly want to go for Happily Ever After viewing. Is not ordering a full meal frowned upon? Any first hand experiences?

 

[hllb]

Not that I've ever been, but it's a restaurant. Order what you'd like. And, at that one, drinks/app/dessert isn't cheap anyway. We are trying it on our next trip too.

 

[999_Happy_Haunts]

No problem. I have gone for drinks and desserts before. (Way back when it first opened. Might have even been the first month that it was open.) And they have a sushi menu, so you could just order off of that and make a light meal of it. Is any of this "frowned upon"? Not openly or overtly. You will be treated with the typical Disney charm. Will the server assigned to your table grumble in the back room about getting assigned to a table that isn't going to generate a 20% tip on a $300 tab? Maybe. But that isn't your problem.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Not an issue at all, we usually do that at most of the signature restaurants for cost savings and we aren't big eaters. DH will order a meal, I get an appetizer and we share. Our DD usually share a meal or order an app and we call it a day. We just don't eat enough to justify ordering all that food.

 

[melanielll]

We do that all of the time. It's the best. Enjoy!

 

[starousse]

I guess that depends on your server. Last year, we had a horrible experience there. We ordered two apps to share, my husband got a steak, I ordered a sushi roll and the kids had kid's meals. We only ordered sodas. Once the server realized I wasn't ordering a bottle of wine and was getting sushi for dinner, he paid us no mind whatsoever and disappeared off the face of the earth. He was annoyed that what he had wished to be a $350 bill was only $200. Won't be returning.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I guess that depends on your server. Last year, we had a horrible experience there. We ordered two apps to share, my husband got a steak, I ordered a sushi roll and the kids had kid's meals. We only ordered sodas. Once the server realized I wasn't ordering a bottle of wine and was getting sushi for dinner, he paid us no mind whatsoever and disappeared off the face of the earth. He was annoyed that what he had wished to be a $350 bill was only $200. Won't be returning.

How did you know it was because you weren't ordering wine? Did the server say something directly? If he did, you should have spoken to a manager.

 

[gharter]

We've done it both ways and were always treated the same.
Order what you want and enjoy.

 

[starousse]

How did you know it was because you weren't ordering wine? Did the server say something directly? If he did, you should have spoken to a manager.

When we first sat down he was friendlier than ever. He asked if we wanted drinks. I had told him that I was thinking of getting wine and wanted to look over the menu. He came back five minutes later asking what bottle we'd like. We decided that we would just get some sodas instead. As soon as I said the words, his face changed and he mumbled something like "uh, okay yeah", and from that moment on things totally changed. My nine year old son at the time even asked "why he looked so pissed?". Anyway, he came back to take our order and I ordered a sushi roll, (mind you, the most expensive one at $26), he made a comment about how most people get that as an app. I told him that since we were already ordering a flatbread and another sushi roll for apps, that I wanted that one as my main meal. After he took our order, he NEVER came back once. We actually had to ask another server to get our bill. The food wasn't even all that, but that service totally ruined the meal even more. When we got back to our hotel, we actually mentioned it to the front desk, as my husband was aggravated that he dropped $250 on such a terrible meal. The manager apologized and wound up comping it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

When we first sat down he was friendlier than ever. He asked if we wanted drinks. I had told him that I was thinking of getting wine and wanted to look over the menu. He came back five minutes later asking what bottle we'd like. We decided that we would just get some sodas instead. As soon as I said the words, his face changed and he mumbled something like "uh, okay yeah", and from that moment on things totally changed. My nine year old son at the time even asked "why he looked so pissed?". Anyway, he came back to take our order and I ordered a sushi roll, (mind you, the most expensive one at $26), he made a comment about how most people get that as an app. I told him that since we were already ordering a flatbread and another sushi roll for apps, that I wanted that one as my main meal. After he took our order, he NEVER came back once. We actually had to ask another server to get our bill. The food wasn't even all that, but that service totally ruined the meal even more. When we got back to our hotel, we actually mentioned it to the front desk, as my husband was aggravated that he dropped $250 on such a terrible meal. The manager apologized and wound up comping it.

I'm glad you said something. I hope the manager spoke to the server about it too and didn't just apologize to you without a consequence to him also. We ate at California Grill a couple weeks ago and since our table was just DH and I, even though we got bar drinks, apps, meals, etc, our bill was right at $200 - so it sure isn't like a $250 bill was anything to scoff at. Thats still a $50 tip for the server (if he gave service worth leaving a 20% tip for)!!!