lunch at the Plaza, or dinner at Tony's?

[myhoney]

We have a dinner ressie at Tony's our first day at MK. But, I've been reading very mixed reviews about it. Generally, thate food is ok, nothing great. I've eaten at Olive Garden before, and will again, so I wasn't that worried!

But, as we are figuring out our plans for each day, and knowing how we eat, I'm wondering if we should do the Plaza at lunch, and then grab a snack later if we are still hungry. The sandwiches look good, and varied, and I've read better things about the food there.

At home, we usually just have a light sandwich at lunch, and then a normal dinner. But, if we go out for lunch, usually DH and I aren't really hungry for a big dinner, so we make something easy for the kids and just snack ourselves.

What are your recommendations? We are paying oop if that matters.

 

[Windsor Princesses]

Since you're paying OOP I would suggest the Plaza for lunch. They're a great light lunch, and the dessert is SO great! Tony's is good, it's just not as great as the Plaza's lunch menu.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We have a dinner ressie at Tony's our first day at MK. But, I've been reading very mixed reviews about it. Generally, thate food is ok, nothing great. I've eaten at Olive Garden before, and will again, so I wasn't that worried!

But, as we are figuring out our plans for each day, and knowing how we eat, I'm wondering if we should do the Plaza at lunch, and then grab a snack later if we are still hungry. The sandwiches look good, and varied, and I've read better things about the food there.

At home, we usually just have a light sandwich at lunch, and then a normal dinner. But, if we go out for lunch, usually DH and I aren't really hungry for a big dinner, so we make something easy for the kids and just snack ourselves.

What are your recommendations? We are paying oop if that matters.

I would highly recommend you eat anywhere but Tony's. it was the most disgusting meal i've ever had at disney. I went there with extremely low expectations because of all the negative reviews. Boy i wish i listened and went elsewhere. I had the chicken parm, absolutely horrifying. My son had the spag/balls. OMG i tried his meatball and couldnt swallow. It was so gross. I'd much sooner crack open a can of chef boyardee than eat at tony's again. (yes tony's is far below olive garden! I actually like OliveG!). I will say that ppl who had a decent meal at tony's seemed to order things like steak. I honestly believe their tomatoe sauce is what ruined everything. So stay away from the sauce!

Yes, go to the plaza instead and have a snack later on. Thats a much better choice if paying OOP. I'd be pissed if i paid cash for my meal at Tony's.

 

[AngelStitch]

I vote Plaza. Never had a bad meal there. The food and service at Tony's has been horrible the last few times I have been there.

 

[anorman]

I can't comment on the Plaza however I did not enjoy Tony's last year.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have been to both restaurants and personally I would go with dinner at Tony's Town Square.

 

[janeapplemeadow]

I'd vote for lunch at the plaza then snack later while at the MK. I've eaten ate both places and Tony's just isn't great food. The location is great, but I've always gotten food that tastes like it has been re-heated or sitting under a heat lamp. At least at the Plaza the food is freshly made. Don't get me wrong, I've eaten at Olive Garden too, but each time I've eaten at Tony's, the food wasn't even up to Olive Garden standards.

 

[JimmyV]

I know that people stress a lot about ADRs, and on this board, the stress level is off the charts. And I am not immune. Pleasurable dining is one of the key components to all of my vacations. That said, when I go to the MK, I let dining take a back seat. Personally, I don't think that there are any MK restaurants good enough to fret over. (Crystal Palace aside...and that is because of the characters and atmosphere. Not because of the food.) Against every natural instict that I have about dining, I eat almost exclusively CS and at the Plaza when I visit the MK. I can't justify the time, cost or medicore food at the TS places. Try the Plaza for lunch, and then maybe later that day you can split an order of fried shrimp or get some clam chowder at Columbia House. Or go back to the Plaza and get an ice cream. Pretty much anything is going to be better than choking down the food at Tony's. And then facing the indignity of having to pay for it.

 

[ElizabethB]

Both are only fair at best. But, I would probably give the edge to Tony's for dinner. Plaza may have slightly better food (only slightly), but the place is small and the ambience is waiters rushing past your table and in and out of the doors to the kitchen constantly. Moveover, we once had one great hand-dipped shake at Plaza and it's never been repeated. They've always been thin and insipid since (although I do have to give them credit for keeping them hand-dipped, as opposed to Sci Fi which has simply gone to soft serve ice cream).

Order carefully at Tony's and you will probably manage okay. Oddly, we once had the best steak we have ever had at any Disney restaurant at Tony's (much better than the filet at Jiko or the ribeye at CG) -- the NY strip with roquefort cheese. However, it only happened once several years ago and has never been repeated. I guess a supplier ran out of the low grade steaks they usually ship and sent some prime steaks just to fill the order. As I said, that was a one shot experience.

 

[mpetti]

We had dinner at Tony's in 09 and it was a good meal. I wouldn't say it was over the top, but good. Also we ate at The Plaza and it was a nice light meal and very good food. The fries were the best we tasted at WDW. I think either way you can't go wrong. It does cost much less at the Plaza. Enjoy and remember you will be at WDW and be happy.

Maryann

 

[TDC Nala]

I've never been to the Plaza, but because I went to Tony's once and never went back, were it my decision to make I'd go to the Plaza. I'm sort of with Jimmy in the post above in that I do not think there are any really good restaurants in MK to choose from, and one is about the same as any other unless you want the castle experience at CRT or a character buffet like Crystal Palace.

 

[cgattis]

I've said it before, but if there's one thing you can count on in Disney restaurants, it's inconsistency

There will probably be as many positive reviews as negative for ANY restaurant you ask about. That said, I think it's still good information to have. At least you can manage expectations.

I also said that the only really consistent place we've found is Brown Derby, but I can't believe I left out our favorite lunch spot--The Plaza. I really feel it's the best VALUE of any park TS. Large portions, always hot/fresh, good service (only seats 98, and they seem to have at least 6 servers going), and a nice, cool place to sit. We pretty much eat there every time we go to MK now.

We've only been to Tony's once, but I've had a hard time getting up the courage to try again. All our food was really bad--just lukewarm and just plain tasted bad. No better atmosphere than The Plaza, either. The menu sounds good, but what we ordered just didn't taste good. At all. And no bread. And bad service. But mostly it's the food that has kept us from going back. I like the IDEA of a TS in the MK that's not a character buffet (from both a time and money aspect), but it just didn't deliver for us. I know we'll try again sometime (but it wasn't on our April trip and it's not on the plan for December...).

 

[mdelano4]

Will never go to Tony's again, period. Terrible service (still waiting for my drink re-fill), awful food (even before I found the hair) and worst of all, no one cared.

I agree with PP about inconsistency at restaurants, but I cannot and will not tolerate a Disney place where there's no "Magic." There's none at Tony's.