Maya Grill?? Anybody??

[richkaryn]

Is Maya Grill just horrible, nobody eats there, or what's the deal?? We made an ADR after reading menu on allears.net but we can't seem to find much on it here or any other "info" sites. What we do find is very limited and one-sided. I am not one to always cancel due to bad or mixed reviews, but this place hardly has any reviews compared to almost every other restaurant on property. (and what few they do are more bad than good and also not very recent). Thinking we should change our ADR.....anybody been there recently and care to give some input?

 

[princessallegra]

We ate there this past february. We were pleasantly surprised. My husband had a giant taco platter and I had a green salad and black bean soup. We also had the coconut flan for dessert. It was all delicious. Service was great. We were staying at CSR and scored a walk up for 2.

 

[Biggreen19]

Ate at the Pepper Market about a year ago and enjoyed it very much. Checked out the Maya Grill while we were there and decided we would give it a try on our next visit to WDW. We have a adr scheduled for our upcoming trip this July. Why not keep your adr and give it a try?

 

[Colleen27]

It is just out of the way, I think. Unless you're staying at CSR there's not much reason to go there, and even then a lot of vacationers prefer evenings in the parks.

We ate there on our trip last month and I really enjoyed it. Like any good Mexican restaurant, they start you out with chips and salsa rather than bread. The chips are good, nice and light, and the salsa has a good flavor without being too hot for the kids. My kids (DD and her BFF) are both too old for the kids' menu but our waiter happily made them up an adult-sized version of the kids' beef tacos when they found the complexity of the descriptions on the adult menu a bit daunting. I ordered an enchilada sampler that was quite enjoyable - the chicken enchilada was a hit all around and I ended up sharing it with both girls. They let me have the pork one to myself because neither liked the sauce it was served with (salsa verde IIRC). The beef was the weakest of the trio and for the same reason the tacos weren't a huge hit with the girls, something about the way the meat was seasoned didn't suit either of them. I enjoyed them, though, and ate their tacos as leftovers the next day. We wrapped up the meal by sharing fried ice cream, which wasn't the best I've ever had but still good.

My favorite part of the meal was the entertainment, though. They had a guitarist that played a really amusing variety of songs in an acoustic flamenco style, everything from the Beatles to Jimmy Buffet to Guns & Roses. At Disney, where the norm is loud restaurants and the background din of scores of kids, it was a wonderful change of pace to be in a less-than-packed restaurant (we walked up around 8pm, it was probably 75% full) with a quieter ambiance and relaxing dinner music.

I'm actually hoping to make time to pop in there for dinner or drinks when I'm back solo next week, but there are so many things to do and so little time that I'm not sure I'll make it.

 

[Ro Z]

We have eaten there a few times and liked it. The last time prob 4 years ago. But as PP said it is not easy to get to unless you are staying there. That is the real reason we haven't been back!

 

[Jenn]

We ate there last year and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. My one and only complaint is that I have a picky teenager and all she wanted was a soft chicken taco. They had that on the kids menu. They wouldn't let her order it. Gimme a break. Up charge me $5 or whatever but that's all she eats. They had an adult steak taco entree on the menu that came w rice and beans and 3 tacos. The server said, let me see what I can do about substituting chicken. So I said, ok but she doesn't eat the rice and beans and all that. He said again, let me see what I can do. The meal came out as the full entree w rice and beans and chicken instead of steak and they charged me the full price of $25! Annoyed...

 

[cigar95]

Curious about the idea that it's difficult to get there.

Would you say that it's more of a challenge to get there than, for instance, Whispering Canyon, Boma, or Boatwright's? Is there anything particularly different about getting to CSR compared to those other resorts?

I'm not challenging anyone, just trying to figure out the difference.

My take on Maya Grill is that it seems like they've had several reworks of their menu in recent years, and looking online I'm never confident if the one I'm looking at is the current one or not. (My only meal there was a breakfast quite a few years ago, and I've long wanted to go back in the evening.)

 

[wiigirl]

I would recomend it.

 

[princessallegra]

Curious about the idea that it's difficult to get there.

Would you say that it's more of a challenge to get there than, for instance, Whispering Canyon, Boma, or Boatwright's? Is there anything particularly different about getting to CSR compared to those other resorts?

I'm not challenging anyone, just trying to figure out the difference.

My take on Maya Grill is that it seems like they've had several reworks of their menu in recent years, and looking online I'm never confident if the one I'm looking at is the current one or not. (My only meal there was a breakfast quite a few years ago, and I've long wanted to go back in the evening.)

If you're taking a cab or driving it is just as easy as any other place. With the buses it's a pain in the butt. I guess the closest would be taking a bus to DHS and hopping the csr bus. Or if blizzard beach is open it's next door basically so you could take the BB bus and then the csr bus. We eat at the resorts a lot and after one trip with so many cab rides we started renting a car and we love that. We still take disney buses to mk and sometimes ep. But we like the freedom of the rental car.

 

[cjsm&d]

We ate there both of our stays at CSR. The atmosphere is very nice, and our servers were excellent both times.

The menu was alot better the first time we went, and the food was excellent. They seem to change the menu frequently and the 2nd time we went the offerings were not as good, but the food we did get was fine.

We also were leery fof trying this restaurant because of the reviews, but found it satisfactory. That said, if I weren't staying ay CSR, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat there.

 

[saskdw]

We ate their once while staying at CSR. The food is really good if you like that style of food. I really enjoyed it, but my wife and son didn't. The service and atmosphere were excellent. It's really just a matter of food preference. It's not somewhere I would make a point to eat if I wasn't staying there, same with any Mod resort restaurant. For people on DDP mos would probably not "waste" a credit on a Mod TS restaurant with all the other choices. That is the biggest reason we only tried it once.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

ur Ratings of Maya Dinner: (rev 12/16/2012)
. . . food price value: C
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: C
. . . food prep speed: C
. . . food selection: B
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: B
. . . eatery convenience: D
. . . staff friendliness: B
. . . staff attentiveness: D
. . . character interaction: n/a

NOTE: They used to have breakfast and lunch buffets, with
dinner being a traditional ala carte menu. Now, it is only dinner
from 5-10pm. The dinner price is slightly high for the food quality
and quantity. The dinner left a lot to be desired, but is at the level
of average or slightly above average. If you can spare the time and
trouble to get to the eatery the scenery is quite attractive.

 

[Crystal824]

I've eaten there for breakfast several years ago and enjoyed it. I can't comment on dinner.

 

[bennifer]

It is just out of the way, I think. Unless you're staying at CSR there's not much reason to go there, and even then a lot of vacationers prefer evenings in the parks.

We ate there on our trip last month and I really enjoyed it. Like any good Mexican restaurant, they start you out with chips and salsa rather than bread. The chips are good, nice and light, and the salsa has a good flavor without being too hot for the kids. My kids (DD and her BFF) are both too old for the kids' menu but our waiter happily made them up an adult-sized version of the kids' beef tacos when they found the complexity of the descriptions on the adult menu a bit daunting. I ordered an enchilada sampler that was quite enjoyable - the chicken enchilada was a hit all around and I ended up sharing it with both girls. They let me have the pork one to myself because neither liked the sauce it was served with (salsa verde IIRC). The beef was the weakest of the trio and for the same reason the tacos weren't a huge hit with the girls, something about the way the meat was seasoned didn't suit either of them. I enjoyed them, though, and ate their tacos as leftovers the next day. We wrapped up the meal by sharing fried ice cream, which wasn't the best I've ever had but still good.

My favorite part of the meal was the entertainment, though. They had a guitarist that played a really amusing variety of songs in an acoustic flamenco style, everything from the Beatles to Jimmy Buffet to Guns & Roses. At Disney, where the norm is loud restaurants and the background din of scores of kids, it was a wonderful change of pace to be in a less-than-packed restaurant (we walked up around 8pm, it was probably 75% full) with a quieter ambiance and relaxing dinner music.

I'm actually hoping to make time to pop in there for dinner or drinks when I'm back solo next week, but there are so many things to do and so little time that I'm not sure I'll make it.

While we enjoyed the food, the entertainment was the best part. My dad mentioned to our waiter that my son plays the guitar and the guitarist came over, took my son up to his guitar and taught him some flamenco style. My son was 15 and it was the best part of his trip! I think it even made him want to start giving guitar lessons (which is his part time job now!)

 

[Colleen27]

Curious about the idea that it's difficult to get there.

Would you say that it's more of a challenge to get there than, for instance, Whispering Canyon, Boma, or Boatwright's? Is there anything particularly different about getting to CSR compared to those other resorts?

I'm not challenging anyone, just trying to figure out the difference.

My take on Maya Grill is that it seems like they've had several reworks of their menu in recent years, and looking online I'm never confident if the one I'm looking at is the current one or not. (My only meal there was a breakfast quite a few years ago, and I've long wanted to go back in the evening.)

If you're driving, it isn't difficult. It certainly isn't out of the way or anything. But when relying on Disney transport it is a hassle to get to any of the moderate resorts for a meal - they aren't close to any park, so there's no walking/boating/monorail option like there is for the restaurants at the MK and Epcot area resorts. Even Boatwrights is a little easier, because you can enjoy the leisurely boat ride to DTD to catch a bus back to your resort. But for Maya Grill (or Shutters at CBR, or Boma/Jiko/Sanaa at AKL) your only option is a bus ride to a park to get on another bus back to your resort.

If looking for a current menu, I'd recommend looking at the restaurant web site (http://mayagrillrestaurant.com/). All the food service at CSR is contracted out rather than run by Disney directly, and the company's own web site seems to be more accurate and updated in a more timely fashion than WDW's official site or the unofficial planning sites.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We ate there for the first time this past Oct and it was out of bounds excellent! Service was the best we have ever had in WDW, the live music was awesome, the food was amazing! The menu is not what WDW or Allears has listed, go to the Maya Grill webpage for the real one or you can click on my Oct link in my signature for a full review and pics

DH loved it so much he put it on a must do list for all of our trips, yes it is the one place he will go out of his way for!

 

[cigar95]

. . . . . But when relying on Disney transport it is a hassle to get to any of the moderate resorts for a meal - they aren't close to any park, so there's no walking/boating/monorail option like there is for the restaurants at the MK and Epcot area resorts. Even Boatwrights is a little easier, because you can enjoy the leisurely boat ride to DTD to catch a bus back to your resort. But for Maya Grill (or Shutters at CBR, or Boma/Jiko/Sanaa at AKL) your only option is a bus ride to a park to get on another bus back to your resort.

Gotcha - it isn't specific to CSR.

If looking for a current menu, I'd recommend looking at the restaurant web site (http://mayagrillrestaurant.com/). All the food service at CSR is contracted out rather than run by Disney directly, and the company's own web site seems to be more accurate and updated in a more timely fashion than WDW's official site or the unofficial planning sites.

Interesting - this might be the only WDW restaurant I can think of with its own web site. (The Landry's & Levy places have sites through the company, as do the Swolphin restaurants, but this one has its own domain and everything.)

Looking there, it seems that the official WDW site (the "old one", at least) does have the current menu. It has certainly evolved away from the steakhouse direction that they had moved in back in the mid-2000s.

This place is run by the San Angel Company, yes?

 

[JennyDrake]

I ate there and like others was pleasantly surprised. EVERYTHING was very good--and I am a Hard Core Foodie.

 

[Colleen27]

Gotcha - it isn't specific to CSR.

Interesting - this might be the only WDW restaurant I can think of with its own web site. (The Landry's & Levy places have sites through the company, as do the Swolphin restaurants, but this one has its own domain and everything.)

Looking there, it seems that the official WDW site (the "old one", at least) does have the current menu. It has certainly evolved away from the steakhouse direction that they had moved in back in the mid-2000s.

This place is run by the San Angel Company, yes?

I think so. And I can only think of one other on-property restaurant with its' own web site - Raglan Road. I'm not sure if any of the other third-party restaurants in DTD do or not because I've never had occasion to look. But RR, like the non-park Landry restaurants, only releases some of their capacity through the Disney booking system so they're another one I've had occasion to contact directly to reserve a table.

 

[Conan the Librarian]

We use to regularly eat at the Maya until we adopted our 13yo (now 17...anyone want a free kid?)

Have always liked the food here. Several years ago they had this wonderful cream of mushroom soup that I wish they would bring back. It was a bowl full of heaven!

As for getting there, we sometimes drive there, sometimes take the bus from DTD. Or, if we are at a park, just take their bus and then on to DTD. You are going to end up there anyway, you might as well go.