Ohana or garden grill?

[kmn952]

Hey guys. Have not been to either of them, but we have reservations for both. Can you all give me some pros and cons of each?

 

[coolbrook]

Pros:
Garden Grill- Characters, Ranch salad, American food, berry crisp dessert with fresh cream.
Ohana- Friendly, live music kid activities, pineapple coconut bread, Asian food, banana-bread pudding with caramel sauce.
We love them both. Both served family style.

 

[plutosgirl]

Two of our favorites!! We have them both booked again for our upcoming trip & are so excited about it.

Ohana's we just love the theme of the Poly (if we could only afford to stay there LOL), the food is FANTASTIC!! It comes out family style and they walk around with as much as you want of the meat, chicken and shrimp hot out of the fire and the dessert is AWESOME!! And for younger kids they have some activities during dinner. (They also do a wonderful character breakfast!)

The Garden Grill has great character interaction and the food is family style also. It is done with a lot of ingredients grown right there at The Land and is delicious. We went once before for my teen daughter's birthday and all the characters signed a card for her & brought her out 5 chocolate mousses (she loves chocolate mousse) plus regular dessert with a candle. It was one of our favorite memories out of all of our trips!! I hope you'll love these as much as we do!!

 

[TinaLala]

Ohanas - amazing food for dinner, great decoration, awesome view of fireworks at night.

Garden grill - awesome food, their catfish is SO fresh. Love the character interaction.

Our favorite is Ohanas!

 

[maryj11]

Ohana - food is way better then Garden Grill in my opinion. Great food , fun interactions for the kids, great atmosphere.
Garden Grill - the food was just ok, loved the characters though and the turning restaurant was kind a cool.
Of both Ohana wins hands down for me though.

 

[Dano13]

Ohana is great. Love the food and atmosphere. As far as the Garden Grill that is the only table serve we've been too that would not go back to. The food was very poor in my opinion and the service seemed intent on getting us out in under 20 minutes. Which I guess was fine because it got us to the World Showcase quicker so we could get quality food unlike the instant mashed potatoes and tough meat we were served.

 

[MickeysBarLover]

Hey guys. Have not been to either of them, but we have reservations for both. Can you all give me some pros and cons of each?

I have never been to either one of them but I heard that both of them are really good. I've been trying to get Ohana' as a reservation. I hope you enjoy both !

 

[wdwobsessed]

I love Ohana's. Try to do it every trip.

Been to Garden Grill once and haven't made it back yet.

 

[KangaFan]

We've done both but noticed that the last two times we went to O'Hana, we waited 20+ minutes past our ADR time (and we had arrived the suggested 15 minutes early, so we waited 35-45 minutes) so we decided to skip O'Hana our last two trips. We've always had good luck at Garden Grill and just wish they would go back to doing lunch because it was a nice break in the middle of the day . . .

 

[Nancyg56]

WE like both, so I would ask that you think about where you will be that day, and what kind of meal that you want. Both are served family style, but only Garder Grill is a character meal. It is good! Have you planned a character meal, and is that important to you? Are you in Epcot, and will you need to leave if you choose 'Ohana?

'Ohana is not a character meal, and it is a much busier atmosphere. It is in the beautiful Poly, so a visit there is always a wonderful adventure. We like the food, and we like the atmosphere. Be aware that unless your ADR is close to opening, 'Ohana tends to run behind. We usually plan for it and wait in the lounge with a cocktail. If you time the meal right you can catch Wishes on the beach, and you can time it to see the Water Pageant. You cannot count on viewing Wishes from the restaurant, although there are a few tables that are located near the windows. We were seated at a large corner window table twice, but had not requested the seat. It was a lovely bit of Pixie Dust!

 

[stormer]

We love them both. Two of our favorites. Enjoy!

 

[my2lovedisney]

I can't give my opinion on GG b/c I've never been. When I am finished eating at Ohana you have to roll me out of there..the food is SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jhondy210]

I can't give an opinion on Ohana cause I've never been there. Everytime I make a reservation for it by the time the trip comes up, I have cancelled it.

On the other hand, I tried Garden Grill for the first time on my last trip and it was mine and my husband's favorite restaurant of the trip. The character interaction was great, viewing different scenes of Living with the Land was neat, and the food was awesome. For my next trip, I have again booked Garden Grill (although Idk if I want to do it for breakfast or lunch since they opened those for November) and once again booked Ohana but I am already planning on cutting it once again in favor of a different restaurant.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We've been to dinner at both. While we enjoy both, I give the edge to 'Ohana. 'Ohana can be inconsistent, but we've enjoyed the majority of the food we've been served there. At Garden Grill, we loooooooooved the fish, but the turkey and beef were only so/so last time we were there. Both are a lot of food, but I just prefer the variety at 'Ohana. Maybe I'm just a sucker for pot stickers!

 

[KangaFan]

I can't give an opinion on Ohana cause I've never been there. Everytime I make a reservation for it by the time the trip comes up, I have cancelled it.

On the other hand, I tried Garden Grill for the first time on my last trip and it was mine and my husband's favorite restaurant of the trip. The character interaction was great, viewing different scenes of Living with the Land was neat, and the food was awesome. For my next trip, I have again booked Garden Grill (although Idk if I want to do it for breakfast or lunch since they opened those for November) and once again booked Ohana but I am already planning on cutting it once again in favor of a different restaurant.

If you haven't tried it, you may want to consider the lunch. They used to have lunch at Garden Grill and we loved grabbing an early lunch there before heading to the World Showcase. It was less expensive than dinner and was a great mid-day break.

 

[troyseyfert]

Ohana is great. Love the food and atmosphere. As far as the Garden Grill that is the only table serve we've been too that would not go back to. The food was very poor in my opinion and the service seemed intent on getting us out in under 20 minutes. Which I guess was fine because it got us to the World Showcase quicker so we could get quality food unlike the instant mashed potatoes and tough meat we were served.

This review is unfair of Garden Grill. While I agree the meat can vary from experience to experience, the mashed potatoes are NOT instant and are completely fresh. Please, when trying to state reviews of a place, at least say things that are truthful.

As far as the two places, I do prefer 'Ohana, but only by a smidge. 'Ohana has great food, but sometimes you can feel rushed there. I'm glad they brought the salad back, but am still sad they got rid of the turkey and pork. TOO much chicken in my opinion, but you can't beat the Polynesian!

Garden Grill has GREAT character interaction AND great atmosphere. My favorite food there is the salad....but the other items are definitely great as well.

Good luck trying to choose. If you can figure out a way to do both, I would try to prio these two. They are two of our favorite restaurant experiences (again, experiences (food might not always be the best)) in all of WDW.

 

[JennyDrake]

O'Hana - long wait even with ADR (one time we waited 50 minutes), CHAOS inside, we had a terrible time during all 3 visits getting refills, more meat, etc., VERY loud, meats were very,very,very well done (I prefer meat that still flinches)

Garden Grill - food is (just) OK, some components are straight out of the box mixes, good character interaction, good service, there will be something for everyone to like.

 

[troyseyfert]

Garden Grill - food is (just) OK, some components are straight out of the box mixes, good character interaction, good service, there will be something for everyone to like.

Again, where are we getting these "straight out of the box" mixes?? What examples are you talking about? If you say the mashed potatoes, there is NO way that is straight out of the box. They are our one of our favorite items and we always ask for seconds. I can't speak for the kids food...maybe the mac and cheese? Unless I am mistaken and you know someone who works there that says they are straight out of the box, I wouldn't make such assumptions.

Dislike of an item's taste doesn't necessarily mean "out of the box"

It's a known fact they use many food items from their "Living with the Land" ride ,right? Potatoes would be included with that, correct?

 

[JennyDrake]

Again, where are we getting these "straight out of the box" mixes?? What examples are you talking about? If you say the mashed potatoes, there is NO way that is straight out of the box. They are our one of our favorite items and we always ask for seconds. I can't speak for the kids food...maybe the mac and cheese? Unless I am mistaken and you know someone who works there that says they are straight out of the box, I wouldn't make such assumptions.

Dislike of an item's taste doesn't necessarily mean "out of the box"

It's a known fact they use many food items from their "Living with the Land" ride ,right? Potatoes would be included with that, correct?

Not "dislike" but I am a Hard Core Foodie and I test recipes for two magazine and YES I HAVE CONFIRMED with the server that the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cobbler cake ARE from mixes. But frankly _I_ would not want to be in charge of peeling all those potatoes! The "boxed" foods are also pertinent to anyone with allergies to MSG or preservatives, and your server can help you speaks directly with a chef about any sensitivities.

I have never seen potatoes in Living with the Land, but I may be wrong. Even so, the sheer amount they would need to grow...WOWZA!

The vegetables I've had that were grown there have been excellent as was the flank steak (ad I am a beef producer.) I also really like eth chicken legs and you can request them even if you aren't a kid!

 

[Dano13]

This review is unfair of Garden Grill. While I agree the meat can vary from experience to experience, the mashed potatoes are NOT instant and are completely fresh. Please, when trying to state reviews of a place, at least say things that are truthful.

As far as the two places, I do prefer 'Ohana, but only by a smidge. 'Ohana has great food, but sometimes you can feel rushed there. I'm glad they brought the salad back, but am still sad they got rid of the turkey and pork. TOO much chicken in my opinion, but you can't beat the Polynesian!

Garden Grill has GREAT character interaction AND great atmosphere. My favorite food there is the salad....but the other items are definitely great as well.

Good luck trying to choose. If you can figure out a way to do both, I would try to prio these two. They are two of our favorite restaurant experiences (again, experiences (food might not always be the best)) in all of WDW.

If those potatoes were fresh then that is even worse because they were bland and grainy as anything. The beef was tough and the turkey was generic as can be. In my opinion it is by far the worst table serve meal I have had at Disney.