Ohana, you're officially off my list!

[DW2010]

If the meal and service are THAT bad, why even pay for the meal? I suppose you have no choice if you're on the dining plan, but we won't be. I was telling Dh how I'm a little worried after reading so many negative reviews, and he just calmly said that if the meal and service are THAT bad, we won't be paying for it. There's absolutely no excuse for so many people saying their food was cold/overcooked/undercooked and that the meal took over 2 hours. That's absolutely ridiculous.

 

[VAN]

It's nice to suggest that you complain to the manager or send your food back, but part of the problem is that you have NO service. So there is NO ONE to complain to!!! Our "cousin" introduced himself and then we didn't see him again until 2-1/2 hrs later when we had to ask for our bill!!

 

[IncredibleboysMom]

Ooops meant for this to be a new thread! Sorry!

 

[Cherinva]

I've never been to O'Hana for dinner...but have been there several times for breakfast. Each time, our meal was awesome. Service was spectacular !!! Maybe we've been lucky, but I love the place, and plan to return in December...can't wait.

Everyone has their own taste and opinions...if you are on the fence about it, I suggest you try it for yourself and make your own opinion..that way you know first hand if it's worth it....you could be missing out on something wonderful.

 

[jjsdad]

Maybe the key is to get an early ADR at 5:15? Thats what we did so I guess we were on the same schedule as the rest of the people in the restaurant. Food was def hot as I would assume we got the stuff straight off the grill.

They seemed to be pretty busy as most tables got the food at the same time so they were churnin and burnin so to speak. Another thing is, since the meats are served like a brazilian steakhouse , ie they send a server around and they fork it onto your plate. Why don't you just ask for extra steak if you are concerned they are not going to be around later?

 

[lizbaby007]

I absolutely love O'hana! Thought the food was out of this world good even though my first visit was a COMPLETE disaster.

I went for my birthday a year ago. I had made a reservation for 6pm. I checked in at 5:40. At 8:15pm (2 hrs 25 mins later) we were finally called. This was after the 5th trip to the podium a table magically appeared.

No really. A table had magically appeared. As the hostess was taking us to our table the waiters were busy setting it. They had put a table in the very back, along the wall where the waiters walked and were setting it for us.

Looking back its kind of funny but at the time I was starving (remember I was expecting to eat at 6 and had skipped lunch cause I knew it was a big meal). I did everything I could not to cry while my boyfriend called the manager over. The manager immediately apologized (before we even said anything) and told us our meal would be comp'ed. She said the wait was unacceptable.

We told her in this case it really was. Not only because they made us wait so long, but because we saw a party of 3 (without a res) be seated an hour before us!! Also if they were going to put a table in a walkway and stick us in the very back they could have at least had the courtesy of doing it 2 hrs earlier

Maybe because of what happened the waitstaff went above and beyond serving us. The food was hot and tasty and there was always plenty to go around.

I will definitely try it again. I loved the food. It was the saving grace for me that night.

 

[ChelleMouse]

We were there just the other day - it was beyond awful! What a waste of time and money. The food was horrible. Service even worse.

It was so bad, I cancelled our reservation for Kona Cafe and went to Boma instead.

 

[mcd2745]

Maybe the key is to get an early ADR at 5:15? Thats what we did so I guess we were on the same schedule as the rest of the people in the restaurant. Food was def hot as I would assume we got the stuff straight off the grill.

They seemed to be pretty busy as most tables got the food at the same time so they were churnin and burnin so to speak. Another thing is, since the meats are served like a brazilian steakhouse , ie they send a server around and they fork it onto your plate. Why don't you just ask for extra steak if you are concerned they are not going to be around later?

We had a 5:10pm ADR and we checked in at about 5:15 and were seated in less than 5 minutes.

 

[nifferearly]

We were there just the other day - it was beyond awful! What a waste of time and money. The food was horrible. Service even worse.

It was so bad, I cancelled our reservation for Kona Cafe and went to Boma instead.

It's interesting how people have such different perspectives on Ohana. I was also there just the other day (on Sat evening) and had a fantastic meal and great service! Brought my dad and his wife, who had never been there, and they LOVED it!

 

[DW2010]

We were there just the other day - it was beyond awful! What a waste of time and money. The food was horrible. Service even worse.

It was so bad, I cancelled our reservation for Kona Cafe and went to Boma instead.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you cancel Kona due to your bad experience at 'Ohana?

 

[mrsltg]

I'm another person who used to go to 'ohana at least once per trip. The food and service were always fantastic! We loved the atmosphere and always had a great time. Around meal 5 or 6 things started to slide (about 5 or so years ago). I believe this was around the time the menu changed. We started having one bad meal after another until we hit the third and final "one more try". The food was B-A-D. Dry meat, tasteless and intemperate sides, and the the big kicker, absent service. It just became no longer worth it. To each their own, 'ohana is just one of those places I have had to cross off of my list. I don't want to waste my time.

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

We were just there for the first time, and honestly we didn't feel it lived up to the hype. The pork dumplings were hard, the steak was burned, and the pork was super dry. We had to wait SO long for the meats to come around again, that we didn't want them anymore. I don't think we'll be going back- there are just too many other great restaurants in the World.

 

[OhioDisneyDad]

It's off our list too! Last time we were there the service was crap, the meat was dry as a popcorn f*rt and the meal took FOREVER. The only thing that was truly good was the dessert. For a good meal at the Poly we now go to Kona. For what it costs to eat there the place should be more consistent.

 

[Jingle]

The first time I went to 'Ohana was in 2001. I've been fortunate and have never had a bad meal there. The last time I was there was in August 2010 during free dining.

Our dinner reservation was for 8:15. We got there at 7:00 and were starving. I asked if we could check in early. The hostess said sure, but I can't guarantee that you will be seated early. I said that's OK, if it works great, and if not no problem. The hostess said thank you.

Our pager went off in less than 10 minutes and we were seated at a great table by the window. The salad is so good! The wings were just OK for me, but I thought the potstickers and noodles were really good! All of the meats came quickly and were all also really good. I love the dipping sauces and the desert was my second favorite after the molten lava cakes at Cape May Cafe.

 

[BrcsDisneyPrncs]

I guess I should feel lucky that we've always had such a wonderful experience when we go to O'hana (and we have been going for years, so not just recent years). One thing that maybe has helped is we always book really late reservations? Usually 8 pm or later, the lobby is usually packed but we are generally seated within 5 minutes of our reservation time. Always have had extremely attentive service and everything has always been hot and delicious. Only once did we have an issue with the meat (steak - my husband likes his relatively rare) and they brought over half a skewer of rarer steak and piled it on a plate on our table for us.

This is a must do for us, every trip we go the first night, and the past few trips when i've logged on to see if any other reservations were available for somewhere else and we see a random opening at O'hana, we book immediately and end up going twice!

For those who haven't tried it and are considering it, please give it a try on your own, people are way more likely to post a bad experience than a good, and what works for some doesn't work for all, i would have missed out on a ton of great meals/experiences if I took every complaint I read on here to heart.

 

[TisBit]

DD16 & I are at WDW now & last night we ate at O'hana, what a waste!

We couldn't get a reservation so we showed up at 5:00 & patiently waited the hour & 45 mins to get a seat. I didn't mind waiting but i was upset once we got in & saw oodles of empty tables open the whole time we were eating. Our server was Newton. The salad was nothing more than lettuce in a bowl. The dumplings & chicken wings came out cold. DD didn't like the dumplings & I don't like chicken
wings. Next was the broccoli & noodles. The noodles were hot but dry & flavorless & the broccoli was cold & flavorless. By this time we had a whole table of food that is going to waste. I don't know about anybody else but I like to eat my meat with my side dish, not as a meal all by itself but that's pretty much how it was served. The chicken & pork came out too frequently (but the chicken was good). The steak came around one time & the shrimp came around alot because they couldn't believe how much of it DD was eating. Finally dessert came - I had a few bites & DD ate the rest (it's her favorite).

Then came the bill - $77 for both of us. That's the part that did it for me. We won't be going back until they make some improvements to the menu especially the side dishes. I don't enjoy paying $77 for some meat & dessert.

Farewell O'hana!

I sympathize with the wait portion of your story, I can top that with a 2 hour wait that went to almost three as they lost us in the system and when it was discovered we were standing there waiting for the "next" table as group after group were still taken in front of us. We ultimately missed Wishes (got to watch from the restaurant) on the only night it was playing while we were there. Manager gave us a discount on the meals, but refused to give up our TIW discount on the drinks, so we ultimately didn't get any discount. We finally had the meal comped, but not after more frustrations with trying to report it. It took me some time to get over that.

The way the meal is served, is just the way the meal is served. Apps come out first, the salad doesn't have anything but lettuce and dressing, but it is quite good, not sure if you tasted it. I would have sent back anything that was cold, but that is me. I also will ask for any meat that I want, they are usually pretty good about going to get it for you. And not sure if the price was a surprise, but would have figured you would know how much the meal was going to cost.

 

[DaisyD]

We are at WDW right now and have eaten at 'Ohana for breakfast and dinner so far. Both times have been great. We never waited more then 10 minutes for our table. The place was mobbed so they were doing very well seating everyone. Dinner was delicious as usual. The noodles at dinner are sooo good. Almost like candy. Meats were tender according to my tablemates. I prefer the shrimp and they didn't disappoint. I love those. The bread pudding is still our favorite dessert at Disney. Save room for it! Yes, everything comes to you in stages. That's the way it is at 'Ohana. Service was great with everything being served promptly. We are dining there for dinner again on Saturday and looking forward to it.

Breakfast was good too. No powdered eggs. LOL Silly to even think that actually. Everything was hot and fresh and plentiful. Waffles came around every few minutes. Characters were a little slow but we got in there just as they went on break. No biggie there. Again, servers were great and friendly and on the ball.

No complaints for 'Ohana but feel free to not book there. More room for us! LOL

 

[tigger536]

I have found it to be hit or miss. Sometimes the food and service are great, sometimes one or both is off. It is a high volume restaurant, so sip ups are inevitable, but it needs to work on its consistency.

We just dined there a few weeks ago, and our experience was good but not great. Service was spotty, we had to ask several times for things we needed. But not a bad experience overall, just a little harried.

If you think the food is something you would like, give it another try sometime. Don't feel bad about sending cold food back (this is a per peeve of mine too).

 

[travelitis]

So glad I couldn't get this ADR after reading this thread! Don't feel I've missed a thing! Grand Floridian Cafe' got great reviews from my cousins this July, so I'll stick with that for a first night dinner.

 

[WendyWuWu]

Like the OP, we ate there 9/21 as well. We had a reservation, but the only one we could get was for 945pm! We showed up a bit early hoping to get in, and we did. We were seated around 900pm. Ohana has always been a favorite of ours....a must!....so, although I tried for the last three months to get an earlier reservation, and couldn't, we were happy just to get to eat there again this trip.
Although I have few complaints about the food, the service was horrible! We were seated in the very back corner of the restaurant (near the wall by the restrooms), although there were TONS of empty tables in the main dining room. This irked me a little since my niece was with me, was her first trip to WDW, and the fireworks show was just starting, but I said nothing about being moved since they had "fit us in" almost an hour earlier than the hard-to-obtain reservation time. I'm allergic to shellfish....I just don't eat the shrimp....'nuff said.....but after the salad, wings, potstickers, and sauces were all on the table, I finally had to ask for bread. The "waiter's assistant" said, "Oh...sorry. You WANT bread?" I said "yes" to which she replied, "Oh, I didn't think you'd want the bread since I saw an allergy on your ticket." HUH??? Is there not more than one kind of food allergy?? I smiled and said, "No, we'd like some bread. I'm allergic to shellfish, so unless you put that in the bread, we'd like some bread." It took 10 minutes, but we did finally get more bread.
In that same vein, my niece LOVED the salad. The assistant asked if she'd like more since she's not much of a meat eater. She said she did....again, 10 minutes later, she received more salad.
Near the end of the meal, my niece had noticed many many patrons leaving with multiple leis. She asked the head waiter how she could get one of those. He said, "just act silly and make a fool of yourself." She laughed and said she was fine with that! But, as late as it was, the games and song was all over. He said he'd bring her one. Long story short, 30 minutes later and asking twice more, she finally got one. The last time he was asked, I asked. He acted ill that I asked and was quite rude when he brought it back, just throwing it on the table with the bill. It's not that it was a big deal....I would have been happy to buy her a lei in the gift shop...it was just that he was so rude about it. If he wasn't going to bring her one, why even offer in the beginning? She's a child. She took him at his word.
We'll eat there again as we love the food there generally....but the wait staff definately needs improvement.