Ravings of a Fickle Foodie

[Biscuitsmom31]

Help!! I keep going back and forth on where we should eat on our first night! My parents are coming with us (first-timers) and I want them to really enjoy themselves. Dad is a steak lover so I was thinking we could take a break from the parks and have dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse. However, I also have four children who want to eat dinner with Mickey, so I was thinking we could go to Garden Grill or Chef Mickey's. We've never been to any of these places so I don't know what to expect from any of them.

Steak for dad?
Mickey for the kids? If so which Mickey?

We currenty have a 7:30 ADR for Chef Mickey's I'm nervous about Chef Mickeys being too wild and noisy for my parents. I don't want them completely overstimulated on their first night at WDW.

Help!!

Please vote: Garden Grill, Chef Mickeys, or Concourse Steakhouse

ETA - We already have two other character meals -CRT Breakfast and LTT

 

[nurseypoo5]

i've always heard chef mickeys was best for breakfast not dinner. I've also heard to try for a very early ADR for it so its nice and fresh and the characters are nice and fresh too.

What park are you going to be in that night? Lots of cool places to eat at MGM and Epcot, not so much MK. You could hop the monorail and go to Poly and eat at Kona...they have a good steak (teryaki tho) or Ohana, they have lots of meat and its fun for kids

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

We were planning to do World Showcase that day. I thought we would eat lunch there and then go back to POP for a rest and head to dinner later. However, if we decide on Garden Grill we can always kill more time at Epcot (Ellen's Energy Adventure is great for killing time) and go there for dinnner.

 

[lovmy2girls]

I know this is not on your list, but what about 'Ohana. They have great steak and the games for the kids is tons o fun! Just a thought Everybody would be happy with out the Chef Mickeys wild atmosphere for the first night.

 

[Maxie86]

At the Garden Grill you will get Mickey and a quiet dinner. The food is served family style so check the menu to be sure there will be something everyone will like. We had lunch there and I don't remember what was on the dinner menu. Excellent food. I even ate catfish, I never thought I would like it, but it was delicious.

 

[jcemom]

I vote for Garden Grill. The kids get Mickey and the adults get a peaceful dinner. It's not gourmet but there's a nice variety and the food is good.

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

I think I'm leaning toward Garden Grill...

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

With 4 kids, even with Grandma & Grandpa's help, a buffet like CM can be too much work. You end up going back and forth a hundred times. We learned early on, the family style restaurants were a blessing for us. You get a great variety, but served at your table.

Because I like to do Epcot on our first day (UG recommends this and I followed it to the letter back when I was a rookie), GG has become somewhat of a tradition for us.

 

[vascubaguy]

I voted Garden Grill (although I've never actually eaten there). I think out of the choices you have it might work best for all involved. If you head to concourse steakhouse the kids will likely get bored and wonder why they didn't get to go right around the corner to Chef Mickey's. Whereas if you went to Chef Mickeys, grandpa might wonder why he didn't go by himself around the corner to get a juicy steak and get away from the chaos. (Although you can still hear all the noise from Chef Mickey's over at the Concourse...). So, out of those 3... garden grill.

Of course, now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I'd probably go to Le Cellier for steak. Take the kids by the Character Connection to have pics taken with Mickey and friends, then head on over to Canada for some great steak! mmm... and soup... and pretzel bread...

 

[nurseypoo5]

I voted Garden Grill (although I've never actually eaten there). I think out of the choices you have it might work best for all involved. If you head to concourse steakhouse the kids will likely get bored and wonder why they didn't get to go right around the corner to Chef Mickey's. Whereas if you went to Chef Mickeys, grandpa might wonder why he didn't go by himself around the corner to get a juicy steak and get away from the chaos. (Although you can still hear all the noise from Chef Mickey's over at the Concourse...). So, out of those 3... garden grill.

Of course, now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I'd probably go to Le Cellier for steak. Take the kids by the Character Connection to have pics taken with Mickey and friends, then head on over to Canada for some great steak! mmm... and soup... and pretzel bread...

Yup Le Cellier would be my suggestion to but since its so close, she may not be able to get an ADR. If you can i would sooooo do that !

 

[Ms.Mouse]

We liked Garden Grill...The character interaction was great and the food was pretty good.

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I called and changed our ADR to Garden Grill. I didn't list Le Cellier because we ate there last year and we wanted to try new places this time. (Although we are repeating Marrakesh and Liberty Tree Tavern)

 

[slo]

Since you are at Epcot, I would do the Garden Grill. This is one of my favorite restaurants