Reason to Ignore the Opinions on Restaurants

[zebrastreyepz]

So, I'm listening to YouTube vloggers in preparation for our upcoming trip.

While listening to some food/restaurant reviews from two different well known vloggers, the first says that this particular has the worst service, is overpriced, and totally not worth it while the other says it has great food with impeccable service and although expensive, worth the investment at least once if you can.

 

[FSU Girl]

Every restaurant is going to have people who love it or hate it. It's good to try something at least once to form your own opinion.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Every restaurant is going to have people who love it or hate it. It's good to try something at least once to form your own opinion.

Exactly!

 

[SteveH]

Just like all reviews its person observation, experience, pallet and impacted by other events of the day, i.e. their opinion. When I read reviews I look for trends not just one persons opinion. If twenty people say something was bad that means more then one person giving long drawn out rant. I avoid reading when the person has an ax to grind or can not be reasonable in their expectations or in their acceptance of a resolution. Same goes for people that can not understand that you are not going to get the same meal & service at a fancy restaurant vs Applebee's. IMHO most vloggers are more into hearing themselves and getting hits then providing a good review.

 

[rwdavis2]

I listen to the opinions of the podcasters here at The Dis. The give detailed reviews and reasons for their opinions good and bad. And tell you at the end that the review is just an opinion and, essentially, your mileage may vary.

Part of the problem with dining reviews here in the boards are what people are exposed to at home. If I still lived in my little town in western PA I'd think WDW dining is the greatest thing in the world. But living in the MD/DC area with almost limitless good restaurants, I think WDW dining is mostly mediocre and overpriced everywhere. We still eat at signature restaurants but not often.

 

[Jennasis]

I am more apt to listen to a pattern of complaint about SERVICE as that is not usually so subjective. Slow/rude servers or food served cold/over/undercooked are pretty universally judged. As for the FLAVOR of food. That's subjective.

 

[JerseyJanice]

IMHO the best way to choose a restaurant is to look at their menus.

You can seek out reviews after that, but let’s face it—if you don’t find a menu appealing or you think the pricing is out of whack, it’s probably not the best choice for you.

 

[smiths02]

Just like all reviews its person observation, experience, pallet and impacted by other events of the day, i.e. their opinion. When I read reviews I look for trends not just one persons opinion. If twenty people say something was bad that means more then one person giving long drawn out rant. I avoid reading when the person has an ax to grind or can not be reasonable in their expectations or in their acceptance of a resolution. Same goes for people that can not understand that you are not going to get the same meal & service at a fancy restaurant vs Applebee's. IMHO most vloggers are more into hearing themselves and getting hits then providing a good review.

Also, what they ordered, their basis for value (worth it can be very subjective based on how the meal was paid for, income of the reviewer and party size of the reviewer

I look for consensus, but I also look for specific menu items that have consensus (good or bad). I also listen to the DIS podcast. I have been to restaurants that they reviewed badly. I found I pretty much agreed on Coral Reef, but we went for lunch so I didn't have the investment of dinner. I found I disagreed with San Angel...we actually enjoyed the experience, but we stuck with dishes that get good reviews (tostadas de tinga and steak tacos).

FWIW, I also know that I am less picky (quality wise) than a lot of people who review food our there.

 

[JZCubed]

So, I'm listening to YouTube vloggers in preparation for our upcoming trip.

While listening to some food/restaurant reviews from two different well known vloggers, the first says that this particular has the worst service, is overpriced, and totally not worth it while the other says it has great food with impeccable service and although expensive, worth the investment at least once if you can.

All too often, folks offer a review after just one visit - that's merely an impression.

Any person that (purportedly) makes (a portion of) their living providing reviews should visit an establishment far more than once.

That's the difference between us mere-mortals on vacation(s) and a professional.

For better or worse, these vloggers/bloggers that 'review' Disney establishments do not likely have the time or financial resources to truly review any place at Disney - they are simply giving you their impression that they had on a given day.

Moreover, who says these vloggers/bloggers know anything about food or service?

You must come to some 'conclusion' on your own about these folks by first determining whose impressions seemingly match your own.

I often link to EasyWDW because a.) I find Josh amusing (mostly), b.) he provides pictures, and c.) he attempts to provide the reasoning behind his impression for that meal - and without blanket-statements like, "The service was bad." But Josh is rarely, if ever, going to a place 3-5 times over the course of a few weeks/months to really adequately 'review' any place. Also, Josh knows far less about food than he does about beer (I know this by the way he describes things). But Josh is my 'standard' - because I trust his point of view.

Finally, service at Disney is hit-or-miss - even at Signatures. The places (not named Victoria & Albert).are too darn busy for Signatures to actually meet the description of providing something over-and-above a typical meal. Service is not a reason to avoid any place at Disney, because on any given day we are all going to have extremely varying impressions of the same place.

 

[Micca]

Generally speaking, the food at WDW is very good for a resort built around theme parks. For the cost, you'd do much better at eateries in the real world. Conversely you could eat WDW quality food in the real world for considerably less money. I also see people making the odd choice of trying a dish at WDW which is a specialty in their hometown. They are appalled when it doesn't hold up to their standards. This same principle applies to "My grandmother is from Italy and the pasta at WDW sucks." Well Italian Grandma is a tough act to follow.

 

[disneyseniors]

This is so subjective! I would just pick out the ones you think you would like and go for it.
Almost everyone on here hates Tony's at the MK. My soninlaw loves it and the family makes it a point to eat at Tony's each visit.
If you want to try a restaurant that you think you would like, then go for it.
You'll never know otherwise.

 

[KenHutch]

You really need to try restaurants to make up your own mind. As an earlier poster has said these reviews are opinions and opinions can vary a lot. I use as an example my family loves Ohana and eats there twice every trip. Now there are some regular posters on this board whose opinion I do respect have made it clear that they cannot stand Ohana's. Both views are opinions and just as valid. I do look more closely at the treatment people have received at different restaurants. Another example is I hate Holly & Vine and I have read several reviews from people that love the place.

 

[JZCubed]

You really need to try restaurants to make up your own mind. As an earlier poster has said these reviews are opinions and opinions can vary a lot. I use as an example my family loves Ohana and eats there twice every trip. Now there are some regular posters on this board whose opinion I do respect have made it clear that they cannot stand Ohana's. Both views are opinions and just as valid. I do look more closely at the treatment people have received at different restaurants. Another example is I hate Holly & Vine and I have read several reviews from people that love the place.

I have repeatedly mentioned on Dis'Boards that I think the food at Sci-Fi Dine-In is simply awful.

And despite the fact that I drive a convertible and have a drive-in in my hometown, I still very much enjoy Sci-Fi....not because the food sucks, not because of the library-quiet Service.....

I just find the amusement factor outweighs the negatives....and I'm a self-described food-snob.

Sure, there are one-and-done places at Disney, we each have them.

But, like you, I believe that folks have to make that determination for themselves.

P.S. - Ohana does not work for my family, but we enjoy Coral Reef more than the typical Dis'ser. See, we each have 'em.

 

[fizzymint]

Honestly, I wouldn't judge any restaurant based on its service. Every place is going to have good days and bad days and unless there's a place with notoriously consistently bad service, it's probably going to be chance (and a guest's attitude can play a large part in that as well).

Have a positive attitude about it and don't expect to get the most fine dining experience ever, and you'll probably be happy with most places.

And well, all of it's overpriced anyway! ;P

 

[kiford]

So much of a review has to do with expectations, not just from what you're used to at home, but what you expect specifically at the restaurant. I had really high expectations for Frontera Cocina. I was really excited to try it, looked at the menus beforehand to see if there was something I would like. It wasn't a bad experience. Good service, seating right beside the window so nice views, food was good, drinks were good. But I was expecting something special from Rick Bayless, some kind of twist on the ordinary and I didn't get that. So I was very disappointed in the restaurant but, really, there was nothing particularly wrong with it. I would probably recommend it to others unless they are aware of the kinds of things that Bayless is capable of and has done elsewhere and is expecting that and I would warn them about it but still wouldn't give a bad review to it.

Almost everyone on here hates Tony's at the MK. My soninlaw loves it and the family makes it a point to eat at Tony's each visit.

We've been to Tony's. It's not high on our list of places and I wouldn't say it's great but we went expecting a level of food that was quite consistent with what was served, we had great service, it was in the right location for us and I thought the decor was quite cute. So we enjoyed it. Tony's met our needs and expectations that day. Bizarrely, I was probably happier with Tony's than I was with Frontera Cocina despite the fact that I would definitely rank FC much higher on the scale of good food. Totally expectation and need dependent.

It can be very difficult to read behind what is written unless someone is quite explicit about what they expected, what they got, how it didn't meet with what they expected and what to be aware of should they decide to go to any particular restaurant. And also always recognize that sometimes you go on an off day (either you, the chef or the wait staff) and you didn't have a good experience as a result. As others have said, multiple bad reviews (with specifics) will influence me whereas a single bad review or a review that is vague won't.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Reiterating some of what JZCUbed saide, most people on these boards have been to relatively few WDW restaurants and probably only dined once at any one restaurant. I too look for the consensus of these individual opinions. And, not only do most people offer a review on a single experience, but most who offer that review, do so because they had an above average or a below average experience. IF they have an average experience, they don't bother to submit a review.
This is true not just of WDW restaurants, or restaurants as a whole but rather as reviews in general. Take a look at star ratings on Trip Advisor, Amazon etc. Even though most people have an average experience, most of the ratings are 5 star or 1 star. The data violates a normal distribution.

It's funny about the vloggers, though. You would think they could come to a consensus on the opinion of their show for a given restaurant.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

NM...I didn't make my point well in the opening post.

 

[North of Mouse]

The opinions of others are just that - opinions of a person just like you! Disregard, and try restaurants for yourselves.

Some people say how terrible two of our very favorites are - Cape May & 'Ohana. We love both, have never had bad meals or off service, so it really doesn't matter to us what others think, or say. We eat what/where we enjoy.

 

[JerseyJanice]

The opinions of others are just that - opinions of a person just like you! Disregard, and try restaurants for yourselves.

Some people say how terrible two of our very favorites are - Cape May & 'Ohana. We love both, have never had bad meals or off service, so it really doesn't matter to us what others think, or say. We eat what/where we enjoy.

For many years, dinners at Cape May and Ohana plus Chef Mickey were our top three. No trip was complete without those meals, but we stopped going to Chef Mickey after 2010.