On the last day of our vacation time, I had persuaded Mike to go to Epcot with me, for a brief time. Of course, that brief time turned into all day when we decided to first go to lunch at the Garden Grill, and then instead of lunch make it a late dinner and eat lunch at Chefs de France. We at first made reservations for 5 PM but changed it to 7:20 PM when we decided to try out Chefs de France. Priority seatings and check-ins are made at the miniature gazebo that is outside of the revolving restaurant. We were excited about coming back to the Garden Grill as it has been one of our favorite restaurants because of the revolving nature, the scenes from Living with the Land that you can see, and the food. We never go to character meals for the characters!
We arrived back around 7 PM as we wanted to ensure a seat on the lower tier, which ensures a view of the scenes. Id recommend arriving early if this is important to you. We were given a notification device and went to sit in the convenient waiting area that is to the left of the check-in podium. There are several benches and tables with umbrellas, which gives a nice garden-y touch. This is when I noticed that the vegetarian selection had just been changed! Oh no! Previously they had wonderful polenta with a roasted portabella mushroom, vegetables, and a little bit of fried onions on top. This was a major disappointment, as I liked the vegetarian plate much more than the regular plate, and even if I wanted something from the regular plate, I could take it from Mike. The new vegetarian plate contained, among other things, ancho chili rubbed grilled tofu over spinach with white beans. I am not a tofu fan, so I had to settle for the regular plate.
We were seated on the lower tier, thankfully, in a booth that would end up being shared with another party. Most of the booths arent shared, and last time we were seated in a private booth. This seating area looked as if it were for a very large party, and one of the tables was pulled over to one side of the booth, and two pulled towards the other side. There was no one there at the moment, and we were slightly worried at how rowdy the other party would be. First, though, we had to stand up and look for the hidden Mickey in one of the murals on the wall. Our server, Kelly, came by and told us that she would be right back and help us find it without us even saying a word. She grabbed a broom, just like the Hidden Mickeys book said, and pointed it out to us. We were already happy with her, and sat down to take some pictures and wait for Kelly to come back to take our drink order. The table was set up with silverware and a red napkin in a clay flowerpot, crayons in a tiny tin watering can, napkins, and plates set up in another Mickey configuration. Kelly came back to ask what we wanted for drinks, and I ordered iced tea and Mike ordered diet Coke. Non-alcoholic beverages are included in the price ($21.99). She also explained what was on the regular plate, and Mike also asked if we could have some macaroni and cheese. She was happy about that, and asked him to come with her. She took him to the booth next door, and had him say something to them. When he came back, Kelly told me that the woman next door wanted macaroni and cheese as well, but her husband had chided her because it was a kids dish. Apparently she was very happy after that!
Kelly first brought us our drinks, and then the bread and salad. She told us that the salad had a hidden Mickey in it, and I piped up and asked if it was the cucumber, which it was. I was excited about this, as we had seen them on the Behind the Seeds tour, but hadnt had one yet. Some of the cucumbers (and melons now) grown in the experimental greenhouse are placed in a long mold with a cross-section of a Mickey Mouse head. I wondered how they rationed them out, because they didnt grow very many, but they only put one slice on each salad. I always love the salad here; its a basic green salad with tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers, with ranch dressing. The dressing comes on top, but Im sure that it can be asked for on the side. The salad was fresh and the dressing tasted freshly made, not out of a bottle. The rolls had previously been multigrain rolls, but were not herbed rolls, and they came out on a plastic Mickey shaped cutting board with whipped butter. Even though they werent the same, the rolls were delicious and went great with the salad.
At this point, a family sat down at the table next to us in our booth area, and luckily they werent rowdy. One of the children had apparently ordered chocolate milk, because when Kelly came back with our entrée skillet, she had a milkshake-looking beverage that I asked about. It turns out that she decorates the chocolate milk with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate chips. Wow! I had to ask for one, too it was great and was one of the best parks of the meal. The skillet she gave to us contained baked chicken, flank steak, fried catfish strips, carrots, stuffing, and broccoli with onion and mushrooms. Kelly also came back with a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. The baked chicken was moist and tasted good, though I didnt have much because I generally dont like meat on the bone. Mike enjoyed the flank steak, said it was cooked to medium, and thought it was also moist and juicy. We have a word for fried foods sometimes, fried fried because all you can taste is the breading. This is basically what the fried catfish tasted like, though the fish was flaky inside. It also didnt have a fishy taste, but that could have been masked by the frying. The vegetables had great textures, but werent extremely flavorful a little bit of salt helped there. All of the starches were great, though; I really liked the stuffing, even though it tasted like higher quality Stouffers, the mashed potatoes were delicious, especially with the gravy, and the macaroni and cheese was great. It wasnt as good as the macaroni and cheese at Hollywood and Vine, but it was still extra creamy and cheesy. Since I didnt end up eating a lot of the meat, Mike asked for some chicken strips off the kids plate for me, which Kelly brought quickly. Unfortunately they were an extreme case of fried fried, and the chicken inside was tough and stringy. There was plenty for me to eat, though, so I didnt mind.
The adult dessert that evening was cherry cobbler, and the kids dessert was a dirt cup. I dont like cherry cobbler that much, so I had the dirt cup (I love dirt cups!), and Mike had one of each, while I also had a cup of coffee. Last time we were there, the dirt cups had been made with perhaps cream cheese (as recipes call for), but lately weve had dirt cups at Disney made with chocolate pudding instead of chocolate pudding mix mixed with cream cheese. This was the case here, unfortunately. It was very good anyway, with lots of sandwich cookie crumbles and gummy worms. The portion was a good size after a large dinner, but the cherry cobbler ended up being pretty large. It was served in a small skilled with vanilla bean ice cream on top. I tried a bite, and it was actually very good I would have ordered it also if I wasnt so full. The cherries were sweet and tart, and the crust was crisp and buttery. The ice cream almost had a cinnamon flavor to it, which is my favorite flavor of ice cream, but we figured it was just vanilla.
Character interaction was great. We never really want much character time at character meals, but if we do, they are always willing to accommodate us though we dont have children with us. The Garden Grill was no exception. We saw each character at least three times, and we noticed they spent extra time with the family next to us. I was wearing a t-shirt with a Kevin Smith movie logo on it, and three of the characters separately pointed at my shirt, gave me a thumbs up and a high five. That really pleased me, and it really upped the quality of the interaction at this dinner. The characters were dressed in gardening and farming type clothing. This restaurant gives good quality Mickey time with less chaos that can happen at Chef Mickeys sometimes.
Service ended up being excellent. Kelly was actually the best server weve had so far at Disney. She was our age, energetic for what was probably a long day on the job, and more than willing to get anything we needed or asked for. The decorated chocolate milk was a great touch, as well. She was happy, very friendly, and talkative in a good way. If anyone is going soon, I would recommend asking for her, and ask for chocolate milk!
The food was very good, but not as good as it had been in the past. We still love the restaurant for the atmosphere and the food, but we probably wont go back for a while. I do recommend going here, as its a lot of fun, and even though the food isnt very high quality, its still great and theres a lot of it. Dont be afraid to ask for things off of the kids menu for adults, or even items off of the vegetarian plate if it appeals to you.
Photo gallery
We arrived back around 7 PM as we wanted to ensure a seat on the lower tier, which ensures a view of the scenes. Id recommend arriving early if this is important to you. We were given a notification device and went to sit in the convenient waiting area that is to the left of the check-in podium. There are several benches and tables with umbrellas, which gives a nice garden-y touch. This is when I noticed that the vegetarian selection had just been changed! Oh no! Previously they had wonderful polenta with a roasted portabella mushroom, vegetables, and a little bit of fried onions on top. This was a major disappointment, as I liked the vegetarian plate much more than the regular plate, and even if I wanted something from the regular plate, I could take it from Mike. The new vegetarian plate contained, among other things, ancho chili rubbed grilled tofu over spinach with white beans. I am not a tofu fan, so I had to settle for the regular plate.
We were seated on the lower tier, thankfully, in a booth that would end up being shared with another party. Most of the booths arent shared, and last time we were seated in a private booth. This seating area looked as if it were for a very large party, and one of the tables was pulled over to one side of the booth, and two pulled towards the other side. There was no one there at the moment, and we were slightly worried at how rowdy the other party would be. First, though, we had to stand up and look for the hidden Mickey in one of the murals on the wall. Our server, Kelly, came by and told us that she would be right back and help us find it without us even saying a word. She grabbed a broom, just like the Hidden Mickeys book said, and pointed it out to us. We were already happy with her, and sat down to take some pictures and wait for Kelly to come back to take our drink order. The table was set up with silverware and a red napkin in a clay flowerpot, crayons in a tiny tin watering can, napkins, and plates set up in another Mickey configuration. Kelly came back to ask what we wanted for drinks, and I ordered iced tea and Mike ordered diet Coke. Non-alcoholic beverages are included in the price ($21.99). She also explained what was on the regular plate, and Mike also asked if we could have some macaroni and cheese. She was happy about that, and asked him to come with her. She took him to the booth next door, and had him say something to them. When he came back, Kelly told me that the woman next door wanted macaroni and cheese as well, but her husband had chided her because it was a kids dish. Apparently she was very happy after that!
Kelly first brought us our drinks, and then the bread and salad. She told us that the salad had a hidden Mickey in it, and I piped up and asked if it was the cucumber, which it was. I was excited about this, as we had seen them on the Behind the Seeds tour, but hadnt had one yet. Some of the cucumbers (and melons now) grown in the experimental greenhouse are placed in a long mold with a cross-section of a Mickey Mouse head. I wondered how they rationed them out, because they didnt grow very many, but they only put one slice on each salad. I always love the salad here; its a basic green salad with tomatoes, red onions, and cucumbers, with ranch dressing. The dressing comes on top, but Im sure that it can be asked for on the side. The salad was fresh and the dressing tasted freshly made, not out of a bottle. The rolls had previously been multigrain rolls, but were not herbed rolls, and they came out on a plastic Mickey shaped cutting board with whipped butter. Even though they werent the same, the rolls were delicious and went great with the salad.
At this point, a family sat down at the table next to us in our booth area, and luckily they werent rowdy. One of the children had apparently ordered chocolate milk, because when Kelly came back with our entrée skillet, she had a milkshake-looking beverage that I asked about. It turns out that she decorates the chocolate milk with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate chips. Wow! I had to ask for one, too it was great and was one of the best parks of the meal. The skillet she gave to us contained baked chicken, flank steak, fried catfish strips, carrots, stuffing, and broccoli with onion and mushrooms. Kelly also came back with a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. The baked chicken was moist and tasted good, though I didnt have much because I generally dont like meat on the bone. Mike enjoyed the flank steak, said it was cooked to medium, and thought it was also moist and juicy. We have a word for fried foods sometimes, fried fried because all you can taste is the breading. This is basically what the fried catfish tasted like, though the fish was flaky inside. It also didnt have a fishy taste, but that could have been masked by the frying. The vegetables had great textures, but werent extremely flavorful a little bit of salt helped there. All of the starches were great, though; I really liked the stuffing, even though it tasted like higher quality Stouffers, the mashed potatoes were delicious, especially with the gravy, and the macaroni and cheese was great. It wasnt as good as the macaroni and cheese at Hollywood and Vine, but it was still extra creamy and cheesy. Since I didnt end up eating a lot of the meat, Mike asked for some chicken strips off the kids plate for me, which Kelly brought quickly. Unfortunately they were an extreme case of fried fried, and the chicken inside was tough and stringy. There was plenty for me to eat, though, so I didnt mind.
The adult dessert that evening was cherry cobbler, and the kids dessert was a dirt cup. I dont like cherry cobbler that much, so I had the dirt cup (I love dirt cups!), and Mike had one of each, while I also had a cup of coffee. Last time we were there, the dirt cups had been made with perhaps cream cheese (as recipes call for), but lately weve had dirt cups at Disney made with chocolate pudding instead of chocolate pudding mix mixed with cream cheese. This was the case here, unfortunately. It was very good anyway, with lots of sandwich cookie crumbles and gummy worms. The portion was a good size after a large dinner, but the cherry cobbler ended up being pretty large. It was served in a small skilled with vanilla bean ice cream on top. I tried a bite, and it was actually very good I would have ordered it also if I wasnt so full. The cherries were sweet and tart, and the crust was crisp and buttery. The ice cream almost had a cinnamon flavor to it, which is my favorite flavor of ice cream, but we figured it was just vanilla.
Character interaction was great. We never really want much character time at character meals, but if we do, they are always willing to accommodate us though we dont have children with us. The Garden Grill was no exception. We saw each character at least three times, and we noticed they spent extra time with the family next to us. I was wearing a t-shirt with a Kevin Smith movie logo on it, and three of the characters separately pointed at my shirt, gave me a thumbs up and a high five. That really pleased me, and it really upped the quality of the interaction at this dinner. The characters were dressed in gardening and farming type clothing. This restaurant gives good quality Mickey time with less chaos that can happen at Chef Mickeys sometimes.
Service ended up being excellent. Kelly was actually the best server weve had so far at Disney. She was our age, energetic for what was probably a long day on the job, and more than willing to get anything we needed or asked for. The decorated chocolate milk was a great touch, as well. She was happy, very friendly, and talkative in a good way. If anyone is going soon, I would recommend asking for her, and ask for chocolate milk!
The food was very good, but not as good as it had been in the past. We still love the restaurant for the atmosphere and the food, but we probably wont go back for a while. I do recommend going here, as its a lot of fun, and even though the food isnt very high quality, its still great and theres a lot of it. Dont be afraid to ask for things off of the kids menu for adults, or even items off of the vegetarian plate if it appeals to you.
Photo gallery
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Just curious....
