Signature Restaurants?

[NYCgrrl]

Which are the ones that make you feel like you've died and gone to heaven and why?
Which are the ones you've never been to yet but dream about before your ADR window opens? Yeahhhhhh we all do that..don't we? LOL.
And which ones were a deflated balloon filled with regrets?

 

[KenHutch]

We have eaten at all of the Signature (except V&A) at least once. My must go place is Jiko. Great food, great atmosphere and everything is just good. My regret the last time we ate at Le Cellier. From the moment it became a signature it started going downhill. I refer to Le Cellier as a legend in its own mind.

 

[CraigInPA]

Deflated balloon with many regrets: LeCellier. A signature in price only. Dungeon-like interior, with tables so close you can share appetizers with neighboring tables, and a lackadaisical wait staff.

 

[gillep]

We have eaten at all of the signatures, most multiple times.

Favorite for food and ambiance: Jiko
Notable runners up: AP and Yachtsman
Deflated balloon: California Grill dinner (service and ambiance always good, have yet to have a meal that I could actually finish as everything I have gotten over multiple visits has been incredibly over-salted), Narcoossee's (terrible food and service, do not like the ambiance or set up of this restaurant either, have only been once and have no desire to give them a second chance)

 

[gharter]

We have been to most.
Our favorites: Jiko great food and atmosphere. Monsieur Paul great food. California Grill, great atmosphere. We have never had a bad meal there.
Best by far if you can afford it is V&A.
Least favorites: Le Cellier. Used to be very good, the food quality has gone down. Citricos - nothing bad, but twice did not wow us for the price.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

VA is....unique that way.

 

[gillep]

Yes, V&A is amazing and in it's own class, I guess I don't really consider it a signature restaurant for that reason. It is something all together better and more special.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The only true signature I've been to is Cali Grill. It was awesome. The food, the view, the fireworks. I'm taking DD on our next trip as a surprise.

 

[sanapp]

I will admit I have never done Le Cellier and don't intend to due to the poor reviews. I have been disappointed by California Grill dinner, but I think that it was more due to the servers I have had and how loud it is. The food was very good. I always eat at Brown Derby, but it is due to the lack of appeal of anything else in the park.

I also don't consider V&A a signature as it does not accept the dining plan. I myself have yet to try it as I have never travelled with anyone who would truly enjoy it (unfortunate for me).

I will say that some of the best service I had was from Narcoosees and I do enjoy the food too.

 

[loves to dive]

I agree with everyone that V&A's is just wow. As far as signature restaurants, we've eaten at most. Our favorite and the only one we are happy to repeat - Tiffins. Disappointments - Chef Paul, just o.k. food but not great service. Jiko - again just o.k. food just o.k. service - neither worth the price. Sanaa - out of 3 meals at our table one was o.k. one was half eaten one had two bites taken - service by far the worst we have ever had at WDW.

 

[sleepydog25]

Not sure any have made me feel as rapturous as you suggest, but I've a few that we return to, some every trip.
AP - Sentimental favorite (as you know from a previous post).
Jiko - Never had a bad meal there.
CA Grill Brunch - This is one meal we've truly enjoyed. More relaxing than the testosterone-fueled feeling we get when we eat dinner there, and you get plenty for the $$ (Disney standards, of course).
Il Mulino - Casually upscale setting, good food (small plates, anyone?), nice wine list.
Morimoto Asia - the buri bop is worth going for alone
The Boathouse - fun, airy, solid to very good food
BiCE - Okay, this one is offsite (in fact, located at the Dark Side) but is worth the signature price splurge. Their osso buco is one of the best I've had anywhere. Wine list is superb.

Don't Bother (for us):
Paddlefish - Two visits; two disappointments. Service subpar. Food mediocre (except lobster corn dogs). Signature in name only.
Monsieur Paul - Worst dining experience we've had at Disney. Ambiance was that of Golden Corral (for the record, I like GC fine but no one can successfully argue it has a signature feel); food was lukewarm; service was intermittent. Price for that experience was out of line for what we got.

Stands alone:
Victoria & Albert's - as others have said, it's not really a signature, more of a super signature

 

[DisneyArkie]

Favorites: Yatchmans and Le Cellier (glad we didn’t listen to negative reviews here). We loved them both.

Least favorites: Narcoosees, Boathouse and Artist point

I will say this. Do not shun any restaurant just because you read these reviews on this board. Some love our least favorites. All different taste so you may like what others hate and hate what we love. The fun thing about Disney is the experiences...

 

[supersnoop]

The bad reviews for Le Cellier also confuse me. How can it go downhill when it’s upgraded to a signature? Sure, maybe it’s not worth double the price, but surely it can’t be worst than it was at half the price. (Price being dining credits in this case since menu prices didn’t actually double)

There’s a huge difference between those who review a signature based on price and those who use the dining plan. I always skipped the Hollywood Brown Derby because I heard similar reviews. But, in reality, it’s not worth two credits, buts it’s still great food for the price. It’s now one of my favorite places where we dine on almost every trip. I think people’s reviews get colored by their perception of value rather than the experience or the food.

My favorites are Flying Fish, Brown Derby, and Artist Point. I enjoyed Tiffins, Le Cellier, Jiko, Citrico’s, and Narcoossee’s. I’d return to any of those. I was less impressed with California Grill, and I don’t have any reason to return. I haven’t tried Monsieur Paul, Yachtsman, or any of the Disney Springs signatures yet.

 

[Dean Marino]

Just us - our hit list remains . 12 years, twice per year, always with a TIW Card....
We visit V&A once per year - it simply can NOT be lumped in with any other "SIG".

1) TIE - California Grill (Contemporary) Shula's (Dolphin).
2) TIE - Citrico's (GF) Artist Point (WL).
3) TIE - Narcoossee's (GF) Il Mulino (Swan).

HONORABLE MENTION: Hollywood Brown Derby. A truly GREAT Sig stuck in a Construction Zone . Probably the only REAL SIG within a Park.

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

 

[rwdavis2]

I agree with everyone that V&A's is just wow. As far as signature restaurants, we've eaten at most. Our favorite and the only one we are happy to repeat - Tiffins. Disappointments - Chef Paul, just o.k. food but not great service. Jiko - again just o.k. food just o.k. service - neither worth the price. Sanaa - out of 3 meals at our table one was o.k. one was half eaten one had two bites taken - service by far the worst we have ever had at WDW.

I'm curious about Sanaa. Was it due to poorly prepared food or someone not liking that type of cooking? We like it (3x, always good) but find it under spiced. But it does seem to represent the cuisine as we have multiple Indian restaurants near home. I'm pretty critical (not a picky) when it comes to restaurants. Thanks.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I'm curious about Sanaa. Was it due to poorly prepared food or someone not liking that type of cooking? We like it (3x, always good) but find it under spiced. But it does seem to represent the cuisine as we have multiple Indian restaurants near home. I'm pretty critical (not a picky) when it comes to restaurants. Thanks.

We have not eaten at Sanaa yet but it's not listed as a signature restaurant which based on reviews makes it a great value for it's classification orrrrr a venue waiting to become a 2 TS .

 

[rwdavis2]

We have not eaten at Sanaa yet but it's not listed as a signature restaurant which based on reviews makes it a great value for it's classification orrrrr a venue waiting to become a 2 TS .

Yeah, we hope it doesn't go signature either. Great place to eat.

 

[OKW Lover]

We've eaten at all of the signatures. V&A aside (its really in a class of its own) our choices are:
Favorites (not necessarily in order):

Citrico
Yachtsman
Jiko
Artist Point​

Burst bubble:

Le Cellier (agree with above posts about being signature in price only)
California Grill (relies on view rather than food and service)
​

 

[CraigInPA]

The bad reviews for Le Cellier also confuse me. How can it go downhill when it’s upgraded to a signature? Sure, maybe it’s not worth double the price, but surely it can’t be worst than it was at half the price. (Price being dining credits in this case since menu prices didn’t actually double).

The issue with LeCellier is that people were willing to accept its faults as a non-signature restaurant. You don't go into a non-signature restaurant expecting a signature dining experience, so expectations were appropriate. When LeCellier was upgraded to a signature restaurant, it is now being judged against other signature restaurants. Would you rather spend 2 table service credits looking out the windows of California Grille, having the sushi made by their award winning sushi chef, and being served by professional wait staff, or, for the same number of credits, eat in a dungeon-like room, with tables practically on top of each other, having food that can be obtained easily elsewhere, and being served by a group of college interns?

 

[loves to dive]

I'm curious about Sanaa. Was it due to poorly prepared food or someone not liking that type of cooking? We like it (3x, always good) but find it under spiced. But it does seem to represent the cuisine as we have multiple Indian restaurants near home. I'm pretty critical (not a picky) when it comes to restaurants. Thanks.

We love the style of food, my son and DIL were particularly excited because there was a small mom and pop place in the small town outside of Chicago where he was stationed that served that type. We all love different food flavors and spices (I lived in the Middle East for a few years). I was the only one who could actually come close to finishing mine. My DIL was able to eat about half of hers because it was just so/so. My son took a couple of bites of his and pushed the plate away because it was just no good. We did have the bread service before hand, which we all enjoyed. The service really did make the whole experience horrible. It was later at night but the place was fairly busy, we actually watched one table turn over twice while we were there. We had to wait, sometimes a good 20 min. between each course, even to actually get a menu and to get our bill then to pay it and wait for our receipt. The meal took a good 2 1/2 hours. My son had to return his drink twice before he got something he could drink. By the time we were done, we were done and just wanted to get out of there. The night before we had done the Wayanama (sp?) safari and had such a good experience with the food and the service we maybe were expecting more. I grew up in the restaurant business so can tolerate a bit more as far as the kitchen getting things out slow or the service being swamped but the our family always had the mantra of you can make the customer wait for their food but you never make them wait for their menus, never let glasses get empty and never make them wait to pay. We can tolerate o.k. food but good service or great food and bad service but with o.k. to bad food and horrible service, it just was too much. And no, we didn't complain to the management because they were actually at one point sitting at the table next to us, it was that late when we finished and saw exactly what was going on so to complain wouldn't have mattered.