Terrible service at Ohana

[Minnie824]

We went to Ohana last wed (night before Thanksgiving) and did not have the same experience we've had in the past. We've gone every year for the past 4 years and loved it. This time, we were seated, they gave us our bread, waitress came to take our drink order. Off to a good start. Then her 'helper', Jose, instantly brought out the salad, noodles, wings, and rest of the 'appetizers'. Still no drinks. We finished all that food, 10 min later, still no drinks. Finally she comes w/the 3 sodas. 5 min later, the two alcoholic drinks, 10 min later...still no coffee. Finally she brings the coffee. Now we've been done with our starter food for awhile. After the drinks took at least another 20 min before the first set of meats came. At this point, its been at least 40 min since we finished our first set of food. Then we wait another 15 min for the next set of meats. Oh, and Jose? Never saw him again. No one ever cleared one plate from our table. Waitress was hardly to be seen. Dessert took a long time as well. Not sure if she was just 'off' that night or what.

I understand it can be a long meal, but the timing of everything was just not good, and no one paid attention to see there was a problem. It wasn't just us either, the people at the next table, waited about 30-40 min from when they were done with their food, to get dessert. We still liked the food and all, but I don't know if it'll be on our list for next trip after this experience.

 

[koolaidmoms]

Did you ask to speak to a manager or someone during or after you meal? I hope so. WDW just like any other restaurant needs to know if you are really unhappy with your meal or service or at the same time overly pleased with your meal or service. We try not to complain too much but if there is something that may make you not choose this restaurant again the manager's want to know.

 

[santa's surpriz]

You must have had the same server I had last December! We ended up being there for 3 hours and still had not received all our courses. I am just glad there was entertainment while we waited! I called a manager told him I was ticked and wanted to pay bill so I could leave. 45 minutes later he showed up with my bill. I am chalking it up to a fluke and giving Ohana a second chance in January. I think both must hit it on an off night?? There are just too many good reviews on Ohana to permanently cross it off my list at this point.

 

[barrysprot36]

Sounds like the same server we had in August. DS and I had finished eating before our server had even brought DH his steak meat. We ended up skipping dessert as we had waited so long. I spoke with a manager and she comped our breakfast there the next morning.

Caron

 

[PoohsFan1]

Did you ask to speak to a manager or someone during or after you meal? I hope so. WDW just like any other restaurant needs to know if you are really unhappy with your meal or service or at the same time overly pleased with your meal or service. We try not to complain too much but if there is something that may make you not choose this restaurant again the manager's want to know.

I agree, whenever we go to any sort of resturant, whether it is Disney or at home, my DH is notorious in asking for managers. He especially does it when the server is outstanding because according to him, you should not let a good server get unnoticed....on the flip side, he has no problem telling the manager how he feels if we have been treated badly somewhere.

Another thing, thanks for this post. I am trying to decide our dinner plans for March and I want to go to places that we have never tried before and Ohana's is one of them. I just read last night, right here on the wdwinfo.com that Ohana's is not what it is all cracked up to be. That service is horrible and the food is subpar. And now after reading all of your posts, I think I am going to skip out on Ohana's and go for Kona Cafe instead. We went there for breakfast our last visit and we really enjoyed the whole surrounding, so now I cannot wait to try it for dinner. Man I love the DIS, you guys really help me with my plans.

 

[Luv4Disney]

Sorry your experience was so bad. We've been lucky and have always had decently timed meals there. Let's hope it stays that way next week!

 

[livie1205]

my last visit to ohanas we had VERY bad service...not to mention the puke they left on the floor during our whole meal! YUCK well the mang gave me a letter good for 5 adult dinners for our next visit...

 

[disneystick]

Been to Ohanas twice this year. Once in the spring and once again this past Oct. Never had any problems with the service or the food. We really enjoy this place and I guess we were lucky enough to continue to have the good service and the food was fresh and tasty and bought out to us in a nice timely manner.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I'm so sorry it was terrible! But in reference to the pp, I have been to both Ohana and Kona Cafe, but after frequenting Ohana for so long with the AYCE and then hopping to Kona with just what was on my plate, I would rather get as much as I wanted for a bit more money....

 

[jgazda]

my last visit to ohanas we had VERY bad service...not to mention the puke they left on the floor during our whole meal! YUCK well the mang gave me a letter good for 5 adult dinners for our next visit...

I don't suppose this was on November 17th of this year???

 

[DisBride2007]

We also had a TERRIBLE experience at Ohana last time that began with us being seated next to a giant tray of dirty dishes and ended with a talk with the manager. Without going into too many details, this restaurant quickly went from a "must-do" for us every trip, to a "never again."

 

[momof3poohlovers]

I am sorry you had a bad experience here. It is unfortunate how much a server can affect one's view of a restaurant. It is too bad that restaurants don't realize how much of an impact a server can have on our dining experience.

We ate at Ohana' on the 25th of Nov. and we started off with our party of 7 being put at a table that should have seated no more than 4. We were told by the hostess who sat us that they were overbooked and they didn't want us to wait any longer so they put us at this table that was way too small and there were no other tables for 7. They actually had to search the restaurant for chairs that didn't have arms because we couldn't all pull our chairs in! After they tried to bring the salad and there wasn't any room on the table to set it down because our plates took up the whole table, our awesome server got a manager and he found another table to add on to ours. After this, our whole experience was wonderful. Our server, Arturo, was attentive and always asking if we needed anything. The food was also awesome. Honestly, if Arturo hadn't turned the situation around I, too, might have a different view of Ohana's. I have found, don't let another's bad experience with service keep you from trying a restaurant. We actually had horrible service at Sci Fi Diner but I realize that it was just one bad server and so because we liked the atmosphere we will try it again and hopefully this time get someone better!

 

[Melora]

We also had a bad server when we were there in August.

We have always loved O'hana and it wont keep us from going back but our server was terrible!

We asked him for kids food (since the little ones did not want the meat) and he said no problem and despite the fact we asked him 3 times he did not bring the kids plates until we were all finished and asked him for the check. Suddenly the kids plates showed up. The kids eventually nibbled on our stuff while we were waiting but it was frustrating. We also never got our drinks refilled which for us is a big deal.

I don't know why we didn't talk to a manager. Also since we were a party of 8, our tip was already figured in which was REALLY irritating because this guy didn't deserve as much as he got.

 

[frdeb1999]

Have to agree with the hit and miss service. We have been many times and the last trip we had a very bad experience. Spoke to the manager and was compted the meal....but this was after sitting there nearly 2 hours and not ever finishing it! We have had fantastic service and experiences here in the past and hopefully it was a one time deal.

 

[Pinkpony]

Wow! I'm so shocked! We ate there the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 23rd., and were so impressed with the service we received. We were a party of 6, so they instantly took 18% gratuity, but we tipped our waiters even more on top of that. We could have been in and out in about 45 minutes, but we lingered in order to listen the the singer, so we ended up being there about an hour. Fantastic food! Loved the bread pudding.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

I'm sorry this happened to you. But, it really sounds like no one in your group spoke up. I get antsy when I don't get my drinks and I would stand up and try to get someone's attention. I hope you brought it up to the manager.

 

[Tiger926]

I agree! Been to character breakfast 3x now with same results - horrible service, nasty food, dirty, major long wait to be seated even with ADRs, disorganized and huge character issues. Spoke with 2 servers and manager, and they didn't really care to hear our concerns.

We've eaten pretty much everywhere on property, multiple times, so we have lots to compare to, and so this restaurant is off our list, for good!

Good luck, perhaps dinner will be better, but honestly, they have terrible management and staff working there since we have experienced the same problems over the past several years.

Best of luck, Tiger

 

[Pumbaa_]

For many that don't talk to a manager, there are lots of reasons. In the beginning of the meal, sometimes you don't realize that you haven't gotten whatever. Once a group of friends were having dinner and we were talking and talking before it was like hey, we have no food!

Also, I am on vacation. I do not want to flag down a manager and complain. I want to enjoy my vacation dinner with my family and deal. You are right, a manager can't fix what they don't know, but do I want to spend my vacation being the one to complain and deal? Nope, not gonna happen unless there is something truly traumatic that forces me to deal with the manager. (Plus, if it is a good manager, they should be floating the floor periodically and taking the pulse of the patrons, IMHO)

Instead, I will make my choices accordingly next time and choose not to patronize that location.

 

[Tiger926]

For many that don't talk to a manager, there are lots of reasons. In the beginning of the meal, sometimes you don't realize that you haven't gotten whatever. Once a group of friends were having dinner and we were talking and talking before it was like hey, we have no food!

Also, I am on vacation. I do not want to flag down a manager and complain. I want to enjoy my vacation dinner with my family and deal. You are right, a manager can't fix what they don't know, but do I want to spend my vacation being the one to complain and deal? Nope, not gonna happen unless there is something truly traumatic that forces me to deal with the manager. (Plus, if it is a good manager, they should be floating the floor periodically and taking the pulse of the patrons, IMHO)

Instead, I will make my choices accordingly next time and choose not to patronize that location.

ITA! I come from a restaurant family, and my dad has spent countless hours wearing out shoes by walking the floor, cooking in kitchen and speaking to patrons. That's the job of owners/management - we have experienced the same problems at O'Hana and Boma on multiple trips to WDW, for different meals during different seasons. Guess what that tells me? They have the same problems that they aren't interested in fixing - it doesn't take rocket science as a supervisor/manager/owner to be walking around a restaurant and assess what is going on. Sure, there may be more problems during peak times, but in assessment, the problems are always there because that's the nature of the beast - patrons late for ADRs, families spending way too long lingering with the characters, servers constantly being bothered, etc. Some of the blame can be put on patrons who aren't smart about how they eat in restaurants - if people need something at table, ask server at one time, if you are going to be late, or not show up, please cancel, etc. Regardless of this though, management needs to have a procedure in place to deal with these issues, so whether it be bussing, kitchen, service or patron issues, it shouldn't matter. I should not have to spend my precious vacation time speaking to management about his/her restaurant's problems, as chances are, they already know those problems exist, and so they only rectify or correct situations as a last resort, as Disney guests will keep flooding through their doors no matter what!

Good post, Pumbaa, Tiger

 

[kesharn81]

i agree....
they should improve their service...