The restaurant you will never go back to...

[liesel]

For me, it is not the mishaps that can sometimes occur in both food quality and service, but how it is handled. I think that can be a much bigger determining factor in whether or not I'll return to a restaurant. I'm sorry that that Storyteller's experience was not handled better. I would have been pretty frustrated too if that had been my experience.

 

[Sherry E]

I agree, Lisa - a random bad meal or one night of bad service can always happen here and there, but the way it is handled when brought to a supervisor's attention is definitely the key. C&M couldn't get the manager at Storytellers to come out and address it even though they were not busy that night, and the server seemed apathetic and rude, and then the experience ultimately ended up affecting the kids because the notion of security coming to get them scared them, and that is just beyond reason! People who work for Disney, on DLR or WDW property, should know how to handle these situations better and more delicately because there are so many kids around, and kids are so impressionable. I am really surprised at the way the Storytellers staff dealt with that whole episode. Shame on them!

 

[dstevens]

I just wanted to mention that i started this same type of thread for WDW several weeks ago. I stressed that all the comments were personal opinions and we know what opinions are worth The thread got rather lengthy and one person took the time to tally the complaints lodged against various eateries at WDW. There were 3 eateries that received a number of complaints and no compliments. A large group received both positive and negative comments. The bottom line was to avoid the 3 that recived no compliments but still try at least some of the others. Also do not forget your favorites and even some that were not commented on.

 

[Mike_M]

C&M's experience at Storytellers got me thinking about something that is a bit of a tangent but thought I'd bring it up here anyways.

C&M went in March which is technically off season. I've started to notice that there is a higher instance of overly direct or rude CMs during the off season as opposed to the summer months. We had a somewhat rude experience with the front gate over hand stamps during our spring break trip this year. I've started considering not going in the off-season at all any more and sticking to summer only trips. I can deal with big crouds and rude guests better than rude CMs.

Is this all in my head, or is there a pattern here?

As for bad resturants, I'll never go back to the Rain Forest Cafe in DTD. Horribly overpriced, tasteless food (Other RFCs in the country have been much better than DTD's) and poor service. The ambiance dosen't make up for the negatives IMHO. I'd rather spend my money at BB.

 

[KrazyKat4DIS]

I know it's a favorite of many here on Dis, but I have had really bad experiences at the Plaza Inn. My friend, my sister, and myself have all gotten food poisoning there. With my friend and myself it was on the same occassion (but ordering different food), and my sister's food poisoning was at a completely different time. It was terrible to say the least! It's too bad too because I enjoy the outside eating area, but Disney is the last place on earth I want to be sick at - too many fun things to do!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Gotta agree with Naples, we were not fans! Pizza was not good, and it was all very over priced for the quality we got.

 

[pycees312]

to answer the original question yes there are some places my family chooses to not go to again. It's funny because my DH and I just had a convo about where we would eat this up coming trip and really there are only 4 or so places in both parks, hotel, and DTD that we have not eaten theere. GEEZ!
Anyway for me it's Tortilla Joe's my DH love it, I hated it!
House of blues the menu items we had were not the best and all 5 of us agree on this one. Hated it.
Steak house 55. the service was okay but the food was also just okay. I expected something much more grand than what it really turned out to be so i'll pass in the future. Hated it.
Interesting Naples in one of the 4 we have never had and planned to do it this trip. So we will judge for ourselves.

 

[LuLusApple]

Goofy's kitchen... Blech
2001 have not been back and will not.
Goofy fed my DD (10 at the time) corn. We thought it was so cute and funny,
She did not she complained that it tasted weird and asked him to stop.
2 hours later she was throwing up and diarehha.
She had to stay in the hotel room for 2 days.
The site of Goofy still makes her ill.

 

[liesel]

Not much love for the DTD restaurants!

 

[Sherry E]

Not much love for the DTD restaurants!

....Or for the hotel restaurants either, for that matter! I do like RFC and ESPN Zone as well, so DTD eateries have a fan in me! Oh well, this is a fun topic so it is always insightful to hear what everyone has to say.

I can say that I don't think I have ever read a bad review on Carnation Cafe in DL. I could be wrong on that and maybe I am forgetting one, but overall, it seems like most folks like Carnation either for breakfast or other meals and it appears to be one of the most universally popular places to eat among the DIS-ers, I think. I can't think of any others at the moment that seem to have almost no complaints about them.

 

[ylatan]

man, that storytellers story is bad! horrible. i'm sorry that happened to you.

mine is plaza inn. we were just hungry and happened to be out front, so we went in. i have never paid so much money for flavorless food in my life. it was really bad. it left us sort of bitter for the rest of the evening.

 

[pycees312]

....Or for the hotel restaurants either, for that matter! I do like RFC and ESPN Zone as well, so DTD eateries have a fan in me! Oh well, this is a fun topic so it is always insightful to hear what everyone has to say.

I can say that I don't think I have ever read a bad review on Carnation Cafe in DL. I could be wrong on that and maybe I am forgetting one, but overall, it seems like most folks like Carnation either for breakfast or other meals and it appears to be one of the most universally popular places to eat among the DIS-ers, I think. I can't think of any others at the moment that seem to have almost no complaints about them.

well Sherry let me tell you about my god awful experience at Carnation cafe
lol just kidding but we did have a slight incident but it did not deter me from ever eating there again like the others.
We made a reservation for breakfast and my Husband arrived 10 mins before time. I had ran up the way to get my birthday fun card so I was not with the party. The cast member who was seating people told my husband she could not seat us until the whole party had arrived. Myhusband said all the seats were being taken so he had to say that I was no longer coming to be seated.. so when i got there we had a little table.... I for one was not happy but when my micket pancake arrived all of my ill feeling went away ... lol lol.. so not really nothing to post about however i think that rule is stupid...

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

Goofy's kitchen... Blech
2001 have not been back and will not.
Goofy fed my DD (10 at the time) corn. We thought it was so cute and funny,
She did not she complained that it tasted weird and asked him to stop.
2 hours later she was throwing up and diarehha.
She had to stay in the hotel room for 2 days.
The site of Goofy still makes her ill.

Oh no!! Goofy poisoned a kid!!!! I was going to put a laughing emoticon but that didn't seem right.....anyway can she look back & laugh about it now? I agree GK isn't my favorite (no poisoning thankfully!!!) but it's the kids & the PB&J pizza is something they HUNT for, LOL! The thing I DO like about GK (and maybe any buffet?) is if you're trying (emphasis on the word trying) to be good....you can stick to the fruits, veggies, etc - & stay away from the pastas & breads. It's nice to not have to hunt for the healthy.

Sorry..I rambled.

 

[PrincessMira]

for us it is Storytellers....my poor son got food poisoning and was up all night throwing up. He still confirms with us that we have no intention of eating there again when we go.

we'd have pretty good experiences at Naples but for some reason my memory thinks it was better the first time we visited 3-4 yrs ago then on more recent trips.

I agree with Plaza Inn....food had no taste. We are planning on going to Lilo & Stitch breakfast on this trip for the first time. Anyone have a bad experience there?

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

Hmmm....do you folks think the places with more complaints have a menu that is more "difficult"? Like Carnation is sandwiches, we all love sandwiches!!
But Naples w/ italian dishes or pizza....maybe there's just too many steps involved!!

How many have complained about the finer dining like w/ BB or Napa Rose?

Also - how many of these eateries have pre-cooked frozen food they just nuke & serve? That also may cut on quality & make others notice.

 

[Sherry E]

well Sherry let me tell you about my god awful experience at Carnation cafe
lol just kidding but we did have a slight incident but it did not deter me from ever eating there again like the others.
We made a reservation for breakfast and my Husband arrived 10 mins before time. I had ran up the way to get my birthday fun card so I was not with the party. The cast member who was seating people told my husband she could not seat us until the whole party had arrived. Myhusband said all the seats were being taken so he had to say that I was no longer coming to be seated.. so when i got there we had a little table.... I for one was not happy but when my micket pancake arrived all of my ill feeling went away ... lol lol.. so not really nothing to post about however i think that rule is stupid...

You know, someone else just posted on DIS recently about another restaurant (cannot recall which one) where the same thing happened - they couldn't get their table and be seated until every last person was there....which seems perplexing to me if it is just one person missing, because the size of the table they put people at couldn't be drastically different if one person is missing and never shows up. I can see if you made a PS for 6 people and only 3 are there, then yes, they wouldn't want to give a table for six to 3 people until all of the people were there. But if everyone is there but one person - such as yourself, running to get the Fun Card - then that seems silly to not just let your party be seated!

Do they serve Mickey pancakes at Carnation? The last time I had breakfast there I ate a Mickey waffle, BUT I thought I recalled seeing a pancake on the menu too. In any case, yes, that mouse shape will bring a smile to one's face in an instant!

My bad Carnation experience - again, not extreme enough to scare me away forever - was that our server was totally slow and spaced out and not concerned when I asked about why my meat loaf was different than it had been the last time I had it, and why there were no onions on it anymore. She didn't even offer to ask the chef (Oscar, I suppose) if the recipe was different. She just kind of shrugged and walked off. And the meat loaf was lukewarm, with hardly any gravy. It took 25 minutes or more for our apple pie a la mode to arrive, and when it did, the pie was not warm - it was room temperature - and the ice cream was not even a little melted as it would be in a la mode style. But I would still go back for dinner because I think it was an off night for them. It has to be a pretty extreme situation - like C&M's at Storytellers, or like the cases of food poisoning we have heard - to prevent me from going back.

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

Is it naughty to admit I'd fib about the size of my party??? If 1 person was going potty & we needed to get seated I'd just announce - "Whoops! Looks like they COULD join us!"

 

[Sherry E]

Hmmm....do you folks think the places with more complaints have a menu that is more "difficult"? Like Carnation is sandwiches, we all love sandwiches!!
But Naples w/ italian dishes or pizza....maybe there's just too many steps involved!!

How many have complained about the finer dining like w/ BB or Napa Rose?

Also - how many of these eateries have pre-cooked frozen food they just nuke & serve? That also may cut on quality & make others notice.

I think I actually have read a few less than favorable reviews of Blue Bayou, but never about Napa Rose. Napa Rose seems to be another one where, if it is your cup of tea and you can afford it, it seems to be extremely well-regarded. My experience with Blue Bayou was that I like the atmosphere a lot (of course, who doesn't?), but for me, the items on the menu are not things I would be paying $$$ for, and the wait to be seated even with the PS was way too long, and it just wasn't worth it to me personally overall. However, I do realize I am in the minority on that one because most folks seem to love it. I would probably go back there again at some point to give it another chance, but it is not at the top of my list.

 

[MagicalMomAZ]

My experience with Blue Bayou was that I like the atmosphere a lot (of course, who doesn't?), but for me, the items on the menu are not things I would be paying $$$ for, and the wait to be seated even with the PS was way too long, and it just wasn't worth it to me personally overall.

I do agree w/ you. I got the Monte Cristo - but shared w/ my bottomless-pit DD. DH got steak that he actually was impressed w/ .... but the rest, ehh. Nothing to write home about. We knew we were paying for the atmosphere & we got what we paid for, but the food was debatable. I think meal sharing & dessert only visits are worth it...especially at lunch.

 

[PinkBudgie]

All these stories remind of a podcast espisode I listen to a while back. Being a fairly new podcast listener I was going back and listening to some older ones.

They were talking about a place in WDW. It was crowded and they had to wait for their table. This one waiter kept coming over to their group out of all the people there and telling them they were in the way and they had to move. Each time they stayed in the spot the waiter told them to stand. Finally after the fourth time they said they weren't moving and the WAITER went to complain to the manager. It was so bizzarre, I think I would have started asking where the Candid Camera was!

I've never had any bad experiences with food at DLR fortunately. At most, years ago I decided that hamburger place in Fantasyland was not that great.

But I do know where I am not going this trip- Napels. Thanks for the tip!