Top 5 restaurants--need opinions

[norah2]

I'm about to make ADRs for our upcoming stay at PopCentury in February and want some opinions. We've only been there once before and most of our meals were at downtown disney (not my choice). This time I choose Here's the deal. dd is 17, ds is 10. Both are decent eaters--not too picky. We prefer to have fairly leisure meals--not counter style. We have the regular dining plan and want our dinners to be covered by that. We'll be there for 5 dinners and we don't really care if any of the meals are character meals.

So where do we eat? What restaurants are the "must eat at"? Thank

 

[havoc315]

Truthfully, it's hard to rate any of the 1-credit restaurants as "musts."
Some of the 2-credit restaurants are pretty good, but most of the 1-credit restaurants are about on par or slightly above the big chain restaurants.
But if I were to pick a few that stand out from the pack --
Via Napoli has very good, very authentic Neopolitan pizza.
Ohana doesn't appeal to me -- but for people who love the idea of all you can eat meat, at a fun meal.. It's very popular. (may even already be too late to secure a Feb dinner reservation)
People looking for a steak, love Les Cellier (slightly better than Outback, but far off from true steak houses). It's 1 credit for lunch.
I've heard phenomenal things about The Wave (seasonal organic cuisine) and it's high on my list of 1 credit restaurants to try.
I like Yak and Yeti -- above average pan Asian.
50's Prime Time Cafe at DHS won't blow you away with the quality of the food (it's ok comfort food), but it's a very fun atmosphere.

 

[MicRac]

Some top 5 dinners that are 1 credit

1.) Kona Cafe
2.) Boma
3.) Sci-Fi or 50s Prime time both for the scenery more than the food
4.) Coral Reef
5.) Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[minnieluvzmickey]

1)Ohana
2)Sci Fi (get the burger and a shake)
3)LeCellier for lunch
4)Yak and Yeti
5)Chef Mickey for breakfast

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

These are 1 credit meals & really good:

Ohana for supper
LeCellier for lunch
Coral Reef
Yak & Yeti

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Truthfully, it's hard to rate any of the 1-credit restaurants as "musts."
Some of the 2-credit restaurants are pretty good, but most of the 1-credit restaurants are about on par or slightly above the big chain restaurants.
But if I were to pick a few that stand out from the pack --
Via Napoli has very good, very authentic Neopolitan pizza.
Ohana doesn't appeal to me -- but for people who love the idea of all you can eat meat, at a fun meal.. It's very popular. (may even already be too late to secure a Feb dinner reservation)
People looking for a steak, love Les Cellier (slightly better than Outback, but far off from true steak houses). It's 1 credit for lunch.
I've heard phenomenal things about The Wave (seasonal organic cuisine) and it's high on my list of 1 credit restaurants to try.
I like Yak and Yeti -- above average pan Asian.
50's Prime Time Cafe at DHS won't blow you away with the quality of the food (it's ok comfort food), but it's a very fun atmosphere.

Have you been to Ohana? It's pretty close to phenominal.

And we have eaten at The Wave once, it was good, but I would not say phenominal.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I'm about to make ADRs for our upcoming stay at PopCentury in February and want some opinions. We've only been there once before and most of our meals were at downtown disney (not my choice). This time I choose Here's the deal. dd is 17, ds is 10. Both are decent eaters--not too picky. We prefer to have fairly leisure meals--not counter style. We have the regular dining plan and want our dinners to be covered by that. We'll be there for 5 dinners and we don't really care if any of the meals are character meals.

So where do we eat? What restaurants are the "must eat at"? Thank

There are so many great restaurants/meals at Disney it's hard to name just 5. I do think most of the 2 credit restaurants/meals are over priced - the food and service are good, but not really worth the extra credits or money. The exception would be Cinderella's Royal Table, if you haven't been before. You must eat in the castle at least once

Also, just being less than 3 months out from your trip, a lot of the popular places will already be booked. Here are some of our faves:

1. Ohana - by far the best meal/restaurant in WDW.
2. LeCellier - we have eaten there a number of times and the food is really good, but book lunch, I wouldn't pay 2 credits for dinner.
3. Coral Reef
4. Whispering Canyon - this has become one of our new faves, their BBQ and steak are really good.
5. Chef Mickey's - decent food, awesome characters and atmosphere.
6. Crystal Place - one of our favorite buffets and has Pooh and friends
7. 50's Primetime
8. 1900 Park Fare - my girls LOVE this character meal/buffet - decent food and the characters are so fun. The step-sisters are the BEST
9. Sci-Fi Drive-In - decent food, love the atmosphere and the "car" tables and old drive-in movies - so fun!
10. Tusker House breakfast

You can do a search on the Disney website for available dining. Good luck!

 

[havoc315]

Have you been to Ohana? It's pretty close to phenominal.

And we have eaten at The Wave once, it was good, but I would not say phenominal.

Different strokes. Ohana isn't my type of thing.
I had a truly phenomenal meal recently, not at Disney. Can't do it often -- it was $200 per person, but I mention it, because it was 10 courses, and primarily vegetables. Plate after plate of meat is simply not appealing to me. (though I certainly love a small portion of a perfectly cooked high quality protein).

 

[mickeynut1]

A few of our favorites that are 1 credit meals are Cape May Cafe at the BC, Boma at AKL, Chef Mickeys at CR, and Ohana at the Poly .

 

[scoobndolliesmom]

I do like a number of places but here are my top 5 in no order...

1) Kona
2)Le Cellier
3) La Hacienda
4) Teppan Edo
5) Cape May

 

[Terk-1]

My 5 must dines:

1. Crystal Palace (breakfast & dinner are great)
2. Via Napoli (had a wonderful lunch here)
3. 50's Primetime Cafe (one of my favs)
4. Kona Cafe/Boma for breakfast (had a great breakfast at both of these)
5. Le Cellier (lunch is 1 credit/dinner is 2 credits)



My biggest 2 don't bother dining at:
1. Sci Fi (food is gross, service is slow, tables were sticky)
2. Cape May Cafe (dinner is very limited & nasty)

Won't be going back to either for a very long time.

 

[havoc315]

What's interesting whenever there are threads like this, is the vast differences in opinion. It shows, the reality largely comes down to personal preferences. You're not comparing 5 start restaurants to 1 star restaurants. Most of the 1-credit meals are on a pretty similar plane, so it comes down to the types of food and experiences that your family prefers.
So it is often most helpful, instead of a generic list of restaurants that people like, to look at the reasons people like or dislike a restaurant.
For example, I see a couple people putting Chef Mickey and CRT as "musts."
If one is looking for good character interaction, I can agree with that. But if you are looking for edible food, I found those 2 restaurants to be the absolute worst food of any TS restaurant where I've dined at Disney. I'd never go back to Chef Mickey, regardless of how good the character interaction is. I'd return to CRT, only because my young daughter is still enamored with Princesses.

So one thing for any person to consider, is are they looking for "character dining," -- The various character buffets, CRT, etc.
"fun experience dining" -- The dinner shows, places like Sci Fi Diner and Primetime Cafe.
or simply the "best food" dining -- though opinions may differ quite a bit in this last category.

 

[TDC Nala]

Sanaa is my favorite and nobody's mentioned it.

Trying 'Ohana again next week. While I like it fine as far as the food goes, I can't consider it anywhere near phenomenal but it's good for a Disney 1 credit. The sticking point has been the service which I found to be lousy the last two times (I mean really lousy) - giving it one more shot because I do like the food. I stick with the shrimp and poultry though, no beef. Beef has to be done JUST right for me to mess with it.

I don't do character meals, so none of those would make my list. The 5 I'd pick that are on the dining plan and cost one credit (I do not use the dining plan) would be Sanaa, Kouzzina, Raglan Road, Via Napoli and maybe Le Cellier lunch (which I won't go out of my way to get but I love the mussels and the chicken sausage and the beer) or Biergarten or Teppan Edo.

 

[nklooz]

I think Raglan Road and Le Cellier lunch are good 1 credit choices. I am very excited to try Wave at the Contemporary.

I am curious, I see a lot of people mention Kona Cafe. We haven't been there, but when I see pictures, I don't get blown away. Can't get an 'Ohana ressie for our upcoming trip so I would love to hear a little more about what makes Kona great. Thanks!

 

[Pakey]

My top five 1 credit places for dinner would be:

1. Sanaa at AKV
2. Turf Club at SSR
3. Ragland Road at DTD
4. Biergarten at Epcot
5. Rose and Crown at Epcot

Honorable mentions:

1. Boma at AKL
2. Wave
3. 50s PTC
4. Via Napoli
5. Coral Reef

OHana would not even make my top 20. The ones I really really dislike are San Angel Inn, Kouzzina, Whispering Canyon Cafe. The only ones I have not tried are Nine Dragons, Hollywood & Vine, Boatwrights, Bongos and Paradiso 37.

 

[cbg1027]

My top 5 one credit meals:

1. Sanaa
2. Via Napoli
3. Turf Club
4. Crystal Palace Breakfast
5. 50's Prime Time

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Here are my top five 1-credit restaurants:

1. Kouzzina
2. Sanaa
3. Grand Floridian Café
4. Coral Reef
5. Kona Café

Honorable mentions to Raglan Road, Yak & Yeti and Olivia's.

 

[DisneyGirl421]

I honestly have no idea which of these are 1-credit or more (never used dining plan... i'm a cm so i use my discount lol), but most likely if they are 2 credits, they are 1 for lunch lol

My top 5 in no order (i really can't choose a favorite...)

Teppan Edo
Via Napoli (pizza is DELICIOUS. best I can find in Florida lol)
Ohana
Yachtsmen Steakhouse
Mama Melrose (I like their flatbreads)

honorable mentions:
Le Cellier
Sanaa (need to go back again and be more adventurous in my ordering! I played it safe...)
The Wave
Turf Club (only have been there for lunch, but its really good!!)
Kona Cafe

I'm trying Citricos for the first time this weekend, but I've heard great things about it!

 

[Mamu]

It depends who were traveling with.

When we do an adult trip, our big meal is dinner and we do a lot of the signature restaurants

My top 5 are
1. Citrico's
2. Flying Fish
3. Tutto Italia
4. Artist Point
5. Kouzzina

When traveling with Grandchildren everything changes. Instead of dinner's our big meal is lunch at TS then Dinners are CS.

Top 5 favorites with GC
1. Crystal Palace (always a must and our favorite)
2. Tuskers House
3. Garden Grill
4. Sci Fi
5. Via Napoli

 

[herb102211]

Here is a list of our favorites!

1) Le Cellier (Lunch only). I wouldn’t use 2 TS credits for dinner.
2) California Grill
3) Grand Floridian Café (Dinner)
4) Garden Grill
5) Crystal Palace (Breakfast)
6) Tutto Italia
7) 50’s Prime Time Café
8) Tusker House (Breakfast)
9) Cape May Café (Breakfast or Dinner)
10) 1900 Park Fare (Breakfast)