Trying Out Some New Restaurants ~ Looking for Opinions

[Julia M]

It's WAY too early, of course......but I just booked 10 nights at WDW next Christmas.

Based on a trip we took at spring break in 2001, I definitely plan to make a PS each day. When it's so crowded and crazy, I found we really benefited from a break, away from it all, as the saying goes. (I found this less necessary for our August trip, with the parks less crowded)

Assuming vouchers are still available, I was thinking of buying some, so I am looking at some of the restaurants that offer better deals. These would all be for lunch meals.

Concourse Steak House
ESPN Club
Grand Floridian Cafe
Kona Cafe
Cinderella's Royal Table
Tony's Town Square Restaurant
Liberty Tree Tavern
San Angel Inn
Chefs de France Restaurant
Alfredo di Roma Ristorante
Le Cellier Steakhouse
The Hollywood Brown Derby
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano

We did eat at Cindys, but for b'fast, as well as Liberty Tree and Mama Melrose, but for dinner.

We'll be staying at the Polynesian, so I am also really interested in those on the monorail, as well as at MK and EPCOT.

Any comments for me, especially with using adult or child vouchers?

I know it's early, but it's fun to plan!

Julia

 

[Harambe]

We've only eaten at three of your choices: Kona, GF Cafe, and San Angell Inn. We had great meals at each of those - San Angell being the only lunch, it was dinner at the other two (quite a few dinners at Kona!).

I am planning on a PS for Chefs de France, as DD wants to try it, and the fixed lunch special seems like a good bargain at about $15 for soup, sandwich, and dessert.

Happy planning!

 

[CamColt]

We really enjoy Mama Melrose, ESPN and Kona Cafe. We repeat those quite often. While we enjoyed Le Cellier, I wouldnt make it a point to go back there. We found Yachtsman Steakhouse was much better as far as steak and sides go.
Weve only done CRT for breakfast but we like that a lot. And we have eaten at Alfredos,but that was almost 10 years ago, so I cant say if its still as good as it was.

 

[BCV23]

We love Kona Cafe, GF Cafe, Mama Melrose, Brown Derby, Liberty Tree Tavern and Chefs de France for lunch. Some of us also love Le Cellier (I'm with CamColt on this one but others in my family love it), San Angel and Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch. Concourse Steakhouse was OK but nothing special. Same with ESPN for us unless there is a game you want to catch or if you have sport fanatics in your family. Well, actually I have some of those in my family and we still rarely go there. But part of that is we usually stay at the Polynesian and BCV so it's not as convenient.

We love taking the boat to the GF or Polynesian after a busy am at MK and having lunch at GF or Kona Cafe.

We haven't gone to Tony's or Alfredos in some years but probably won't be going for quite a few more years!

I've never used vouchers so can't help you there. Are they good at all of these places?! Perhaps I better find out more about them as we visit so many of them each trip!

 

[sleepydog25]

Don't lock yourself into missing a jewel just because it's not at Epcot or on the monorail. Try Artist Point at WL. Excellent food, superb service, great ambience, and a real treat just to visit the lodge itself.

 

[ducklite]

Concourse Steak House--It's OK, actually a decent value for lunch or dinner, but not much "ambiance" IMHO

ESPN Club--Loud and obnoxious, OK for lunch, it's a sports lovers dream

Grand Floridian Cafe--Very nice, casually elegant, great food we had mixed service but never bad enough to not go back

Kona Cafe--FANTASTIC! Great food and service, you can't go wrong here.

Cinderella's Royal Table--Breakfast is hype, lunch and dinner are pretty good.

Tony's Town Square Restaurant--You can do a lot better. For great Italian at lunch try Mama Melroses in MGM

Liberty Tree Tavern--Very good lunch, dinner is so-so IMHO.

San Angel Inn--Probably the worst meal I've ever had anywhere, you couldn't give me free food to eat there again.

Chefs de France Restaurant--Very nice, elegantly casual, good food.

Alfredo di Roma Ristorante--You can do better. Overpriced, in fact very overpriced IMHO, and the service is generally poor.

Le Cellier Steakhouse--I've had lots of good meals here and one loser. Lunch is great, portions are huge and most items can easily be split.

The Hollywood Brown Derby--Haven't tried it. Seems expensive for lunch IMHO.

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano--Fantastic! This one is truly a gem!

I didn't see 50's Prime Time on your list, but great food and service, large portions and a fun atmosphere.

Sorry I can't help with vouchers, don't use them.

Anne

 

[beccasmom]

Concourse Steak House - We had breakfast there recently. Food was hearty, good and pricing was fine
ESPN Club - great spot for a burger (and beer!) especially if you love sports
Grand Floridian Cafe - We've had lunch there - burger and fries - pickle came deep-fried! Food was good; nothing extraordinary
Kona Cafe - never eaten there
Cinderella's Royal Table - ate there a few years back for dinner and was not impressed with the food - DD was in heaven, though! - I'm sure things have changed since; I know the menu is different.
Tony's Town Square Restaurant - have eaten breakfast there and it was fine. Prices for other meals are high, IMHO.

Liberty Tree Tavern - prefer it for lunch. Food is good, although prices are higher than they used to be. Dinner is with the characters and served family style.
San Angel Inn - have eaten dinner here and love the food. Mole poblano is my fave! Tables are candle-lit, which may be too dark for some!
Chefs de France Restaurant - prefer dinner. Lunch menu is rather sparse and heavy on the cream sauce, but food is good.
Alfredo di Roma Ristorante - lunch is our preference and usually suffices for our dinner. Food is plentiful, but service is so-so. Salads are huge and the pasta is very good
Le Cellier Steakhouse - we've eaten lunch here. Used to be cafeteria-style. Food is good; a little pricey
The Hollywood Brown Derby - one of my favorites although a little expensive; probably my top choice for MGM eatery
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano - food was great, although DH was still hungry after lunch; an appetizer may have helped; great atmosphere!

 

[ciera321]

We love Kona Cafe and O'Hana at the Poly, and Le Cellier is a must for each trip at WS.

 

[ead79]

Here are the ones I can review for you:

Cinderella's Royal Table--I have eaten lunch here several times, and enjoyed it each time. It's very nice to eat in the castle, plus the food I had was quite tasty.

Liberty Tree Tavern--This is one of our very favorites. This spot is a hidden gem for lunch. We have had excellent meals here many times. Two thumbs way up!

Chefs de France Restaurant--I have not eaten here in several years, but have had both good and so-so experiences here. It's probably best to eat here if you are a bit adventurous. If you're very picky, I would probably avoid it.

Le Cellier Steakhouse--This is another one of our very favorites. The cheese soup is incredible, and I find their sirloin burger to be delicious. A PS is a must here, as this place has gotten very popular.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I would not pass up eating at Le Cellier. We ate there a few weeks ago and it was fantastic.

 

[diswedwish]

We've only eaten at these places while on a plan, so $ wasn't an issue...

We've eaten lunch at CRT, LTT, and Tony's and enjoyed all 3. Both CRT and LTT have entrees that come with some form of bread (CRT is bbq chicken with walnut bread, LTT is salmon with pumpkin? bread) those are really, really really good. We've eaten at Tony's 4 times so far and have yet to have a bad meal there - but we could be the exception according to others' reviews.

We liked San Angel well enough, and have eaten lunch there twice. Both times service was a bit slow, it was really busy (even though we ate after 2), and the tables are very close together. The volcano and nighttime atmosphere is nice though. DH didn't care for Chefs de France, but we had dinner there, not lunch. We both loved Alfredo's - again maybe we're the exceptions here Food was good, atmosphere was good, service was good, everything was just fine. We also love Le Cellier - eaten both lunch and dinner here once and were pleased both times.

We both thought the Brown Derby was okay but not great, we may have to give it another try.

I'd second someone else's opinion about Artist Point - yum, yum, yum

HTH

 

[jeepgirl30]

Here are my comments on the ones I have tried...

ESPN Club - great atmosphere for a sports fan and pretty cool for the wife of a sports fan! Food is typical bar and grille food.
Tony's Town Square Restaurant - We had a really bad experience here. Service and food was bad. We were using the old plan where you paid 50 dollars and got 55 credit. Tony's charged us three times for one trip! It took me 3 days to get it straightend out.
San Angel Inn - I like this place. It gets a bad rap but I thought it was fine. Now I'm from PA so our Mexican dining options are limited but you can't beat the atmosphere. The margarittas are great too.
Alfredo di Roma Ristorante - over priced.
Le Cellier Steakhouse - fabulous food. We ate here for lunch and loved it. Would definately do again.

Enjoy!

 

[Ames]

ESPN is decent in my opinion. You can get the food there anywhere at home...but sometimes that is exactly what you are looking for.

San Angel is okay. I love Mexican food and have some great authentic places here at home and SA doesn't come close to them.

I've had lunch and dinner at Kona. I did enjoy the steak but others with me hated it. Too each his own.