Colleen27
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
- Messages
- 24,190
The Garden Grill - possibly my favorite character meal (toss up with Tusker House). Good, homestyle comfort food, really fun character interaction (I swear, Chip & Dale are *always* the most playful characters, no matter where we see them!), and a lovely revolving restaurant over one of my favorite rides. And best of all... It isn't a buffet, which makes the whole character dining experience a notch better.
Rose & Crown Dining Room - Solid British food. I think it is best if you stick to the specialties - the bangers & mash, fish & chips, and shepherds pie were all very good, the corned beef and steak just okay. I really like dining on the patio when the weather is nice.
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria - I really don't get the hype, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of wood or coal fired pizzas. We enjoyed everything else we ordered - the appetizers, my mom's veal, and the desserts - far more than the pizza. They're also very fussy about dining plan use - no sharing, no customizing a pizza, no aqua fresca as your drink, all of this to some degree dependent on your server's understanding of the rules - which makes the experience less than relaxing IMO.
Chefs de France - It is weird, I have no specific complaints about Chefs but I don't think I'd go back. We've had a couple of entirely adequate but not at all memorable lunches there. The food was fine, no complaints but no "wow" either. The service was good, not disappointing but also not noteworthy in any way. It looks like the menu has changed quite a bit since we were there last, though, and for the better.
Tutto Italia - I've only been once, when it was still rather new. Everything was good but Italian restaurants at Disney have a tough task because good Italian food is so readily available in the real world... Which is why we've never been back, even though we did enjoy our meal.
La Hacienda de San Angel - Loved it! The food is somewhere between the familiar Tex-Mex/Americanized Mexican food that is ubiquitous in America and real Mexican food which, if done in a truly authentic manner, might not be familiar enough to suit theme park visitors and children. Everything we had, from the appetizers to the desserts to the drinks, was flavorful, interesting, and delicious, and the service was above and beyond. Some of it was spicy, as an above poster indicated, but our waiter was very helpful in advising my spice-adverse daughter on the relative heat levels of each dish she asked about. And unlike most "real world" Mexican restaurants I've been to, the margaritas are creative and amazing, second only to La Cava on my "best of Disney booze" list.
Spice Road Table - Another winner. I dined solo there so I didn't get to try as many things as I might have liked - in our family we have a rule that no two people order the same thing, because we all sample each others' choices! - but what I did have was perfect. Living where I do I can get good Middle Eastern at home, which made me reluctant to try Disney's version, but I was very pleasantly surprised and this made the must-do list for our next trip so I can try more of their menu.
San Angel Inn Restaurante - Perhaps the biggest Disney dining disappointment. I really want to like this place - I love Mexican food and the atmosphere is just so cool! - so I've tried it several times despite never having a good overall experience. And I never seem to learn my lesson. The menu is less interesting overall than La Hacienda, the food quality is uneven, the service is notoriously bad, the tables are practically on top of one another... It is unusual for me to have such a uniformly negative view - I can usually find a redeeming quality or two in any dining experience, but this one has just been bad for us. Every. single. time.
Rose & Crown Dining Room - Solid British food. I think it is best if you stick to the specialties - the bangers & mash, fish & chips, and shepherds pie were all very good, the corned beef and steak just okay. I really like dining on the patio when the weather is nice.
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria - I really don't get the hype, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of wood or coal fired pizzas. We enjoyed everything else we ordered - the appetizers, my mom's veal, and the desserts - far more than the pizza. They're also very fussy about dining plan use - no sharing, no customizing a pizza, no aqua fresca as your drink, all of this to some degree dependent on your server's understanding of the rules - which makes the experience less than relaxing IMO.
Chefs de France - It is weird, I have no specific complaints about Chefs but I don't think I'd go back. We've had a couple of entirely adequate but not at all memorable lunches there. The food was fine, no complaints but no "wow" either. The service was good, not disappointing but also not noteworthy in any way. It looks like the menu has changed quite a bit since we were there last, though, and for the better.
Tutto Italia - I've only been once, when it was still rather new. Everything was good but Italian restaurants at Disney have a tough task because good Italian food is so readily available in the real world... Which is why we've never been back, even though we did enjoy our meal.
La Hacienda de San Angel - Loved it! The food is somewhere between the familiar Tex-Mex/Americanized Mexican food that is ubiquitous in America and real Mexican food which, if done in a truly authentic manner, might not be familiar enough to suit theme park visitors and children. Everything we had, from the appetizers to the desserts to the drinks, was flavorful, interesting, and delicious, and the service was above and beyond. Some of it was spicy, as an above poster indicated, but our waiter was very helpful in advising my spice-adverse daughter on the relative heat levels of each dish she asked about. And unlike most "real world" Mexican restaurants I've been to, the margaritas are creative and amazing, second only to La Cava on my "best of Disney booze" list.
Spice Road Table - Another winner. I dined solo there so I didn't get to try as many things as I might have liked - in our family we have a rule that no two people order the same thing, because we all sample each others' choices! - but what I did have was perfect. Living where I do I can get good Middle Eastern at home, which made me reluctant to try Disney's version, but I was very pleasantly surprised and this made the must-do list for our next trip so I can try more of their menu.
San Angel Inn Restaurante - Perhaps the biggest Disney dining disappointment. I really want to like this place - I love Mexican food and the atmosphere is just so cool! - so I've tried it several times despite never having a good overall experience. And I never seem to learn my lesson. The menu is less interesting overall than La Hacienda, the food quality is uneven, the service is notoriously bad, the tables are practically on top of one another... It is unusual for me to have such a uniformly negative view - I can usually find a redeeming quality or two in any dining experience, but this one has just been bad for us. Every. single. time.
