What DON'T you like at Artist Point?

[j&j620]

Everything on the menu sounds sooooo good. I was hoping someone might be able to share a bad (or even a mediocre!) food experience they have had at Artist Point. It might make the decision making process a little easier when the time comes!

 

[Tina]

The price! Otherwise, its one of my favorite Disney restaurants.

 

[Silver Queen]

Love the restaurant and the service. When we were there last October I ordered the salmon which was excellent. They had some type of bread pudding side with it that was dry and very uninteresting. I see from the current menu that they've replaced that side with a sourdough dumpling. I also ordered the Smokey Portobello Mushroom Soup which was good, but I've decided that I'm not really a big fan of smoked foods. DBF had the buffalo. Again it was quite good, but understandably drier than a beef steak. We probably won't get that again. The berry cobbler for dessert was delicious. We will definitely go back there again. I'd order the salmon again or I might try the pork chop.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have liked the food I have had there. Service was another story, but that can change from night to night even. Most disappointing is the fact that the cobbler dessert is now half its former size. I believe Disney cut down on any dessert that was meant to be shared after it began having so many guests on the dining plan, all ordering individual desserts.

 

[Mamu]

Love the restaurant, love the food, only one complaint last time we were there our server was aweful.

 

[LowesChevy]

We have gone every year for the past 10 years or so, but unfortunately the last two years the service has really declined. The food this past October was just so-so-my mothers' tenderloin tasted like and old milk cow with liquid smoke poured over it. The service was terrible. Overall, our experience this past fall was bad and I did not plan on going back this year. If you want to read about our entire experience, check out my dining reviews.

 

[MrsLS]

I didn't care for the mussel app and I had mussels at a lot of places this trip. My DH got the salmon and liked it a lot, I got some fish in a ginger broth and it was just so so.

 

[YodasMom]

I have liked the food I have had there. Service was another story, but that can change from night to night even. Most disappointing is the fact that the cobbler dessert is now half its former size. I believe Disney cut down on any dessert that was meant to be shared after it began having so many guests on the dining plan, all ordering individual desserts.

I agree, not only is the cobbler (which was the best dessert) half the size it used to be, I swear it's a different recipe all together now. I was really disappointed the last time I was there.

I'm still trying decide whether to keep my reservation in a couple of weeks there since some friends had a bad experience a couple of months ago with their meals and service. This used to be one of my very favorite restaurants. Used to love the Buffalo sirloin and the sweet potato side.

 

[Mich Mouse]

The service.......Artist Point used to be one of our favorite Disney dining destinations. It used to have a more initmate, signature dining feel and sadly that has not been our experience on our last two visits. It was busy, noisy and our server did not take care of us the way we would have hoped. To put it mildly, she was upleasant. The whole meal was rushed, loud and it felt more like the Whispering Canyon. What has happened over there? Or was it just our bad timing...both times??

 

[Mich Mouse]

Love the restaurant, love the food, only one complaint last time we were there our server was aweful.

Was she a rather large woman?

 

[LockShockBarrel]

If the buffalo was dry, it was most likely overcooked. I've had it at AP and cooked it several times at home (its my favorite) and the only way it's ever gotten dry is when its overdone. It doesn't have as much fat as normal beef so it will get dry and tough much faster.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

Good idea for a thread!

We'll be there this weekend and I'm very excited. This was nice to read though to see what maybe we should take a pass on!

Sounds like the "bad service" is common. Hope things are running smoothly for our visit!

 

[nickjones]

Not going to be much help on what isn't good, but we love Artist Point. The buffalo was incredibly tasty, and I really love the decor. Was our last experience 'signature' though? Hard to say.

 

[Brandis]

I have to agree about the bad service. Last time we ate there, it seems we had a CM from the college program who apparently never had worked in a restaurant before.

At a regular WDW restaurant, I wouldn't care, but since Artist's point is presented as an upscale dining experience (and with the prices to match it) I would expect better service!

We ate there with friends who are used to eat at elegant restaurants and they were shocked when the ladies orders were not taken and served first. Also the wine was just poured without offering it to taste first and empty glasses were not refilled without prompting.

 

[TDC Nala]

Had a major service issue the last time, with a server who couldn't split the checks properly and had no idea how to fix them, and the manager couldn't straighten them out either. Were there for three hours waiting for the food (which was good but it took forever) and then waiting to have the check thing fixed. My friend was going to drive me to an event that night but I had to leave and take a cab because he had to stay to sort out the checks. The server was a guy, so it was not anyone the previous posters were mentioning (please don't start using names, we'll have to remove them)

Couldn't care less whether or not they ask males or females to order first, but keeping us there that long over a check issue was too frustrating. Had a slightly less egregious issue at Flying Fish in February, and they've never been that way. Used to be you'd go into these signature places and get excellent service. I think it's partially because the restaurants are so crowded now, and partially because they're not training the staff effectively.

 

[ElizabethB]

We didn't like the bison steak, rather gamey we thought. We also didn't like the dessert we had, which was really nothing more than a bigger-than-normal zebra dome. Definitely not worth $10. And, TDC Nala is right -- the wonderful berry cobler which was my favorite dessert for years, is now down to 1/4 its former size and costs $10!!!

For my money, the mushroom soup is, and always has been, great. The cedar plank salmon never disappoints (except price-wise, where Disney has run the price up to something like $39, with the same piece of fish being more like $27 at Shula's).

In any event, we have not had service issues, happily, but at this point, we think there are better signature restaurants. We would pick Jiko, CG, Citrico's and Narcoosee's before Artist Point.

 

[j&j620]

Thanks for the input everyone!

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can really do about the price or the service (Well, except cancel the ADR, of course!). After reading your thoughts, though, I think we'll be skipping dessert.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Sad to hear about the service issues, because when I was there our waiter was great. He explained about the buffalo drying out when cooked too much, glad I ordered a grade rarer than I usually do. When we were ordering dessert I was torn between the cobbler which I read so much about and the double chocolate cheesecake. He said "How much do you like chocolate?" I said "A lot" He said "Then you're getting that" I was pretty much speechless by the end of that cheesecake and he said he'd seen the blissed out look on my face before. He then said "there's someone coming to see you" and out came the chef! Also an exceedingly nice guy (don't remember his name unfortunately) Hopefully things turn around!

 

[dizneedoll]

We ate there and I thought the food was awful. I had the pork chop with macaroni and cheese and the pork was so dry. The macaroni was tasteless and bland, Kraft out of the box tastes better. The salad had wilted lettuce and tasted to bitter. The wine the server chose to go with our meal was equally bad, I'm not a big wine drinker and certainly no connoiseur but I know what I like and this wine was so strong that I nearly choked on it and I don't think it was a good choice for our meal. I don't think the server really "knew" her wines. She just chose something very expensive. The service itself was not very good either. We were practically alone in the place and she still hardly came by and disappeared for a good chunk of time. I don't remember what my friend had, it was some sort of red meat, the buffalo maybe, I just remember that it too, was very dry. I would not eat here again.

 

[stan_the_man]

The only 'complaint' I have is that I never seem to like their dessert selection. I have had the berry cobbler and the no added sugar mint/berry thing, but neither really appealled to me, it was only because I was on DDP so could have one.

No other problems with it though, we always go on our trips and always have great food and service