What happened to Wolfgang Puck's??

[Uno Mas]

We've been going to Wolfgang Puck's Cafe on the West Side for years and have always had good experiences. This time, it was not good at all. We were able to walk right in without an ADR and then the experience went downhill from there. Not the fault of the restaurant, but there were tons of families that allowed their toddlers to wander around while they were eating. It was so annoying and very difficult for the servers to navigate around these babies with large trays of food. Keep your kids in their seats and if they throw a tantrum, remove them from the restaurant! Anyway, the food. The quality has taken a serious nosedive. The entrees looked like they had been pre-plated and were sitting in the kitchen just waiting to be warmed up. (Oh, and we had just gotten our appetizers when a second later, our meals showed up - very poor timing. They offered to take them back but I didn't want my food sitting around in the kitchen waiting until I was ready - that didn't sound appealing).

My DH had the meatloaf, which in the past has been decadent and would just fall apart on the plate. This time it was a hard, dry square of meat with some dry mashed potatoes lumped next to it. Not good at all. I had my favorite Chicken Chinois salad and it was bland - the normal dressing was lacking and it was also dry and looked like it had been dumped on the plate hours ago. I tend not to send food back or complain, which would have been difficult anyway since the visits from our waitress were few and far between. She seemed very flustered the entire time. Overall, it felt chaotic and rushed in there and the food just didn't live up to my prior visits. Very disappointing and I will not be going back anytime soon.

 

[Condorman]

Not that it matters or that it should, but can you tell me what day of the week and what time of the day you dined at WPC? This would have an effect on the service and the crowds; nothing should excuse bad food. We have an ADR there on an upcoming trip, and the reviews are either hit or miss. Not the kind of odds we were looking for.

 

[Uno Mas]

We were there Thursday, October 22 at around 6:30 p.m. It wasn't at capacity because we were able to walk in easily and get a table with no wait. But it seemed that they couldn't handle the tables they did have and were rushing everyone along. It was my first bad experience so perhaps you will have better luck - I hope so!

 

[LowesChevy]

We went October 3rd, a Saturday night at 6:30 PM. the place was busy, but not jammed. We were seated immediately in the room that used to be a patio, but now it is converted. The air conditioning was freezing, which we mentioned to the server, but he was pretty frazzled. He was overassigned or just a bad server because we did not see him very often.

My pizza was good, but my parents had the rigatoni bolongese an it was so-so. DM salad would have been really good if had not been for the three day old stale bread, on which goat cheese was spread on. Not much of a crostini. The bread selection was stale and if it were not for the key lime pie, I probably would not be going back for a while.

We went for lunch last year in 08-the place was dead-but the food was better as was the service.

 

[tony67]

Haven’t eaten here, but I've seen some complaints recently. Mostly with service.

(if I'm not mistaken) I did read recently where Wolfgang was upset with the quality there so I would hope that it will improve going forward. I think there was link somewhere on the DIS to the article previously but I cannot find it.

He was there for the F&W festival so hopefully he got things back on track.

 

[Coloradomom]

We just got back and ate there for the first time on Saturday 10/24.
We were disappointed in the atmosphere and service. The food was good, DH had the pumpkin ravioli and I had the salmon. They were both excellent.

However our waitress got my order wrong as I found out when a salmon pizza was delivered and had to send it back. She seemed slightly distracted.
And yes there were litttle children everywhere.

We would not go back but again the food was just fine.

 

[TDC Nala]

Possible combo of dining plan and new management, imho.

 

[Liliyana]

I've never been to the one in WDW, but we have a local WPE. The food is nowhere near as good as it was just two years ago.

 

[2littlez'sandme]

And yes there were little children everywhere.
----------------------------------------------------------
WOW! Little children @Disney, WHO would figure that?? The parents of those children have to eat somewhere or would it be better for you if they were to have room service with their kids everyday?

I apologize if I sound bitter.

I've had nothing but excellent service at WP. Unfortunately, sometimes there are bad experiences @ restaurants. While I've been fortunate to not experience it myself, I'm sorry if yours was less than extraordinary.

 

[tony67]

And yes there were little children everywhere.
----------------------------------------------------------
WOW! Little children @Disney, WHO would figure that?? The parents of those children have to eat somewhere or would it be better for you if they were to have room service with their kids everyday?

No offense but I think the issue is "there were tons of families that allowed their toddlers to wander around while they were eating. It was so annoying and very difficult for the servers to navigate around these babies with large trays of food."

I do not let my kid wonder around the restaurant. On my recent trip there was a child running laps around my table. Finally I had to say to the parent "Do you mind I would like to enjoy my meal." Then they give me a look like I am some evil spawn from hell. I then asked, "Would you like me to run laps around your table well you are eating." They sort of got control of the child from there.

We expect children, people just need to be considerate of others.
I do not like when some kids wanders to my table and starts talking to me.
We don’t find other people’s children as cute as they do and I would not subject other people to my children when they are trying to enjoy a meal.

I do not expect them to sit in silence, but they should not be wondering around a restaurant. If a pot of coffee get spilt on one of these kids you know these people will be the first to sue.

<OT - Sort of>
One solution in the future for the kid that is running laps around your table.
Someone I'm familiar with was at a very expensive place in NYC.
He does not like children and this was not a place for children.
There was a child doing laps around his table and yelling.
The parent just do not seem to care and the staff say nothing.
At the correct time he somehow knocked a drink off the table and acted as if the child did it.
The kid knew he did not do it, but what could he do.
The kid now sat quietly at his table.
This person waved goodbye to the kid as he left with a big grin on his face.

Well I thought it was amusing, but I have a sick sense of humor and a low tolerance for misbehaving children.

Why do people think it is Ok for their children to wander around a busy restaurant and annoy people while they sit and enjoy their meal in peace?

 

[podsnel]

Just wanted to say I had a chinois salad Nov 2008 that was incredible at WPE, went back to WPE in May 09 and it was all cabbage cut thickly, very little dressing, very little chicken. So OP, you're not alone on that one-

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I believe that Wolfgang sold the restaurants some time ago. Maybe that is when the downward spiral started?

If they mess with my Butternut Squash Soup I will not be accountable for my actions though.

Slightly Goofy

 

[kaytieeldr]

And yes there were little children everywhere.
----------------------------------------------------------
WOW! Little children @Disney, WHO would figure that?? The parents of those children have to eat somewhere or would it be better for you if they were to have room service with their kids everyday?

I apologize if I sound bitter.

No, but you sound sarcastic.

No offense but I think the issue is "there were tons of families that allowed their toddlers to wander around while they were eating. It was so annoying and very difficult for the servers to navigate around these babies with large trays of food."

! This is exactly what I got from the original poster - NOT in ANY way that there were problems with children being in the (any) restaurant, but that they were allowed to run wild and interfere with the servers' abilities to do their job safely, by apparently unconcerned parents content to let the general public be 'entertained' by their little darlings.

 

[oybolshoi]

No, but you sound sarcastic.

I agree.

I don't think the OP was suggesting that people with small kids should lock themselves in their rooms for meals, but I do think she was indirectly implying that those specific parents at WPC that evening should have been doing a better job of being responsible for their children's behavior while in a public setting.

I've said it before on different threads - allowing children to behave in that manner in a dining venue is disrespectful to other guests and to the restaurant staff and management. It's also dangerous. It's not the fault of the children, who in most cases are not really old enough to know better, but it is most certainly the fault of the parents. If people want to allow their children to do that kind of stuff in the privacy of their own home, more power to 'em, but it's not acceptable behavior in public whether it's WDW or not.

And no, I don't have kids, but I know how I was expected to behave when I was a child. And I have nine nieces and nephews and I know how I expect them to behave when they are with me and my husband. The ones who can behave appropriately in public go out with us on occasion; the ones that can't or won't behave appropriately stay home.

 

[BriarRosie]

No offense but I think the issue is "there were tons of families that allowed their toddlers to wander around while they were eating. It was so annoying and very difficult for the servers to navigate around these babies with large trays of food."

I do not let my kid wonder around the restaurant. On my recent trip there was a child running laps around my table. Finally I had to say to the parent "Do you mind I would like to enjoy my meal." Then they give me a look like I am some evil spawn from hell. I then asked, "Would you like me to run laps around your table well you are eating." They sort of got control of the child from there.

We expect children, people just need to be considerate of others.
I do not like when some kids wanders to my table and starts talking to me.
We don’t find other people’s children as cute as they do and I would not subject other people to my children when they are trying to enjoy a meal.

I do not expect them to sit in silence, but they should not be wondering around a restaurant. If a pot of coffee get spilt on one of these kids you know these people will be the first to sue.

<OT - Sort of>
One solution in the future for the kid that is running laps around your table.
Someone I'm familiar with was at a very expensive place in NYC.
He does not like children and this was not a place for children.
There was a child doing laps around his table and yelling.
The parent just do not seem to care and the staff say nothing.
At the correct time he somehow knocked a drink off the table and acted as if the child did it.
The kid knew he did not do it, but what could he do.
The kid now sat quietly at his table.
This person waved goodbye to the kid as he left with a big grin on his face.

Well I thought it was amusing, but I have a sick sense of humor and a low tolerance for misbehaving children.

Why do people think it is Ok for their children to wander around a busy restaurant and annoy people while they sit and enjoy their meal in peace?

Bravo! I'm now picturing you doing laps around the table.

But seriously, you touched upon one of my pet peeves. I expect to see chidren at WDW restaurants. It comes with the territory. But I absolutely hate it when children come to me while I'm eating. And I like children. I just don't want them distracting me during a meal.

I saw children at Bistro de Paris, which doesn't tend to get a lot of families with kids. Probably because it's not on the dining plan. But the kids I did see at other tables sat there instead of running around. That's a good thing, because I saw lots of servers with big honkin' carving knives doing tableside carving of the rack of lamb. And another server did a flambé table side for Crepes Suzette.

Talk about a lawsuit if little kids were running around these servers!

 

[Coloradomom]

My issue with "little children everywhere" was just that - they were everywhere but in their seats eating their meal. They were wandering, while parents ignored that and just called for them to come back. Did not get up, did not handle the situation as a responsible parent should.

I've had little ones, and went through stretches of time where we did not eat out at sit down restaurants because their attention span was not long enough. We saw this a lot on this trip, and especially at Wolfgang Puck's. It may have been that it was a Saturday night, too.But the only way they will learn to behave is by being told and that was not happening here.

It is not fair to ruin other people's dining experience.

 

[Uno Mas]

That was exactly my original point - not that they were THERE, but that they were not in their seats eating but wandering around annoying other diners! I have my own kids - they sit at the table and color - not wander over to someone else's table and start coloring on their kids' papers. The thing that surprised me was that it wasn't just one family that allowed this to happen - it was multiple families.

 

[Wall-E1]

I went to WGP Express for the first time on my last trip. I was looking forward to the four cheese macaroni and cheese. I had heard that it was a gooey, artery clogging, cholesterol accelerator. So obviously, I was expecting something delicious. I love macaroni and cheese, especially when different cheeses are combined. The dish I was served there was worse than a frozen macaroni and cheese dinner. It had obviously been sitting out for a long while and not cooked fresh. It was completely dried out, no trails of gooey, cheesy goodness. No, instead I had a lukewarm, hours old, flavorless dish. On a positive note, there were no kids running around the restaurant.

 

[PaddingtonBear]

I went to WPE on 10/5 or 10/6 (can't remember now) and it sucked. First of all it was crazytown in line, they didn't know how to charge properly for the dining plan, and they didn't end up delivering everything we ordered. The server who took care of us once we sat down was great and attentive. The mac and cheese was awful, though. It tasted like Velveeta plain old Stouffer's microwaved mac and cheese. I mentioned to the server that it was not delish and he sighed and said, "I know, Wolfgang came in today and we're hoping for some changes. They changed the recipe recently and nobody is happy."

Re: kids. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. They are not allowed out of thier seats in restaurants. If you cannot keep your children seated, you ought not be dining with them in public. Period. Its not hard. If I can do it anyone can, God knows I'm not supermom.

 

[schatterjee]

God knows I'm not supermom...

Amen sister! Me either - but my kiddos stay seated until it's time to go (although one of us has certainly taken them outside to burn off steam while the other adult waits for the bill).