We have one real close to home that I could go to at anytime and I've never thought of it as a must go to place. We went once and never had the desire to go back. Is it different than the chain restaurant?
I never realized that there was a chain of California Grill restaurants . For us, we absolutely love Cali Grill. We love the ambience, the food, the service, the atmosphere, being able to see MK at a different view point and also watching Wishes from up there. When we go we go at the first seating (5:30pm) which allows us to watch the MK go from day to night (very pretty too). The food there is outstanding and I never leave dissatisfied. Even my girls who are 9 and 6 love to go up there to eat. So to answer your question, I am not sure how it compares to the "Chained" California Grills that you are talking about, but the one in Disney is definitely worth going to (especially to us).