Your opinions of Grand Floridian Cafe & Les Chefs de France

[Kelsey In Wonderland]

For my next trip I've been considering both Les Chefs de France & Grand Floridian Cafe as options. I'm not choosing between the two, but I'm curious to see what your opinions are. I've never been to either and I've checked both menus and they look good, but I wanted to get a better opinion on these two so please tell me what you think! TIA!

 

[figment_jii]

It probably depends on the meal, but I've had lunch at the GF Cafe, and lunch and dinner at Les Chefs. The GF Cafe had a nice look to it and was very quiet, but seemed a little too sedate to me. The food was okay. The others in my party liked their choices (a salad and a fish dish - I think), but my sandwich (chicken) was okay, but kind of bland. The best part of the meal was the dessert sampler.

At Les Chefs, I like the dinner menu better because the lunch menu is fairly cheese heavy. While I like cheese, I cannot eat large quantities of it, so things like macaroni and cheese, are not viable options. At dinner I had the braised beef in red wine and it was very yummy. The Chef's Menu has a lot of good option (I ordered the onion soup, the braised beef, and the profiteroles). Les Chefs, being in a park, seems to have a more lively atomsphere. It was fun to watch people outside while having lunch or dinner.

Between the two venues, I would go back to Les Chefs, but probably not the GF Cafe.

Also at Les Chefs there is the chance of seeing Remy. That is a big bonus (plus sign) in the column for Les Chefs.

 

[cbg1027]

I have not yet been to GFC.

As for Les Chefs, my advice is to avoid it. It is the one restaurant in all of Disney I would never return to. The food quality was poor. My meal tasted like it come from a frozen boxed dinner. The service was lacking as well - our waiter seemed like he just couldn't care less.

I hate to think people go around under the impression that this is what French food is like. But fyi, I have high standards and am difficult to please when it comes to French cuisine since I lived in France for a year.

 

[purple figment]

The service was lacking as well - our waiter seemed like he just couldn't care less.

.

I am sorry you had such poor service. Our experience was just the opposite. Our server was wonderful. Remy was nearing our section of the restaurant, but we were at a table by the window which was hemmed in by other tables, making it unlikely that he would come to us. Since guests are asked not to approach Remy, we asked our server if there was any way we could meet Remy. She spoke to Remy's handler and between them they moved empty chairs so that he could visit us.

Our food was very good. I had the lobster bisque and short rib. They were both well prepared and flavorful.

 

[Batch]

We had a nice breakfast and the Grand Floridian Cafe last year so we decided to try it for dinner the next night. It really was disappointing. The service was bad and so was the food. I wouldn't hesitate to go back for breakfast but I don't think I'll be going back for dinner.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We had lunch at both restaurants last January and breakfast at the Grand Floridian Café in November.

Les Chefs de France Lunch - I loved the croque monsieur I had. My boyfriend had their crepe Basquaise and was really disappointed in it. It was much sweeter than he expected or the ingredients listed on the menu indicated. That's not the restaurant's problem, of course. Had he ordered something else, he probably would have enjoyed his meal. Our waiter was also visibly disappointed ... by the fact that we were not ordering appetizers or drinks. I didn't like that he was a bit pushy about that at first, but I thought that the service was fine after our order was placed. Seeing Remy was cute, but characters in general are not a draw for me. Over a meal, I'd rather engage with my partner than staff and neighboring tables. I think we'll give Les Chefs another shot sometime in the future, but it's not high on our list of priorities.

Grand Floridian Café Lunch - I had the orecchiette pasta of the day and my boyfriend had the Grand Floridian burger. We were both impressed by our choices. My boyfriend said at the time that his burger was "messy, but worth the trouble" it took to eat it. When he's recalled the burger since then he's said it was his favorite burger ever. He usually follows that with a wistful, "I want one right now." We also ordered the tiramisu from the dessert sampler. It's $3.29 for about a bite each. We thought it was a perfect, not-too-filling, sweet taste at the end of our lunch. We also loved the location and decor of the dining room. It's open and filled with natural light thanks to its many windows. It's beautiful, casual, and surprisingly quiet given its large size and open floor plan. We decided that the Grand Floridian Café is one of our favorite lunch spots on property and we will definitely return.

Grand Floridian Café Breakfast - I think I could have breakfast here two or three more times and still find new things on the menu that I want to try. I adored the maple-vanilla French toast. It was crispy on the outside, spongy on the inside, and the flavor was deliciously complex and sweet. My boyfriend had the lobster eggs Benedict and liked it too much to even offer me a bite. We'll definitely return here for breakfast as well. I'm not so sure I would come back for dinner because there are so many other restaurants to enjoy for that meal and I like their lunch menu better anyway. I can't recommend the place highly enough for breakfast and lunch, however.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

We booked a last minute ADR for 7 (booked Friday, ate there Monday) in September. We all had the onion soup and 5 of us had steaks. They have 2, a strip and a ribeye. All of our steaks were perfectly cooked, fork tender and delicious. The soup was great, the gruyere potatoes were heaven, but the highlight was the roasted corn. It was soooo good. We shared 3 dessert samplers and had to pack some back to the resort. We all thought this was the best place we ate all week. It is the newest addition to the must do list.

 

[pinkle]

We went to Les Chefs last fall and will not go back. There are sooo many other better restaurants. We have yet to try GF

 

[mom of 3G's]

We ate breakfast at the GFC this past December as we were staying at the Grand Floridian and it was handy. However, it was very s-l-o-w. I wouldn't eat here if you are on a specific schedule, but if you have time to kill then it would be fine. The breakfast was very good, it just took a long time to get the food and the restaurant wasn't busy at the time. I wouldn't want to see how long it takes when the restaurant is full.

 

[jakeybake]

We love the Grand Floridian Cafe. I even started a post a week or so ago on here about it being a hidden gem.

We have never had a bad meal here. The atmosphere is relaxed yet elegant and if you are lucky enough to sit by a window then you will also have a beautiful view of the grounds.

J

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i love chefs de france for lunch....
for dinner--not so much

grand floridian cafe's lunch was good--but i prefered chefs de france.

i actually have them both booked for lunch in march.

 

[Pugmalion1]

Love Grand Floridan Cafe. I'm of the opinion that it is one of the best sit-down meal deals in all of Walt Disney World. We've had lunch and breakfast there, and both were very good. It's a bright, friendly place, and a nice change of pace from the business of the Magic Kingdom.

I'm not much of a fan of Chefs de France. I think it's too heavy for lunch, and not at all a good bargain for dinner. I'd rather pony up the extra money and eat at the Bistro upstairs, where you get a more memorable dining experience.

 

[robmck3898]

I have reservations for the Grand Floridian Cafe in February, so I can't comment on that. As for Chefs, my wife and I went there last year and absolutely loved it. We both had the French Onion Soup to start and it's really cheesy and quite delicious. Then we both had the quiche for our main dish and both loved it. Seemed to be cooked to perfection, light, fluffy, and full of flavor.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We have gone to Chefs de France for lunch and dinner and loved it but I prefer Lunchtime (I thought the food was much better at lunch...I did get the same thing but lunchtime the food tasted so much better and hot). We had great services all the time we ate there (I think we went there 5x). We have gone to Grand Floridain for breakfast, lunch and dinner and had great food there and wonderful service.

 

[MickeyNicki]

GFC is excellent! We never would have thought to eat here except we were at the Poly and it was pouring down rain and we decided to skip Epcot and just go there. So glad we did, the food is amazing!

Chefs is great for a nice lunch, I loved the quiche and salad. No way would we go back for dinner, it was just ick

 

[vettegirl]

I have dined at both for dinner and the meal and service at the GF cafe was top notch. Also the GF is just a beautiful place to have a meal

 

[Kelsey In Wonderland]

Thanks everyone I really appreciate your input!

 

[jstouder]

We dined at both last year and this year they are both on our must do places to eat.

Grand Floridian - Truly a hidden gem. Meals were fantastic and honestly it was a nice break from the craziness at the parks.

Chefs de France - Highlight for DS was seeing Remy. Food was really good and service was excellent.

 

[lizzyb]

We had dinner at GFC and we enjoyed it. The food was delicious.

 

[jakeybake]

I have never been to Chef but am a huge Grand Floridian Cafe fan. We have been for breakfast, lunch and dinner and have never once had a bad meal.

I have a post on here where I call it the hidden gem of Disney dining.

You can't go wrong there so give it a shot.

J