Dressy restaurants?

[Uncleromulus]

No restaurant is "dressy" except V&A. Everywhere else you'll see plenty of park attire -- shorts and tanks on women, and sandals, cargo shorts and t-shirts on men.

As for quiet and romance -- good luck. We find it's impossible unless one dines at 9 pm or later. And, even then, we've seen large family groups with noisy toddlers walk in for dinner at 10:30 pm or 11:00 pm.

I will be in Orlando for a convention soon, and someone asked me where we could dine at Disney for a business dinner. I laughed out loud. V&A was the only place I could remotely suggest, other than certain Swan & Dolphin restaurants. The Swan & Dolphin restaurants do tend to have fewer children and are quieter unless you end up with a table of noisy conventioneers. Shula's has usually been quiet for us, but we were there one evening with a large table of conventioneers nearby. It was not quiet at all that night. Blue Zoo is also quiet unless there is a group of conventioneers. Il Mulino is always noisy, IMO.

As for the Disney restaurants, we find Artist Point a little better than most if one dines late. Citrico's is also one of the better choices -- but again only if one dines late. Jiko is a bad choice as many families are staying at AKL and AKLV and don't have many dining options. We've seen toddlers hanging from the beads in the Wine Room at 11 pm there! Yachtsman might be okay later, but Shula's is a much better choice for steak. We sometimes find a bit of quiet at California Grill if we go very late after the fireworks are over and everyone watching them has vacated. Flying Fish tends to be noisy in our experience. Don't even think about Monsieur Paul. It was a noisy nightmare the last time we dined there at 9:00 pm (when it was still Bistro de Paris. It can only be worse now that children are welcome there.)

One of the things I like least is Disney has designed its restaurants to be noisy. They all have open kitchens, hard floors, no tablecloths, few drapes and other things that absorb noise, etc., all of which contributes to a noisy (and presumably festive) atmosphere. Too bad we like quiet romance.

After I gave my colleagues my take on Disney restaurants, they decided on V&A, so that's where we are going.

Well stated--that about sums up the situation!!

 

[burberryplaid]

Jiko is our absolute favorite! The food is just amazing and we always have wonderful service!

On our last trip we finally tried Artist's Point which was also wonderful! Again...wonderful food & service! We are looking forward to going back when we stay at WL

We were disappointed in Yachtsman...it was quite loud and lots of kids as evidenced by the fact that someone put gum in his chair and it got stuck to his khakis....plus I got food poisoning and while I think it was contracted at Flame Tree I can't rule out that it may have been contracted here. Needless to say we won't be back....we'll eat steak at Le Cellier

 

[merbobear]

Chef Mickey

 

[GAN]

After I gave my colleagues my take on Disney restaurants, they decided on V&A, so that's where we are going.

Now that's what the other V &A guests will be looking for -a table full of conventioneers!

 

[B-Ride]

You can dress up at any restaurant and not feel out of place. Just don't expect the majority of the people to be dressed as well, or well at all to be honest.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Now that's what the other V &A guests will be looking for -a table full of conventioneers!

I am quite sure Elizabeth B and her friends will be just fine at V&A

 

[wezee]

Shula's Steakhouse at the Dolphin is also excellent. We found it to be much quieter than some of the other signatures that have been mentioned.

 

[davedmaine]

You can dress up at any restaurant and not feel out of place. Just don't expect the majority of the people to be dressed as well, or well at all to be honest.

I agree. The dining plan has adversely affected dressier attire being worn at signatures.. It's not uncommon to see t-shirts, bathing suits, ball caps worn backwards, etc.. Worse during free dining

 

[mousehappync]

My vote is for bluezoo. We always are a little disappointed in the "sameness" of Disney signatures-- the menus are fairly static, and the food is good, but not a lot of "wow" factor in terms of flavor. bluezoo ranks among the best meals I've had. We told our server that we wanted to do a tasting menu, and he put together a great meal for us using the regular menu as a guideline. We loved it so much we are going back in June. The old fashioned was fantastic, and the sea bass was one of the best things I've ever eaten. We sent our kids to the SandCastle Club for the night, and will again-- there were NO children in the restaurant. It had a very adult feel, much like a great meal out at home. We way overdid it with courses, and next time will stick to 3-4 (not counting dessert) and it was still at least $100 less than we spent at other Disney sigs, even with lots of cocktails and wine pairings with each course. Two thumbs up!!

 

[OKW Lover]

We enjoy the Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club very nice place. But, you have to like steak bc that is all they have.

Actually they have more than just steak at YSH.

 

[LisaTC]

Don't know if you'll have a car or want to go a bit off property, but for dressy, you could try Bull & Bear at the Waldorf http://www.bullandbearorlando.com/

 

[MillauFr]

I agree. The dining plan has adversely affected dressier attire being worn at signatures.. It's not uncommon to see t-shirts, bathing suits, ball caps worn backwards, etc.. Worse during free dining

In California they don't offer the dining plan and you still see people wearing shorts, t-shirts, hats at Napa Rose. I don't think they even post a dress code any longer. I was surprised that Disney World actually is still posting a dress code. Why bother?

 

[Marthasor]

I suggest Monsieur Paul in the EP France pavilion. It's upstairs, above Les Chefs de France and is upscale, French. It's very quiet and romantic. In fact, I don't think a lot of people know it's there. The food is fantastic and the service is outstanding. We have eaten at every signature at WDW (except V&A) and it is by far the best restaurant on property. Ask for a table by the window.

My second suggestion would be Shula's. blue zoo is also very good, but a bit trendy. Not really a dressy kind of place.