Dressy restaurants?

[ceemys]

We will be in WDW in August for our Family Honemoon, but we are taking one night away from the kids for just ourselves. Other than V&A, what are some other nice restaurants where we can get dressed up? We want a nice, quiet, romantic night out. V&A's is on our list, but since it is so expensive, we want other options. Any advice?

 

[LoveTink68]

We will be in WDW in August for our Family Honemoon, but we are taking one night away from the kids for just ourselves. Other than V&A, what are some other nice restaurants where we can get dressed up? We want a nice, quiet, romantic night out. V&A's is on our list, but since it is so expensive, we want other options. Any advice?

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

 

[ceemys]

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

We Love steak! I will add it to our list!

 

[ZellyB]

We ate at California Grill this past January for our anniversary dinner. There was a mix of people's attire from pretty casual to dressy. But, it was generally a dressier crowd than not. The atmosphere was very nice as well. Service and food were excellent.

 

[GAN]

Artist Point is also very nice...

 

[jeffbear]

I would think you could feel very comfortable in dressy clothes at most of the signature restaurants that are away from the Parks.

 

[dawnhaze]

Most of the resort signature restaurants, really. My favorites are Jiko and Artist Point, but I think the fanciest/dressiest are probably Narcoossee's and Citricos.

 

[hooch11bear]

Some of the restaurants that we have eaten at that are a little dressier are Jiko, Citrico's, Narcoossee's, Bluezoo, California Grill, Il Mulino, Shula's and Artist Point. Our favorite out of those is California Grill. Check out the menus over at allears to see which ones look appetizing to you.

 

[figment_jii]

We want a nice, quiet, romantic night out. Any advice?

I'm not trying to put rain on your parade, but aside from V&A, all of the Disney restaurants are family friendly. So finding a venue that is "quiet" and "romantic" might not be as easy as one would have hoped. In truth, you stand the best chance if you have a late dinner (i.e., after 8:00 pm) and choose a location that does not have fireworks viewing.

Of the Disney Signatures, I think you're best bets are Jiko, Artist Point, and Yachtsman. I actually really like Jiko and Artist Point. These three tend to be among the more quiet Signatures either because they're out of the way (e.g., Jiko) or just lower on the radar compared to nearby Sigs (e.g., Artist Point tends to get overlooked because of the other Sigs in the MK area).

I would also consider looking into the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin. Many of the them get very good reviews and they don't take the dining plan, which does affect how many guests go there.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm not trying to put rain on your parade, but aside from V&A, all of the Disney restaurants are family friendly. So finding a venue that is "quiet" and "romantic" might not be as easy as one would have hoped. In truth, you stand the best chance if you have a late dinner (i.e., after 8:00 pm) and choose a location that does not have fireworks viewing.

That is what I was thinking too. And while I like the California Grill, I don't think anyone can call it quiet or romantic.

 

[ceemys]

Thank you everyone! Loved the points you made. That was exactly what I was looking to read.

 

[WDWFANCBIIIME]

We will be in WDW in August for our Family Honemoon, but we are taking one night away from the kids for just ourselves. Other than V&A, what are some other nice restaurants where we can get dressed up? We want a nice, quiet, romantic night out. V&A's is on our list, but since it is so expensive, we want other options. Any advice?

My three favorite restaurants on Disney Property are Flying Fish, Jiko and California Grill for a "romantic evening" I would suggest Jiko I have never seen very many kids here and it is my personal favorite restaurant on Disney property (I have not been to V&A's YET)

I wholeheartedly suggest the Flatbreads, Taste of Africa and Wild Boar, Filet with Mac and Cheese and finish the evening with a nice tea or press pot coffee

 

[tink'smom2B]

We spent our anniversary dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse and while it was very nice, we had a young family across from us and the children stared at us the entire time. It wasn't at all romantic.

 

[Hopefully]

I'm not trying to put rain on your parade, but aside from V&A, all of the Disney restaurants are family friendly. So finding a venue that is "quiet" and "romantic" might not be as easy as one would have hoped. In truth, you stand the best chance if you have a late dinner (i.e., after 8:00 pm) and choose a location that does not have fireworks viewing.

Of the Disney Signatures, I think you're best bets are Jiko, Artist Point, and Yachtsman. I actually really like Jiko and Artist Point. These three tend to be among the more quiet Signatures either because they're out of the way (e.g., Jiko) or just lower on the radar compared to nearby Sigs (e.g., Artist Point tends to get overlooked because of the other Sigs in the MK area).

I would also consider looking into the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin. Many of the them get very good reviews and they don't take the dining plan, which does affect how many guests go there.

These are my thoughts exactly
Good Luck

 

[disnut8]

"And while I like the California Grill, I don't think anyone can call it quiet or romantic. "

I have to agree with this. My husband and I went there (before the refurb so it may have changed) and thought it was loud and way too open. We spent a shade more money than our other dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse and while I would return to Yachtsman, California Grill is on the "been there, done that, ain't going back".

My personal vote would be for the Yachtsman not just for the meal we had but also for the chance after dinner (or before) for a nice quiet walk around Crescent Lake. Sometimes the romance is not about the food but the entire evening.

 

[Mrsjvb]

concur with Jiko. in fact we have ressies on arrival night( our anniversary) in September.

not sure if you can ask for it ahead of time, but the wine cellar room is smaller and walled off from the main restaurant so the noise factor is subdued(unless of course it is 9 pm and the other table in the section has an infant and two toddlers who are way over tired. luckily they had finished up their meal and were gone within half an hour of us sitting down) the view is somewhat blocked by walls of wine bottles but it was a small price to pay....

 

[Uncleromulus]

As others have suggested, "quiet and romantic" is not easy to find at WDW.

The Swan/Dolphin spots have far less kids than the WDW operated restaurants, but now and then you'll get a large convention at those hotels and it becomes VERY noisy.

The WDW operated restaurants are usually full of kids--over many years we find the FEWEST kids at Citricos and I think it is probably the most likely spot to find a somewhat romantic and quiet dinner. But no guarantees

 

[mickeygirl14]

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. We're headed there again this trip and can't wait!

 

[L&Lfan]

We second Shula's. My boyfriend and I have eaten there too many times to count and for the life of me I don't recall EVER seeing any children there! And you can still take that romantic stroll around Crescent Lake!

 

[ElizabethB]

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.