Official California Grill Open ADR Watch Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
cattrix said:
We were on the DDP so we were stuffed at the end of the meal, but to me portion size was exactly the same as it used to be. We didn't see any difference in that aspect of the meal.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience. :goodvibes I'm curious to know if you were able to get the Spicy Kazan roll as an appetizer on the DDP?
 
snausman said:
I know people will be upset with me but this is my family opinion. W e ate at CG on Friday the 13th. LOVED what they did with the restaurant it is beautiful!

But the food was, well, just not that good at all. First not to wild about the selection of apps they had but we went with the duck in its glory and spicy roll. We loved the spicy K roll it was out of this world. The duck one was just ok and we all love duck. Just was not that great. Than we received our dinner, 2 of us had the fillet and 1 the scallops and the other the 3 pork dinner. The fillets came out wrong, way over cooked. We ordered them rare, and black and blue. My DD who ordered hers black and blue came out rare, and she could live with it but mine came out medium, no where near rare. They did offer to take it back and get me another. The reason I hate this, is that everyone will be done with their dinner or close to when I get mine. But I did have them recook the steak, and of course everyone was done when it finally came out. My SIL scallops where way under cooked and my DH did not have enough.

So over all not a great experience. Watching the fireworks from our table was magical but the meal was not worth 2 dining credits. I know people will be upset with this, and to be honest this broke my heart. I have been going to CG since it was a dinner show. Loved it when it went to CG but this new change, well my family and I are not even sure we will give them a second try. That's how bad it was.

Laura
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100%
We ate there on Sept 19th & what a mess!
First some clown was complaining that he didn't know he had to have a ADR & was complaining so much that Management took he upstairs...Ok we thought he would just sit in the lounge , but no they gave a seat right by the window.
He got served before us.
Ok so this is were it gets real bad.
I have a allergy & the waiter said "oh we are trained in that you don't need to see the chef" I laughed & said ok we will see.

My wife ordered a steak Medium & I ordered mine Med Well....well we waited & waited & waited till I blew up & said to the Mgr what is going on? We waited at least 45 minutes until we got our meal & that was ONLY after I *****ed & the Mg went to the kitchen & was gone to for a bit I swear he had them cook my steak,,,BUT at this point I am boiling & the mgr comes back & i asked him what took so long. he said (i can;t make this up) "because I ordred a steak Med well done it takes longer.I said please don't insult me.

Ok so we ate ( food was real bad) so I got the check & singed it & then looked at it & said to my DW what kind of beer did you order for 69.00? & when did you get 2 Irish coffee's & who had the fish?????????
You guessed it they gave us the wrong check!!!!!! I then erupted to a point that i have never have before. The Mgr come's over & says what's wrong now & I said "YOU GAVE US THE WRONG CHECK" .....They did comp us, but the meal as so bad & was so ticked off I had to go get some Tums after we ate.

NEVER again will we go there I still have to talk to the Mgr more I didn't want to create a big scene that i already did.

I wont eat there again until they get their crap together.....
Meanwhile the guy with no ADR had come & gone before we had left.......What a joke!!!!!

I will also say I like "some" of the ne decor, however if you want a semi private conversation you won't get in most places in there...

Just my opinion
 
I surprised my wife on her birthday last week with dinner at CG. We had a 6 o'clock ADR and were seated within 5 min. Of checking in and taken upstairs. We had a fabulous evening. I started with a great glass of wine, I wish I remembered the name. We started with the Pork Pâté flatbread which was very good just needed to be a little hotter.I had Yuzu Marinated Sashimi for my entree and my wife had the Pork Two Ways for her entree which she loved. She was also given creme brûlée for dessert since it was her birthday. The service was outstanding. This was our 25th dinner at CG and it did not disappoint. I think there are a few minor things that need to be worked out such as the flatbread temperature. We can't wait till our next trip and our 26th trip to CG.
 
Disney25th said:
I agree with you 100%
We ate there on Sept 19th & what a mess!
First some clown was complaining that he didn't know he had to have a ADR & was complaining so much that Management took he upstairs...Ok we thought he would just sit in the lounge , but no they gave a seat right by the window.
He got served before us.
Ok so this is were it gets real bad.
I have a allergy & the waiter said "oh we are trained in that you don't need to see the chef" I laughed & said ok we will see.

My wife ordered a steak Medium & I ordered mine Med Well....well we waited & waited & waited till I blew up & said to the Mgr what is going on? We waited at least 45 minutes until we got our meal & that was ONLY after I *****ed & the Mg went to the kitchen & was gone to for a bit I swear he had them cook my steak,,,BUT at this point I am boiling & the mgr comes back & i asked him what took so long. he said (i can;t make this up) "because I ordred a steak Med well done it takes longer.I said please don't insult me.

Ok so we ate ( food was real bad) so I got the check & singed it & then looked at it & said to my DW what kind of beer did you order for 69.00? & when did you get 2 Irish coffee's & who had the fish?????????
You guessed it they gave us the wrong check!!!!!! I then erupted to a point that i have never have before. The Mgr come's over & says what's wrong now & I said "YOU GAVE US THE WRONG CHECK" .....They did comp us, but the meal as so bad & was so ticked off I had to go get some Tums after we ate.

NEVER again will we go there I still have to talk to the Mgr more I didn't want to create a big scene that i already did.

I wont eat there again until they get their crap together.....
Meanwhile the guy with no ADR had come & gone before we had left.......What a joke!!!!!

I will also say I like "some" of the ne decor, however if you want a semi private conversation you won't get in most places in there...

Just my opinion
Click to expand...

Ugh this makes me nervous about the allergy thing. Disney has made such a great name for themselves when it comes to allergies, why would they mess with it? We are scheduled to go there for my husbands birthday. Really questioning spending the money if reviews don't get better.
 
tink519 said:
Ugh this makes me nervous about the allergy thing. Disney has made such a great name for themselves when it comes to allergies, why would they mess with it? We are scheduled to go there for my husbands birthday. Really questioning spending the money if reviews don't get better.
Click to expand...

Though he mentions the allergy thing, unlike everything else about the evening, it seems, he found no fault with the allergy thing - I'm shocked.

There have been great reviews - I'm keeping my ADR for next week, and I'm planning on enjoying it.
 
Abby's Dad said:
Though he mentions the allergy thing, unlike everything else about the evening, it seems, he found no fault with the allergy thing - I'm shocked.

There have been great reviews - I'm keeping my ADR for next week, and I'm planning on enjoying it.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to hear how your dinner will be. Looking forward to your review when you get home. Have a great trip!

Laura
 
Abby's Dad said:
Though he mentions the allergy thing, unlike everything else about the evening, it seems, he found no fault with the allergy thing - I'm shocked.

There have been great reviews - I'm keeping my ADR for next week, and I'm planning on enjoying it.
Click to expand...

This is true. However I don't really like to find out the hard way that the server didn't have time to bother with getting the chef and then I am sick. I work with people in the restaurant industry and you would be shocked at how many don't take gluten seriously. In my experience, the chefs at Disney have been more than happy to speak with me and offer to tailor things to fit my needs. I would be curious about other people's experience to see if this was a restaurant policy or a server making a decision that they knew enough.

I hope you enjoyed your meal! I am hoping to hear more good than bad.
 
tink519 said:
This is true. However I don't really like to find out the hard way that the server didn't have time to bother with getting the chef and then I am sick. I work with people in the restaurant industry and you would be shocked at how many don't take gluten seriously. In my experience, the chefs at Disney have been more than happy to speak with me and offer to tailor things to fit my needs. I would be curious about other people's experience to see if this was a restaurant policy or a server making a decision that they knew enough.

I hope you enjoyed your meal! I am hoping to hear more good than bad.
Click to expand...

I just ate there and it is policy for the waiter to take care of your allergy requests however my waiter asked me if i preferred talking to the chef directly. That night, the waiter did take care of my lactose intolerance and my food allergy to aniseed. He seemed very knowledgable and I trusted him to take care of me. He took my allergy/intolerance very seriously and went over the ingredients in the dishes i was interested in. He went back to the kitchen several times and was really nice and helpful. The chef had a few questions so came out to talk to me anyways. I have to say that unfortunately, the chef was not as accommodating. He seemed overwhelmed with my dairy restrictions and I was given 1 choice on the menu (sushi) and when i asked about dessert he offered only a fruit plate. Very disappointing meal overall for me, but my husband really like his dish.
 
tink519 said:
I work with people in the restaurant industry and you would be shocked at how many don't take gluten seriously.
Click to expand...

I have a number of friends who follow GF diets, either by personal choice, or due to celiac disease, so I pay attention to what is available to help them, and on a positive note, our grocery stores are devoting much more self space to GF products, and a large number of the quality restaurants in our area are adding GF dishes to their menus that sound fantastic, and indicating which items on their menus are GF. So at least for those who follow GF diets, there is a ray of hope out there, and I tend to think that along with that ray, will come others as far as other food allergies.
 
We are back - we ate at CG on 9/29, and we will never return. This is sad, as this has been a regular of ours for years, but the service was less that what one would receive at Denny's. Once we were finally able to order (we were seated in the bar area before our table was ready - twenty minutes there and nobody even acknowledged our presence, let alone solicited a drink order), which was a considerable wait after being seated at our table, the drink order was incorrect. Once we got the right drinks, they were decent (the cucumber fizz and the sake martini). We ordered a Spicy Kazan for our appy, along with wine. A Dragon Roll was brought and dumped on our table by someone other than our waiter. After not being able to attract anyone's attention, let alone our waiter, who was busy talking with the other waiters at their little "station," we ate the Dragon Roll, as it was something we had never tried, and it was good. Halfway through the waiter appeared to see if we were ready for our entry, and I told him no, but that we would like the wine that we had ordered for the Spicy Kazan. He offered to replace the sushi, but kind of late for that. My wife had the scallops, which were good, no better than at Red Lobster, but good. I had the filet, and it was good, but again, no better than many that I have had at chain restaurants. And again, the wine that we ordered for our entrees only arrived halfway through, when he finally came back, and we reminded him (though I must say, that the wine-by-the-glass selection is excellent). After the fireworks were over (and I must say, though I didn't care for the décor changes, the new floor to ceiling windows are great - we were able to see the whole show from our table, and we were not even seated at the window.), we waited and waited, while the waiter busied himself clearing tables and the like. Finally returned, ordered dessert and coffee. Brought coffee, which was gone by the time the dessert finally appeared - asked for more coffee, never got it, and he never returned until we asked someone if we could have our check. The desserts (I had the lemon meringue cheesecake, and I don't recall what my wife had), were uninspired, unimaginative, and definitely not worthy of anything that should be coming from a chef-run Signature Dining location kitchen. This was definitely the only bad experience of our trip - and we had some other great meals. I normally tip 25 to 30% at Cali Grill, because the service and food have always been that good. We were using TIW, so he got the required 18%, but no more. A full letter has been sent to Disney - it will be interesting to note their response.ed

Normally I let things that are subpar just go by the way, and I don't complain (which is probably my mistake), but there was no excuse for this. If they were not able to obtain and train appropriate help, they should not have reopened, and they definitely should not have opened when they were obviously not ready and then expect the customers to pay full price for the privilege of training their staff. Fortunately, there are many excellent restaurants on property, so there is no need for CG for us anymore, and there are many excellent restaurants off property in the area. I felt the need to tell of my experience, since I had written of how much I enjoy CG and in fact, doubted some of the critical reviews. I wish we would had cancelled our ADR there and dined elsewhere.
 
That's so disappointing!! Sorry you had an awful night. I keep hoping it'll be better by the end of December.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
 
Abby's Dad said:
We are back - we ate at CG on 9/29, and we will never return. This is sad, as this has been a regular of ours for years, but the service was less that what one would receive at Denny's. Once we were finally able to order (we were seated in the bar area before our table was ready - twenty minutes there and nobody even acknowledged our presence, let alone solicited a drink order), which was a considerable wait after being seated at our table, the drink order was incorrect. Once we got the right drinks, they were decent (the cucumber fizz and the sake martini). We ordered a Spicy Kazan for our appy, along with wine. A Dragon Roll was brought and dumped on our table by someone other than our waiter. After not being able to attract anyone's attention, let alone our waiter, who was busy talking with the other waiters at their little "station," we ate the Dragon Roll, as it was something we had never tried, and it was good. Halfway through the waiter appeared to see if we were ready for our entry, and I told him no, but that we would like the wine that we had ordered for the Spicy Kazan. He offered to replace the sushi, but kind of late for that. My wife had the scallops, which were good, no better than at Red Lobster, but good. I had the filet, and it was good, but again, no better than many that I have had at chain restaurants. And again, the wine that we ordered for our entrees only arrived halfway through, when he finally came back, and we reminded him (though I must say, that the wine-by-the-glass selection is excellent). After the fireworks were over (and I must say, though I didn't care for the décor changes, the new floor to ceiling windows are great - we were able to see the whole show from our table, and we were not even seated at the window.), we waited and waited, while the waiter busied himself clearing tables and the like. Finally returned, ordered dessert and coffee. Brought coffee, which was gone by the time the dessert finally appeared - asked for more coffee, never got it, and he never returned until we asked someone if we could have our check. The desserts (I had the lemon meringue cheesecake, and I don't recall what my wife had), were uninspired, unimaginative, and definitely not worthy of anything that should be coming from a chef-run Signature Dining location kitchen. This was definitely the only bad experience of our trip - and we had some other great meals. I normally tip 25 to 30% at Cali Grill, because the service and food have always been that good. We were using TIW, so he got the required 18%, but no more. A full letter has been sent to Disney - it will be interesting to note their response.ed

Normally I let things that are subpar just go by the way, and I don't complain (which is probably my mistake), but there was no excuse for this. If they were not able to obtain and train appropriate help, they should not have reopened, and they definitely should not have opened when they were obviously not ready and then expect the customers to pay full price for the privilege of training their staff. Fortunately, there are many excellent restaurants on property, so there is no need for CG for us anymore, and there are many excellent restaurants off property in the area. I felt the need to tell of my experience, since I had written of how much I enjoy CG and in fact, doubted some of the critical reviews. I wish we would had cancelled our ADR there and dined elsewhere.
Click to expand...

sorry to hear of your bad experience ... seems like the framework is there for a good restaurant (good wine list, good sushi and apps, etc.) but surprised how many bad reviews I have read about the service - something they should be able to get a handle on

Hopefully it improves and quickly as we have an ADR there next week
 
TheMaxRebo said:
Hopefully it improves and quickly as we have an ADR there next week
Click to expand...

.For your sake, I hope it does also - supposedly all of their original staff was retained, but we saw very few that we recognized. For us, this was one of only one or two restaurants on site that had top notch service, and the dining experience was one of few that were second only to Victoria & Alberts. Sadly, this wasn't the case for our experience this time. Hopefully yours will be great.
 
All these negative reviews are interesting to read. We have reservations for 6 pm on the 1st of November and were looking forward to a great, leisurely dinner to kick off our evening. Now we are kind of intrigued and are looking forward to the possibility of a horrifically horrid experience we can spend the whole night laughing about. This is the start to our Monorail Bar Crawl, so either way the evening will be a blast. I will report back and let you all know how it goes... if I can remember it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page


GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!


New DISboards Threads

Jsharp13
Epcot options! Looking for opinions
Replies
2
Views
61
TheSouthernBelle
TheSouthernBelle
S
Bippity Boppity makeup only?
Replies
3
Views
48
stoudty
S
T
Old Key West Promo for new members
Replies
2
Views
92
DonkeyHoTay
DonkeyHoTay
Alicatt
Treasure inaugural season gifts
Replies
5
Views
100
morgsmagic
morgsmagic
tx911
Bank after modifying?
Replies
3
Views
89
tx911
tx911
J
Disney ships: Who is on the Bow of each ship?
Replies
0
Views
70
JanetRose
J
NEWS & UPDATES
WDW MENUS



Latest posts







facebook twitter
Top