Official California Grill Open ADR Watch Thread

[Dikran]

So glad to hear the positive reviews of late.... we'll be there tomorrow night!

Same here!

 

[snausman]

I have to admit I was hesitant to keep our ADR for 11/3 after reading some of the posts here, but we kept it as it has always been our favorite. Happy to say our meal was fantastic! Jason was our waiter and the service was terrific. We were not rushed and our meal was timed to wishes. We had a spicy Kazan roll and a flatbread - both were very good and the temp on the flatbread was perfect. DH and I both had the filet and it was just as good as we remembered. Temp was perfect even with being held for the fireworks. We have very high expectations and we weren't disappointed!

I am also so glad to see these reviews!!! Looks like they are getting their stuff together.

Laura

 

[mystery222184]

It's great that the reviews have improved. We are still debating between getting entrées or a few sushi dishes and flatbreads!

 

[TACandgirls]

So glad to hear the positive reviews of late.... we'll be there tomorrow night!

How was it? I am sorry to say I ate there on Wednesday Nov 6 and it was NOT at all as it should have been. From what I could see the fault goes to the kitchen staff. The disorganization was evident and the wait staff was extremely frustrated because of it. At one point it actually looked like a verbal argument broke out among a couple of the kitchen staff. Not professional AT ALL!!! Our waitress did A LOT of apologizing and it was obvious that it was not her fault-so her tip was not affected.

We dined there in the past (March 2012) and was so impressed. All I can say is Wednesday night's experience was very disappointing. My daughter and her boyfriend dined with us and had been there on Oct 30,2013 also. They let us know it was nothing like we have experienced in the past BUT agreed to try again when we went - it was strike 2 for them.

 

[snausman]

How was it? I am sorry to say I ate there on Wednesday Nov 6 and it was NOT at all as it should have been. From what I could see the fault goes to the kitchen staff. The disorganization was evident and the wait staff was extremely frustrated because of it. At one point it actually looked like a verbal argument broke out among a couple of the kitchen staff. Not professional AT ALL!!! Our waitress did A LOT of apologizing and it was obvious that it was not her fault-so her tip was not affected.

We dined there in the past (March 2012) and was so impressed. All I can say is Wednesday night's experience was very disappointing. My daughter and her boyfriend dined with us and had been there on Oct 30,2013 also. They let us know it was nothing like we have experienced in the past BUT agreed to try again when we went - it was strike 2 for them.

Oh no, here I was starting to get my hopes up. Why can't they get it together. CG has had plenty of time now. What is the problem.

Laura

 

[tarheelmjfan]

It appears CG is plagued with the same illness all the Disney run restaurants suffer from. They're all extremely inconsistent. None of the signature restaurants, other than V&A, appear to be immune. Inconsistency is to be expected. We would have taken our chances at CG, if that were the only issue. In the end I canceled, because I couldn't find two things on the dessert menu I'd want to order. I enjoy dessert on vacation & theirs don't appeal to me at all. The off the menu option looks like the best choice, but that can change. If they revamp the dessert menu, we'll give it a try. The rest of the menu looks good.

 

[Beth]

How was it? I am sorry to say I ate there on Wednesday Nov 6 and it was NOT at all as it should have been.

Hmmm... Hard to say.

We took my niece and her husband with us - they had never been, before.

I requested the "wine room" - don't recall what they're calling it now.

Our server, whom we have had before, was incredibly gracious and attentive. Unfortunately, there was a party of (approx) 6 adults and 8 children in the room with us. They were there when we arrived, and were still there when we left.

Suffice it to say that they really ruined an otherwise lovely meal. Our food was delicious - we had two sushi dishes, one flatbread, the filet, the shortribs, and the pork. We ended with the banana fritters and the "seasonal" apple dessert. (the creme brulee' was amazing!)

But the party in our room was so very, very loud. The children were laughing and sqealing, and the parents were literally obvlivious. And honestly, I think the parents were the louder of the bunch most of the time.

I try not to be a confrontational person, but I couldn't resist turning and giving the "evil eye" on a few occasions when the volume just became inexcusable.

Our server had to repeat himself over and over, again. As he tried to review the entrees, he clearly became distracted and was very frustrated. He sweetly brought us a few "goodies" to try to make amends - but we all knew it wasn't his fault.

The worst part was, there were several parties escorted back to "the room" during our time there, who clearly turned around, asking to be seated elsewhere, because of the noise they observed for the short time they stood there.

Sorry to go on and on.... It was just very disappointing. We don't often spend that much money on a meal, but we love California Grill, and were so excited to share it with our niece and nephew.

As far as the restaurant - being "removed" from the dining room, it's hard to say what others were experiencing.

All in all, our food was good, and our server was great.

 

[TACandgirls]

Oh goodness.....I think I took a monorail ride with that family. The women were louder than the children. And the children were LOUD!!! I had to move my seat to get as far away from them as I could (we were on the monorail and it WAS moving so I could only go so far) I truly think if I could have jumped off I would have. My 26yr old daughter (who is a high school teacher and deals with teenagers daily) was appauled at their behavior and made a comment on how inconsiderate they all were. We know the "father" heard her - he was the only quiet one in the bunch. But.....nothing was said to any of them to quiet down. So he apparently has no control over them either. VERY RUDE PEOPLE!!!

As for Cali Grille - funny because the finishing touch on the evening was when my daughter ordered the creme brulee (she had been waiting a year and a half since she had it last-she was at Disney in July but Cali Grille was still closed.) The waitress told her she was so sorry but the kitchen had stopped taking orders as they were now out. (Mind you if we had not waited 2 hours to be served 1 appetizer and 4 entrees- she would have been able to get her coveted creme brulee'.

Like I said before.....kitchen was a disorganized disaster - that night anyway!!

 

[ammag]

We ate there on Sunday night 11/10 had a fantastic experience. Our server was Jason who was awesome and sweet. We waited maybe 20 min last our reservation at most and didn't mind sitting and looking at the view.seated right before we ordered cocktail. We had dragon roll, spicy Kazan. Excellent! We went out to watch wishes, which made me cry a bit, lol. S then we went back and they brought our other two dishes we were sharing, the ducks nd the surf and turf appetizers. Both were good but since the sushi had time to settle during wishes we both were so full we ate most of it t not all and then could not handle dessert! It was our anniversary and Jason brought out the crime Brûlée anyway and said come on you have to have desse on your anniversary! It was very nice and we did eat and love it. I was nervous after the mixed reviews but ur nt could ot have gone better,except for us ordering one dish too many!

 

[Polish Hammer]

What is it with the people that carry on at CG and let the kids run wild? Sure you're at Disney, but it's still a 4* restaurant that people are paying $100/pp to eat at. Yet kids are running wild like it's the Playplace at McDonalds and run wild all night ruining the dining experience for others. Perhaps CG needs to step up their game and police it a little better.

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Hmmm... Hard to say.

We took my niece and her husband with us - they had never been, before.

I requested the "wine room" - don't recall what they're calling it now.

Our server, whom we have had before, was incredibly gracious and attentive. Unfortunately, there was a party of (approx) 6 adults and 8 children in the room with us. They were there when we arrived, and were still there when we left.

Suffice it to say that they really ruined an otherwise lovely meal. Our food was delicious - we had two sushi dishes, one flatbread, the filet, the shortribs, and the pork. We ended with the banana fritters and the "seasonal" apple dessert. (the creme brulee' was amazing!)

But the party in our room was so very, very loud. The children were laughing and sqealing, and the parents were literally obvlivious. And honestly, I think the parents were the louder of the bunch most of the time.

I try not to be a confrontational person, but I couldn't resist turning and giving the "evil eye" on a few occasions when the volume just became inexcusable.

Our server had to repeat himself over and over, again. As he tried to review the entrees, he clearly became distracted and was very frustrated. He sweetly brought us a few "goodies" to try to make amends - but we all knew it wasn't his fault.

The worst part was, there were several parties escorted back to "the room" during our time there, who clearly turned around, asking to be seated elsewhere, because of the noise they observed for the short time they stood there.

Sorry to go on and on.... It was just very disappointing. We don't often spend that much money on a meal, but we love California Grill, and were so excited to share it with our niece and nephew.

As far as the restaurant - being "removed" from the dining room, it's hard to say what others were experiencing.

All in all, our food was good, and our server was great.

Sounds like you were a victim of Jersey Week...

 

[TACandgirls]

Sounds like you were a victim of Jersey Week...

Oh boy!!!!! Sorry but exactly what I thought too!!!

 

[Beth]

Sounds like you were a victim of Jersey Week...

HaHa - No comment.

I really did feel bad for the waitstaff. What appeared to be a manager walked back there a few times, but nothing was ever said to them. They purchased many bottles of wine, and I had to wonder if that may have been the reason their behavior was tolerated?

 

[bobbins]

What is it with the people that carry on at CG and let the kids run wild? Sure you're at Disney, but it's still a 4* restaurant that people are paying $100/pp to eat at. Yet kids are running wild like it's the Playplace at McDonalds and run wild all night ruining the dining experience for others. Perhaps CG needs to step up their game and police it a little better.

I could only think that perhaps if they're on the DDP then it's kind of "free" and people don't attach any value to free stuff. Although the poster did say the group was ordering a lot of wine.

We were put in the wine room on a previous visit and I didn't like it as it was dead and lacked atmosphere.


We ate the refurbished CG last night and I'm glad to report that the three of us in the party were very happy with the overall experience. Had a minor snafu on arrival - we checked in downstairs and were given a pager. My wife asked if we'd have time to look at the gingerbread Christmas tree on the 4th floor but we were told we'd already been seated, so we went straight up.

When we got to CG we were told to take a seat in the lounge and wait for the pager to go off - I said we've already been seated, but the CM repeated the same thing (and I have to say this has been a bit of theme with this trip to WDW) "take a seat in the lounge for the pager to go off". However I can be insistent too and she eventually looked and said "oh yes, here you are".

We had a nicely positioned table in the middle of the far end of the room so with just 3 of us around it we had a great view on the Castle. We arrived at 7.30 and the evening was nicely paced (definitely on a European style, as a previous poster mentioned) and we'd just about finished as Wishes started at 9.30. Even though we'd finished our server said he'd leave us alone and do the bill after the fireworks had finished.

As mentioned, service was fine for us - I can imagine other people may think it was a little slow, but we were happy to spend the evening there. The waiter somehow seemed to be very busy although didn't appear to be looking after many tables, which was slightly confusing. The single thing that made it seem "new" was the server who brought my cheese plate didn't know which way round to put it down but our waiter was there to guide her which he did almost un-noticed. Perhaps that's why the waiter seemed busy, he was hovering over all of his tables to make sure everything went OK?

Food was as good as expected. Shared sushi and flatbread starters and we all had steak for main course - I might have had scallops but for the excelleant scallop dish at Narcoosee a few nights before. Anyway, the steaks were probably cooked more to a European standard than US - usually they're a step less cooked here for the same rating so we order medium here expecting to get something a bit rarer. However it's not critical for us and they were absolutely fine.

I noticed someone said earlier that the desert menu was limited - well, as long as I can get the cheese plate then I'm happy. After a starter and decent main course, desert isn't a big deal for my wife and daughter - if it wasn't on the DDP they probably wouldn't bother.

 

[Sorcerina]

Made the same experience (very loud people) during our last trip. That did not happened the other trips.
Dont these people thinking about ruining other peoples evening?

 

[Polish Hammer]

Made the same experience (very loud people) during our last trip. That did not happened the other trips.
Dont these people thinking about ruining other peoples evening?

Agreed. DDP or no DDP, it's a high end dining experience and some of the behavior should not be tolerated. There's just no legitimate reason why it is permitted in a Signature restaurant.

 

[mom2kandj]

Looking to cancel 12/28 CG at 5pm for 4

 

[disneydreamer781]

I'm starting to think of giving up my Cali Grill ADR and just hitting TOTWL instead. The lack of consistency has me worried.

I'm also thinking the same. Doesn't look to be worth that signature designation anymore. This may make it easier to decide between CG and Citricos after all as I was torn.

 

[pangyal]

I'm also thinking the same. Doesn't look to be worth that signature designation anymore. This may make it easier to decide between CG and Citricos after all as I was torn.

These reviews are from three years ago

 

[disneydreamer781]

These reviews are from three years ago

Yes, I saw that after but it doesn't look like much has changed as I've also been reading current ones.