What's your least favorite popular restaurant?

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

I think a lot of it truly depends on the crowds, whether the restaurant is especially overbooked, the behavior of other guests, and the quality of your particular server.

We have had two bad experiences at 1900 Park Fare due to overbooking and understaffing, Via Napoli was also overbooked when we were there, and it seemed very similar to other Italian restaurants where we have eaten.

We have had great experiences at Ohana and CRT and BOG when we were seated right on time and had a relaxed dining experience, but we have also had not-so-great experiences at BOG and CRT when we had a to wait a long time to be seated and felt rushed due to overcrowding.

I really think that each restaurant can vary tremendously depending on when you go, the crowd levels, and who is your server.

 

[djc9699]

We loved the atmosphere and characters at 1900 Park Fair Dinner, but hated the food. We didn't care for Deluxe Burger either. CRT was our worst I think.

 

[Candris79]

Hollywood and Vine and Crystal Palace are the worst.

 

[jsternad]

Chef Mickey's. I was so disappointed in the food. I thought the characters were fine, but I couldn't believe how awful the food was (and I am very easy to please!). We can see those characters elsewhere, it's not worth it.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Whispering Canyon, for me, was the worst.

I really couldn't wait to get out of there.

The "antics" crossed the line and then some.

 

[Elle23]

Akershus

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Kona Cafe was a let down for us. Our service was slow and the food was just OK...after all the rave reviews it was a disappointment.

 

[hosler427]

The worst TS meal I have had on Disney property was easily at Crystal Palace. That was just food though...The worst service I got on property was at Kona Cafe. It just took forever and our waitress was never around. But like a previous poster said, that is just one time. That can vary a lot. Because of that, I have been back to Kona and had a great meal. I won't go back to Crystal Palace though. Food was just not good.

 

[SGMCO]

Kona and Chef Mickey's

 

[Mal6586]

Hands down, CRT dinner. I had such high expectations since the price is so high and it's hard (though not as hard as it once was) to get a reservation, especially just for 2, and it did not meet any of them. I thought the food was mediocre at best (or at least mine was. My roommate's looked downright inedible.), and my dessert was very dry. The service once we were seated upstairs was good, but we had a long wait for our table, and the CM at the check-in desk was very rude to me when I tried to check in 5 minutes early. I said I had a 5:20 reservation, and he cocked his head and sassed me back, "Then I will check you in at 5:20." Umm working the check-in desk at CRT does not make you the God of Disney dining, and I did not show up an hour early expecting to be seated. I showed up 5 minutes early, and at every other restaurant we ate at, we were checked in 5 minutes early. God forbid I be punctual and want to not be late for my ADR. Also, I thought the princesses couldn't have cared less about visiting a table of 2 adults. I don't care that I don't have kids. I still expect a certain level of interaction for what I paid to eat there. (Sidenote: Every other character meal I've had with just adults was AMAZING as far as character interaction went, (face and fuzzy) so this was definitely just a CRT thing.)

Whew... I got a little more passionate about that than I intended to.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Tony's in the MK. The food is just terrible. Calling this Italian food is just wrong. The worst Italian food I have ever had anywhere.

 

[disneyvoice]

mayo (which has been my mortal enemy since birth - god, its disgusting

LOL!! I have found a culinary soulmate!! I can't even get NEAR mayonnaise. I realize it seems pathological but I literally start to heave when I see mayonnaise or know mayonnaise is in something on my plate. If there is a small container on my plate with mayonnaise like for a sandwich or something my DH has to take away so I don't start to gag - I can't even handle the container myself because the thought of getting it on my fingers makes me sick.

Yes, I know it's weird.

 

[disneyvoice]

Ours are Le Cellier - not because of the food but we had such horrendous service that my DH refuses to ever eat there again. Service was so bad we actually started timing things. The server took our drink orders after about 15 minutes, then he returned 20 minutes later WITHOUT our drinks to take our order. 10 minutes after that he finally brought them and after 30 minutes (after we watched several tables turn over that got there after us) my DH asked a different waiter if he could look for our food because our waiter literally disappeared (there were several other tables waiting to pay their bill - this was before Magic Bands - and they were getting frustrated because no one knew where the waiter was). Probably 10 minutes later we got our food, we think the server never turned in our order. We were never offered refills on drinks although they were empty before our food arrived. My DH had to get a third server to take his credit card so we could pay. The food was actually very good once we got it, but by that time we were already over Le Cellier.

'Ohana is another one for us. Although we have really enjoyed 'Ohana in the past, I think we are just too darn old to for 'Ohana anymore. The last time we were there, although the server was very friendly, we felt like the food was basically being thrown at us with the expectation that we would inhale it as soon as it hit the table. And while I appreciate getting my money's worth at a WDW restaurant, it felt like they kept coming around with more giant skewers of meat when we had hardly taken a bite of what was still on our plate. Mu DH commented that he felt like a caveman who had just slaughtered and consumed 3 species of dinosaurs in their entirety as we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant. We were STUFFED and we typically don't stuff ourselves at restaurants - their was just something about the amount of food being plopped on our plates and the speed at which it kept coming that made both of us eat much faster and much more than we normally would. The food was good though.

Bonus: I also don't understand the big deal about that ghastly LeFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern. It is the strangest and grossest combination of flavors I have ever experienced in a non-alcoholic beverage. And so sweet - just . . . YUCK!!

 

[amberpi]

LOL!! I have found a culinary soulmate!! I can't even get NEAR mayonnaise. I realize it seems pathological but I literally start to heave when I see mayonnaise or know mayonnaise is in something on my plate. If there is a small container on my plate with mayonnaise like for a sandwich or something my DH has to take away so I don't start to gag - I can't even handle the container myself because the thought of getting it on my fingers makes me sick.

Yes, I know it's weird.

Not weird to me. I tell every waitress with any sandwich even if there is no mention of mayo, no mayo, and I HATE when people don't tell me when something has mayo in it. Its the worst. My first husband's family was from the midwest and ate lots of casseroles (another shudder of terribleness I don't understand) and they would have mayo in them. They knew I hated it. They wouldn't tell me. One bite in, I'd say "so this has mayonnaise?" - they couldn't believe I could detect it. I would be shocked their palettes couldn't identify the awful taste of it. They would put mayo in salad! What is that, with iceberg lettuce and frozen peas? That's not salad! So, we are definitely able to form the anti-mayonnaise brigade! And all its upmarket cousins that will try to trick you into eating mayo - I'm looking at you Aoli! And who was in the kitchen and decided eggs and oil, that'll be GREAT! Who was that guy? I want answers!

 

[amberpi]

Bonus: I also don't understand the big deal about that ghastly LeFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern. It is the strangest and grossest combination of flavors I have ever experienced in a non-alcoholic beverage. And so sweet - just . . . YUCK!!

We truly are culinary soulmates. After partaking in one of those "brews" I wonder if people allowing their children to have them are doing it as a form of punishment - stop whinging, or I'll make you have a LeFou's Brew.

 

[disneyvoice]

@amberpi OMG!! My DH is also from the midwest and I am from Southern California. What is the deal with casseroles in the midwest??? And, yes, mayo in salads - my MIL calls it "Salad Dressing" but it is literally just watered down mayonnaise. Iceberg lettuce, canned or frozen vegetables - another puzzling item: canned potatoes!! Huh?? I never knew such a thing existed. But I'm with you on the salad - it makes no sense. Plain iceberg lettuce with "salad dressing" - just . . . why???

 

[amberpi]

@amberpi OMG!! My DH is also from the midwest and I am from Southern California. What is the deal with casseroles in the midwest??? And, yes, mayo in salads - my MIL calls it "Salad Dressing" but it is literally just watered down mayonnaise. Iceberg lettuce, canned or frozen vegetables - another puzzling item: canned potatoes!! Huh?? I never knew such a thing existed. But I'm with you on the salad - it makes no sense. Plain iceberg lettuce with "salad dressing" - just . . . why???

I have no idea what they're doing up there, but as we'd say in the South "it ain't right." Canned potatoes are a new one for me even now. My folks were weird growing up, they'd be/are the perfect hipsters. Mom canned her own vegetables, on her huge farm, (we lived in a proper city, the farm is a couple of counties away, and let's be honest, she had people work the garden a lot of the time) all organic, because she didn't/doesn't trust tinned tomatoes and such. At the time, she was considered kinda either a) country (lord knows, she's not), or b) eccentric. I cook from fresh produce. You can imagine my *** when I first started going up there. I've seriously had meals there were the meal was 4 different kinds of casseroles. I. CAN'T. EVEN. and budlight. At least I always lost weight on those trips

I have to ask, have you had the salad that's mayo, lettuce, bacon, cheese and frozen peas?

 

[2princessmomma]

We have never really had a bad experience anywhere, but Chef Mickeys is one i really wanted to love and we have been a couple times for breakfast and dinner and it just doesn't really do anything for me.

 

[disneyvoice]

I have to ask, have you had the salad that's mayo, lettuce, bacon, cheese and frozen peas?

I have seen it served before but never tried it - bleh!! My husband said they called it 7 Layer Salad growing up and that the version he has had also has onions and tomatoes in it. He looked it up and said the dressing is a combination of mayonnaise, sugar, and parmesan cheese. I'm gagging just thinking about it.

I totally understand the "culture shock." The only vegetables my DH ever had growing up were canned green beans, canned corn (sometimes fresh - this is Indiana we are talking about), and tomatoes. He didn't know what an artichoke or asparagus was the first time I cooked it. He thought Kraft Catalina dressing was "fancy" until I came along. I was a vegetarian in high school and college.

I imagine your *** face was the same as mine when I asked about the potato side dish at a family get together and was told it was two CANS of potatoes, a CAN of green beans, and a STICK of butter wrapped in tin foil and baked. I could feel my arteries clogging from the butter and my blood pressure rising from all the sodium in the canned potatoes and green beans just listening to the recipe.

Thankfully my DH discovered he really likes all my "strange" food. He is used to his weird organic wife now and no longer thinks anything is weird.

 

[amberpi]

Thankfully my DH discovered he really likes all my "strange" food. He is used to his weird organic wife now and no longer thinks anything is weird.

I love this post! I so relate. Awesome that your DH loves your strange, and I'm sure delicious food. Mine did too, but he was older and had been away (from northern Indiana) long enough before I met him that not much was new to him.

7 layer salad! The ones I've seen had celery in them and maybe green peppers? Not sure, and I'm not sure they were all identical, or what exactly was in that mayo layer. It was far too gross to examine!