Why Are Most Restaurant Reviews So Mixed?

[Martyap]

Is it me or do most readers find that there are such wide discrepancies among the reviews? I just finished reading recent reviews on Mama Melrose and BOG and cannot find any real consensus of opinions. Some say it was the best meal they had, others got sick or walked out, service was great, service sucked......wow! How can anyone make logical choices? Are there no tried and true consistent choices out there?

I have to make ADR's soon for 10 people and the more I read the more I sense your best chance for a decent meal at any average restaurant on the DDP is 50%. We're not looking for gourmet......just a good meal for the price we are paying. Is that impossible to ask for?

Reading all of these very inconsistent reviews is really making me ask if the DDP is worth it!

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

I just think some folks are picky or hard to please. We've eaten very few bad meals at Disney & had very few times with bad service.

Tusker House lunch this last time we had poor service but every other time it has been great. Once at Ohana we had that rushed feel & poor service but all the other 5 or 6 times it was excellant!

We've only marked one place off our list though the years & will never, ever repeat it. It was because we hated the food there...but lots of folks love it. To us the seasonings were just icky...was Tangerine Grill I think it is called , a CS.

We tried Chef Mickey's this last time at breakfast & it gets lots of poor reviews. We loved it! Service & food & characters were awesome!

Some places are more special & the food better... such as Calif Grill, Flying Fish, Teppon Edo, & Ohana supper. But, we've dined at majority of the restaurants at Disney now & most are just pretty good!

I really think if you like the sound of the meal...you most likely will be happy with most places you dine at. At least we find it that way. And if it is a really, really hard place to get a ADR for... even if people complain about it alot... most likely it is popular for some reason. (Like LeCellier, Ohana & Chef Mickey's)

 

[HappyHaunts999]

Some of the issue is that different people have different tastes. People also have different expectations. Disney is also always changing staff, so one person make get a cm who has been there for years and someone else may get someone who just started yesterday. Pick a place based on a menu that fits your family. Decor you find interesting and or characters you would like to see.
In my family we have people who like spicy and those who don't. Some love indian and others can't stand it. Try not to stress and think about what best suits you. Even if it turns out to be a bad meal there is always someplace else around the corner that will have something you will love.

 

[cathigh10]

I agree with the PP. It is just that people have different tastes and expect different experiences. My family has almost always had really good meals at Disney. We are trying BOG for the first time this summer. I know it has mixed reviews, but I think you just have to form your own opinion. Some of my favorites are Ohana's for dinner, Tusker House for lunch, and 1900 Park Fare for the Cinderella Dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Stepsisters and the Stepmother.

 

[smiths02]

Remember that reviews are more often written if someone has a strong feeling...especially a negative feeling.
I have been to Disney 3 times and never went hungry!
I pick places for the atmosphere that appeals to us and I go in expecting food to be on par with a local chain.

 

[rizzo0904]

You've got folks who like to enjoy a night out at Applebee's and you've got folks who like to enjoy high tea at the Ritz Carlton. Expectations differ greatly.

 

[Martyap]

Seven most recent reviews of Mama Melrose. I know everyone has different tastes but if I were reading these reviews about a restaurant in my home town I would most likely take a pass.....wouldn't you?

We did the MM Fantasmic package during our last trip and loved it. The calamari was delicious as were the steak and the chicken parm. DDs loved it too! In fact, it is the one place that DH has requested we get an ADR for during our upcoming trip.
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I know the OP already went but I will add my review. We went the second week of December for lunch and it was amazing. A few people ad the sirloin and it was the best I have ever tasted. We had a party of 10 and the waiter handed us beautifully. My mom is a chef and now is a manager for a national chain so she tends to be a tough customer and she was happy. It was the best meal we ate especially after a member of our party got food poisoning at TRex (confirmed at urgent care) so we felt we were due for a good meal!
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We ate here for the first time during the week between Christmas and New Year's. I loved the atmosphere...and food was okay, nothing exceptional. But the service wasn't very good. Our waitress seemed to be confused. First she told us that TIW was blacked out the whole week. I suggested she double check, since I'd been using it all week, and she fought me! Eventually, she did check and apologized. Then one our pizzas came out wrong, but she didn't deliver it, someone else did, and we had to track her down. She took back the wrong one and promised to bring us the correct one...but we were completely done eating before we ever saw her again.

Overall impression: meh.

Or, as my 10 year old nephew said as we left: "Okay food. Bad service. I'll give it half-a thumb up."
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we had lunch here on Jan 12th and it was one of the best meals I had at disney. I had the charred strip steak and it was delicious, the mac n cheese that came with it was great too. Husband had the chicken parm, which he liked, but liked my food better. Kids had cheese pizza which was several stripes above the bread-y little pizzas you get elsewhere in the parks. They enjoyed them. I will be going back here!
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Worst food/service in WDW. Couldn't stomach it, was rushed out, chef never came to our table to go over food with us (food allergy). Will never eat there again.
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We really like it! Have always had great service at Mama's. We try to get there on every trip...our upcoming trip being no exception. Our faves are the strip steak, calamari, carne d'italia flatbread, chix parm and the amarettini cheesecake. YUMMO! Ressie is set for 2/26!!
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It's mediocre

 

[iloveeeyore]

First of all, many of Disney restaurants are very inconsistent. They are a resort and seem to have a pretty high turnover of personnel, especially during the busier months. Experiences can vary from night to night, or even from table to table, depending upon your server and the time.

Also, people have wildly different expectations and tastes. My family didn't enjoy WCC at all. The ketchup thing just wasn't funny to us. Others find it hilarious. And that's just about the entertainment, never mind the food.

I have found that a key part of enjoying things is managing expectations. If you go into any experience, not just Disney dining, thinking that something is going to blow you away, you will probably be disappointed. On the other hand, if you hope that things are going to be at least acceptable, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. Also, people have different ways of looking at things...glass half empty or half full people.

Keep your mind open and expectations low, and you will most likely have a great time!

 

[Euphoria027]

I think people are paying a premium and expect perfection from every aspect of their vacation. When it comes down to it, the people serving you/cooking your meal/etc are only human and are doing all that they can to accommodate massive crowds, so not everyone gets the experience they're hoping for.

And some people are just nitpicky and will never be happy.

 

[jennylyn_b]

People expect too much sometimes. They expect perfection in service and food. We go to Disney twice a year for two weeks each trip and eat Ts every night. Of all those trips only three or four places are on our "wait a few years and maybe try again" list. Disney restaurants serve so many ppl. I have read two reviews of the same restaurant on the same night seated within 15mins of each other. One loved the place, service and food while the other did not! Just pick where you want based on atmosphere and menu and see for yourself!

 

[smiths02]

Is it me or do most readers find that there are such wide discrepancies among the reviews? I just finished reading recent reviews on Mama Melrose and BOG and cannot find any real consensus of opinions. Some say it was the best meal they had, others got sick or walked out, service was great, service sucked......wow! How can anyone make logical choices? Are there no tried and true consistent choices out there?

I have to make ADR's soon for 10 people and the more I read the more I sense your best chance for a decent meal at any average restaurant on the DDP is 50%. We're not looking for gourmet......just a good meal for the price we are paying. Is that impossible to ask for?

Reading all of these very inconsistent reviews is really making me ask if the DDP is worth it!

I am not sure what you mean by a good meal for the price you are paying, but I got a decent meal at all the places we went. Every single one of my meals, I could have gotten the same quality food for 1/2-2/3 the price at a local chain place BUT I could not have gotten the atmosphere.

My only disappointments were Chef Mickey dinner. It really wasn't that bad. The characters were cute. I just don't care for the Contemporary...and there are other places to see Mickey. The selection of items seem limited and the buffet could have been a little neater, but we all found something to eat and no one got sick. Kind of like Sizzler or Ryan's or some other place like that. Would I pay $35 per adult for that in the real world? No...would I pay $15-20 sure!

The only other disappointment was Cape May (dinner). Again, the food was fine. I just didn't care for the atmosphere (just boring to me). For the price, I would have been just as happy at Red Lobster or Bubba Gump.

 

[Martyap]

People expect too much sometimes. They expect perfection in service and food. We go to Disney twice a year for two weeks each trip and eat Ts every night. Of all those trips only three or four places are on our "wait a few years and maybe try again" list. Disney restaurants serve so many ppl. I have read two reviews of the same restaurant on the same night seated within 15mins of each other. One loved the place, service and food while the other did not! Just pick where you want based on atmosphere and menu and see for yourself!

Thanks for the good advice.....that's what we will do.

 

[AppleSister1]

LOL! I wrote one of those negative MM reviews! Honestly, we've never picked based on the reviews here, because they are so inconsistent. If you like the look of the menu for MM, I'd say give it go. We did like the atmosphere, and the food wasn't bad, just not something that we PERSONALLY would be dying to do again. With a large party, it can be hard to find something that everyone wants to try, particularly in DHS, in my humble opinion.

 

[rznhal]

I'm gonna really drive you crazy! We had one awesome meal at Coral Reef (best meal of the trip), next trip probably the worst meal was....Coral Reef!! lol

Seriously though.....We eat at outback a couple times a month...and I would say we've had some amazing meals there and some that were just not good....factor in people's own preferences, ways of expressing things, etc, and there's lots of room for different reviews!!!

I've always wondered tho......if it has something to do with the season....we always go off peak season and for the most part have good meals with wonderful service! The bad Coral Reef experience I referenced earlier was during free dining in August, at a peak dinner time.....server was harried, food was not good and the place was jammed packed....?? any body else care to weigh in on my theory??

 

[Clamesa]

Oh, yes .. but is not just a Disney food or Disney hotels discrepancies. It happens with every place and everything. I'm the kind of person that read reviews for almost everything (clothing, shoes, toys, even hair dye). I stopped reading the good reviews, after all they are good (right?) and only read the bad ones in different sites and make my own idea.

 

[Clamesa]

I'm gonna really drive you crazy! We had one awesome meal at Coral Reef (best meal of the trip), next trip probably the worst meal was....Coral Reef!! lol

Seriously though.....We eat at outback a couple times a month...and I would say we've had some amazing meals there and some that were just not good....factor in people's own preferences, ways of expressing things, etc, and there's lots of room for different reviews!!!

I've always wondered tho......if it has something to do with the season....we always go off peak season and for the most part have good meals with wonderful service! The bad Coral Reef experience I referenced earlier was during free dining in August, at a peak dinner time.....server was harried, food was not good and the place was jammed packed....?? any body else care to weigh in on my theory??

Know what you mean. My family and I love eating at Bongos. We love it and its a must do every trip. Last time it was awful, really, really bad. But we are not stop going because one bad meal in several years. We will try it again and decide later.

 

[bleeps]

I stopped reading the reviews here years ago in terms of picking (or not picking) places to eat at WDW -- I agree with all the points people have made in this thread about variations in taste, lifestyle (city person with lots of high quality restaurant experience, or small town person not used to or interested in unusual flavors), and expectations (I personally think most people's Disney expectations seem to be ridiculously high).

Over the years, we have easily eaten somewhere between 180 and 200 table service meals at WDW. We go in to each experience eager to have a good time and to enjoy ourselves, willing to try new things and go with the flow. Some meals have been better than others, some service better than others, but we've never had a truly awful/inedible meal, never been served anything we couldn't eat. And, we've had LOTS of amazing meals that we've talked about for years after, servers who made our meal experiences extraordinary, and we look forward to going back year after year.

Indeed -- make choices based on what park you'll be in, what resort you'll stay at (or that you'd like to check out), what kind of food you like, how much you want to spend, what kind of experience you'd like to have -- and have a great trip! (And btw, we always go with the deluxe dining plan and really love the convenience.)