Bad food?

[kreckl]

I feel like I’m constantly reading complaints about the bad, over- priced food at WDW. While we’ve had a few disappointments, we very much look forward to the wide range of food options and dining is a huge part of our trips. Other than Pizzafari ( tried twice and won’t go back) and some bland cupcakes, we’ve been happy and enjoyed our meals. What gives?

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Same here - our only real bad meal was at CRT. We enjoy Ohana, Boma, Sanaa, Garden Grill and especially HDDR.

 

[Haley R]

I don't know if we've ever had a BAD meal, but we have definitely had meals that were mediocre for the price. Some of my examples would be Liberty Tree Tavern, Tony's, Biergarten, and Tusker House.

 

[RADOPT]

I think it depend on the person, timing and other experiences. We ate at Tony’s a couple of times and loved it (& we tread on the foodie side of the line plus we love the herring on the cold buffet at akershus any time of the day).
We ate at Chef Mikey’s and would never go back. For us the food was mediocre, too expensive for what we got and it was not clean - part of that being some of the parents fault who did not supervise their kids at the buffet. However what is not in that statement is that we where there for 15 nights and ate at a LOT of places. Had the other places not been so enjoyable, we might have liked CM more. CM was not up to the standard we found at the other places. Read the reviews And know that for every bad there is a good...if all the reviews were bad, most likely they would be closed.

 

[bumbershoot]

My cousin got a burger at cosmic rays that seemed to have had a whole shaker of salt poured on it. My aunt got a veggie pizza at pizzafari that tasted about the same.

No one else had issues like that at those two meals. I was having the veggie pizza as well and mine was fine (I tasted my aunt’s to see if she was being sensitive)

My family ate at Via Napoli and everything we ordered was vile. My husband had just been in Italy and was looking forward to authentic pizza and it was nearly inedible. Even the zucchini appetizer was gross. And our server could not have cared less.

Bad meals happen. Doesn’t mean people are picky. Either means some of us are unlucky or you’re lucky.

 

[mousehockey37]

A lot of the complaining that you see is from Disney vets that had food at these same restaurants before things like the dining plan and such came along. Will there be an occasional bad meal? Sure, we all have them. When everyone starts having the same bad meal, from the same chef, in the same restaurant however, it's not so much a bad meal as something else can be wrong.

 

[RADOPT]

My cousin got a burger at cosmic rays that seemed to have had a whole shaker of salt poured on it. My aunt got a veggie pizza at pizzafari that tasted about the same.

At one time, my daughter would have thought that was perfect but that was back when she thought salt was a food group!

 

[PeakSeason]

I've been to Disney 14 times for 10 days each. We do table service about 15 times over those 10 days. The only horrific meal- bad service, table fully exposed to blazing sunshine, water poured directly into my shoe by the bus person, every course of food disgusting, lobster shell served with the lobster missing- was at The Boathouse. They consistently get glowing reviews so I'm at a loss to explain. It was so bad that we felt like we were in The Twilight Zone!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I’m definitely not a “food snob”, so to me the food at WDW is pretty good. Over the years we’ve eaten about 100 meals at WDW and have only had one that was truly bad and I truly believe that was a fluke at that restaurant and totally not the norm.

 

[Allison]

Different tastes
Different backgrounds
Different expectations
Different experiences

 

[Disneylover99]

We’ve had some bad service, but we’ve always had good - excellent meals.

 

[paradesintherain]

My cousin got a burger at cosmic rays that seemed to have had a whole shaker of salt poured on it. My aunt got a veggie pizza at pizzafari that tasted about the same.

No one else had issues like that at those two meals. I was having the veggie pizza as well and mine was fine (I tasted my aunt’s to see if she was being sensitive)

My family ate at Via Napoli and everything we ordered was vile. My husband had just been in Italy and was looking forward to authentic pizza and it was nearly inedible. Even the zucchini appetizer was gross. And our server could not have cared less.

Bad meals happen. Doesn’t mean people are picky. Either means some of us are unlucky or you’re lucky.

Genuinely curious what made the pizza nearly inedible?

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We hated our meals from the Asian counter at Sunshine Seasons. ALL of it was really terrible.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Ive only had one truly horrid meal....Tony's. Aside from that, i've had a couple of disappointing meals.....Ohana dinner, 1900 PF dinner, and Chef Mickeys breakfast. It'll be a while before I go back to any of these places to be honest. Food quality was not good.

 

[maxiesmom]

Mostly, it is a case of different people like different things. A previous poster listed they were not thrilled with Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, and Biergarten. I really enjoyed my meals at all of those places. Not every person is going to like the same thing, and there are very few restaurants at Disney World that get universally panned. Tony's comes to mind.

 

[Shanti]

I feel like I’m constantly reading complaints about the bad, over- priced food at WDW. While we’ve had a few disappointments, we very much look forward to the wide range of food options and dining is a huge part of our trips. Other than Pizzafari ( tried twice and won’t go back) and some bland cupcakes, we’ve been happy and enjoyed our meals. What gives?

What gives is that:

1. People tend to exaggerate both good and bad experiences on these boards.
2. Some posters are "foodies" who enjoy analyzing food and have higher expectations for ingerdients, originality & preparation than the average visitor who just wants to enjoy a tasty meal. They'll bash a meal that most people would be fine with.
3. Some people go in with inflated expectations due to WDW restaurant pricing.

Like you, I've had generally positive experiences with WDW restaurants over the years. Yes, it's pricy for what it is, but I expect that when eating at Disney World. No, it isn't gourmet food, but it's usually tasty and filling.

 

[loves to dive]

We have been going for over 30 years and like everywhere else we've ever been there have been bad and good experiences. We have even had bad and good at the same restaurant over the years. Some places we have found we get decent food and bad service almost all the time (Chefs de France I'm looking at you) and some places we have never had a bad experience at (Tiffins I'm looking at you). The prices aren't that far out of wack for us because we live in a college town and unless you are eating fast food or a chain like Applebes, the prices can be pretty high here. There are places we have eaten at WDW that we have had just o.k. food and just o.k. service and paid silly high prices that we thought weren't worth it (Jikos and Chef Paul I'm looking at you). There are places we have had o.k. food and horrible service and decided it was a one and done (Rose and Crown I'm looking at you). There are places we've had almost inedible food and horrible service and wouldn't eat there again if it was the only place available so we had to eat out of vending machines (Sanaa I'm looking at you). As you can see, some of our not the best places are those places that are "must do" for others but we have also had good food and good service at other places that other people don't like (Spice Road Tables and Marakeesh you get the the look).

 

[DWillowBay]

Isn't it true that, with any restaurant...anywhere, that it is 'hit and miss' as to whether or not it is to any particular person's liking. Hopefully, the 'hits' far outweigh the 'misses', but his has nothing to do with "Disney" and more to do with personal preference and the occasional 'off day' in any kitchen. ....including my own (don't tell my family)

 

[kreckl]

Mostly, it is a case of different people like different things. A previous poster listed they were not thrilled with Liberty Tree Tavern, Tusker House, and Biergarten. I really enjoyed my meals at all of those places. Not every person is going to like the same thing, and there are very few restaurants at Disney World that get universally panned. Tony's comes to mind.

Oh I forgot Biergarten! We went there with an open mind, and left hungry. didn’t like it at all!

 

[maxiesmom]

Oh I forgot Biergarten! We went there with an open mind, and left hungry. didn’t like it at all!

Biergarten makes me laugh now. One trip with my sister's family we were looking for someplace to eat at Epcot. Some of us wanted to do Teppan Edo (you know, grilled chicken or beef) and her kids thought that food sounded too strange. So we ended up at Biergarten. Because that seemed more normal to them.