Goodbye 'Ohana

[Micca]

our drinks were horrible. The first time, I thought it was a fluke. The next time, I don’t know what to think. I used to love the Lapu Lapu.

Please don't tell me they've ruined the Lapu Lapu! We stopped going to 'Ohana years ago, but the Lapu2 from the Tambu lounge is a thing of beauty. I think @Spencer Wright made a valid point: These high-volume eateries deal with such a mass of humanity on a daily basis they are running just to stay in place. It must look like an Amazon warehouse behind the scenes, or for a boomer reference: Lucy Ricardo working the conveyor belt.

 

[peteykirch]

I only went to 'Ohana once back in 2010 after hearing how amazing it was from pretty much anyone who talked or knew anything about Disney. Everything was fine getting there, checking in, getting a table. We got our bread and salad, then like 10 minutes later came the sides/etc, and then nothing. We sat there for 40 minutes before someone came around and tried to drop off the Bread Pudding dessert. We told the server we never even got the meats. We watched, and right before our table were 2 tables of 10+ that pretty much cleaned out the skewers, and instead of starting where they ran out, they went back to the beginning of their rotation.

They sent the manager and he was pretty indifferent saying that they are very popular, and it's hard to keep everyone happy, and sometimes with large parties they cannibalize the servers with the skewers of meat.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Please don't tell me they've ruined the Lapu Lapu! We stopped going to 'Ohana years ago, but the Lapu2 from the Tambu lounge is a thing of beauty. I think @Spencer Wright made a valid point: These high-volume eateries deal with such a mass of humanity on a daily basis they are running just to stay in place. It must look like an Amazon warehouse behind the scenes, or for a boomer reference: Lucy Ricardo working the conveyor belt.

In May, five out of six us ordered one on my recommendation. They looked great, but tasted like very sweet non-alcoholic punch. No one could finish theirs. My niece got a beer that was fine, but TBH, I wouldn’t want a beer at Ohana. There is too much food to have a filling beverage like beer.

Last September, my Lapu Lapu was good, but a margarita that my sister-in-law ordered tasted like tequila mixed with Rose’s Lime Juice. My nephew got a Manhattan served with a blob of an unknown sauce-like substance in it. It was disgusting.

 

[jarestel]

OP, I've read a bunch of similar complaints about Ohana over the last few months, more than I would chalk up to "they're just having a bad night", so I take that with more than a grain of salt. Additionally, when I dine out, I don't feel I should have to school the servers in how to serve food so that's a pretty major strike against Ohana as well. I suspect as with many things at Disney, the reputation carries many restaurants for a period of time before word spreads. Many times I think we feel if a restaurant is hard to get ADRs for, it must be good. Unfortunately, experience has sadly dissuaded me from that kind of thinking.

 

[Lsdolphin]

my lazy Susan is gone, most of my delicious appetizers are gone, the hype of the restaurant, and the pineapple and caramel is gone, its way too hard to get a res, I have other favorites that I go to now

I remember they had wonderful scalloped potatoes and the pineapple with caramel sauce so good! they also had more variety of the skewers and all for around $36

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I find it off-putting when as in recent months, a server there just dumps a bunch of meat from a skewer onto your plate, without asking how much you want. It's a waste of food, and I don't think it's very courteous.

I will be moving on to other restaurants.

 

[Pumbaa_]

The ‘Ohana love is strong. Since many people only go every 2-3 years, the reputation stays strong.

But, i crossed this off my list years ago after 3 bad experiences. Now if it was free I would not go. I love shrimp so it was awesome in that way. But the service! It has been horrid for years and years. No excuse. If you had a great meal and service consider yourself fortunate. Not great meals and not great service, one or both, sadly are very very common.

 

[adelaster]

We tried the breakfast on our first trip in 2016, and I did not get the hype at all. The atmosphere was ok, the view was cool, but the food was disappointing after all the reviews I had read. Had Kona the same trip, and it was the same bacon, potatoes, and eggs as Ohana, which confused me at the time. (Later learned that the same sad bacon/ potatoes/eggs appears to be served across the parks and resorts.)

Our second table service experience was breakfast at BOMA in 2017, and that was way better.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I’m done. It’s too hit or miss for me and I’m not risking them having a bad day.

Sadly DDP strikes again. The restaurant reimbursement is not sufficient for high quality food and service

 

[Spencer Wright]

The ‘Ohana love is strong. Since many people only go every 2-3 years, the reputation stays strong.

But, i crossed this off my list years ago after 3 bad experiences. Now if it was free I would not go. I love shrimp so it was awesome in that way. But the service! It has been horrid for years and years. No excuse. If you had a great meal and service consider yourself fortunate. Not great meals and not great service, one or both, sadly are very very common.

I am inclined to agree! I go every August and find the food very good. The service is bad and I know its bad. However, when the monorail is involved and you are right across from MK; they could get away with a lot and I would still love it.

We tend to eat early (i.e. 5pm), so I always find the food very tasty and fresh, however the service can be totally out of order and somewhat rushed. If it somewhat rushed, I am okay with that; as I do not want to lose park time due to slow service.

It seems the service gets bad as the night wears on!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We too have been going to Ohana every trip at least once if not twice for the past 10 years. We always enjoyed the food and service. Every since Lipoa was let go the place was never the same. We loved when she would sing to us. Once on our DDs 21st birthday we were a party of 11 and she came and sang a special sing a long to my DD. She made you feel so special. We would specifically come on days she was there. I am sure she was let go because the management felt people would stay longer because of the entertainment. We were debating if we should even do Ohana this vacation. We have never felt this was before. Sorry about your dinner there. Such a shame. It is so sad.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I remember they had wonderful scalloped potatoes and the pineapple with caramel sauce so good! they also had more variety of the skewers and all for around $36

yessss so good back in the day! After I stuffed myself with all that meat (and all the lazy Susan appetizers!) I didn't have room for a real heavy dessert, the pineapple and caramel was the best way to end the night!

 

[Nancyg56]

yessss so good back in the day! After I stuffed myself with all that meat (and all the lazy Susan appetizers!) I didn't have room for a real heavy dessert, the pineapple and caramel was the best way to end the night!

I had forgotten that pineapple! I am still mourning the potatoes, although I do make them on special occasions at home.

 

[B-Ride]

You can't do anything about food quality but we just turned away the skewers until we were ready for them. They can rush you all they want but you have the right to refuse the food until you are ready for it.

 

[jarestel]

You can't do anything about food quality but we just turned away the skewers until we were ready for them. They can rush you all they want but you have the right to refuse the food until you are ready for it.

As I stated previously, it's not up to me to teach servers how to serve food. They either don't know or they don't care. Either way, it's not very likely I will ever give mediocre to poor service a second chance.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

You can't do anything about food quality but we just turned away the skewers until we were ready for them. They can rush you all they want but you have the right to refuse the food until you are ready for it.

Bingo. You can easily tell them you're not ready for (or ready for more) skewers yet. Yet somehow it's the end of the world if they even ask if you want a skewer. That's how places like this work. They keep coming and you can either say yes or no. Maybe Ohana should get the green and red sided paddles like Brazilian Steakhouses have. Of course Disney can't win. They're always going to be too fast for some and too slow for others.

yessss so good back in the day! After I stuffed myself with all that meat (and all the lazy Susan appetizers!) I didn't have room for a real heavy dessert, the pineapple and caramel was the best way to end the night!

I liked the pineapple too. But around here, you'd have thought that replacing the pineapple with bread pudding with banana's foster sauce, a clear upgrade, meant the end of the world. Oh and it was ALL the fault of dining plan rif raf. HAHAHAHA.

 

[ChrisnKim913]

As I stated previously, it's not up to me to teach servers how to serve food. They either don't know or they don't care. Either way, it's not very likely I will ever give mediocre to poor service a second chance.

Agreed. This is why I feel so strongly that they are given direction to get people in and out as fast as possible. I have had consistently better service at buffets like Tusker House than at - family-style restaurant like ‘Ohana. I don’t normally expect much from servers at buffets but they go above and beyond unlike ‘Ohana where it feels like if you ask for something it is a bother.

 

[bryanb]

I normally take negative reviews of a popular place with a grain of salt. Any restaurant that serves so many people is statistically bound to miss sometimes, and with so many different expectations/tastes, it is hard to please everyone. But this is a bit concerning the frequency with which these reviews happen.

While Ohana is very busy, this should not be a problem in itself. The nightmare for a restaurant/operations manager would be unpredictability -- trying to figure out how to staff, order perishables, and prep ingredients when your nightly menu and attendance are difficult to forecast.

Ohana has the blessing of being booked far in advance, operating near the same capacity virtually every day of the year (in both busy and slow seasons), with a limited set of identical menu items that most tables will be served. So for this restaurant, they should have being busy down to a science.

I don't know why people don't feel like they can ask a server to slow down the service, but if this is a source of dissatisfaction for enough people, one needs to look at the operation to see what's actually going on.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I liked the pineapple too. But around here, you'd have thought that replacing the pineapple with bread pudding with banana's foster sauce, a clear upgrade, meant the end of the world. Oh and it was ALL the fault of dining plan rif raf. HAHAHAHA.

the replacement was the fault of some crazy bread pudding lover!! Last time I went, I literally just got a bowl of ice cream instead of the blegh bread pudding....



I like it when I can remember the good ol days

 

[Ksquared]

We had quite the opposite experience this past trip (Christmas trip). We were seated and 3 tables that were seated after us, had their appetizers and salads before we did. There was a 2 top table near us that seemed to also be waiting longer like we were....it was strange. I definitely didn't mind the slower pace but when you see people that are seated after you (with 2 loves of bread while we only were given 1) and see them eating and we didn't even have drinks, it was just odd. Proves that some tables are rushed and others find themselves waiting around. Very inconsistent. But I still would come back because the food that night was worth waiting for, at least the night we were there.