What's up with O'hana?

[maltdizzy]

Our last dinner there was frustrating.

My DW has a food allergy and we made all possible mentions of it before-hand, but they seem to lose or ignore the information and it wasn't until half-way through dinner the chef could come out and offer substitutions. We understand the shef's tight schedule, but the server wanted to rush through every course as fast as possible, often taking courses away instead of bringing more when requested. Plus, the server kept bringing our 11yo (who has never like kid's menu options) the kids version of everything, including dessert.

Won't be going back. Too many other options out there.

 

[TwinkleKS]

We were last there for breakfast over Christmas and still enjoy it. I think with any of the character meals there can always be timing issues. If we don't care to see the characters we make sure and are very clear with the servers when we sit down and let them know that we really are just there to eat and aren't worried about staying for the whole rotation.

They brought out the ham and one of my kids asked where the bacon was, I explained they didn't have bacon anymore and left it at that. The server was listening and a few minutes later came back with a big plate of bacon. So I assume there must be some hiding in the kitchen if you ask for it.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

We were last there for breakfast over Christmas and still enjoy it. I think with any of the character meals there can always be timing issues. If we don't care to see the characters we make sure and are very clear with the servers when we sit down and let them know that we really are just there to eat and aren't worried about staying for the whole rotation.

They brought out the ham and one of my kids asked where the bacon was, I explained they didn't have bacon anymore and left it at that. The server was listening and a few minutes later came back with a big plate of bacon. So I assume there must be some hiding in the kitchen if you ask for it.

Someone else mentioned this on another thread re:bacon. Sounds like if you ask for it they have no issue bringing some out.
I personally thought the ham was good

 

[Marthasor]

I have been to Fogo multiple times. I have my first time booked for Ohana in April. At Fogo, the person filling your drinks, swapping your plates isn’t the same person bring the various meats around the restaurant. However, it seems that is the situation at Ohana?

When we were there in December, we had one server who did everything - drinks, apps, meats, dessert. This was very different from past experiences there. They used to have different people doing the various serving roles.

can I ask if the timing of the ADR makes a difference with the good or bad experiences? I like to do an early ADR, expecting the waiting staff to be “fresh” and not run down so they are less likely to be exhausted.

Our dinner reservation was at 6:30 pm so definitely not a time I would expect them to be exhausted, but I think our server was overworked.

 

[Marthasor]

On the DIS Facebook page, a lot of people are reporting that they have not done the coconut races at O'hana for quite a long time. They didn't do them in December. Anyone recently there that experienced the races?

 

[mrocco90]

O’hana is typically my family’s favorite dinner. We love it so much I booked it twice for our trip this past November. We had it on our first night and everything was excellent. We went back our last night and it was terrible and we were the first seatings of the night. We asked for the POG juice and were told it wasn’t available at night and then saw the next table receive it. The service was very slow and it was difficult to track someone down for refills on food. When we did track our waiter down for refills he seemed to forget and we would remind him again 10 mins later. Also a lot of the food wasn’t great and didn’t taste like it did days before. We did complain to management because we were so unhappy. We also let the manager know we would be dining there again for breakfast tomorrow and we hoped it would be better. Our breakfast was great.. the service was great and so was the food. Not sure if the manager let them know we had a issue the night before.

 

[Summer2018]

The coconut races are mentioned in ‘Ohana’s restaurant description. The entertainment is one of the reasons we booked it for dinner. I hope we aren’t disappointed in July.

 

[heath92681]

On the DIS Facebook page, a lot of people are reporting that they have not done the coconut races at O'hana for quite a long time. They didn't do them in December. Anyone recently there that experienced the races?

My kids participated in the coconut race in November.

 

[LilyJC]

Anyone recently there that experienced the races?

I’m not sure if the beginning of January would be considered recently, but they were doing the coconut races at around 5pm when we were there.

 

[GillianP1301]

We have eaten Ohana breakfast every trip we've done with DS, which is 6 so far. I will say that I see a considerable difference in service when you have an 8:00ish AM ADR as opposed to a 9:00ish one. By 9:00 the place is a zoo, the wait is starting to get long and the service starts to suffer. Once I did that twice and figured out that timing may be the issue, I always try to get an earlier than 8:15 ADR time now. On top of the fact that the servers aren't overwhelmed yet, the restaurant is not full yet at that time which means you see the characters faster. I have actually found this to be the case at any character breakfast. If you can get seated in the first or 2nd wave of people when the restaurant is still half empty, you will almost always get all the characters to you in about 30 minutes. Wait until the restaurant is full and you're up to an hour.

 

[rg35]

The coconut races are mentioned in ‘Ohana’s restaurant description. The entertainment is one of the reasons we booked it for dinner. I hope we aren’t disappointed in July.

The coconut race takes about 30 seconds. The entertainment is very limited. The "entertainment director" spoke for a little bit before the race. There were no songs or other things aside from the coconut race for kids. If the "entertainment" is your primary reason for going then you will be let down.

We did Ohana last year because a lot of people on Dis seem to love it, but overall it was our least favorite meal on last year's trip, and quite possibly our least favorite meal across our last 5 trips.

The food is just super Americanized Asian food. The beef was very tough and nearly impossible to chew. We even asked for more from a different skewer and it was the same. It's billed as "Szechuan Sirloin Steak," but I couldn't tell you what would identify it at szechuan.

I definitely encourage everyone to go and experience something for themselves because every place has an off night, but it's very hard for me to recommend this place, especially if you are going just for the very limited entertainment.

 

[maryj11]

We have been there several times over the past years. It has been one of our favorites until this past summer. We did not have trouble with the service and was just the food quality that bothered me. The breakfast seemed kind of salty, greasy, and not real hot. For dinner everything was good except the steak and chicken. Chicken was kind of dry from be overcooked and the steak was to rare. I know we could of asked for the steak to be well done but we were so full by then we didn't bother with it. Also the meat sauces seem way sweeter then I have remember, to sweet for me.
I also felt rushed during dinner like they wanted us to hurry and get finished.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

The coconut race takes about 30 seconds. The entertainment is very limited. The "entertainment director" spoke for a little bit before the race. There were no songs or other things aside from the coconut race for kids. If the "entertainment" is your primary reason for going then you will be let down.

We did Ohana last year because a lot of people on Dis seem to love it, but overall it was our least favorite meal on last year's trip, and quite possibly our least favorite meal across our last 5 trips.

The food is just super Americanized Asian food. The beef was very tough and nearly impossible to chew. We even asked for more from a different skewer and it was the same. It's billed as "Szechuan Sirloin Steak," but I couldn't tell you what would identify it at szechuan.

I definitely encourage everyone to go and experience something for themselves because every place has an off night, but it's very hard for me to recommend this place, especially if you are going just for the very limited entertainment.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Arielfan98]

I can't speak specifically for the breakfast, but I went there for dinner for the first time in January of 2017. After hearing people rave about Ohanas and hearing it was their family's must-do of every trip, of course I wanted to try it and sample the famous bread pudding. The quality of service you described is exactly what my sister and I received (we are both adults) when we went. Our waitress was very dull/lacked expression and barely came to our table. In other words, she appeared like she didn't want to work or serve us. On the other hand, I noticed the large family tables surrounding us received excellent, attentive, and impressionable servers (coincidence? or not I don't know?).
The best part about our meal was the chef who came to our table to discuss my food allergies and the bread pudding of course. Because of my negative experience, I will not return. I will happily make a trip to the Tambu Lounge for the bread pudding, but that's it. In my opinion, since Ohana is so expensive and so popular I don't see why they should be inconsistent. Perhaps it's because they know they can get away with it, but I think it's unfair that some customers receive phenomenal service and others don't. Sorry about your experience.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I don't get the servers.

I mean, I know their busy but the tips there should be amazing.

 

[Summer2018]

So basically what is advertised is not what is actually happening?

 

[pickers1982]

never been before and not sure why given the reviews! going on our August trip and excited to try it. glad i ve not been before as means i cant compare it!