Personally, I vehemently disagree with their #1 pick. ; At a venue where reservations are required, and required days in advance, a restaurant with a limited menu that varies on a daily basis and is not predictable is an epic fail... especially if you have any dietary restrictions. On our honeymoon we decided our final dinner would be at California Grill... we had checked the menu earlier in the week (not knowing that it varies daily) and had discovered that yes, there was an option that didn't involve peppers, nuts, shellfish or crustaceans (not an extensive or particularly difficult list of allergies)... arrived for our reservation only to discover that there was precisely one item on the menu for the evening that met the requirements... and it was an appetizer. ; We ended up having dinner 3 hours later at the Concourse Steakhouse... and it was outstanding. ; (in retrospect, better than dinner at Artist's Point) The Coral Reef will always hold a special place in my personal list, though... the food and service were absolutely beyond belief outstanding when we had dinner there on our honeymoon. I think any 'top 10' list is going to vary widely depending on the age-group involved... parents travelling with small children are unlikely to eat too often at such high-end restaurants... but there are so many great dining options that are 'better' than counter service, but didn't make this "food critics" type list. ; *shrug*
I've eaten at 6 of these and one more to go on our next trip! As for Artist's Point............I had made an ADR for when they were suppose to have the Salmon from a certain region and when I got to the restaurant, I was told that they never received it!!! ; So we ended up going to Whispering Canyon instead!LOL
I've only eaten at 4 of those restaurants and the only one I totally disagree with is Chefs de France service was ok food was bland and tasteless.
I'd gotten reactions to this from folks on my fb page too. ; I'm surprised by spots missing - e.g, San Angel Inn. ; Citricos deserves higher ranking. Flyin' Fish - ok. But top spot? Grill? hhmm - no... ; Where is Victoria and Albert?
I agree with Treelo - California Grill doesn't cater to people with dietary restrictions. We had dinner their one night ,and I wasn't really able to eat. I ordered the appetizer salad with no dressing, and that was my meal. Maybe if I had pushed the issue with my allergies they would have accomodated me, but I was very surprised to see such a limited menu. Coral Reef is my #1 Restaurant at Disney - not only the food, but the atmosphere and service was great. For us, we also enjoyed Tony's for lunch, and Narcoosee's.
I tried playing the allergy card... I tried playing the "it's the last night of our honeymoon and we made a reservation here for a romantic meal to cap off the experience, but it's not very romantic if I can't eat anything"... all we got was "the menu is posted daily, you should have checked it first". ; Helpful, no? ; *laugh* ; Definitely not on my list of places to try going back to any time soon.
Is it just me or the food over the last ten years gone downhill? Corral Reef was underwhelming both years we went. The only thing that saved the experience was a table beside the tank one year and a great family from South Carolina the next. Le Celler is OK but the only reason we keep going is a patriotic guilt. ; We will be back in two weeks today and have ressies at CG, Le Celler, Le Chefs de France, Tulto Italia, San Angel Inn, Liberty Tree Tavern and a Chef Mickeys Breakfast. The rest we are going to wing it. It just doesn't seem to be as good as it was back in 2001 or 2004 for that matter. '07 and '08 in was just ho hum for us. Hopefully it was a blip on the radar screen.
I agree that some restaurants have gone down hill. Which makes me think why? What has changed? I would say from a service standpoint Disney is trying to move more people in and out of the restaurants. I remember the days when a meal would last a minimum of 1.5 hours giving only 2 seatings per service (breakfast/lunch/dinner) but now it seams that they try to move you in and out in 1 hr getting an extra seating in per service. Thus more profits from a restaurant point of view. Getting you in and out in 1 hr adds to the suffering of the server. Which I can see hurting the server in tips but with an extra seating could this result in more, possibly yes. Also with getting you in and out in 1 hr takes away from the food/chef quality as they need to be able to get the food out quicker. I would say that all this is not prevalent in the Signature restaurants where you will most likely order an appetizer and spend more time enjoying your meal. I really think that when you are reviewing a restaurant there are multiple things to consider, atmosphere, service, food quality, presentation and overall experience. To put a review in perspective let look at Coral Reef. ; Here is what I would give it. atmosphere - 8.5 (I think the draw of the tank makes the atmosphere a great one thus quite a high score) service - 6 (I would say that this is par across all of WDW and unless they improve being rushed this will not improve) food quality - 6.5 (Good variety of fish but menu could be a bit more expansive.) presentation - 7 (They do try to make the food look appealing, I have seen much worse - Red Lobster for example where they just plop the food from the pan onto the plate.) overall experience - 7 (This restaurant is not horrible and defiantly not a signature experience.) What does the future hold for Disney restaurants only time will tell. The changes at Le Cellier I hope will bring the dining experiences back on track to what used to be a hi-light of the trip.
I think that the Dinning plan is the reason things have gone downhill. They are giving the restaurants a certain amount of money per credit and they are cheaping out on the food, it's just not as good as it was in the early 2000's. I never thought of the rush you in and out angle NSM, thinking back it did seem rushed. The dinning plan is a love/hate thing for me. I love the fact that it is all taken care of for you pre-trip and you don't need to worry about money for meals when you are there. The hate part is I feel the quality has gone down over the years to max out their profits. Also the whole 180 day ahead ressies. I remember the frist few trips we would decide in the morning where we would like to go to eat and ask for a ressie that morning at either Guess Services in the park or the front deck at your hotel and you would get it with-in a reasonable time frame. Try that now with people booking multiple restaurants on the same night because they don't know were they are going to be that day.
