Trying new restaurants

I have to confess to something: My family and I eat at many of the same restaurants every trip. Our MK lunch on the first day is at Columbia Harbour House (we even sit at the same table above Fantasyland!). We always do Pecos Bills and Aloha Isle during the duration of our trip. At Epcot, we always make a stop at Sunshine Seasons, and the Kringla Bakeri in Norway.

But when we do table service meals, we are a bit more adventurous. We planned at least 3 table-service meals for our upcoming trip, and I would really appreciate some reviews on them, just to see what people who have more WDW dining experience think! If I've got an awful place on here, please let me know so we can change it in time! Our trip is mid-June (for my high school graduation!).

MK: Liberty Tree Tavern (already eaten at Plaza and Royal Table, but we're also considering Tony's Town Square)
Epcot: Les Chefs de France (or Biergarten? Coral Reef?)--side note: which mealtimes are character meals at Les Chefs? Or are they all?
DHS: Brown Derby (we've done it before, but it's my absolute favorite!)
Resorts: we were thinking of trying the Garden Grove Cafe at the Swan, or the Grand Floridian Cafe. Garden Grove was a place we'd never heard of, but we fell in love with the photo and description on the Disney website. Grand Floridian Cafe sounds very elegant and fun for one of our "out-of-parks" days, but we really haven't made any final choices yet.

At DTD, we will probably just do our regular meal at Wolfgang Puck Express. My sit-down meal experience at Epcot is pretty pathetic compared to most people's, but my family always just ends up snacking throughout World Showcase, and we end up filling up on snacks before we want a full meal! Animal Kingdom is another place I'm sadly inexperienced in. We love eating in the Airstream RV at Restaurantosaurus, or Flame Tree BBQ. We've always talked about trying Tusker House or Yak & Yeti, but we just haven't done it!

Thanks for your input!

Definitely do Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner. I love that place. Great atmosphere and good enough food. I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed.

Oh, and for the resort restaurant I'd highly suggest considering Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. I would rank it one of the top 5 restaurants on property.

Also agreed on Wolfgang Puck Express. Very underrated, overlooked, and outstanding joint.

MK: Liberty Tree Tavern is a great meal, even though they did take the characters away!
Epcot: We love Rose & Crown, and will be trying Teppen Edo this trip as we have heard many great things about it!
HS: I honestly find it really hard to sit-down dine here, we've tried Hollywood and Vine and it wasn't so great. Have heard mixed reviews about the SciFi dine in too. We usually end up booking away from the park or going back to the resort.
AK: Tuskerhouse breakfast is really nice, with a super lively atmosphere!

Away from the parks, I'd suggest the Boma @ Animal Kingdom Lodge!

I've made it very clear in the past that may favorite sit down in EPCOT is San Angel Inn. Rose & Crown, LeCellier, Teppon Edo, and Nine Dragons are all very good as well.

I was actually glad when they took the characters out of Liberty Tree. Not so much because I'm not a fan of character dining, but that it is such a cramped space. It just didn't work very well.

Another great resort is Cape Mae at Yacht & Beach Club. We eat there almost every trip, even though neither of us are big seafood diners. It's sometimes easier to get a reservation and is great because it is only a short walk from Epcot or a boat ride from HS.

Have you tried that new sandwich place at the Beach Club? Next to the store? Can't recall the name of it, but I've heard it has some of the best sandwiches on property.

Quote:

---

MK: Liberty Tree Tavern (already eaten at Plaza and Royal Table, but we're also considering Tony's Town Square)
Epcot: Les Chefs de France (or Biergarten? Coral Reef?)--side note: which mealtimes are character meals at Les Chefs? Or are they all?
DHS: Brown Derby (we've done it before, but it's my absolute favorite!)
Resorts: we were thinking of trying the Garden Grove Cafe at the Swan, or the Grand Floridian Cafe. Garden Grove was a place we'd never heard of, but we fell in love with the photo and description on the Disney website. Grand Floridian Cafe sounds very elegant and fun for one of our "out-of-parks" days, but we really haven't made any final choices yet.

---

Biergarten is one of our favorites. I like the Epcot sit downs that give you a little more "ambience" than just sitting and eating. Biergarten has live entertainment in the spirit of Oktoberfest. They invite you on the dance floor and the kids love it! Learn the phrase "Tiki Taki! Tiki Taki! Oy! Oy! Oy!" before you go.:yahoo: It's buffet and the food is consistently good.

Garden Grove is buffet also and pretty decent food. To me the character dining there seemed out of place for some reason. I felt a bit removed from the "Disney Magic" so to speak and maybe it was just knowing in the back of my mind that this wasn't really a Disney resort. It's a bit subdued for character dining compared to something like Chef Mickey's which was WONDERFUL!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gatorhead

Biergarten is one of our favorites. I like the Epcot sit downs that give you a little more "ambience" than just sitting and eating. Biergarten has live entertainment in the spirit of Oktoberfest. They invite you on the dance floor and the kids love it! Learn the phrase "Tiki Taki! Tiki Taki! Oy! Oy! Oy!" before you go.:yahoo: It's buffet and the food is consistently good.

Garden Grove is buffet also and pretty decent food. To me the character dining there seemed out of place for some reason. I felt a bit removed from the "Disney Magic" so to speak and maybe it was just knowing in the back of my mind that this wasn't really a Disney resort. It's a bit subdued for character dining compared to something like Chef Mickey's which was WONDERFUL!

---

And I've never heard of Garden Grove either. Where is it? Biergarten was my favorite sit down until it went to the buffet. Now it pales as buffet to me. Entertainment has always been spot on. They seem to have issues with keeping the food on buffet to the proper temps though. Been sighted more than once for it too.

I believe Gatorhead is referring to Garden Grill. I don't believe it's a buffet, though. It used to be family-style dining.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HauntedGabe

And I've never heard of Garden Grove either. Where is it? Biergarten was my favorite sit down until it went to the buffet. Now it pales as buffet to me. Entertainment has always been spot on. They seem to have issues with keeping the food on buffet to the proper temps though. Been sighted more than once for it too.

---

Garden Grove is at the Swan. Would have never had the chance to eat there had it not been for one of my wife's business conventions. That happened to be where they were hosting the convention. It was good but I would certainly not go out of the way to plan a dinner there. Many other places with more of the "Disney Magic" to chose from.

Liberty Inn to me has always been a bit lack luster for a QS in Epcot. They have sneaked in a Strip Steak into the QS offerings and is getting great reviews. The potato and broccoli meh but hearing it is a good sized steak and at least this weekend was being prepared correctly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HauntedGabe

Liberty Inn to me has always been a bit lack luster for a QS in Epcot. They have sneaked in a Strip Steak into the QS offerings and is getting great reviews. The potato and broccoli meh but hearing it is a good sized steak and at least this weekend was being prepared correctly.

---

Strip Steak?? Seriously??!! I have to go back!

For a resort restaurant I suggest 'Ohana for dinner. My wife and I had it and it was great. No characters but kids will love it too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ohiodisneydad

For a resort restaurant I suggest 'Ohana for dinner. My wife and I had it and it was great. No characters but kids will love it too.

---

As a Mom of young adults now, dinner without characters is a bonus for me. Does breakfast at Ohana's still have Characters? We did Christmas morning there one year and they did back then.

I personally found Kona Cafe to be the superior of the two.

Actually, I think Kona is one of the finest offerings amongst resort restaurants.