California Grill
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-8413
Phone: (407) 939-3463
- Price:
- $$$$
- Best of Citysearch:
- Romantic Date Spot 2008, Romantic Dining 2005
- Hours:
- Daily 5:30pm-10pm
Editorial Review for California Grill – by Mary Meehan
The Scene
The Grill's dining room, perched on the 15th floor of Disney's Contemporary Resort, offers the best view of the nightly fireworks extravaganza at the Magic Kingdom. The lights in the restaurant are even dimmed during the nightly pyrotechnics display, furthering the dreamy, romantic atmosphere, making this a great place to dine with that special someone.
The Food
The view inside extends the show with an open kitchen, including a special viewing window for children. The menu is heavily influenced by what is fresh and available, so it makes sense that the kitchen shines when it comes to seafood and vegetarian dishes. Grilled pork tenderloin with polenta and balsamic-smothered mushrooms reigns as the signature dish.
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Insider Tips
Know Before You GoYou can't make true reservations at a Disney restaurant, except at Victoria and Albert's, but you can call ahead for priority seating.
The ExtrasWine lovers will be pleased to find more than 100 wines, including many fine California vintages. All are available by the glass.
User Reviews for California Grill
04/13/2008 Posted by cutebirdie
Well, if you read the other reviews on this restaurant, it should convince you to pack your bags or get in your car if you live close enough and make your way straight to the California Grill. Our first experience was back in 2001--AWESOME! Next, we went in 2004 (2 x during our 5 day visit to Disney World)--AWESOME AGAIN! And then we just got back two days ago from Disney World and of course, eating at the California Grill--IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING HOW PLEASED WE WERE. I would recommend you make reservations at least 3 months in advance. If you don't like to preplan, they will still seat you w/o a reservation, but you will eat in the bar/lounge area--not bad, but you feel awkward sitting in Lazy Boy style chairs or on a sofa while downing one of their mouth watering meals--can put a damper on the ambience. Each time we've gone to this restaurant, we have NEVER been disappointed. The sushi is outstanding and fresh; in fact, I think their head sushi chef (a woman?) is world renown for her craft. The service is over the top!! We enjoy quality food and this restaurant definitely deserves recognition for giving their customers the best. I suggest if you do visit Disney World, to patronize this restaurant, as well as the Flying Fish Cafe (on the Boardwalk outside of the Epcot Center). Enjoy!!
Pros: Food, View, Service, Atmosphere
Cons: Need to reserve months in advance
02/04/2008 Posted by vgonzalez3
July 2007 my hubby & I went here to celebrate my birthday. Our table had Mickey Confetti on it & the best view in the house! Space Mountain, Cinderallas Castle, the Grand Floridian, all right there. Then we met Ron, our waiter. What a great guy! He went over the wine menus with us, asked us to ponder if we wanted dessert (as they take some time to make) was off to get water & main menus with a sincerely meant "Let's have some fun tonight!"We tried the spicy sensation sushi appetizer. Ick! The fish was not fresh, the nori was so dry you could hardly chew it, and the sauce was more like a goopy gravy. We had a couple bites, then pushed the rest aside. Certainly not up to the standards I expected.That's the only bad expereince. We then moved on to the Goat Cheese Ravioli & a Peach/Walnut Frisee salad. Both were yummy, but the Ravioli was to die for! It was served in a nice broth, not a sauce, which was nice to see.For dinner I had the beef tenderloin with bacon/garlic mashed potatoes and haircot verts w/garlic. Hubby had the snapper with a coconut curry lime sauce & asian rice patty. My tenderlon was very good! The sauce was yummy & the potatoes were awesome. Hubbys was very good. Fresh, not a bit fishy, a lovely light sauce and fantastic presentation. We tried four wines.A Riesling with the sushi. A great combo if the sushi had been to par. Then 3 different Cabernets. We really dont' do dessert but it being my birthday they brought a special sliver of dark chocolate with Happy Birthday from the California Grill on it. Dinner came to $200 but with our DDE we saved 20%. Afterwards we went out on the catwalk & took pictures of the fantastic sunset.All in all, a great evening, very good food, nice wine selection (albeit it from California) great service! NOT a place for the kids! Everyone was actually dressed to code the evening we went but I can see how a bunch of down dressers could ruin the mood for some. A lesser server could ruin this terrific experience
Pros: Great service, nice wines, delicious food
Cons: Tourists who dont obey dress codes and/or bring their kids
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