California Grill

California Grill at Contemporary Resort. My husband made a reservation to celebrate my birthday; when we went we liked the atmosphere the menu, and the view. Unfortunately our dinner & celebration was ruined by the miscommunication of the server.

We ordered the first course that the server recommended to us which was Goat cheese Ravioli, then ordered the Shiitake mushrooms flatbread ( it was delicious). Then Topher brought some old cold bread and uneatable bread with butter( It's a shame for this well known restaurant to serve like this bread. At the time of ordering the entree i asked the server (Topher) if we can have the oak filet (with sauce on the side because my husband doesn't like Teriyake sauce) he confirmed no problem, and to have the potatoes without the bacon, he replied that it's prepared with the bacon; the server did not give us other substitution until i asked him.

So it was obviously that we don't eat pork. when i ordered the flounder for myself , Topher did not mention the meal also is served with bacon.

When we received our course, my husband 's filet had sauce so we callled Topher our server and let him about the sauce, he did apologize and took it to the Chef and less than five minutes he brought the steak to us which i assumed that the chef just washed out the sauce put it in another clean plate and send to us. Anyways i did not liked how the steak looked and when my husband tried it he did not like the taste at all.

We put the steak to the side and i asked my husband to share t he flounder with me; our server were passing by and said "anything wrong with your food" i replied that we did not like the steak, Topher apologized and asked us if he can order something else from the menu, my husband replied that he will go with the flounder fish while eating we discovered that there is some small pieces mixed with the sauce; we stopped eating and waved to Topher to come to our table, when he came we asked if the small pieces are pork and confirmed it.

We were really upset and told him how come we asked not to have smoked bacon with the other meal and you never mentioned to us that the flounder also has pork;

his reply was that he thought it was only one person not eating pork and made us feel like it was our responsibility to tell him that both of us.

I strongly believed and shared with my husband that this server has no serving background and definitely is not professional, all what he cares about is just to take the order run through and get paid. i understand that the restaurant is busy but every guests deserves the best service especially in California Grill.

After few minutes the manager approached our table (his name is Gary, he is bold and in his 50's or 60's) and apologized for the miscommunication; i replied that's the worst service we experienced; we've been to Victoria & Albert and other upscaled restaurant and always the server has to make sure to communicate with customer especially after requesting no pork on the other meal; the manager looked very upset after i expressed myself and then left to come back with the desert menu saying that of course we won't charge you for the two courses.

I never imagined that we will get this very low class, awful service from California grill. My birthday was spoiled, we were so excited and looking forward to celebrate that night.

We were very very disappointed with our dinner experience: very bad service. And from what i have noticed that the high volume of business is wearing off the service staff as well as management, it seems like they just love to make money but doesn't care about service.

we won't go back again, and i will make sure to share this experience with all our friends.…

California grill!!!! We will be back!. My husband and I heard alot of good things about California Grill...but WE were not prepared for what was to come. We went to Disney for our anniversary and was told California grill was the place to go for anniversaries.....and IT WAS! The best food We have ever had...I was very tempted to lick my plate. Let me not for get the sushi. They didnt have spicy salmon on the menu, so we asked and they made it happen. I didnt realize there was a world famous sushi chef there!!!! I crave there sushi!!!! CRAVE!We live in Alabama and We are very tempted to drive 8 hours for a night at California grill!!!!Awesome.We will be back!…

A Painful Farewell to Fabulous. During our recent WDW trip, we had four dinner reservations at California Grill. We loved the place for years; fabulous meals, wine, and service. This year's visit could be our last to California Grill for dinner. Two miserable dinners in succession, May 12+13. We cancelled the rest. Something big has changed. The menu still has some familiar offerings -- but a longstanding favorite is gone: Brick Oven Fired Flatbreads.

Our first night, the entrees disappointed. The filet of beef was too heavily salted to be enjoyed or eaten, and the grouper was cold while the vegetables beneath it were steaming hot. We were told the chef cooks the fish to a medium-rare heat unless instructed otherwise. Hmm... the fish was cooked through, but cold. But we reordered.

The filet wasn't salted the second service, while the fish was too undercooked. We requested they fire it just five more minutes, which should have allowed us to dine together. INSTEAD, nothing come back for about twenty minutes. So one ate without the other having any meal before them.

They redid the entire grouper order; against our request. It was fully cooked but the vegetables were not of the same wonderful quality the first servings had been. Had they left the vegetables on previous service, that would have been good.

We spent over 2 hours to have an entree each; over 3 1/2 hours from seating through dessert and coffee. It derailed our evening entirely.

The manager and server were as good as they could be over it. But being on the Deluxe Plan, we'd prepaid for dinner; "comping" could not wipe away that disastrous dinner ($170.00 + gratuity). We tip generously, in cash.

Because the front of house had been so gracious, we returned the next night, certain the first evening had been a fluke and we had nothing to worry about.

We both ordered the pork tenderloin, a meal enjoyed on numerous visits over past years; I had carrots not polenta. I'd ordered a Sonoma Goat Cheese appetizer. It came out with parmesan and another (?asiago) cheese grated onto it. I don't eat parmesan cheese. I explained this to the server, noting that no additional cheeses appeared on the menu; if it had, I'd have asked them not to apply it. I requested that another without the added cheeses atop. He asked if we might "push the cheese aside?" I said I'd be losing all the other wonderful flavors -- tomato and pesto, because the grated cheese covered everything! The second service was fabulous.

Then the entrees came. Again, salty. The pork was salted; too much for our liking, edible (NOT enjoyable). My carrots were another story. They were served in little diagonal disks; each little sliver of carrot was so salty as to be entirely devoid of carrot TASTE.

What has happened to this fabulous restaurant? Some staff have been there for years; we spotted familiar faces from years past. But the food has suffered. Meals there had been a harmony of fabulous flavor; pure delight. Proper food prep does not over season to overwhelm the taste buds. Food at CGl was never salty before; if salted, it was subtle -- you'd barely notice. We hope things improve before our next visit. But if we dine there again, we might share a meal to play it safe, certain we can dine together.…