Reviews of California Grill
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Menus at California Grill
Reviewed by BridgetW Review Date: 05/19/2021
Rating: (10) Recommended
Fine dining at Disney! We loved our dinner here. We celebrated our son's 14th birthday here and were not disappointed. Excellent food, service and wine list. The views cannot be beat. We will come here again!
Pros:
views, on the monorail, wine listCons:
monorail service ended before our dinner so we had to take a taxi back to our hotelReviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 04/09/2021
Rating: (8) Recommended
This is always a staple when we go to Florida. Views are great and service is always wonderful. Very friendly staff. Sushi is always good and the food has never disappointed us. The one thing I order every time is the goat cheese ravioli. I've been ordering it for at least 10n years. I was there in February and I was so sad that they changed the recipe. I did not like it and it was just a let down. If it was such a successful dish, why mess with it.
Pros:
Fantastic views, great food and friendly serviceCons:
Change recipeReviewed by Merwolf Review Date: 03/08/2021
Rating: (8) Recommended
So this was my first time eating at California Grill. To start - the staff was wonderful. They advanced my reset and gave me a table near the window with a great view of Magic Kingdom. The spicy margarita was great and they made it without agave as I asked. I ordered sushi and the scallops and the sushi came out within minutes. Which was kind of a bummer as it was dry tasting and bland as though it had been picked up from Publix. The scallops were well cooked (medium as asked) and tasted great - though the plate was fussy with all sorts of smears of puréed vegetables and a bit of the kind of applesauce you feed babies. It’s possible I am just not sophisticated enough to appreciate that style of presentation but I did enjoy the four scallops that were 54.00. The espresso to end the meal was good and again my server was excellent.
Pros:
Great service, beautiful room, gorgeous viewCons:
Food was good but did not seem worthy of being signature. Could be a steak would have been a better choice and will skip the sushi next time round.Reviewed by Becca4335 Review Date: 02/28/2021
Rating: (10) Recommended
This place would make a great date night spot. It's not crazy loud, has great food and also the view from the top could be a great spot for those looking to propose (hint, hint). My boyfriend and I particularly had a great time because of our waiter Riley had reminded me so much of my dad and we went there as a way to remember him because he was brutally murdered in August of 2019 and never got to go to the California Grill but AlWAYS wanted to!
Pros:
Everything The blueberry lemon drop martini was DIVINE!!Cons:
It's fit for more adults than it is kids.Reviewed by Moonwatcher Review Date: 02/10/2021
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I know folks will hate this review but we actually had the worst filets in our lives at California Grill and it was so disappointing. We worked so hard to get the reservation and looked so forward to eating there. First of all, the sushi was wonderful. Then our waiter brought out our filets. I’ve never had such gristle in BOTH filets. How can you have gristle in a filet? And both? We respectfully showed this to the waiter and they discounted one of the two dinners. That helped but the chefs should know that they have a bad batch of filets and they should not serve them. Unfortunately, there’s too many good restaurants at Disney to schedule another meal there and give them another try.
Pros:
Sushi was phenomenalCons:
Massive gristle streak in filets. The chef couldn’t see that, or didn’t care.Reviewed by Jade Review Date: 11/12/2020
Rating: (6) Not Recommended
California Grill is a signature dining experience at the Contemporary resort. You will need to take a specific elevator to go up to the restaurant. California Grill is very sleek and modern with floor to ceiling windows with a view of the Magic Kingdom. They have an open kitchen so you can see all the chefs at work. They use ingredients that are in season so their menu changes a lot. We went for dinner at 6:25. We didn't have a window table but our server said that we could pause our meal at 8 when the fireworks started and go outside to watch the show. They pipe in the music and you get a spectacular view if Happily Ever After. We started with the complimentary sourdough bread which is served with olive oil and tomatoes. The bread was fresh from the oven and tasty. Next, for appetizers we tried the Sonoma Goat cheese ravioli and the California roll sampler. The ravioli was very flavorful and the sushi was very fresh. For entrees my boyfriend ordered the ramen and I had bison with Gouda macaroni and cheese. The entrees were just okay which was a bit disappointing since they were the most expensive part of the meal. For dessert we sampled the warm chocolate cake and butter pecan sorbet. The cake was really good! As an extra surprise our server brought me a complimentary cupcake lit up for my birthday. Overall this meal was just okay. The best part was definitely the fireworks show. Some other tips: you can actually go to the lounge without a reservation and still get an awesome view of the fireworks! The lounge is full service and sells all of the food from the restaurant. Also, they have two outdoor areas for viewing the fireworks. The one closest to the elevators is a "better" view but more crowded. Finally, if you are a pin trader ask to see their wine cork pin board at the check in desk.
Pros:
Beautiful restaurant with view of Magic KingdomCons:
Food could be better, expensiveReviewed by JanelleB Review Date: 04/29/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
Great restaurant for amazing food and a view. It is pricey so be prepared. The brunch is wonderful but that does not give you view for fireworks. We had to go buy shirts at the store in Contemporary to be allowed to enter but heard the restrictions may have lessoned.
Pros:
Food View AmbianceCons:
Price Time to eatReviewed by Ella Review Date: 04/19/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
One of the best meals I've ever eaten!
The atmosphere, as well as the food, was absolutely incredible!
Pros:
fireworks, food, beautiful view, great service...Cons:
noneReviewed by JessAndTaran Review Date: 04/14/2020
Rating: (10) Recommended
We had one of our honeymoon meals here, what an experience. We absolutely adore this place. Everything from the service to the food to the view of the fireworks made this a 10/10 experience
Pros:
Location Food Service Choice of wine Views Beverage listsCons:
NONEReviewed by sanopa10 Review Date: 02/24/2020
Rating: (8) Recommended
my husband and I went here for our fancy dinner to celebrate our marriage. the view is amazing tho we sat farther into the restaurant which is still good but if you want a window view make sure you let them know beforehand. the pork chops are great as well as the steak and lobster combo. the stand out of our dinner was the pepperoni pizza its amazing. we also go 2 free glasses of champagne for celebrating getting married.
