We recently had a stay for our first time at the Grand Californian. My parents had never stayed at a Disney hotel, and we thought that this experience was truly magical! We were immediately welcomed with the friendly valet staff, had an easy check in despite the longer lines, and were immediately texted that our room was available shortly after. The rooms themselves had amazing views of California adventure, and although my parents and I could not be on the same floor, we felt that the overall rooms were great! We experienced a handful of dining experiences on the property, and were delighted with both the brunch and dinner at Storytellers cafe. The reason for our stay was to celebrate my daughter's 4th birthday with her grandparents there. Storytellers has (and has again) done an amazing job at making someone feel special for their birthday. During the brunch AND new dinner service, the characters embraced her special day and so did the wait staff. They made an excellent experience for our whole party; it was really special to see my dad taking pictures of characters he grew up loving.
Our last morning, we were so excited since we had the Disney Princess Breakfast reserved. After experiencing such an unforgettable experience at Storytellers, we were confident that the breakfast would be even more intimate, special and memorable for my daughter. Now, the venue I was told would be different because of the unavailability of the Napa Rose at the time. But the specialness would still be the same. It is quite a pricepoint to pay, but we were sold on the fact that this would be another Disney successful dining experience. As we arrived, we were greeted by friendly staff. I won't lie, I was very disappointed to be escorted into almost a conference center. This was nothing like what we saw on previous videos, and I completely understand that the change of venue creates a different space, but it felt corporate, dull and almost lackluster of the Disney magic. Besides this, I had high hopes.
As the princesses made their rounds, we experienced almost a warm/cold energy. A staleness/stiffness and almost mundane routine for some of the characters. I mentioned that we were celebrating my daughter's birthday upon arrival. They took down her name (including the spelling). Not once was she acknowledged by anyone. Not once did she get a special greeting/call out from any of the staff or characters. I was almost surprised that characters didn't come back for more greetings to our tables after making the first round. There were not that many guests, and for the pricepoint that we were paying for - it seems as though they would have more time to go up to the characters as guests wanted to. This environment made it feel not personable, and echoed how Storyteller was with a much higher pricepoint. We were happy about the two photo opportunities with princesses. But even this felt slightly rushed as we were corralled in and out. The food was surprisingly lacking. And we were just comparing this to Storytellers cafe. There was nothing I felt was elevated (the only possible appetizer that I felt even slightly elevated to qualify for $142/plate were the lobster bites), everything else were fare that we could find at the other restaurant.
I guess, this is what sticks in my mind the most now for our stay at the Grand Californian. We unfortunately ended on such a disappointing note, and one of the biggest build ups for the weekend. I am happy to speak with whomever about our experiences, because I definitely would like them to hear how high of an expectation we had - and how completely disappointed we felt. We had 6 in our group, and this sentiment was across the board. For such a sought after reservation, we expected more of Disney. That is just how Disney does it, and we almost felt cheated of the experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 4
Ale
Amazing food! The portions are small but full of flavor.
History Buff For Kids
Absolutely phenomenal.
Michael D
What an exceptional experience. For starters our server Brett had outstanding knowledge of the menu the wines and the overall fine dining experiences in the area even outside of the local restaurants.
The food was an unconventional mix of amazing flavors and spices to create one of the greatest restaurant experiences I can remember. I wanted to take more photos but I couldn't help but enjoy the food and wine despite it's hefty price, which I must say is very well worth it. I will definitely return to this place in the future, one of the best restaurants in Los Angeles or Orange County in my opinion
Austin S.
Amazing food and service. Wendy helped us out for my daughters 5th birthday and was amazing with her. The entire staff went out of their way to make her feel welcomed and celebrated and even threw in some extras. My daughter was glowing the rest of the night.
Lola And Blair
Food was below average and service was poor. Took my daughter for her 5th birthday and they didn't even sing happy birthday to her or anything for the amount people spend and not even get a candle with a dessert is ridiculous. Did not feel special at all whole mood was bland from servers.
Johnny Lightning
Very peaceful environment, service was great and hospitality was amazing.
Maria C
Service -
The best part of our night was the service. Michael did an excellent job, we had one of the last time slots and I was surprised he still had the energy at the end of the day to be friendly and make jokes when checking in on us. We didn’t end up trying wines since we are not wine people and he gave no judgment for it and happily showed us the cocktail menu. The staff in general was great too - checking in on us and making sure to take away plates when we were done eating, refilling water, moving the courses along at our pace.
Food - The food was great too. We tried the fixed price menu. The flavor was there for all the dishes - though some lacked the visually appealing element. I would give this part a 4/5. The wild boar dish was too heavy and it was visually the least appealing - there was a frothy thing on it and maybe I am no culinary expert - but it was weird. The fish of the day entree was great in flavor - though my fish was a little greasier than I would want. My husband’s filet mignon was cooked perfectly. The dessert was fantastic- truly no notes.
Atmosphere - I would give this a 4/5. The restaurant felt a little dated. However, it did fit into the vibe I was expecting so not the worse thing. We were not sat near the open kitchen, so we didn’t get to see any of the chefs cooking - though this was more of a plus since it was a little more quiet and we enjoyed our chat more.
Das Sigs
Over all 3 stars. Dish presentation was beautiful, food taste was ok. Some dishes were a bit salty. Service was good. Atmosphere was elegant.
Robert Crumplin
“What up dog!?”, Wende jovially asked. Smiles filled my cheeks, a pleasant start to my lucky evening. Let me tell Wende what the heck was up. Wende was our server who started off super friendly, however right after saying we just want drinks (since the menu changed to a special, after the deadline to cancel without charge), she became angry at us and the mood immediately changed. She asked us “what went wrong” and spent a while trying to dig in to why we didn’t want food after explaining multiple times. It was the most uncomfortable restaurant experience I’ve had. She additionally treated me as a child in a condescending way, when I am a 27 year old man. One of our party asked her for a Chardonnay recommendation and she replied “it’s in the menu” with nothing else, in a very curt/snappy way. Otherwise lovely experience great time had by all.
We had a phenomenal experience here after a long day at the parks. Very upscale Californian cuisine. The staff is well educated, patient, and courteous. The head chef does a good job of securing local ingredients and the management creates a peaceful atmosphere. The food is great, and they validate parking at the Californian! Can’t wait to come here again our next trip to Disneyland!
Justine Lee
We went to Napa Rose for a nicer meal after several days of disappointing meals at Disney/Anaheim. It was the perfect way to end the meal - we had amazing service, a delicious meal (e.g., pork chop, roasted duck) and a perfect piece of birthday dessert for our 8-year old at the end. Normally, we have very low expectations for Disney food (even at Carthay Circle, which was supposed to be fine dining). The ambience was great - despite being touted as fine dining, a lot of people still came in underdressed. That said, great experience overall and probably the best meal we had in Anaheim.
Eon Joo Son
I was very excited about trying Napa Rose. However, after spending $735.00 for 3 pre-fix dinner, I am utterly disappointed about how bad the whole thing was.
First of all, when you are doing fine dining and paying the top dollars, you expect a solidly good service. What we got was a service level worse than the next door buffet place, Story Teller Cafe. Our water glasses set empty for a while and we had to ask repeatedly to get water refilled, and we got the entree while missing the forks or knives. I would expect this type of inattentive and low quality service from cheap eateries and not a restaurant that charges almost $200 per person for 4 course meal. Food was between okay and very good. But the service was SO BAD that overall experience tanked to the bottom. For a fine dining at the top Disney resort, shame on you for having such incredibly poor service. it is absolutely NOT worth the money and do NOT recommend.
Egirl Kalamanani
Thank you Wonderful Wendy! You made our evening with your smiles and humor. You chose the right wine for my dinner. Sorry I added tequila to the mix, as I was a little chilly from the breeze coming from the side room. We tried out three cocktails. The Napa Rose we sent back because it was so sweet tasting like a pixie stick candy. The Bitter Storm was a better drink with warm flavors. I loved the Abeja Asesina with Mezcal and Bourbon as the flavors were bright and refreshing. Tiger Prawn Salad was flavorful. The Frog Legs were better than I expected and nicely plated. The tender Black Angus filet mignon with the shredded smoky oxtail was amazing. The Herb Roasted duck breast was tender and lightly seasoned. The buttery mushroom soup was warming and lovely as a dipping sauce for the sweet potato bread. Dessert was apple stuffed French toast. That was lightly sweet and not like a typical toast bread. The atmosphere was relaxing with warm wood colors. We sat facing the open kitchen which was great for me because I work at a fine dining open kitchen. We listen in on the executive chef calling out the orders. The GM visited us twice and I watched as the floor managers made sure to touch the tables to check on guests. They even served dishes and poured wine. I have to say that this is top quality service I would expect from this establishment.
Marcus Woodard
I really, really wanted to like this restaurant. We went during their Thanksgiving dinner holiday with a 4 course meal for $150+. Definitely not worth it with the limited choices and serving amounts they had. We were a little disappointed when we left. Also crammed into a corner with people on both sides almost elbow to elbow. I wouldn’t recommend going during their 4 course or related events. The money and experience is not worth it.
To our magical friends at Disney,
We recently had a stay for our first time at the Grand Californian. My parents had never stayed at a Disney hotel, and we thought that this experience was truly magical! We were immediately welcomed with the friendly valet staff, had an easy check in despite the longer lines, and were immediately texted that our room was available shortly after. The rooms themselves had amazing views of California adventure, and although my parents and I could not be on the same floor, we felt that the overall rooms were great! We experienced a handful of dining experiences on the property, and were delighted with both the brunch and dinner at Storytellers cafe. The reason for our stay was to celebrate my daughter's 4th birthday with her grandparents there. Storytellers has (and has again) done an amazing job at making someone feel special for their birthday. During the brunch AND new dinner service, the characters embraced her special day and so did the wait staff. They made an excellent experience for our whole party; it was really special to see my dad taking pictures of characters he grew up loving.
Our last morning, we were so excited since we had the Disney Princess Breakfast reserved. After experiencing such an unforgettable experience at Storytellers, we were confident that the breakfast would be even more intimate, special and memorable for my daughter. Now, the venue I was told would be different because of the unavailability of the Napa Rose at the time. But the specialness would still be the same. It is quite a pricepoint to pay, but we were sold on the fact that this would be another Disney successful dining experience. As we arrived, we were greeted by friendly staff. I won't lie, I was very disappointed to be escorted into almost a conference center. This was nothing like what we saw on previous videos, and I completely understand that the change of venue creates a different space, but it felt corporate, dull and almost lackluster of the Disney magic. Besides this, I had high hopes.
As the princesses made their rounds, we experienced almost a warm/cold energy. A staleness/stiffness and almost mundane routine for some of the characters. I mentioned that we were celebrating my daughter's birthday upon arrival. They took down her name (including the spelling). Not once was she acknowledged by anyone. Not once did she get a special greeting/call out from any of the staff or characters. I was almost surprised that characters didn't come back for more greetings to our tables after making the first round. There were not that many guests, and for the pricepoint that we were paying for - it seems as though they would have more time to go up to the characters as guests wanted to. This environment made it feel not personable, and echoed how Storyteller was with a much higher pricepoint. We were happy about the two photo opportunities with princesses. But even this felt slightly rushed as we were corralled in and out. The food was surprisingly lacking. And we were just comparing this to Storytellers cafe. There was nothing I felt was elevated (the only possible appetizer that I felt even slightly elevated to qualify for $142/plate were the lobster bites), everything else were fare that we could find at the other restaurant.
I guess, this is what sticks in my mind the most now for our stay at the Grand Californian. We unfortunately ended on such a disappointing note, and one of the biggest build ups for the weekend. I am happy to speak with whomever about our experiences, because I definitely would like them to hear how high of an expectation we had - and how completely disappointed we felt. We had 6 in our group, and this sentiment was across the board. For such a sought after reservation, we expected more of Disney. That is just how Disney does it, and we almost felt cheated of the experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 4
Amazing food! The portions are small but full of flavor.
Absolutely phenomenal.
What an exceptional experience. For starters our server Brett had outstanding knowledge of the menu the wines and the overall fine dining experiences in the area even outside of the local restaurants.
The food was an unconventional mix of amazing flavors and spices to create one of the greatest restaurant experiences I can remember. I wanted to take more photos but I couldn't help but enjoy the food and wine despite it's hefty price, which I must say is very well worth it. I will definitely return to this place in the future, one of the best restaurants in Los Angeles or Orange County in my opinion
Amazing food and service. Wendy helped us out for my daughters 5th birthday and was amazing with her. The entire staff went out of their way to make her feel welcomed and celebrated and even threw in some extras. My daughter was glowing the rest of the night.
Food was below average and service was poor. Took my daughter for her 5th birthday and they didn't even sing happy birthday to her or anything for the amount people spend and not even get a candle with a dessert is ridiculous. Did not feel special at all whole mood was bland from servers.
Very peaceful environment, service was great and hospitality was amazing.
Service -
The best part of our night was the service. Michael did an excellent job, we had one of the last time slots and I was surprised he still had the energy at the end of the day to be friendly and make jokes when checking in on us. We didn’t end up trying wines since we are not wine people and he gave no judgment for it and happily showed us the cocktail menu. The staff in general was great too - checking in on us and making sure to take away plates when we were done eating, refilling water, moving the courses along at our pace.
Food -
The food was great too. We tried the fixed price menu. The flavor was there for all the dishes - though some lacked the visually appealing element. I would give this part a 4/5. The wild boar dish was too heavy and it was visually the least appealing - there was a frothy thing on it and maybe I am no culinary expert - but it was weird. The fish of the day entree was great in flavor - though my fish was a little greasier than I would want. My husband’s filet mignon was cooked perfectly. The dessert was fantastic- truly no notes.
Atmosphere -
I would give this a 4/5. The restaurant felt a little dated. However, it did fit into the vibe I was expecting so not the worse thing. We were not sat near the open kitchen, so we didn’t get to see any of the chefs cooking - though this was more of a plus since it was a little more quiet and we enjoyed our chat more.
Over all 3 stars.
Dish presentation was beautiful, food taste was ok. Some dishes were a bit salty.
Service was good.
Atmosphere was elegant.
“What up dog!?”, Wende jovially asked. Smiles filled my cheeks, a pleasant start to my lucky evening. Let me tell Wende what the heck was up. Wende was our server who started off super friendly, however right after saying we just want drinks (since the menu changed to a special, after the deadline to cancel without charge), she became angry at us and the mood immediately changed. She asked us “what went wrong” and spent a while trying to dig in to why we didn’t want food after explaining multiple times. It was the most uncomfortable restaurant experience I’ve had. She additionally treated me as a child in a condescending way, when I am a 27 year old man. One of our party asked her for a Chardonnay recommendation and she replied “it’s in the menu” with nothing else, in a very curt/snappy way. Otherwise lovely experience great time had by all.
Restaurantji Recommends
We had a phenomenal experience here after a long day at the parks. Very upscale Californian cuisine. The staff is well educated, patient, and courteous. The head chef does a good job of securing local ingredients and the management creates a peaceful atmosphere. The food is great, and they validate parking at the Californian! Can’t wait to come here again our next trip to Disneyland!
We went to Napa Rose for a nicer meal after several days of disappointing meals at Disney/Anaheim. It was the perfect way to end the meal - we had amazing service, a delicious meal (e.g., pork chop, roasted duck) and a perfect piece of birthday dessert for our 8-year old at the end. Normally, we have very low expectations for Disney food (even at Carthay Circle, which was supposed to be fine dining). The ambience was great - despite being touted as fine dining, a lot of people still came in underdressed. That said, great experience overall and probably the best meal we had in Anaheim.
I was very excited about trying Napa Rose. However, after spending $735.00 for 3 pre-fix dinner, I am utterly disappointed about how bad the whole thing was.
First of all, when you are doing fine dining and paying the top dollars, you expect a solidly good service. What we got was a service level worse than the next door buffet place, Story Teller Cafe. Our water glasses set empty for a while and we had to ask repeatedly to get water refilled, and we got the entree while missing the forks or knives. I would expect this type of inattentive and low quality service from cheap eateries and not a restaurant that charges almost $200 per person for 4 course meal. Food was between okay and very good. But the service was SO BAD that overall experience tanked to the bottom. For a fine dining at the top Disney resort, shame on you for having such incredibly poor service. it is absolutely NOT worth the money and do NOT recommend.
Thank you Wonderful Wendy! You made our evening with your smiles and humor. You chose the right wine for my dinner. Sorry I added tequila to the mix, as I was a little chilly from the breeze coming from the side room. We tried out three cocktails. The Napa Rose we sent back because it was so sweet tasting like a pixie stick candy. The Bitter Storm was a better drink with warm flavors. I loved the Abeja Asesina with Mezcal and Bourbon as the flavors were bright and refreshing. Tiger Prawn Salad was flavorful. The Frog Legs were better than I expected and nicely plated. The tender Black Angus filet mignon with the shredded smoky oxtail was amazing. The Herb Roasted duck breast was tender and lightly seasoned. The buttery mushroom soup was warming and lovely as a dipping sauce for the sweet potato bread. Dessert was apple stuffed French toast. That was lightly sweet and not like a typical toast bread. The atmosphere was relaxing with warm wood colors. We sat facing the open kitchen which was great for me because I work at a fine dining open kitchen. We listen in on the executive chef calling out the orders. The GM visited us twice and I watched as the floor managers made sure to touch the tables to check on guests. They even served dishes and poured wine. I have to say that this is top quality service I would expect from this establishment.
I really, really wanted to like this restaurant. We went during their Thanksgiving dinner holiday with a 4 course meal for $150+. Definitely not worth it with the limited choices and serving amounts they had. We were a little disappointed when we left. Also crammed into a corner with people on both sides almost elbow to elbow. I wouldn’t recommend going during their 4 course or related events. The money and experience is not worth it.
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