Hey Guys! We’re back with another DFB Video today, and we’re ranking ALL the Disney World Two-Credit Restaurants from BEST to WORST!
Where does California Grill fall on the list?
A “Two-Credit” Restaurant refers to how many Table Service credits are required to dine when utilizing the Disney Dining Plan. They’re also referred to as “Signature Restaurants” which means guests paying out-of-pocket will be spending some pretty big bucks to eat there. We find that some are very worth the splurge during your vacation and others… well, it’s time to find out how we rank Disney World’s Two-Credit Restaurants from BEST to WORST!
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So check out the video and then let us know which Disney World Two-Credit Restaurant tops YOUR list, and which falls to the bottom!
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UGH the two-credit restaurant…as a family, we LOVE the meal plan, but we despise giving up two credits for any of these places. First, yes, the food is good, but at a lot of these places it’s nothing to write home about – for reference, we’ve had Le Cellier, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Artist’s Point, Yachtsmen, California Grill, and Jiko, plus STK here in NYC). I can’t justify going to a restaurant in Disney that I can go to at home – so bye STK. You can get an equally delicious meal at a more casual, fun restaurant for one table credit all over the parks and hotels, so for us, it’s just not worth it. The only reason I can see going to one of these places is to celebrate an important event like an anniversary or a big birthday. I also cannot see how people justify taking little kids to these places, with the exception of Cinderella’s Royal Table.
This is so helpful as I have not tried any of the DS signatures. Yachtsman is way up on our list but we usually stay at YC so that makes it desirable. Cheese plate, bread with roasted garlic, all steaks and potatoes/sides are always delicious. Never bother with dessert here…not interesting enough. Probably my teen son’s favorite.
Great,comprehensive videlog, AJ. I have never been tempted to go to the French restaurant in EPCOT and I see that that was a good move! I love LeCellier and was heart broken when they turned it into a money pit. My fave meal of all time, anywhere, is the filet mignon over mushroom risotto with butter sauce. I used to adore Cindy’s Castle and an excellent breakfast, lunch and dinner there, but that was so long ago, I can’t remember the year! I haven’t returned since it turned into a production line operation. 🙁
Tiffins is my #1, especially if you include drinks and dessert after dinner on the gorgeous back terrace at Nomad. We didn’t want to leave that terrace. Like ever.
Morimoto is high on our list too. It’s excellent and I’m not usually a huge fan of Asian cuisine. I’m not surprised that they do things like sushi and Peking duck well, what really impresses me is how good their “wuss” dishes are. The dishes that are there for those who aren’t big fans of sushi or aren’t adventurous. Doing those milder, simple dishes well shows commitment and diligence. In lesser restaurants, they’re an afterthought and taste like it.
We’ll have to try Boathouse next time.
Flying Fish has changed so much, they might as well just change the name too. This is simply not the wonderful, unique place Chef Keating made it. It’s not bad, it’s just bland and generic compared to what it was.
I’ve tried to love Le Cellier but I find the atmosphere claustrophobic, service is usually pretty bad, and the food far too salty and I like salt. There’s nothing wrong with Yachtsman but Shula’s is better. Our favorite though is Bull & Bear at The Waldorf.
I have no California Grill nostalgia so it’s hit and miss food is a deal breaker for me. Inconsistency is inexcusable at that price point.
The last time we were at Hollywood Brown Derby, the Cobb salad was so watery it was practically a soup and the grapefruit cake was stale. We’ve ordered these dishes on several occasions. We know what they should be like and they were so off. Those are their two most famous signature dishes, they should NEVER be made incorrectly or be less than fresh.
I don’t think we’ve had a truly good meal, start to finish, at Artist Point in six or seven years. We kept going back because the good courses were usually great but we’ve given up trying.
We enjoy Il Mulino quite a bit. We’ve never had an off night or bad dish there.
Victoria and Albert’s is impeccable but it’s a twice and done thing for us since the menu NEVER changes.
Jiko is good but every time I eat there I feel like I should’ve liked it more than I did. I prefer Tiffins and Sanaa.
Narcoossee’s, Citrico’s, and bluezoo were good but none of them blew us away.
We haven’t tried Paddlefish, STK Orlando, or The Royal Table, maybe we don’t need to bother.
As for Monsieur Paul’s, I want to love it so much but it just never works for me. I don’t know if the food is too heavy and expensive or what but I prefer Le Chefs de France. I don’t know. My partner lived in France for three years and generally loved the food there and hates Monsieur Paul’s. According to him, several of Bocuse’s restaurants in France have similar issues like outdated, overly heavy menus.
I would definitely switch the yachtsman with Shulas. I have not had a well prepared steak at the yachtsman but always at Shulas. In fact I would compare the steak preparation at STK and yachtmans as similar and right at the bottom of the list. We have also had good and bad at Le Cellier.
I agree the food has been hit or miss at both California Grill and Flying Fish and the view does not move Calif Grill up for me since I dine for the food first and foremost. Much better food over at Narcoossees also for their Sunday brunch. To me V&A is in a class of its own at Disney.
I agree that at present, taking V&A out, that Morimoto Asia is the best restaurant around at WDW.
We’re vegetarian, and have never had the same menu twice at V&A’s (about 5 visits).. Maybe you just need to stop eating meat 🙂
My wife, son and I tend to stick to Signature restaurants on our Walt Disney World vacations and while we haven’t experienced all 20 of these, I think you nailed the ranking. On our last visit, just before hurricane Irma cut our trip short, we had dinner at The Boathouse. This was our second time there in as many vacations and it has now moved to the top of our list. The service, the food, the beverage, the atmosphere (we sat outside….which probably made a difference since it is very loud inside), and the overall experience simply made our short trip amazing! California Grill and Narcoossee’s (can you say, almond crusted cheesecake?!) round out our top 3. Morimoto is beautiful, but you definitely need to know what to order. We tried Artist Point for the very last time on a recent trip and will never try it again. The service was terrible. We felt rushed and ignored. We love The Wilderness Lodge, but Artist Point? Never again. We used to love Flying Fish and haven’t been back since the remodel, mostly based on your reviews. Thanks for producing the Disney Food Blog, it makes me look forward to planning our next Walt Disney World vacation!
While some of the restaurants on the list are are ones I would frequent again, Le Cellier is one of my favorites. California Grill is good because of the view of the fireworks but the food is not really superb anymore. Chefs de France’s food is equal to Monsieur Pauls and it is only 1 credit. I would recommend if you are going to use 2 credits at Narcoossee’s the brunch is in my opinion the best choice there. You did not mention the 2 credit meal at the Hoop Dee Doo revue which with the show is really good for families if they are going to spend 2 credits on a meal. I will have to try some of the new places at Disney Springs on one of my trips next year as a couple of them do sound good.
We really enjoy some of these, but I totally agree with most of your comments. We love Cinderella’s Royal Table because it’s so fun to eat in the castle. Still, it something we only do once every several years. I’ve never really had a bad experience with the food there, but it’s not the most amazing thing either.
We had brunch at Narcoosee’s last week and it was AMAZING. way too much food, but totally amazing.
I like Le Cellier. I know a lot of people seem to hate it, but I think those are mostly people who remember when it was serving essentially the same menu but was a table service instead of a signature restaurant. I never went there back then, so I don’t have a point of reference for outrage. We wouldn’t go there if it wasn’t a special occasion, because it’s so expensive, but we all really enjoyed our meal when we went last November.
I like Le Cellier – we’re having Christmas lunch here (because we couldn’t get dinner even 180 days out). It’s beautiful and the soup is great. It is expensive, which is why we will be going with the dining plan this trip. Cinderella’s Castle is nice for the atmosphere but the food isn’t worth it – I would much rather have the amazing cheesy potatoes at Akerhaus. Honestly, I’m a simple girl – I’d much prefer to have pizza at Via Napoli any day most of these restaurants!
Just went to Paddlefish and California Grill last week on my vacation. Padddlefish was excellent everyone loved their entrees. I had the crab fries and lobster corndogs and they were to die for!! We have some vegetarians in the group and those options were fantastic especially the brussel sprouts! I will say though they do not have a gluten friendly menu which made it a bit difficult as our waiter was not too helpful he mentioned maybe a couple sides thar would work but that was it. At California Grill they have a vegetarian/gluten free menu now which i loved and the rest of my party much enjoyed there entrees, but they did lose the best dessert on the menu that chocolate pudding cake. Which when i asked the waitress about it ended up bringing me a free dessert which was the new chocolate pyramid one that replaced my favorite. It was ok but it just does not compare to the original pudding cake so sad hope they can bring that back some day.
My only real disagreement with you is between le Cellier and Yachtsman. As far as the quality of steaks go, I have found Yachtsman to be far superior. Rib Eye vs Rib Eye, I found little comparison. In fact, I found le Cellier disappointing. Only my two cents, I’m sure some would not agree with me.
Of those highlighted, I still have to try Tiffins, Cinderellas, Shula’s Steakhouse, Il Mulino, Paddlefish, and STK Orlando. We will dine at Tiffins in January and I’m excited to try the food here.
Of those in which we’ve already dined, I would have as my top three (not necessarily in any particular order) Victoria & Albert, Jiko’s, and Yachtsman Steakhouse. V&A is the WDW tableservice restaurant in which we’ve dine at the most times. (Yes, I’m spoiled.). It’s been 2 years since our last visit and I hadn’t realized there’s been a chef change. Jiko’s has terrific food! And, I think that the Yachtsman has the best steak on property.
I can’t get in to most of these places because I dress like a slob and they have dress codes.
Andy, thanks for your awesome feedback!
Kaz,great to hear they’re doing well with the vegetarian offerings!
I just got back from a Disney World trip where I tried 10 table service restaurants for the first time. The best were all signatures. They were, in order: Tiffins, Jiko, California Grill, and Le Cellier.
My worst meal, for the record, was also a signature: Hollywood Brown Derby.