Thanks to Heather Montgomery from Running With Sass for this great review of lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe in Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort!
The Grand Floridian Café is located on the bottom floor toward the back of the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. We arrived five minutes early for our 12:45 reservation and were immediately seated after being greeted by a friendly hostess. I was very happy to see we were being seated in the back along the windows looking out over the beautiful Grand Floridian gardens. Having just arrived in Disney World and checked into the Grand Floridian, we were very excited to have our first meal of the trip.
Atmosphere
This café fits in so well with the Victorian era décor. It uses a lot of light colors and florals in its palette, and it also gives off a relaxed vibe for those wanting to escape the busyness of the parks for a little while.
Cafe Atmosphere
All of the tables had a cute little vase on them with a beautiful single rose.
Eats
After taking in the surroundings, we began to look over the menus. We have eaten here several times before, and I already had a good idea of what I wanted to order. Soon after we were seated, our waitress arrived and took our drink orders. She also explained the menu, the specials of the day, and the deluxe dining plan to us. By the time she came back with our drinks, we were ready to order.
It did not take long for our appetizers to arrive piping hot to our table. I ordered the chicken noodle soup, and my husband ordered the crab cakes.
The soup was tasty, with very large pieces of chicken and vegetables in it. It was a rather large bowl, so I did not finish it all (I knew we still had a lot more food coming!).
Chicken Noodle Soup
Bobby enjoyed the crab cakes, and they were presented very well on the plate, too. He has always gotten this appetizer and keeps going back to it time and time again.
Crab Cakes
About five minutes later, our entrees were placed in front of us. Being the meat and potatoes girl that I am, I of course got the New York Strip Steak with mashed potatoes. The meat was good, but slightly fattier than I like. It was, however, cooked how I asked, which I feel can be hit or miss in Disney restaurants. The potatoes were creamy and buttery, and went very well with the steak. This entrée also came with seasonal vegetables.
New York Strip Steak
Bobby ordered the Tilapia, which was one of the specials of the day. He ate the entire thing, and said it was very good.
Tilapia
When it was time to order dessert, our waitress brought us a replica of the sampler platter we could order, and told us about the other choices as well. The platter looked so delicious, we decided we had to have it!
Sampler Platter
This dessert sampler came with four mini desserts. They were clockwise from top left: Chocolate hazelnut mousse cake, Tiramisu, New York style lemon cheesecake, and Key Lime pie. My two favorites were the tiramisu and the chocolate mousse. Bobby liked the ones I mentioned and the lemon cheesecake as well. We both agreed that the key lime pie was our least favorite. (I also ate about half of the “celebrate today” chocolate in the middle!)
Celebrate Today Chocolate
Overall
We really enjoy eating here. It’s convenient, relaxing, and has good food as well as consistent service. There is a range of menu options to suit the different cravings of your party. We had a great view, never felt rushed, and our drinks stayed full. We will be returning to the Grand Floridian Café on a future Disney World trip!
logo photo credit: GDPinvestigation
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we love breakfast at GFC – they really do serve tasty food! Your dessert sampler looked like so much fun …. I think I would go there just for that!
I ate at the GFC for breakfast on my last trip. I was my first and probably last visit there. I ordered some kind of pancakes (want to say citrus pecan?). They would have been good, but they were RAW in the middle. Like, liquid batter coming out of the pancakes. I had no time to send them back since MK was opening in 30 mins. I was really disappointed. No excuse for uncooked food!
My wife and I love the GFC. We go there just for the Grand sandwich. I wish I could find a recipe for the Boursin cheese sauce *cough cough*
Nice review Heather, for a few minutes I felt I was sitting down to a meal there. The GF is such a nice, elegant resort with beautiful grounds. Just sitting in the lobby is a treat. All of their restaurants are top notch. I think, even if it doesn’t fit your budget, it would be worth finding a way to stay there if only for a few days.
Thanks for posting my review, so excited to see it on the Blog! The GFC is a must for us and I enjoyed writing about it!
This is one of those restaurants I am really looking forward to trying on my next trip to WDW, so I really appreciate the review. Great photos, btw!
I love GF Cafe. It’s close to Magic Kingdom and so relaxing. Food is great. We went once in ’09 and then once in ’10 and our waiter remembered us! They are so nice there. There is something about the place, it makes me feel like I’m rich and indulgent while I’m there! A real throw back to a classy time. That sounds weird but there is a certain ambience and I really like it!
This is one of our fave places for breakfast, we cancelled tusker house to eat here 2xs, Its never busy and soo relaxed, and I love that they dont rush you. Great servers. even when our monorail was stuck and we were on it.
Great review. Makes me excited for the lunch ressie I have with my Mom next week!
Love the Grand Sandwich also.
So nice and peacefull. Very elegant.
Breakfast is nice as well as lunch , have never been to dinner.
Would love to see the Pumpkin coach sometime. 🙂
My Hubby and i LOVE the GF. We always eat at least 1 meal there on every visit, usually dinner, and we have never had a bad meal there. Two years ago it was our anniversary and they brought us the dessert sampler with a “Happy Anniversary” chocolate card. We highly recommend this restaurant.
I had an amazingly relaxing and as always, delicious breakfast in August. For an decadent and differen twist, one must give the lobster eggs Benedict a try. Perfectly rich and surprisingly filling, it was an excellent start to the day at a reasonable price. It was a quiet morning and several cast members made the meal an experience.