Garden Grill- food was good, service was not.

[lorenae]

We had dinner at GG last Sunday. We were seating fairly promptly, and the waiter took our drink orders. He was very nice to us, and explained how the food would come out, “buffet style, but I’ll bring it to you.”. He did bring the food, and we never saw him again. No refills on water, an offer for another drink, no refills on the food we liked, no dessert. . I had heard the dessert was great, and I saw a couple go past us earlier by another waiter, but we were not offered any.

Finally, as the place seemed to be emptying out about 8:45, we asked another waiter to just ask for our bill so we could leave. She went and got our waiter who did bring our bill within about 5 or 6 minutes.

Food was basic but good, and I really liked the steak with chimmichurri sauce and green beans. Unfortunately, there were two of us and it wasn’t quite enough for us, especially since we didn’t get dessert. (The turkey was like turkey loaf, and totally unappealing, stuffing was ok but I don’t tend to eat wheat). My friend is a chow hound though, and she ate most of the food brought out. She likes boring basic food, and was content but she also wanted more beef and dessert.

I was so disappointed! The characters and interactions were great, but getting a fixed price meal without the entire meal was annoying for sure, and I guess it bothered me more than I realized since it’s a bit over a week later and I’m just now posting about it!

 

[DWillowBay]

Did you alert the manager? Did you request a price adjustment? I'm not doubting that you had a less than stellar server, but the place/ time to do something about that was while you were there. I'm sorry you had that experience because it's not common for that restaurant. Usually, we're offered more food than we can eat.

 

[MudQueen22]

I agree. I would have asked for the manager and asked for extra of what we wanted and our dessert.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would have given them the chance to correct the situation.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I would have told a character. We once told Pluto they hadn’t taken our drink order yet, we were just seated. Well, did he take care of it. He hopped up and down on our seat, dragged. Our server over. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen

 

[CalSea12]

I love GG and I'm very sad to hear you had a bad experience.... I hope you give it another try.

Many people are the type to just let things like that slide... I have learned to not be one of those people lol

I would have called for a manager, and been done with that server.

 

[nkereina]

I'm sorry that happened to you, but you have to help yourself in a situation like that. There's no way I would go to a place like that and be ok with not receiving the dessert course or refills on an item when its all you can eat. Its frustrating to have to do, but you need to find a manager or even ask another server for assistance.

 

[lorenae]

NOW I remember why I didn’t post about this last week!

I love WDW as much as anyone, but seriously beating me up about “not helping myself”?

The service out and out sucked. I did ask once my waiter once or twice for some water and a refill- and by the time I actually could grab someone to help me out, I was tired, fed up, and going to be late for Epcot Forever. The tables were all being moved/cleaned off at that point and I was tired of waiting for a dessert that was promised 45 minutes before.

I’m 56 years old, and been to WDW at least 40 times. I’ve actually eaten in restaurants before, and being treated like this was not my fault nor my responsibility to rectify. I just wanted to let others know that this happened.

 

[Cramden]

I'm sorry you feel as though you are getting beat up. I'm not reading it that way. The replies seemed respectful to you and your unfortunate experience.

 

[BuzzyBelle]

NOW I remember why I didn’t post about this last week!

I love WDW as much as anyone, but seriously beating me up about “not helping myself”?

The service out and out sucked. I did ask once my waiter once or twice for some water and a refill- and by the time I actually could grab someone to help me out, I was tired, fed up, and going to be late for Epcot Forever. The tables were all being moved/cleaned off at that point and I was tired of waiting for a dessert that was promised 45 minutes before.

I’m 56 years old, and been to WDW at least 40 times. I’ve actually eaten in restaurants before, and being treated like this was not my fault nor my responsibility to rectify. I just wanted to let others know that this happened.

I don’t think anyone was “beating you up”. They were agreeing with you that the service was unacceptable. I think they were offering advice that if you or anyone else is in this situation again you should advocate for yourself and let management know that your server wasn’t doing their job.

Eating at Disney is expensive and there isn’t any reason you shouldn’t receive everything you paid for. I’m sorry you had a disappointing experience; I would have been really frustrated as well.

 

[KrazeeK120]

NOW I remember why I didn’t post about this last week!

I love WDW as much as anyone, but seriously beating me up about “not helping myself”?

The service out and out sucked. I did ask once my waiter once or twice for some water and a refill- and by the time I actually could grab someone to help me out, I was tired, fed up, and going to be late for Epcot Forever. The tables were all being moved/cleaned off at that point and I was tired of waiting for a dessert that was promised 45 minutes before.

I’m 56 years old, and been to WDW at least 40 times. I’ve actually eaten in restaurants before, and being treated like this was not my fault nor my responsibility to rectify. I just wanted to let others know that this happened.

Not one person on this thread has beaten you up. People have offered helpful tips on how to deal with this type of situation.

If you’re unhappy with service you’re receiving, you should definitely say something. Bad employees will continue to skate by if no one reports them.

 

[lorenae]

Yes, and I did say something. I felt a little beat up with suggestions to talk to the manager and “you have to help yourself”. It’s not like I sat there like a shrinking violet at all. It was just a bad service day, and we paid $130 for the privilege.
I probably won’t go again, but I may if the grandsons want to do one character meal. They would like it, and I can’t take Chef Mickey’s at all.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I’m 56 years old, and been to WDW at least 40 times. I’ve actually eaten in restaurants before, and being treated like this was not my fault nor my responsibility to rectify.

Respectfully, management can't resolve issues they don't know exist. Nobody is beating you up, so it's too bad you're reading the responses that way.

 

[rwdavis2]

If you aremnot getting the service you expect it IS your responsibility to try to Fix it. Since the restaurant isn’t, who will?

 

[SaintsManiac]

Sorry you’re upset by the replies. I may have misunderstood your post. It seemed the complaint was made only here and not at the time of the meal.

 

[lorenae]

No, I was calm but irritated so I calmly told the manager of my complaints and we paid and left.

 

[lorenae]

If you aremnot getting the service you expect it IS your responsibility to try to Fix it. Since the restaurant isn’t, who will?

And when the restaurant doesn’t fix it, I thought I would mention it to others just as another opinion.

I did all I could do. I don’t know what else is expected here- should I have stood on my chair? On the table? Yelled? Asked three more times for water? Started my diet so I didn’t leave without enough to eat? Stormed out?

The ONLY reason for the post is to let others know that it’s not always fabulous at restaurants that are glorified here at DIS. The service sucked. Not “slow”, not “inattentive”, but absolutely sucked. That’s the long and short of it.

No explanation was given, no apology, except for offering for me to wait while they boxed up a dessert “to go”. By then, it was far too late and we didn’t want to wait even longer, nor did we want to haul a box around while watching Epcot forever.

And aside from my AP discount, no credit was given on our bill.

 

[nkereina]

NOW I remember why I didn’t post about this last week!

I love WDW as much as anyone, but seriously beating me up about “not helping myself”?

The service out and out sucked. I did ask once my waiter once or twice for some water and a refill- and by the time I actually could grab someone to help me out, I was tired, fed up, and going to be late for Epcot Forever. The tables were all being moved/cleaned off at that point and I was tired of waiting for a dessert that was promised 45 minutes before.

I’m 56 years old, and been to WDW at least 40 times. I’ve actually eaten in restaurants before, and being treated like this was not my fault nor my responsibility to rectify. I just wanted to let others know that this happened.

Yes, and I did say something. I felt a little beat up with suggestions to talk to the manager and “you have to help yourself”. It’s not like I sat there like a shrinking violet at all. It was just a bad service day, and we paid $130 for the privilege.
I probably won’t go again, but I may if the grandsons want to do one character meal. They would like it, and I can’t take Chef Mickey’s at all.

I am the one who said you need to help yourself in that situation. I didn't mean that offensively, and I'm sorry you took it that way. There was no indication you had spoken to a manager, so that was what I meant by it. Are you saying you did speak to a manager and they didn't do anything to help? Typically, that would be the first line of defense. If you did and they still don't correct the situation, then I can understand. But if you didn't, I can't sympathize when they weren't given a chance to do anything about it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

No, I was calm but irritated so I calmly told the manager of my complaints and we paid and left.

No where in your initial post did you indicate that you spoke with the manager. I'm sure that people assumed that you had not and that is why it was suggested that you speak to someone.

 

[Dug720]

I am the one who said you need to help yourself in that situation. I didn't mean that offensively, and I'm sorry you took it that way. There was no indication you had spoken to a manager, so that was what I meant by it. Are you saying you did speak to a manager and they didn't do anything to help? Typically, that would be the first line of defense. If you did and they still don't correct the situation, then I can understand. But if you didn't, I can't sympathize when they weren't given a chance to do anything about it.

In the retelling that now includes talking with the manager, it sounds like the manager only came in at the end when they were leaving - not during the meal when something could have actually been done about it.