Feature Article: The Garden Grill - A Dining Review - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Feature Article: The Garden Grill - A Dining Review
The Garden Grill - A Dining Review by Mary Albright
Do you go to The Land Pavilion, run down the stairs to hit Soarin' and then leave?
The Garden Grill seems to fly under the radar for a lot of visitors to Epcot. Most people associate table service restaurants with the World Showcase and overlook the Garden Grill as an option. The Garden Grill is located in The Land Pavilion in Epcot and is only open for dinner. We visited in early December and had a reservation for 5:15 pm. We checked in shortly after 5:00 pm and were glad we had that reservation. There was quite a large group of people in the waiting area. Our pager buzzed about 5 minutes later and we were shown to our table.
If you've never visited the Garden Grill before, it's probably helpful to know that the restaurant slowly rotates, and that it overlooks the Living with The Land attraction. Don't worry; if you are prone to motion sickness, this will not be a problem for you. Garden Grill rotates very slowly. It takes about an hour for it to make one full revolution.
We were shown to our table on the upper level and were greeted shortly thereafter by our server, Chris. Chris talked about the menu, which had slightly been updated from the menu I had seen online before arriving. He was very knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. He took our drink orders and returned shortly with them and our first part of the meal: Oatmeal rolls with maple butter and a mixed greens salad with an apple vinaigrette dressing with smoky bacon.
We all loved the rolls so much that we asked for another basket right away. My kids weren't too crazy about sweetened butter, but my husband and I yummed it right up. I'm a big salad fan and I found this salad to be wonderfully fresh. And there was just enough dressing to taste the flavor and not be soggy. I ate almost the whole bowl myself.
The meal is served family-style (meaning they bring it to your table on platters and each person chooses their serving) and is all you can eat. It consisted of grilled salt and pepper flank steak, roasted turkey breast and a sustainable fresh fish of the day. The fish changes each day. On the day we visited, it was a freshly breaded mahi-mahi. Oh - I was in heaven! Mahi-mahi is my favorite type of fish.
Our side dishes included a cranberry-orange relish sauce, mashed potatoes, apple cornbread stuffing, and roasted vegetables.
Kids can eat the adult offerings, or they can get a kid's plate with their choice of chicken nuggets or mac and cheese. What I love about the Garden Grill is that a good portion of their vegetables served are grown right in the Land pavilion. In our vegetable dish, we had carrots, rutabaga and brussel sprouts.
Everything was fantastic. The steak was perfectly done. The turkey was oh-so-moist and tender. The gravy included with the meal was flavorful. Of course, I loved the fish.
And let's not forget that this is a character meal experience. This is not our primary reason for going to Garden Grill, but let's face it; when Mickey comes to your table, it just makes your day. Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and (naturally) Dale made the rounds several times. I think this restaurant offers the very best character interaction of any place on property. The restaurant is small enough that the characters see you multiple times. And they spend so much time with you, if you want them to. I watched the older couple behind our table interact with the characters. At one point, the gentleman was at the table by himself and Mickey just came up and sat down across from him for a few minutes. I recall one of our earliest visits, when my kids were probably six and seven years old, and Chip knelt at the edge of the table and colored with them for a minute or two. This is just a place where character interaction is so much more personal.
And let us not forget dessert! My son's birthday happened to be that day. Chris was very kind and attentive to bring a birthday cupcake, and he lit it just as Mickey was getting to our table again. He was a fabulous server.
Even though I have teenagers, they brought out the kids dessert for them; Worms and Dirt – chocolate pudding with crushed up Oreos and Gummy Worms on the top. Thank you so much for knowing that teenagers love that type of dessert. My kids were completely pleased.
The main dessert is a fruit cobbler that changes daily. We happened to get the blueberry buckle cobbler with freshly made vanilla bean whipped cream on top. First off, this made my husband's day because blueberry buckle is his favorite fruit dessert. Second, this whipped cream puts Cool Whip to shame. It also puts any homemade whipped cream to shame. It was fabulous.
It's not cheap to eat here. Dinner is $30.99 per adult, $14.99 for kids 3-9, but soft drinks are included.
Please don't let the fact that this restaurant is family-style make you feel the food is inferior. If you are looking for fancy, you won't get it here. But if you are looking for home cooking with a twist, this is your place.
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
Although this is not one of our favorite dining locations I enjoyed your article. I just think with a name like Garden Grill they should have more choices for us vegetarians
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