Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Garden Grill, Epcot, Orlando Florida.

The Garden Grill



Located in the Land Pavilion at the Epcot theme park is with out a doubt one of our favorite restaurants to visit when we "Do Disney".  The first thing you'll notice about the restaurant is that it spins, not fast enough to make anyone sick, but it rotates through the different landscapes of the "Living with the Land" ride. You'll see the American Plains, Jungles and more.  The restaurant is also a Character Dining location, and you will get visits from Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto so you will definitely want to bring your camera, especially if you have little ones.



There are no traditional menus at the Garden Grill, meals are served all you can eat"Family style" where the staff brings out platter of food which include steak, fish, turkey and lots of sides.  If you want more of anything, you just ask your server and they will bring it out to you.  Much of the food is actually produced in the sustainable eco-friendly farms at Epcot.  You can finish off your meal with one of the seasonal deserts.

Overall, this is one of our "must visit" places whenever we go.  We have always gotten excellent service and very good food.  We highly recommend you get reservations in advance and after checking the Disney website it appears the grill is no longer open for lunch, hours are 4 pm-8 pm.  You'll want to plan to spend at least an hour or more here, so if you get a fast pass or have an itinerary for other shows or attractions you'll need to take that into consideration.

Also, due to the style of the restaurant (and because it's Disney), they are a little more expensive than some of the other options available in the parks.

For more reviews you can go here to see what other people are saying about The Garden Grill

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Mulligans, Lake Worth, Fl - Lake Worth Beach.

Mulligans at the newly renovated Lake Worth Beach and Casino

The wife and I had a chance for a date night with just the two of us.  After not being able to decide where to go for the evening, we ended up at the beach in Lake Worth and we decided to try out the new restaurant that had replaced John G's

As we said before, the outside of the Casino building has been completely renovated and now has a great ambiance.  Mulligans, and many of the other businesses now have outdoor seating where you can eat over looking the ocean. Although, you need to keep in mind that the ocean breeze can be a bit brisk, and some of your napkins, among other things,  may go flying.






 The food is reasonably priced for what you get, though a bit more expensive than you typical chain restaurant.  We started off with the Crab Cakes which came with a mango salsa and a Key Lime hollandaise sauce.

For our main course I ordered the Stuffed Grouper, which comes with a crab filling and topped with a lobster sauce and the wife ordered the Fish and Chips platter.  We can definitely say that the fish and chips platter is very very filling.  Look at the size of the fish and look at the size of her hand in comparison.



The service was friendly and fast, but they were not crowded, so we were probably able to get a little more attention than what you might see on a busy night.


Overall, we would recommend Mulligans for anyone who is in the mood for something nice.

Cheddar's, Wellington Fl

Cheddar's, Wellington Fl

It's been a while since we've done a review  (we don't get to go out as much since the birth of our third son), we got a chance to eat at Cheddar's located on SR-7 in Wellington, Fl.  We arrived a little after 6:30 Saturday evening and the place was packed.   Luckily they have ample parking.  We had a large party of 8, including the baby and other 2 boys, so we expected to have to wait a little while.  After checking in with the host, they told us it would be about 30 minutes or so and that there were several other large parties just ahead of us.  It ended up being about a 45 minute wait after all was said and done.  Which, when dealing with such a large party is not that uncommon.

When we first walked in, they thing we noticed is that the restaurant is dark.  The ambiance has little pockets of light but overall it's quite dim, though the large lighted fish tank that divides the Bar side from the Dinning Room side is a nice touch of color.

There isn't much to say about the service we had, it was acceptable not outstandingly great, but not bad by a long shot.  We had one issue where our original server had to leave because of an emergency and we had to get a replacement.  The transition was fairly seamless and we didn't have any problems with it.

As for the food, let's say that you really get WAY more than you pay for.  Portion sizes are large, out of the 7 people who ordered only 2 finished their meals.  Everyone else got to-go bags.  I ordered the "Baked Spasagna" which is spaghetti layered with cheese and baked with a meat sauce like a lasagna.  This is something that might be considered comfort food.  It's a large rich meal that definitely fills you up.  I would most certainly order this again.  The wifey ordered the Chicken Tender Salad, she didn't finish.  This was a large fresh salad topped with about 5 good sized chicken tenders.  The other people in our party ordered the Steak and Tender combo, the Chicken and Waffles, the Chicken Tender platter and the two older boys got the Monte Dogs, which are like corn dogs.  Everyone really enjoyed their meals and as said before the portion sizes are big.


Overall, we were very happy with our experience and we will be back.

Scores
Food: A+, Cooked well, served quickly and really I can't say enough about the portion sizes.
Service: A, even with the hiccups we didn't have any problems.
Price: A, you really get your moneys worth here