Don’t get the Topolinos hype

[tommygunn]

Atmosphere is very cool but the menu is limited and the food, well, bland. At least it was the 2 times I tried it. It’s officially off my list now. Cali grill blows the doors off this place. What am I missing?

 

[gharter]

We love California Grill and go there every trip (enjoy the Prixe-Fix menu as well). Topolinos for dinner has also become a must do for us. Love the atmosphere, love the food and wonderful service. Have been there 4 times, consistent every time. we also plan so we can watch HarmoniUS toward the end of the meal.

 

[scoobdoo]

bland food? The rigatoni was some of the best I’ve ever had

 

[reddog21]

I couldn't agree more it's waaayyy over hyped IMO however food is probably the most subjective discussion to have.

 

[mgarbowski]

I'll take a limited menu over an overpriced prix-fixe that forces me to get (or at least pay for) both an appetizer and desert for every person in the party regardless of our preferences. Disney ruined a great restaurant when they did that to CG.
Also, bland? That hardly squares with our experience.
But that's OK. Different people can enjoy different things.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I feel this way about the majority of Disney restaurants. They're fine in a vacuum but nothing special when you leave Disney property. I'm not interested in California Grill at all due to the prefix menu. I avoid any restaurants with a prefix menu because I know I won't be able to eat all of the food (plus they're VERY overpriced).

Topolino's dinner is okay in my opinion (have never done the breakfast). Service was fantastic but the food is meh. I ordered the veal last time I went and it was very dry + bland. My sister ordered the rigatoni and loved it; I wish I ordered that instead. It also didn't help that at the table next to us had a kid that was blasting Youtube videos at max volume without headphones. Thankfully the waiter told the parents to turn it off, but it was aggravating for a while.

I also agree with whoever said that food is subjective. There are places on property that I like and dislike that others will have a totally different opinion about.

 

[Sandiz08]

The one time we tried california grill it was meh. We loved cinderellas royal table, but I’m sure there are folks who feel otherwise. Most Disney food in the past has been high quality, and cooked well. We are from the south, we use a lot of seasonings , and my husband is a foodie who cooks a lot. It is hard to impress our family with food. Disney restaurants for us are more about the overall experience. We are looking forward to trying topolinos, I’m sure it’s different strokes for different folks.

 

[Maggie The Cat]

I have to agree about the menu.

The menu was cut during Covid and never came back. For a place that has pasta as part of their main decor, there is a surprising lack of pasta dishes on the menu.

 

[Her Dotness]

They did a fabulous job accommodating our respective allergies--DH all kinds of peppers and me gluten and dairy intolerant.

Neither of those is simple at very many other Disney restaurants, so Topolino's is a "YES, will return" for us.

Besides, the food we got was delicious.

Diff'rent strokes, I suppose.

 

[PetePanMan]

We went to lots of the better Disney restaurants in April and Topolino’s was a standout for both me and my wife. Narcoossee’s was a close second. We didn’t go to Cali Grill this trip but have always enjoyed in past.

 

[Richie248]

Love the atmosphere at Topolino's but agree the menu is lacking. Wish they would add a few more options.

 

[loves to dive]

As others have said, it's all so subjective. We ate there right after it opened and while it was fine, it wasn't the bees knees. They may have been trying to work out the kinks or we may have gotten a bad night. We started at a table at the bar since we were early for our ADR and sat, and sat, and sat, and sat, waiting for someone to wait on us. There were servers but they would just walk by us. My son finally got up and went to the bar and placed our order, after he came back to the table, lo and behold a server appeared. We sat at a nice two top on the opposite side of the FWs view, which was o.k. with us since if you are sitting on that side, you are going to get people crowding around your table during FW. Our server tried but he had a very large table of very picky people and kids next to us and spent most of his time dealing with them. When he did make an appearance he was very good with recommendations and explaining things but it was a lot of waiting, for drinks, for apps, for main meal, even for the check and to pay. The food was good but we probably won't go back for a while. We like to try as many of the restaurants we can so it will be a while before we cycle there. Plus, it was a little hard to get to. We were staying at the Dolphin, which you can see from there. We took a bus from one of the parks to the restaurant but that wasn't an option when we were done so we had to Uber.

 

[take36]

It's new, people like new things.

 

[bakerworld]

Some day we're gonna make it to Topalinos - LOL - just because I'd like to be able to have an opinion.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I feel this way about the majority of Disney restaurants. They're fine in a vacuum but nothing special when you leave Disney property.

This pretty much sums up Disney Dining.

 

[supersnoop]

I actually like the abbreviated menus at Disney. It makes it easier than perusing the novel they hand you at the Cheesecake factory. They do a few things and do them well.

I like Topolino's better than any other Italian restaurant on property. Il Mulino has more selection, but Topolino's came through on quality and flavor.

I've only had dinner here. I can't bring myself to try their breakfast; without children or a large appetite, that price doesn't make any sense for me.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I would love for them to add some more pastas. I'm going for the ricotta though

 

[Pyxie]

To be fair, I think most of the "hype" is around their breakfast. They are the best character meal on property IMO. Dinner looks great, though I've never tried it, but I don't think that's where the majority of its popularity is coming from.

 

[robinb]

bland food? The rigatoni was some of the best I’ve ever had

I had the rigatoni last year after hearing all the hype and I thought it was incredibly salty. And I *like* salty.

 

[shoegal9]

I may be biased because I got engaged there... but it is my favorite restaurant on property (tied with Flying Fish). I used to like California Grill before Covid and the chef change- they ruined that goat cheese ravioli when the new chef came on board- but that prix fixe menu is a big nope for me.

I have only had the sole for dinner at Topolino's (three times). It's so good I just cannot bring myself to order anything else. And although I don't normally like duck- the duck confit gnocchi was outstanding. My husband has had 3 different dinner entrees and didn't like one of them- can't remember which.

The brunch is the best value on property and i thought that everything we tried was pretty darn good.