Your favorite California Adventure dinner spot?

[midnight star]

The small portions on the kids menu was mentioned above -- see post #4. That is probably one of the most frequent comments/complaints about the kids menu at LL. I think with all the hype and novelty accompanying LL's opening, people forgot that it's essentially a bar lounge, not a full service restaurant. The downstairs menu is small and the upstairs menu is even smaller. CC Lounge is another place where sometimes people forget that it's a bar lounge menu. That kitchen is small and cannot serve the same things that the upstairs kitchen serves. We've seen guests chew out the servers because they thought the meals in the lounge were too small (like the servers could do anything about it). DCA can be a bit odd as a theme park when it comes to food.

Wow seriously?!

 

[dieumeye]

We've seen guests chew out the servers because they thought the meals in the lounge were too small (like the servers could do anything about it). DCA can be a bit odd as a theme park when it comes to food.

That's terrible. Carthay, LL, and Napa Rose definitely have a more modern "multiple small plate" approach over a "the bigger the entree, the better" style. I love that these kind of restaurants are in the parks... but there are lots of people who have no experience with - or desire to have experience with - this kind of dining... which makes it a bold choice for a theme park. No excuse for rude behavior at all, but I understand why there are plenty of guests who would be annoyed and offended at being served something like a 3 bite Goose Ragu.

 

[tanyaewa]

Our absolute fave place to eat in DCA is to grab dinner from smokejumpers grill - and then carry the tray over to the area behind the Cozy Cone. Best value and food quality and the atmosphere is amazing!!

Or eat at the side of Flos V8 looking into the “desert”

We also really enjoyed the Wine country trattoria for an early dinner/ late lunch

 

[emmybee]

Carthay! We've been going with our girl since she was 3 years old. Her 10th bday dinner was there with a beautiful Haunted Mansion themed cake. It's my very picky husband's favorite restaurant at the resort. The food can be adventurous, it's not like we eat that way with any regularity, but it's always delicious, and the service is impeccable.

Sadly, we had a less than satisfying dinner at the Jazz Kitchen on our last trip. I doubt we'll go again anytime soon. However, JK Express has the best beignets at the park! I am thinking about trying out Catal on one of our future visits.

 

[JeninBrant]

We love Wine Country Trattoria! It isn't anything fancy and the prices aren't too bad for a sit-down dinner. My kids love the Italian bread & oil that they serve before dinner. We often ask for refills!

 

[Meriweather]

Carthay

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If the OP wants to do a dining package for WOC, then that might be a nice reason to try either CCR or WCT. (LL doesn't offer a WOC package, so not an option in this case.)

 

[Bossy22]

I never thought of it till now but we have never had sit-down dining at DCA. We always do in DL but never in DCA. I think the restaurants just don't appeal to us and in general are quite pricey so we do counter service in DCA. That and we love Pacific Warf!!! Love clam chowder in a bread bowl as well as their seasonal soups. After PW we don't really have any go too's. We were pleasantly surprised by Award Wieners last time but haven't eaten at Smoke Jumpers since it was terrible for us a few years back.

 

[dieumeye]

I never thought of it till now but we have never had sit-down dining at DCA. We always do in DL but never in DCA. I think the restaurants just don't appeal to us and in general are quite pricey so we do counter service in DCA. That and we love Pacific Warf!!! Love clam chowder in a bread bowl as well as their seasonal soups. After PW we don't really have any go too's. We were pleasantly surprised by Award Wieners last time but haven't eaten at Smoke Jumpers since it was terrible for us a few years back.

Award Wieners is almost like a secret. You think it's just a hot dog stand, and with all the other options available, why get a plain ol' hot dog? But it's really good! That buttery, toasty bun...

 

[felice]

Wine Country Trattoria is another good choice for adult couples and groups of adults. No personal idea sadly about the children's meal provision as we don't have kids, but I have certainly seen families eat there in the past.

 

[smiles33]

My kids have fairly sophisticated palates as we all love to eat and we take them to many ethnic restaurants and fine dining establishments. We've eaten at Carthay and WCT and Carthay is my top choice when I have the time for a more leisurely meal. We had WCT this past weekend for the WOC dinner and I'll say the adult meals were great (DH and I both had linguine with clams). BUT, the kids' meal was terrible! My 12 year old had the spaghetti Bolognese dish off the adult menu ($25) while my 9 year old got the spaghetti with grilled chicken breast dish off the kid's menu ($10). The 9 year's old spaghetti was very dry (perhaps cooked hours earlier and then left to dry out?) and tasteless (not sauced sufficiently). I literally took a bite of hers and then a bite of my 12 year old's "adult spaghetti" and was shocked how dramatically better the adult meal was. They both served spaghetti but the kids' meal was inedible! Plus, the kids' meal chicken breast was "raggedy." I don't know how else to describe it. It was a very thin chicken breast that looked like it had been over-stretched and then bunched back together on the plate. She tried slicing it with her knife and it wouldn't even slice well. We ended up giving our 9 year old some food off our adult plates as her plate was barely edible. If we weren't in a hurry to go to use a FP, I would have sent it back to the kitchen. It was THAT bad. For subsequent meals at other restaurants (Catal, Naples, and Blue Bayou), we just let our 9 year old order off the adult menu as the execution of items on the kids' menu often leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... BUT, the kids' meal was terrible!..

Send in a comment to Disney about this -- use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the DLR webpage. Management needs to know what's going on with the restaurants and knowledgeable, detailed, constructive comments can be very helpful to them. Note the date, time, location, and give the same detailed description you've given here. With the busy summer expected looming ahead, all the restaurants will need to be on their toes -- and slip ups like this just won't pass muster.

 

[Blue32]

On DCA days I really like Flos for evening atmosphere or heading to Jazz Kitchen or Naples in DTD.

 

[j9isawesome]

Carthay will let you order off menu/work with picky eaters. I know cuz I’ve been over a dozen times and never once ordered straight off the menu. We also really enjoy Lamplight Lounge. If your children are the types that will only eat massive quantities of chicken nuggets with fries or can’t behave at all then maybe those aren’t the best choices but there are lots of less fancy & quite yummy counter service restaurants in DCA. The wharf area has a deli/bakery, Mexican restaurant & Chinese take out restaurant all next to one another that are all decent. The atmosphere and quality of food at Flos is great. Cozy Cones often have fun snacks that could be big enough to be meals and kids love it. Paradise Garden Grill has an often rotating menu but it’s always been good and right next door is Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta (which is way better quality than Pizza Port over in DL). Often Paradise Garden Grill & Boardwalks Pizza & Pasta have a live band playing on the stage surrounded by tables so you can have dinner and a show.

 

[smiles33]

Send in a comment to Disney about this -- use the "contact us" link at the bottom of the DLR webpage. Management needs to know what's going on with the restaurants and knowledgeable, detailed, constructive comments can be very helpful to them. Note the date, time, location, and give the same detailed description you've given here. With the busy summer expected looming ahead, all the restaurants will need to be on their toes -- and slip ups like this just won't pass muster.

Interesting. I didn't even think about this. I just sent in a comment. They should know about it and figure out if they need to change their protocol. Like I said, the spaghetti in the adult portion was perfectly prepared whereas the same spaghetti in the kids' meal was dry/hard and lacked the right texture/chewiness. So they definitely didn't use the same spaghetti, which is what led me to think they precook kids' meals and leave them somewhere under a heat lamp to further dry out.