Just Back...Le Cellier Was Awful!

[noseybuddy]

I ate at LeCellar this past August and September 2005 on the free dining plan. I had a great meal both times, but the family sitting next to me sent their steaks back because they were not cooked the way they had requested. I have no complaints about LeCellar at this time, but I think we all experience a bad or mediocre meal at one time or another. No matter what reviews I read about restaurants, if I want to go I will at least try it once.

 

[PrincessAlways]

I've never had a bad steak at Le Cellier and if I did I'd send it back. I do agree that there is a lot of hype around the restaurant that may not be deservered (it is small and cramped, the food isn't "amazing"). I think the food is good, pretzel bread great, and talking to a server about his or her home is amazing. The dining reviews here are just opinions and I've found that many people can't stand the places I love and vice versa. Don't let someone's review dissuade you from trying the place, your experience may vary - just because the OP didn't like it or have a good meal, many people still do. I enjoy reading about other's experiences, positive or negative, but I take them all with a grain of salt, and only use them as ONE tool in helping me decide where (or where not) to eat.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[neatokimmo]

I hate that you didn't get a good steak. I also eat my steaks rare but after tasting my mom's first one cooked medium from Kona, I ordered mine the same way all throughout the trip.

We ate several steaks while there for free dining and each one was very tender and cooked perfectly. We hit Kona (strip), Boma (I include that because they have great prime rib on the buffet), Spoodles (strip), Le Cellier (filet and strip) and Concourse (strip X 2). That's a lot of steak and all were very good. Now granted it wasn't Prime but it wasn't priced as a Prime piece of meat either.

I think with any place it could be hit or miss whether it's in a theme park or not. I personally don't eat at Outback because I can't get a good steak from them and avoid O'Charley's (which my friends love) like the plague.

 

[Micca]

The tide has turned here on the Dis for Le Cellier. I was never too crazy about the place, but returned time after time because of DW and DDs. The past couple of visits, even they were disillusioned. I don't think we're in any hurry to return, and frankly we had a wonderful meal at Yachtsman during our last visit with superior atmosphere.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

We have eaten there twice, but were extremely disappointed each time. I agree the steak was of not good quality. I would compare it to something you would get at the local Sizzler. I don't think we will go back either.

 

[n2mm]

We just returned from our 2 week trip last weekend and ate at LeCell 3 times. I agree with the other posts, the food is just OK, the servings are very small. If we were paying cash to eat here, it would not be one of my choices, but we were using the DDP and hubby likes meat and potatoes, so there are not many choices when you are there for 2 weeks. While the food is good and service ranges on the better side for our many visits, I too would not visit as often if it was not for the DDP. We did however, visit Coral Reef, after having 2 not great meals there in May and this time the food and service was very good and we were very pleased. Just goes to show you, to each his own. We also ate at Spoodles for the first time and really enjoyed our meal there too! just wish the menu was not so limited. LeCellier is very popular, but more so now with the DDP. My filet at concourse steakhouse was much better than the one I had at LeCellier.

 

[seven dwarfs]

This is always a must do for my family. In Sept we ate here twice. Both times the food and service was really bad. Food seemed pre-made. Steaks were hard to cut and yucky. I hope it goes back to the way it used to be. If not I can cross it off our list of must dos. So sad..

 

[Tiffany]

We just checked out of POP yesterday after a week of Disney fun, and we shut down Epcot with EMH last night.

I will post a more detailed trip report later (elsewhere), but I wanted to post specifically about our experience at Le Cellier. This was our first time eating there, and it was eagerly anticipated by all...especially my dh, a steak-lover through and through.

I have to say that all 4 of us dining (not including the baby) were very disappointed with every aspect of this meal. The food was barely passable, the service was terrible, and the price was totally outrageous for what we got. We were on the DDP and STILL wished we had not wasted TS credits on this place. Let's put it this way: my husband said he could get the exact same quality steak at Smokey Bones, and that was the nicest thing any of us could say about our meals. We would not go back. I understand that it's the favorite WDW restaurant of many, many Disers, but for us it was unacceptable. I'm sure some of you will vehemently disagree with my review, but I wanted to post a counterpoint to all the raves I've seen here on the boards. My advice is to enjoy the wide variety of ethnic foods available in WS and skip the steakhouse until your next family night out in your hometown!

Can you provide any specifics? What type of steaks did you order and what was wrong with them?

 

[daipp]

We went to LC on 1st of September this year for my 40th birthday and it was faultless. We waited seconds to be seated, the service was fantastic and friendly, and the food was brilliant. At the end of our meal they presented me woth a cake and a certificate and several of the waiting and kitchen staff came out to sing me "Happy Birthday".
An extremely enjoyable evening with good food.

Guess where we are dining for my 41st next September??

David

 

[hmp2z]

I wonder why so many on these boards rave about Le Cellier if the beef quality is so poor? We haven't been to Le Cellier for years (except for a F&W Festival Signature dinner there once, which I don't really count).

We tried 'Ohana due to the raves on these boards. We thought the food quality was worse than poor. We were very disappointed. Sounds like the same situation with Le Cellier. Thanks for the warning.

I think that the reviews here have to be taken with a grain of salt. People have differing expectations of what constitutes great food. I would say that the sushi at California Grill and any food I've had at V&A's were great foods, but I don't think I would put anything else from WDW restaurants on that list, at least not without giving it some serious consideration.

That being said, some people think that TGI Friday's and Outback and the Olive Garden are great places to eat with wonderful food. I would be extremely disappointed if I went to a signature restaurant and got Olive Garden quality food.

I think a lot of it depends on how interested each person is in food itself and how broad their dining experiences are. Over time, there will be some people whose reviews you know you can trust, because you have similar tastes. I trust Uncleromulus & ducklite's reviews, because they seem to have tastes and expectation levels that are similar to my own. The Disboards just have such a wide range of people with wide ranges of experiences & expectations that you kind of have to look for those whose tastes match your own.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[LindsayDunn228]

What's wrong with Smoky Bones??

 

[TinkerbellMama]

What's wrong with Smoky Bones??

NOTHING! My dh loves it there, and so do I. We just don't think it should cost $91 (that was the bill amount, although we didn't pay that much as we were on DDP) to get that quality food. We can get the same thing (or better) for 1/3 the price at SB and we're VERY happy with that!

 

[Aimeedyan]

My filet at concourse steakhouse was much better than the one I had at LeCellier.

Completely agree. Our exp at Concourse Steakhouse put LeCellier to shame, really. Everything was 100% better - ESPECIALLY the food quality. And we had service issues at Concourse but they were minor in comparison.

Concourse earned the title "steakhouse" IMO - LeCellier has not.

 

[crazy*about*mickey]

I have made ADR's for both Concourse and Le Cellier for our trip next month. I hesitated making res at Le Cellier because it looked small, cramped and the portions looked tiny. I read a bunch on here and asked the Disney person when I made the ADR and decided to try it. I hope I am not disappointed. We are eating at Concourse at the beginning of the trip and Le CEllier on the last night. I will definitely let you know my opinions on both upon my return.

 

[Paul in CT]

We will be dining for lunch at Le Cellier (We could not get an ADR for dinner . ) and dinner at the Concourse Steak House. We have always enjoyed Le Cellier, but have never tried the Concourse. The cheese soup and pretzel bread are favorites at LC.

 

[dsneygirl]

I'll post another positive review. We ate here last month and it was great. It was at lunch and DH and I both had sandwiches. DH said it wasn't quite as good as the Prime Rib sandwich he had there last year but they have slightly changed the menu.

 

[Lostgirlz]

Ok this is making me nervous. I was not going to make reservations for Le Cellier, but I needed to replace one with another and the dining cast member said what about Le cellier and they had a end of the evening dinner slot open. This is our honeymoon and first trip ever to WDW, and the reviews which were wonderful have turned not so good. I am seriously wondering if I should change to some place else. I changed my CR back to Les Chefs then that whole menu changed. This has me a bit worried on service and quality.

 

[bicker]

We've been to Le Cellier twice, once right after it opened, and once three years ago, at the height of its alleged supremacy. The steak quality sucked. And I do send steaks back when I ordered them medium-rare and they're delivered dry and gristly. And the replacement I received was no better. I think Le Cellier had a three or four year honeymoon, nothing more. AFAIC, it was never as good as Chefs de France, and perhaps still isn't.

 

[marvel]

Could I ask what the 'SMokey Bones' place is? I love to eat in all kids of places when visiting the US, yes even Dennys ! So wondering if this is a chain ? Cause it sounds good!!

 

[makinorlando]

DD and I had lunch at Le Cellier yesterday, as it was one of the places we had not yet eaten, and she needed Canada to finish out her Kidcot mask! I choose lunch as I had heard so many varying reviews on this location, and figured if nothing else I would get soup and salad.

We had great service and our food (plain pasta with butter for DD and a burger & cheese soup for me) was good, our server Jason was very attentive as well. I enjoyed the pretzel bread, as well as the other bread sticks (so I did't eat the sour dough roll that came with my burger!)

As it was lunch time, and we were both full from our meals, we did not indulge in any dessert. With the DDE card lunch inc tip was $30.00.

I did have to educate the hostess when she told me that she did not think DD9 was still considered a "child", but she would give her a children's menu anyway!

I'm not sure I would go there for dinner with the pricier menu and from what I have read sometimes long waits even with ADRs- I'm not that much of a steak lover - and can think of other places I would prefer to spend my $$$.