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disneymania
07-25-2007, 04:22 PM
:confused:I wanted to do a nice (though not outrageous) dinner with my dh in Sept. Was wondering about menu, prices, atmosphere, etc. We used to eat at the BB, but now that the menu has changed it's way overpriced and the food is not nearly as good.

Disneynerd
07-25-2007, 04:39 PM
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k192/Disneynerd/IMG_0787.jpg

The above link is hazy view of the Napa Rose menu. If you have a good computer, maybe you could get a good look at the items and prices.

Let's get to know you to decide your restaurant fate.
Are you wine lovers?
Are you steak lovers? Fish? Chicken?
Where will you be staying - do you need something close to your room?

disneymania
07-25-2007, 05:07 PM
We are staying at the Paradise Peir. We are more steak lovers-but do enjoy a good wine.

cstephens
07-25-2007, 06:50 PM
I'd say Napa Rose, hands down.

jsuperk
07-25-2007, 08:04 PM
If you want a steak and potatoes dinner go to steakhouse 55. They have a wine room that is very reasonable in prices and selection. Their prime rib is out of this world plus Napa Rose doesn't offer prime rib. It's not a far walk from paradise pier also. J

adriennek
07-25-2007, 08:51 PM
OK, if you're a steak person, I have to say, Napa Rose and Vineyard are not steak restaurants.

But.

Since you asked my opinion..... well, ok, who are we kidding. Anyone who's read this board for more than a week probably knows what I'm going to say....


Napa.

Rose.

Adrienne

disneychick
07-25-2007, 09:00 PM
I agree - Napa Rose. It may not be a steakhouse, but to my mind decent steakhouses aren't all that hard to find - a restaurant like Napa Rose isn't so easy to come by! The quality of the food is outstanding, and the overall experience was something I still remember vividly to this day.

Go for it, you certainly won't regret it!! :)

Suzie Minnie
07-25-2007, 09:13 PM
I had the 3 course meal at The Vineyard Room, it was the filet and it was excellent! I highly, highly recommend it!

stebog
07-26-2007, 08:10 AM
;) You guys don't help. You make compelling arguements for all 3 places!

danyoung
07-26-2007, 08:20 AM
I just had dinner about a month ago at the new Steakhouse 55, and was completely pleased. Great steak, terrific service, and a wonderful wine list.

SoCalSteven
07-26-2007, 04:57 PM
I used to love Granville's (now Steakhouse 55), but I ate there last night and I wasn't as impressed as I used to be.

The Pre Fixe menu was the same price as before, but the portions were smaller, included mashed potatoes instead of the potato stack, and the steak just wasn't as good as before according to my fiance. The preperation was off as well, her medium-rare steak was overdone and mine was underdone. I didn't dare send it back for fear it would take longer. The ahi tuna was also priced the same, but was smaller than before.

The service was pretty poor as well. The waiter was creepy, and seemed to be younger than I am (22), which was kind of weird when he carded me for drinks. (I wondered if he was old enough to drink himself! lol!) Everything took ages to come, and the waiter was hardly seen all night.

For what I spent (even after the AP discount) I didn't feel it was worth it. Big thumbs down from me. It will probably be a while before I try going back.

BTW, anyone know where I could send an email or letter about my experience? I'd hope a nice place like this might actually care if someone had a bad experience.

danyoung
07-26-2007, 06:18 PM
Steven, I'm sorry you had such a bad meal. I can only hope that they were having an off night, as my experience was completely different on all levels, as indicated above.

cstephens
07-26-2007, 06:39 PM
BTW, anyone know where I could send an email or letter about my experience? I'd hope a nice place like this might actually care if someone had a bad experience.

For feedback, I always use the "contact us" function on the DLR official website. It works for me.

SoCalSteven
07-26-2007, 08:54 PM
For feedback, I always use the "contact us" function on the DLR official website. It works for me.

Do you get a real response, not just a canned reply?

For the record, I have been many times before and everything was excellent. This time, not so much.

cstephens
07-26-2007, 09:51 PM
Do you get a real response, not just a canned reply?

I get an initial "thank you for your comment" auto-reply. As far as after that, it depends on what I'm writing about. I've sometimes gotten canned responses, but usually in those cases, I wasn't really expecting anything else. There are times when I know there's really nothing they can say, and I really just wanted to get my $0.02 in. Other times, I've gotten a response that they're passing my comment along, either because it's a specific compliment or a specific complaint. There's been at least one occasion when they've actually called in response to a complaint I submitted.

BGLeduc
07-27-2007, 07:32 AM
I am a Steak guy, so take that into account when reading my comments.....

I haven't been to "55", but did eat there a couple times when it was Granvilles. First time, maybe 2001, it was fantastic...service, food, ambience....a wonderful dining experience.

The 2nd time, 2003 or so, not very good at all. Lackluster service, mediocre steak, and a waiter that seemed very condescending when I selected a wine for the lower end of the price list.

That was it for them. On to Napa Rose.

Impeccable service, wonderful ambience, and.....not very good beef!

I don't really recall what I had on all three visits (that should tell you something) but it was certainly a beef dish, however given the price, it was nothing to write home about. Its just not a steak place as others have pointed out.

Having said that, everyone else in my party has had wonderful food, and I expect we will go back there again in November when we make our annual trek to the park. But if you are a classic steak lover, you may be dissapointed it.

That said, we may look into the Vineyard Room for a change of pace.

Brian

charpaul
07-27-2007, 09:54 AM
I was recently at Steakhouse 55 - it was my first visit.
I had heard glowing recommendations from here and from friends about Granvilles, so I was expecting a lot. Maybe too much...

I was disappointed by the lack of service - the lack of atmosphere - the small portions and with what I felt was overpricing. The steak was good -but not memorable or remarkable.
I have had better steak dinners for much less at many other places...

I will not be going back anytime soon.

disneymania
07-27-2007, 08:21 PM
Thanks so much for all of the help. Steakhouse 55 seems to be out. Sounds like it kinda went the way of the BB. Napa Rose sounds promising, but is it not very very very expensive? Any recommendations of what to order? Also, exactly what kind of food does the Vineyard have? Do they have views of the park? Thanks again for all the help!!!!:D

adriennek
07-27-2007, 08:43 PM
Napa Rose sounds promising, but is it not very very very expensive? Any recommendations of what to order?

"Very very very expensive" is extreme. I went ahead and looked at the Steakhouse55 menu to compare since they were both on your original list. Both are a la carte restaurants --

Steakhouse55 appetizers are about $10-12
Napa Rose appetizers are about $15-$17 (BTW, their pizza appetizers are $12 and they fill a dinner plate, so they aren't small.)

Steakhouse 55 salads are $8-10
Napa Rose salads are $10-$13

Steakhouse55 entress are $25 to $35
Napa Rose entrees are $29-$37

Steakhouse sides are $6 - $8
NR sides are $8

So if you ordered salad, side and entree, you'd probably spend about $7 more per person at NR than at Steakhouse55.

I've never ordered a side at NR (although they tempt me!) 95% of the time, we order from all the sections - appetizer, salad, entree and dessert - because it's a big event for us to go to NR. But it's not at all required. You can order from as few or as many as you like. They have a four course prix fixe meal for $75 that includes a starter, a soup or salad, entree and dessert.

I like lamb so I usually order a lamb entree. My husband has ordered beef many times and hasn't been disappointed. We use NR as an excuse to try new foods that we wouldn't be otherwise brave enough to try. That said, we don't like fish so I have no comments on their fish dishes - and I can't say anything about the prix fixe experience because there's always been a dish in it that we wouldn't eat so we haven't ever ordered it. :eek:

There's one dish that regularly shows up on the menu that we really like - it's an appetizer that's a tribute to chicken and dumplings - pheasant and gnocchi. It comes in a little copper pot and it's very very tasty. If you see it on the menu, I highly recommend it.

And every waiter is a trained sommelier. We always get a bottle of wine. (Ok, actually, one time, we ate in the lounge and we didn't buy a bottle.) If you like good wine, talk to your server and they'll give you wonderful recommendations based on your tastes and/or based on the meal you're ordering.

Adrienne

cstephens
07-28-2007, 12:14 AM
Napa Rose sounds promising, but is it not very very very expensive? Any recommendations of what to order?

As Adrienne said, it really depends on what and how much you order and whether or not you're having cocktails/wine, which adds to the bill.

I have some links to files that you might find useful, but warning that the files are fairly big. They are pdf scans of the menu. This particular menu is from the week of June 6, but I have also have a menu from the week of July 6, and the menus are mostly identical except for the fish and shellfish section, which basically has the same three fish but prepared differently. Oh, and the Vintner's Menu is different as well, since that changes every week, starting on Friday night. This will give you an idea of what kinds of food they serve as well as the prices.

As far as what to order, order pretty much whatever sounds good to you. The *only* thing I've ever had there that I didn't care for was a lamb shank, but I think that particular dish might not be something I particularly like, and I think I wasn't feeling completely well that night, and I probably shouldn't have ordered that because it was a little heavier than I should have had that night. Everything else I've had there, no matter what kind of meat, fish or shellfish it was, was excellent. They're also very accommodating if you have allergies or other food concerns.

Here's the pdf scan of the first page of the menu (http://www.colddeadfish.net/images/DLR/dining/napamenu1.PDF), and here's the pdf scan of the second page of the menu (http://www.colddeadfish.net/images/DLR/dining/napamenu2.PDF).



As for the Vineyard Room, it was somewhere I used to like, when they also had more of a prix fixe menu. When they changed the format of the menu, I looked at the menu choices, and while I keep thinking about going back, every time I've looked at the menu, the choices didn't appeal to me that much.

mkcbunny
07-28-2007, 06:09 PM
I can't speak to the Steakhouse 55 experience, but I would choose Napa Rose over Vineyard Room any day. I've been to NR five times and never had a bad experience. Two of the meals were just astonishing, one of which was the best ribeye steak I have ever eaten. And I've eaten many steaks, and many ribeyes. That said, it was the only time I saw it on the menu in my five visits, which took place between, approximately, 2002-2006.

I have never had bad food or a bad waiter at Napa Rose, but the meals have at times gotten pretty pricey. As others have commented, it's usually been an occasion where we had cocktails and wine, appetizers, and dinner, and sometimes a dessert, as well. On the "ribeye occasion," the steak was so large that I couldn't finish it and we didn't have dessert.

We went to Vineyard Room once, and the experience was mediocre all around. The food, the service, everything. We kept wishing we'd gone back to NR instead. Maybe it was a fluke, but there was no glimmer of food or service that made us want to give it another chance. I can't recall what we ordered. But I can tell you every meal I've had at Napa Rose.

The only even marginally "bad" experience we've ever had at Napa Rose was one year I ordered a rabbit stew. The meal was absolutely perfect, but I was reminded that I'm not a huge fan of rabbit after all. So I don't blame the restaurant there; it wasn't the best choice for me.

stan4d_steph
07-29-2007, 07:50 AM
Good or bad experiences, please submit reviews to the MousePlanet User Review database (http://www.mouseplanet.com/reviews). Thanks!

leota's necklace
07-29-2007, 09:36 AM
The Rose can be pricy, but there is no doubt in my mind that the food and the experience are worth it. The chef makes sure to use local and seasonal foods -- the menu is crafted around what is available -- so everything is fresh and delicious. Add the knowledge and experience of the staff -- chefs and waiters -- and the gorgeous decor, and you end up with a meal you won't forget.

Sharing appetizers and desserts can help keep your bill manageable. You won't leave hungry.

I had a dinner at Granville's a year and a half ago, I think, (NR was booked solid) and, while it was very good, I really didn't feel it matched the Napa Rose.

disneymania
07-29-2007, 05:36 PM
cstephens, thank you so much for the menu scans. Due to all the helpfull responses, we have decided to go with Napa Rose.

adriennek
07-29-2007, 06:20 PM
cstephens, thank you so much for the menu scans. Due to all the helpfull responses, we have decided to go with Napa Rose.

We expect a report, you know.... :)

Adrienne