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View Full Version : Citricos! Love it ot Hate it?



wilshade
03-10-2008, 08:44 PM
Hi all,

I have not seen many references to Citricos here and I wonder what experiences, if any, you have had there. It seems from what I have experienced and what I other reviews I have read, Citricos seems to be a love it or hate it kind of place. I am curious as to where you stand. :)

Below is the review of Citricos after my last trip there.


Citricos! This restaurant blew me away in almost every category. From the time I arrived to the time I departed, I enjoyed the best dining experience in Disney World to date.


I arrived appropriately early for my ADR and was greeted happily by the front desk folks. In short order, a stunningly beautiful and quite charming young lady named Yuka greeted me and escorted me to my table. Along the way, she made me feel comfortable and welcome. We had a brief but interesting conversation after I was seated, which continued whenever she passed by on her way to and from her duties.


Shortly after I was seated, my waiter arrived and introduced himself. The first question out of David’s mouth was whether or not I was under any time constraints. He then offered to pace my meal to meet my needs. He seemed pleased when I told him that I had absolutely no constraints whatsoever.


He then explained that he was also serving a large party nearby and enlisted the services of Nadim to help him with that table and with mine. I thought for sure I would soon be forgotten in favor of the large table with the much bigger tip. But, I was to be proven wrong all night.


To make a long story short, David and Nadim were an excellent team and paced my meal absolutely perfectly. They were diligent in checking on me, but not obtrusive. David seemed to be a solid and experienced professional waiter and Nadim was a genuinely happy individual who clearly enjoyed his job.


After a wonderfully refreshing Citricos Bellini aperitif, I carefully considered David’s suggestions and decided on Arancini for my appetizer, and the Citricos Filet Sicilian. I also decided on the wine pairing and was glad for it.


Both dishes were superbly prepared and I savored every bite. Each dish was brought out when I was ready for it and not a moment too soon or too late. The wine pairing seemed perfect. Dessert was the Tropical Fruit Crème Brulee, which was positively heavenly and again, the wine seemed a perfect match.


The restaurant was full and busy and, waiters were dealing with a 16-top table. But, it was abundantly clear that this restaurant was firing on all cylinders and all of its staff were proud of their roles and their abilities. The communication between front of the house and the kitchen was clearly a very strong suit for them.


I was fortunate enough to meet and speak with Citricos Chef de Cuisine, Phillip Ponticelli. I expressed to him my delight with his restaurant. He asked me and I told him all of the specifics. It was clear he was going to pass on my compliments to his staff. Even so, a thank you card is on its way to him for that comfortable and pleasurable evening. I highly recommend this restaurant.

offwego
03-10-2008, 08:53 PM
We love it..

We've had a very good meal (our 10th anniversary) and an amazing meal (our first there the service took it over the top). Both times the food and wine pairings were well done and we really loved the atompshere as well.

Tinksalot
03-10-2008, 08:55 PM
Thank you for your review! I had heard good thing about Citrico's, but nothing in detail. I can't wait to go and try it!!
:wine::eat:

eam
03-10-2008, 09:57 PM
Love it, love it, love it!! It is our favorite TS restaurant at WDW. We are already planning on eating there 4 times during our next visit in October. My favorite is also the Filet Sicilian, but I love the Lemon Cheesecake for dessert. It was great reading your review, makes me wish I could go sooner.

Natazu
03-10-2008, 11:20 PM
Love it. Chef Phil is a genius.

SurferStitch
03-11-2008, 06:51 AM
I'm so glad you enjoyed your meal so much! The food there is wonderful.

Unfortunately, DH and I were not happy at all the last time we dined there (October 2005), and will not be returning anytime soon.

Our food was fabulous, but service was horrible from the moment we arrived.

The host was okay, but let us sit and wait, and wait, and wait while she seated other couples that had later ADR's than we did. She literally gushed over them, then finally called us from halfway across the waiting area and just said "you can sit down now".

Our server was very rude, uninterested and totally unprofessional. We had just come from having drinks and appetizers in the Grand Flo concierge lounge, so DH didn't want another glass of wine. I had one glass, basically just to be nice. She chuckled when DH didn't want wine, asked if he was serious, then kind of walked away in a huff.

She was almost nonexistent the entire meal, which was actually okay with us since she was ruining the experience.

During the meal I caught her standing with another server, staring at us, pointing at us, and laughing at us. Don't know what was so funny....maybe because we were the most dressed up couple there. :shrug: We were shocked at how poorly people were dressed for such a nice restaurant.

To top it off, she then insisted I had two glasses of wine when I only had one. Again, in a huff, she left to fix the bill. I know she was hunting for a good tip, but even with just one glass of wine, our bill was easily $150, and she would have gotten 25% for a tip if she were of the caliber of Narcoossee's or Cali Grill servers. We only gave her 15% (I was feeling generous).

We dined there once in 1999, but again, had a very rude and pretentious server. Our meal in 2005 was supposed to vindicate Citricos, but alas, just showed us nothing had changed.

I really wish we had better experiences. Our crab cake, lobster bisque and filet were all prepared perfectly. Unfortunately, poor service left a very sour taste in our mouths.

sillyolbear
03-11-2008, 08:41 AM
Citricos is our favorite restaurant. Never had a bad experience and looking forward to going back April 27th!

BelleLovesTheBeast
03-11-2008, 02:06 PM
Thank you for your review! I was wondering about this restaurant. Can anyone else tell me what they've had to eat at this restaurant and liked. My DH and I are thinking of trying this on our next trip.

anneb
03-11-2008, 02:15 PM
Love it.! I've only had the pleasure of dining at Citrico's once, but it quickly vaulted to one of my top three favorite restaurants at WDW. (And made me regret not having visited earlier!) The menu changes often, but I had halibut, which was wonderful. Atmosphere, views, and service were good, too.