Liberty Tree Tavern Review
So I will let you know now, this is not a positive review of Liberty Tree Tavern. There are positive parts, but overall, I would not eat here again. I won't say "never" because there is always the off chance we go with people that may want to eat there...many years down the road. BUT, if I have a choice or vote in the matter, we will not be going back. Check out our experience below.
Our reservation time was 7:35 p.m. We were on the dining plan, and we needed to have one more table service restaurant. There are not a lot of table service options at the Magic Kingdom, although that is slowly changing. We decided to try Liberty Tree Tavern mainly because of the food. It seemed very similar to The Garden Grill (which I LOVE), so I thought it would be a good choice. They only had the later reservation available, but with it being our last day, I figured that wouldn't be a deal breaker.
We probably arrived at our reservation about 10 minutes early. We didn't want to venture off too far because of the parade, so we figured we would check in slightly early and might get lucky. Well, we were FAR from lucky. It was nearly 20 minutes after our reservation time (30 minutes of waiting) before our names were called. This was problem number one. I completely understand that the reservation time simply guarantees you a table within 15 minutes of your reservation time, and it was our decision to come early, BUT we were not seated until 20 minutes after our reservation time. And I am most positive that only happened because after we were at the 15 minute mark, my mom went and asked them how much longer it would be. Ironically we were seated 5 minutes later.
The foyer does not provide much seating either. Since the parade was going on, all the seating you normally have right outside was taken by parade viewers. So we were all crammed in the foyer. And having to stand for 30 minutes to wait on a table when you have already been standing all day at the parks is not my idea of fun. And of all the times we have had dinner reservations, we have never been encountered with this problem.
Ok, so now we are finally seated at a table. A couple of minutes after we sat down, a family of around 5-6 sat at a table next to us. We have been sitting here at least 5 minutes now, and we still have not been waited on. The large party next to us has their drinks and salad before a waiter even acknowledges us. Oh, and the waiter that acknowledges us, isn't even our waiter. He was just being nice and helping our waiter out. Our waiter was helping the large party that arrived AFTER us.
Our non-waiter brought us drinks, salad, and bread. The salad was pretty good. It was not Garden Grill good, but it was still better than most places. The bread was both sweet cornbread and rolls with butter. I must admit, the bread was also really good. No real complaints on the food at this point, just the staff.
About 10 minutes later, our actual waiter stops by with our main course. We had ham, turkey with gravy, stuffing with cranberry sauce, and roast with a brown gravy. The vegetables were macaroni with cheese, green beans, and mashed potatoes. The food again was pretty good. My favorites were the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. The meats were ok, but I am not a huge meat eater anyhow. The stuffing was not my cup of tea. It wasn't bad, just not the kind of stuffing I prefer.
Lastly was dessert which took about 25 minutes before we received it. Nothing about this place was quick, for sure. Dessert was like a fruit tart with ice cream. It was pretty good, but if you don't like fruit, you won't like this. I guess you could just eat the ice cream. We were so full from the bread, mac and cheese, and potatoes, I could barely eat this.
My last peeve of the meal was the check. Because of the waiter chaos at the beginning of the meal, no one ever asked about the dining plan like they usually do. So when we received the check, we told the waiter we were on the dining plan. You could tell he wasn't happy he was just finding this information out. Well that was his problem, not ours. So he finally came back and scanned our band so that we could pay and leave.
So our overall experience was not great by any means. The food wasn't bad, but it did not make up for the rude and awful staff. For that, I do not plan to return. I will gladly go to one of the many nicer restaurants at Epcot or spend my money at The Crystal Palace before eating here again. I hope that maybe one day, many years from now, I can give this place another shot and they will exceed my expectations, but we will just have to wait and see.
