Summer House on the Lake — Restaurant in Lake Buena Vista

I have been eyeing this location for a while now, especially as someone who has visited the Chicago location. I was excited to be able to snag an opening day reservation and the end result was very mixed.

First off, the service was good, at least in the first half of dinner, appetizers and drinks came out quickly and then during the second half of service it took I would say about 20+ minutes to get our main entrees. The restaurant was relatively dead with plenty of open seating and half of the restaurant still being closed off to normal guests. The wait staff was apologetic and was attentive in regards to ensuring we had water, but the wait was really confusing especially wiith how quickly everything else came.

The location is beautiful, I love the open air design, it is very welcoming and just good on the eyes. I didn't care much for the music or the volume for said music.

Now for the food, first off I was hoping to see some of the seasonal specials that were offered at the Chicago location, I'm hoping these seasonal specials will eventually come to this location, as I would really appreciate more diverse selections. The first thing I noticed is that the menu does not match what I saw online on the Disney app for example the "Ahi Tuna Tostadas" are "Ahi Tuna & Watermelon Tostadas" on the actual physical menu, there may be additional typos but that was one that I noticed. I also feel some of the menu items don't include all the toppings it may come with on the menu which wasn't a problem for me, but might be for others. (For example the poke nachos had more than just the ginger soy, wonton chips, and spicy aioli, it also had wakame, scallions, etc.)

On the topic of tuna, I started with the salmon poke nachos, an interesting choice as I am so used to having tuna poke nachos, while the salmon wasn't bad, I don't think the flavor profile really pairs as well as tuna does with the wonton chips. On top of this I really would have appreciated more salmon in general and maybe some more toppings? The salmon poke nachos left so much more to be desired. It needed more of the ginger soy, it would also benefit greatly with some additional flavors like if it had some, nori, avocado, a slight kick, maybe a little siracha added to the aioil? It would go a long way.

Next I had the caramelized brussel sprouts which were the big disappointment of the night, the brussel sprouts were overcooked and dry and because of that there was carmaliziation. I love it when with carmelized brussel sprouts have a little glaze at the bottom of the bowl to scrape from and this was just a dry dark disappointment unfortunately.

The corn bread was exactly that, corn bread, nothing really crazy worth writing home about, it was nice & soft & wasn't overly dry. I also had the shishito peppers which were alright, once again I wish these were served sitting in a sauce like maybe a soy tare & instead of sesame seeds, I think crispy quinoa would really elevate it from a texture perspective. Let the peppers be juicy, please.

To end on the subject of food misses, the crispy chicken sandwich was really disappointing. I would equate it to a chicken sandwich from Burger King with avocado, that is served with REALLY good fries (the fries here are excellent, the truffle fries are perfect). The chicken was dry & the dressing on it was too little, I also was unimpressed with the untoasted bun. I took the garlic aoili from the delicious truffle fries & threw it on the sandwich & that made it ten times better.

The cheesy dream puffs were sold out so I didn't get to try that, but the signature guacamole was really good. The tortilla chips were nicely seasoned & the guac was well done, the other sauces it came with were ok, but the pico was nice to throw on other items. I would have liked the optiion to spice it up a little bit with some tajin & jalapenos.

Overall, while my first experience wasn't the best, it wasn't a complete fluke. I'll come back for brunch & if the seasonal items come. I think most people will have a good experience here....

A couple months ago I booked outdoor seating because my daughter wanted to eat on the water on vacation. We heard there would be a drone show that night at Disney Springs when we arrived, which we thought would be perfect since we already booked outdoor seating for the waterfront view anyway. My daughter is on the Spectrum and needs things laid out for her in a schedule to limit her stemming and anxiety. I had prepared her for our plans for several weeks and the day of. We show up for our reservation and were told that we had to pay $25 per person to sit in our reserved seating. It was a new rule that applied to people who booked AFTER we had due to the new drone show. If we wanted the drone show we could have seen it for free anywhere outside. We never would have even mentioned it to my daughter had we known we would have to pay so at that point she is anticipating many things. The main point to us booking here was for the water view that my daughter specifically requested months prior. The manager was very dismissive/rude and was not willing to accommodate us without capitalizing on the drone show despite me booking the seating way before that was a thing. They even said I was the first person they have encountered where I booked before Opentable started advising of the charge. Despite this they could care less. In fact they were annoyed we were still there trying to sort this out because all they cared about was filling seats. It put me in a very compromised situation because my Autistic daughter was already anxious that we took so long to try to figure out our next steps. It was so frustrating trying to hurry and decide to what would upset her more- a massive change in plans to eat somewhere else or sit inside and not having the view of the water on the porch like we promised and prepared her for at this specific location. Not to mention I had an infant waking up as I scheduled the timeframe to work around her needs as well. People who don’t have children with disabilities will never understand how much these kinds of things can impact someone else. We decide to eat inside since the crowd got huge outside and would be too over stimulating- by this point my daughter was on the verge of crying because she just wanted to sit down and rest. My husband’s pasta came out before anyone else’s food and he politely waited for the rest of the table to be served before eating. It ended up coming much later so his pasta was cold by the time he ate it. Made no sense why they brought it out that early like it was an appetizer. My local friend who is a big Foodie was shocked at how small the piece of fish was- she got this massive salad with the thinnest piece of fish. I got a burger and asked for it to be well done as I am pregnant and must have it fully cooked- it came out medium rare but more on the rare side as it was mushy and pink on the inside. Why bother asking if you will just bring out whatever, but I digress. Our waitress was very nice but the front staff was dismissive and not friendly at all which is shocking because it’s not the Disney culture. I was truly hoping the food could have made the whole experience better but truly felt like I waisted $100 on mediocre food. Would not recommend eating here. This is the one restaurant my friend has actually said was terrible and she has never said that about anywhere in Disney Springs. As a Florida native myself, I wish I had picked a different place to show my husband and daughter that gave them the experience I know and expect from a...

OHHHH . . . . . . . MY . . . . . . GOODNESS!!!! GO - EAT, DRINK AND RELAX HERE!!!!!

Disney Springs has brought in an AMAZING new restaurant. Listen, we are frequent Disney Springs visitors and we have enjoyed Many places down there. All of them are excellent. This one is Supreme! We had an 5+ star experience. We really felt like we were in a luxury 5plus star hotel or spa. Seriously this place is a Must visit. {Now, before I share my experience, I need to let the restaurant know that if their business booms from this review, I need a code word to be sure I can set a reservation! } Speaking of reservations, I highly recommend setting one for this restaurant. We noticed a lot of guest coming in to dine with them.

This treasure is located near the West side, by Splitsville. You step into a restaurant that immediately greets you with elegance, serene and comfort. We asked to be seated on the back patio overlooking the water. It was absolutely georgeous. We had a beautiful 73 degree day so the experience was elevated that much more due to amazing ambience.

We had a delightful and kind server by the name of Angela (Angie?) from Columbia. She was so informative helping guide us through the menu items. She was kind enough to share with us, her favorite dishes and other diners favorites. There is a lot to choose from and most options are sharable in our opinion.

We began with reviewing the menu over a beautiful before lunch drinks. I found my new favorite Prosecco, my dining partner enjoyed a cocktail ~ jalapeño business that was unique, flavorful and delicious. After our first few sips we finially decided on some food. We took the advice of our server and began our order first up - jalapeño cornbread with honey butter and shredded Brussels sprout salad. The corn bread was seriously, the best corn bread I have ever had! (I'm very serious!) The accompanied honey butter was so delicious and not overly sweet, the combinations just worked so harmoniously. Our Brussel sprout salad with peas, toasted almond, bacon and mustard dressing, was absolutely a beautiful cohesive dish that really had amazing balance and flavor. No one flavor overpowered the other, Heavenly. We then ordered another drink, myself a second prosecco (after all it is my new favorite) and my dining partner the grüner veltliner. We have experience with this wine so it was a delight to see it available on the menu (order it if you enjoy clean, crisp, refreshing, well balanced white wine [dry]) We ordered fish taco's and the special of the day. The tacos were fantastic, full of great flavors from the chipotle crema to the salsa verde everything was amazing. The special was a huge, full grilled chicken breast covered in a lime tahini style rub with a dill cream sauce that paired beautifully together. Chicken was well prepared and the cucumber salad was a refreshing accompaniment to the chicken. We finished with one of their well known cookies.

Overall, this place is a must go visit people! Seriously keep them in business please. This restaurant we will faithfully visit every time we go visit.

Thank you Staff at Summerhouse!...