When we first started going to WDW often a dozen years ago or so, they were not so vegetarian friendly, and we’d go to restaurants for their cute theme and not the food. But times have changed, and continue to change, as Disney makes an effort to feed “we who do not eat meat”  and not bore us to tears in the process. A vegan might have a harder time, but those of us who are lacto-ovo vegetarians can stuff ourselves silly all over Disney World.

I’ll talk about lots of the vegetarian options in future entries, but today I’m California dreamin’ (I know, bad joke) of the California Grill, the restaurant on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort. There, we like our meal “unplugged”, the term the chef uses for the vegetarian offering, a plate of tasty side dishes.

The “unplugged” is definitely a lot more plugged in than it used to be and a waiter told us that the current chef just isn’t into it as much as previous ones were. It used to be a surprise, every time, which things you’d find on your plate, always yummy non-meat side dishes from whatever the carnivores were having that night. You could find risotto with asparagus and a little cup of soup, or mashed potatoes and interesting salads.

The past few years it’s been pretty much the same every time, the flat bread, polenta, salad and vegetable stuffed phyllo. But it’s good, really good, and we have to have it every time we go. They always have a different, interesting salad that we order with it (we used to love the beet salad - bring back the beet salad!!!)

The wine list is great, the view of the Magic Kingdom and all of Walt Disney World, as a matter of fact, is breathtaking (especially during the fireworks) and for Lauren and me, it is a “must do” before the Pirate and Princess parties.

And it’s expensive, but here’s a money saving tip - have dinner at the California Grill when there is some kind of disaster in the building and it will be free! At least it was for us.

One beautiful spring evening we were just about to finish our meal and head over to the park - I had just put out my VISA to pay for it - and our waiter came over to the table and told us, very calmly, to “Get out! Run for your lives! Every man for himself!”

Well no, what he really said was, “We’re going to have to clear out the restaurant and you’ll have to leave. Right now. The elevator is not working so you’ll need to take the stairs. Thanks for coming. Go now.”

I’m glad I remembered to retrieve my credit card, because we got up and left, marched the 15 flights down to the lobby, never to return, never to pay the check.

Not that I didn’t try to pay. We asked everyone what was going on, and only after major digging did we find out that a pipe had burst on the 13th floor. I called the hotel, I called the restaurant, I called WDW main telephone number, and I told everyone that I had not paid for our (very expensive with the splurge bottle of wine) meal. Everyone told me not to worry about it, so I stopped worrying about it. Score! Free meal at the California Grill!

Even when I have to end up paying, the California Grill is a favorite, and I appreciate the vegetarian option that goes a little beyond the usual pasta primavera that many restaurants try to placate us with.