Favorite Disney Restaurants
 

Would like to hear about some of your favorites, and why they are your favorites.

You may want to do a search on this topic because there have been other posts. Personnally, I love California Grille at the Contemporary- great food and make a reservation during the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom where they pipe in the music and have a deck to watch them.

Thank you, I will do another search. I seem to be encountering a lot of problems on this site today. I am not sure if it is only me though.

for anything related to disney...you will get much better response at
http://www.disboards.com

I also say California Grille. Great view, sushi bar, diverse menu, great service.

Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a pretty nice experience too. Very interesting flavors, pretty decor, great service.

The California Grill is something we always look forward to when we go to DW. As it is a *very* expensive evening, we try to make our reservations for a late-ish dinner when a lot of the "mousketeers" are in bed. Of course, I expect children at Disney, but this is more of an adult venue, IMO. We also love "Mexico" at Epcot, as much or more for the ambiance as the food. Wolfgang Puck at Downtown Disney is very good as is the House of Blues--altho they stopped serving their collard greens which I thought were wonderful!! Spoodles on the Boardwalk is a Mediterrnean themed menu and is very good, and strolling the Boardwalk before or after dinner is fun. All of these places I have mentioned are lively as well as having good, non-theme-park-style food.

And I *must* mention the breakfast at Whispering Canyon--not sure of the name but it is on the main floor of the Wilderness Lodge. I don't want to give away too much info, b/c I think it is more fun if you go in fresh, but it is the most fun you will ever have at breakfast--*not* a character breakfast but great fun for all ages!!

Assume you mean WDW?

In the park we had a nice lunch at the Colonial themed restaurant. Can't remember the name but it was something like the Liberty Tree Tavern. Basic american dishes like Pot Roast.

We had dinner one night at the buffet restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not usually a big buffet fan, but it was perfect for two adults and two kids. Didn't eat at Jiko, but if the quality is a notch or two above the buffet, I'd say it is probably fairly good.

You don't say if you will be with children. If they are young kids, they might enjoy one of the character dining experiences. Our kids loved the breakfast at the contemporary resort, even if the food was just ok.

Hi dsm22,

We have many favorite WDW restaurants and I'll list them here for you.
* Flying Fish (Boardwalk) - best lobster bisque and fish preparations we found at WDW.
* Artist Point (Wilderness Lodge) - we had buffalo and it was superb! This restaurant has really good food overall - something for everybody.
* California Grill (Contemporary Resort) - they not only have awesome food (good sushi, pork tenderloin, and desserts - yum, yum), but they also have the best view of Magic Kingdom. We went in November and got there when they opened (either 5 or 5:30 - can't remember) - just as we finished dessert they dimmed the lights and piped in the music from Magic Kingdom and we could see the fireworks over Magic Kingdom from our window seat - really magical.
* Ohana's (Polynesian Resort) - great buffett, but you don't have to get up from your table. We really enjoyed everything here, but particularly enjoyed the appetizers, shrimp skewers, and various meat skewers (good turkey).
* Fulton's Crab House (Downtown Disney) - We had a fabulous crab dinner here - Alaskan king crab. I loved that they basically cut the claws/legs in such a way that it was really easy to get the meat out - easiest crab dinner we've ever had.
* Narcoosee's (sp?) (Grand Floridian Resort) - we thought the food here was really good - I had surf and turf and thought the lobster was good. Hubby had a fish dish and he enjoyed it too. Place is a little on the noisy side, but not bad.

Some places that we would not go to again are:
* Le Cellier (Canada - Epcot) - we may have just been there on an off night, but the service was the worst we received in all of WDW (and we had priority seating and were on time, plus the place wasn't even full - so really no excuses there). We weren't impressed with the food either - highly over-rated in our opinion.

* San Angel Inn (Mexico - Epcot) - food was okay, but nothing to write home about. It was also really dark in the restaurant - some love the atmosphere - we didn't.

* Marakkesh (sp?) (Morocco - Epcot) - of the three restaurants we ate in Epcot - this was by far the worst and we LOVE middle-eastern food. The food we got tasted like it was from a Swanson's tv dinner. The cous cous was very bland and the meat - well, it wasn't even recognizable.

Our next trip to WDW is November/December 2006 and we have plans to eat at Boma and Jiko since we'll be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and I've heard really good things about both of these places. We also would like to try Bluezoo (Swan/Dolphin), which is Todd English's restarant (as a point of reference - he opened Olives at the Bellagio, which we've really enjoyed).

There are many great dining establishments at WDW and some not so great. If you have specific questions on specific restaurants please ask.

Have fun!

Cheers,
Tracey

Thanks, all. Dick, I did check dis boards and it looks like it contains tons of info. I thought it was a little overwhelming, honestly. Not as easily navagated as Fodors. I will be checking it out again though. It may just take some getting used to. It is a little "busy". Thanks for telling me about it. I am sure I will find some great stuff. It looks like they are equally as obsessed with the place as I am.........maybe more so actually.

I will have an eleven year old with us. I have a character breakfast planned for her at Cinderellas Castle.

Thank you Tracey! You gave me lots to chew on. Pun was not intended. :)

Try going to the restaurants section and posting the same question you asked here.

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Spoodles on the Boardwalk for breakfast. "France" @ Epcot...get a window table & watch the fireworks after dinner.

I have been at least 3 times, it's the only repeat we do, I think- the sit- down Japanese steak house in EPCOT is fabulous for both bread and circuses. The children just adored it and it is delicious/fresh. As in most Japanese steak houses the cook entertains with his techniques and serves you individually, by your precise order. It's somewhat more expensive than some of the others. I did like the French one or the Italian one there. But we LOVED the French bakery for breakfast. Pasteries were top notch.

Many good ones above that I have experienced as well. I had a very poor meal at Jiko, as it was not served hot and frankly tasted reheated/dried out. But formerly when at the Animal Kingdom Lodge we ordered from them once (room service)- appetizers that were fantastic and quite a unique mix of flavors. So I think at WDW you can hit swamped periods where the quality is not constant.

In downtown Disney there was/is a family restaurant (Mickey's Diner or something similar) that has great basic kids meals and some "better" adult choices besides and the characters are in dress. My youngest never forgot his dinner with Mickey there. Mickey sat and "ate" dessert with us.

Forgot to mention "Italy" @ Epcot also!
Very good!

Our favorites are Flying Fish on the boardwalk, Palio at the Swan Hotel, Bongos at Downtown Disney, Mexico in Epcot.

We love Jiko and Boma, both at Animal Kingdom lodge. Other favorites are California Grille (a little pricey, but a great view) and Ohana at the Polynesian - both are great places to watch fireworks. We also like Boatwrights at the Riverside for their banana stuffed french toast - it's my husbands favorite!

We liked the McDonald's at Disneyland, though the happy "meals" did not include drinks and the prices were much higher than prevailing prices at less happy places.

Here's a local's point of view. For a splurge definitely California Grille. For a bit less $ the downstairs part of Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney, unfortunately the tables are way too close together. Rainforest cafe at Disney Marketplace for kids. Taken our kids there many times and always been happy with the food, but can have a long wait during peak times.

Just got back in March from WDW and we absolutely loved Sci Fi Diner in MGM. The kids had a blast and thought it was way cool to sit in a car and eat live your at a drive in! My hubby said his meal was the best he had all week. I dont remember the name of it but it was a pasta and shrimp dish!

We loved Chef Mickeys in the past but this trip none of our group cared for it. Also, the Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge has a great atmosphere and lots of fun for kids!! All you can drink shakes!! Have fun!

I liked the Teppanyaki Dining Room

in Japan @ Epcot....it's the grill you sit around and the food was great...plus after you can wander into the Japanese store which has so many beautiful things...

Roofgirl, thank you for the local perspective. I will share where I have been. I wanted fresh ideas, and did not want to sway the vote at all while I was checking out some new places to try.

We enjoyed Mitsukoshi (?) the Japanese dining room at Epcot, Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom, Sci-Fi, and Wolfgang Pucks. (we had a really yummy mushroom pizza there)

Thanks for the new suggestions. I will be sharing them with the other people I am traveling with this Sunday!

I've been to WDW at least 20 times, and only on the very last time did I discover the best WDW restaurant !!

It's located in Norway, EPCOT !
Don't confuse it with the Norwegian cafe with the great pastries, it's located right in front of the cafe actually.

As we were walking around the park I said: Hey I wonder what Norwegian food's like ! and we thought what the hell, and walked into the restaurant!

We just paid a fixed price, and it included appetizers' buffet, and non stop entrees service, and desserts!

When we were about half way though our main course, the waitress came up to us and took our orders for the next main course, and so on !

They have the best Salmon I've even had, and I don't even like seafood that much!
I ordered it after the lady kept telling us about it being their national meal and that I couldn't be in Norway and not try it bla bla bla! but I am so glad I listened to her!

anyway, after that came the desserts! She brought us samples of about 10 Norwegian desserts, mainly chocolate! and I wondered how the hell she figured out what my secret addiction was!

We tipped her good 'cause we loved EVERYTHING about the restaurant!

Next time We're planning to try the German restaurant! Who knows, we might be in for another treat!

I would skip American, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants in EPCOT, you have those kinds of restaurants back home!

Mnss wow, 20 times! I wish. I would go every year if I could.

I will put that on the list for when I make it back there just me and my husband. I am not sure that my step mom and my niece would be that "adventurous". My step mom is sort of a picky eater and I can see her, then encouraging my niece, wrinkling their noses.

I checked disboards and that restaurant is Akerhaus. Sounded different and interesting. I think when I go with my husband I won't tell him either where we are going. He can be picky, where I want to try everything. I did that with the Morroccan restaurant. He liked the belly dancer lady much better than the food. We both weren't to impressed there.

I am actually very picky when it comes to food! but we were going back home on the following day, and I thought let's just do it !!

Norwegian food is actually not that different, it's just that there was a bigger section on the menu dedicated to seafood, but they still had grilled beef and chicken dishes.

On the other hand, the menu of an American restaurant would have a bigger section dedicated to steak and cheeseburgers, but it will still have seafood dishes!

It's not like they serve fried elephant or zebra ;)

Mnss, oh, believe me I know that they are not serving fried zebra or anything.
You just have to understand my step mom
and my best friend. Both cannot even stand the smell of seafood. My step mom will go to a restaurant that has it and eat chicken. The best friend will not go to a place like Red Lobster.

They have a tendancy to become sort of xenophobic when it comes to food. Any foriegn delecacy is looked upon with great suspicion. While I love to try new food. It's kind of a pain. But I love them anyway. I just save those restaurants for times when I can drag my husband! My best friend did not ever eat Chinese food until he was about 25. No, I am not kidding.

I haven't been for several years but the "fine dining" restaurant at Canada in Epcot had THE best creme brulee with a Maple Sugar coating on it when we last visited Mickey. My family is all about the creme brulee where ever we go. It is a little embarrassing for us to admit that WDW has the best we've ever tasted.

Amwosu, my husband and best friends are creme brulee maniacs. They loooove it.

Why do you feel embarrassed to say WDW has the best. Hey after all they have been starting to cater to more upscale and demanding customers. I think by the reading and sampling that I have done, they are doing it well. I think there are a couple of Zagat starred restaurants, and Victoria & Albert is supposed to be world class. They have the funds to attract some good chefs. Also didn't a few famous french chefs open a restaurant in Paris (EPCOT). If they were smart they would continue to do that.

I will add Canada to list list of must tries for me and the hubby. Creme brulee for everyone! :)