Yachtsman Steakhouse is one of those Disney Resort restaurants that I didn’t even know was there for several years. Then one day I caught Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel eating steak at some hoity-toity restaurant during the Yacht and Beach Club “Great Hotels” special, and I knew I had to try it!
Restaurant Forum Plaque
I was lucky enough to do so during Disney’s first free dining stint several years ago. It’s now become a standard in our Disney restaurant rotation whenever we need a special treat or celebration.
Located in the Yacht Club Resort, Yachtsman Steakhouse is a high-end dinner spot with a view of Stormalong Bay. Specializing in delicious grain-fed beef steaks, the restaurant has a glass-walled butchering room where guests can actually see their steaks being prepared!
Butchering Room
Led into the restaurant past the open kitchen, guests can catch a glimpse of the dessert offerings before being seated in a dining room furnished in sturdy knotty pine, leather, and brass. If you’re lucky enough to be seated in my favorite section – the semi-circular room with plenty of window tables – be sure to take a glance upward at the simple, elegant chandelier above.
Open Kitchen
Dining Room
The View From Our Favorite Table
Chandelier
As I said, this restaurant is a permanent fixture on our “fancy places” rotation; and I will say that spots only get on that list when we know we can expect excellent service, fabulous food, and a comfortable atmosphere. We’re picky, and this place fits every one of our guidelines.
That said, there are always little changes and updates being made to the menu. Desserts are tweaked, the cheese plate is rotated, and even steak offerings can be different from time to time (we were sorely missing the boneless rib eye), but we always walk out happy. It’s like a miracle.
This evening, we ordered our dinners and were faced with the first change: weird butter. Usually, Yachtsman brings a basket of gorgeous onion and sourdough rolls along with a HUGE pat of butter topped with sea salt. Today, the butter was in a dish with oil and balsamic vinegar. Butter’s my favorite, so I was a bit concerned; but this stuff was amazing. Yes! Please add weird oil and balsamic vinegar to my butter!
Yachtsman Steakhouse Onion Rolls and Roasted Garlic
Sourdough Rolls
Butter with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Salt
We moved on to salad and my cheese plate. The salad was simple and elegant; the cheese plate was delicious as always. I know I owe you guys a cheese plate blog, which I’ll do soon, but for now, here’s the pic and description of the plate.
Cheese Plate
Cheese Plate Descriptions
Caesar Salad
From there, we enjoyed our entrees (…steak) and extra order of fries (what can I say? We were in the mood for fries!). My steak — the Cowboy Steak — was a bone-in rib-eye. I substituted gratin potatoes for the fried onion strips on the menu.
Cowboy Steak and Potato Gratin with White Diamond Cheddar
Yachtsman Filet with Mashed Potatoes
French Fries
At this point, you can imagine we were stuffed, so we skipped dessert. But no worries; I took a shot of the dessert tray for you!
Desserts
Here’re the specs! Enjoy!
Dinner menu here. All other menus (including wine and dessert) can be found here.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
We have twice had ADRs for Yachtsman and had to cancel for one reason or another. I now REALLY look forward to trying it out. Thanks for a great post!
We are staying at Beach Club on our next trip and toying with the idea of trying this restaurant because we’ve heard so many good things about it. But how does it compare to Le Cellier, which is our absolute favorite?
I, too, have learned of so many cool places from Samantha Brown. 🙂 And now you! My goodness, the food looks fabulous here (except the caesar salad–I’m sorry, but 2 romaine leaves does not a salad make!). Yachtsman is now going on my list. I may have to go back to WDW sooner than I thought, just to eat.
I love your site. I am literally drooling over this blog. I can’t wait for the cheese plate blog. And I cannot wait to eat here during my next trip. Please, for the love of everything edible, keep up the good work.
@Tim — Please try to make it to Yachtsman next time. We really do love it! (I’ve had the same “cancel-all-the-time” thing happen with Shula’s; I’m hoping I actually get to eat there this Fall!)
@Shayne — Personally, I waffle between Le Cellier and Yachtsman. One year, Le Cellier is my favorite; the next, it’s Yachtsman. Just depends on each individual experience with the restaurants. I will say that I think Yachtsman has better steak.
@Gray — I wish I had better photography skills — your food pics always look so much better — but I think these at least BEGIN to give Yachtsman some cred. It’s also a really good solo dining experience, I think. No bar from which to watch the open kitchen, but if you get a table by the windows early in the evening, you can watch everyone having a grand old time in Stormalong Bay!
@LBHart Thanks! I love food pics, so I figured everyone else might, too! As for cheese plate blogs, check out the first posts in the series: Citricos and Narcoossee’s!
Thanks for the review.
The Flying Fish has been our favorite in that area for years.
How does Yachtsman’s compare to it?
Chris — I’ll ask your question on Twitter and Facebook; I haven’t eaten at Flying Fish in forever! By the way, I just checked out the Cruise Line restaurant posts on your blog — thanks for those great pictures! I’ve never been!
Thanks for the kind words and link to my Cruise Line posts.
I’m enjoying your blog, please keep up the good work!
What is not to love about Samantha Brown? She’s the best! I wish all travel channel hosts were more like her.
As for Yachtsman, this is one of our favorites. Service has always been very friendly, food is good and overall, I just get a good feeling there. Maybe because the other customers seem to be at home as well. Perhaps there are lots of regulars who stay at Yacht Club year after year? Not sure, just speculating. At any rate, it’s homey yet elegant.
We’re going in October and I have to admit I feel like kind of a geek because I’m sort of excited about trying the new butter. Thanks AJ.