Today, we’re heading over for a light lunch and a treat at one of my favorite stops in Disneyland, Pacific Wharf Cafe at Disney California Adventure in Disneyland Resort!
Bread, bread bowls, soup, and baked goodies are the name of the game here, so bring your carb-loving gene! Let’s head in to to see what tempting options we can find.
Pacific Wharf Cafe -- Outside
Atmosphere
Taking its theme from the famed Cannery Row in Monterrey, CA, Pacific Wharf Cafe is owned and operated by San Francisco’s Boudin Bakery. Imagineers have done a great job creating a space with the look and feel of the unique area.
The Boudin Bakery is San Francisco’s oldest company — it’s been in business without interruption since 1849. They still use many of the original old world techniques, and their bread bowls are legendary. They’ve decorated the cafe with some fun bread creations — you can even get a bread Mickey!
Fun Bread Displays
Serving counter service breakfast, lunch, and dinner, this is a great go-to spot if you haven’t made plans in advance for eating and you find yourself in need of a meal or snack.
Head inside the open and airy space to order. You’ll only find the counter and queue area once inside; all the seating is outside of the cafe.
Ordering Queue
Check out some of the incredible baked goods as you place your order, and when you pick up your food, head back outside to this sunny spot to eat. The tables are actually shared by all of the nearby Pacific Wharf restaurants, like The Lucky Fortune Cookery (here’s our review of this Asian hotspot) and Cocina Cucomonga Mexican Grill.
Outdoor Seating -- Shared by Several Restaurants
I was ready for a light lunch, so I decided to head in and check out some of the options available.
Eats
As I said, the stars here are the amazing sour dough bread bowls. You’ll find all kinds of things served in them — from breakfast egg and bacon options, to soups and salads at dinner. (We’re thinking this is the inspiration for the BoardWalk Bakery’s new Breakfast in a Bread Bowl!)
Menu Board -- Click to Enlarge
The cafe displays some of the menu options so you have an idea of meal size before you order. In addition, there’s a bakery case with several tempting bakery and pastry options, most of which are familiar Disney favorites.
Did I indulge in one of these yummy treats? You’ll just have to wait and see. 😉
Bakery Case
When my eye landed on one of my favorite dishes, I knew what I’d be getting — the Santa Rosa Corn Chowder, served in a Bread Bowl!
First off, let me say, this is not your typical corn chowder. It is equal parts zippy, rich, and sweet, thanks to a mix of spicy and sweet red peppers. Since I love both corn chowder and spicy food, this was a perfect AJ soup! This one made my list of Best Disney Soups!
The bread bowl is an ideal edible container. Use the top to dip into the soup as you eat! Many folks don’t finish the whole bread bowl itself, since it can get soggy and messy; but you’re welcome to try!
Santa Rosa Corn Chowder in a Bread Bowl
We hear that the soup came off the menu at the end of last year. Fingers crossed that this is a seasonal move and the soup will be back for the summer months!
Now for dessert! Immediately, I spied one of my most favorite treats at Disneyland — the incredible Cinnamon Roll. Oh yeah. This one was going with me for sure.
Cinnamon Roll in the Bakery Case
Rich, tender dough is wrapped around ribbons of sweetened cinnamon, and then the whole thing is topped with a thick layer of cream cheese icing.
While I still need more icing, this is a good start!
Cinnamon Roll!
The cinnamon roll is incredible, and I absolutely must have at least one on every trip to Disneyland!
Cinnamon Roll -- Up Close
Overall
While the menu might be small, I think it delivers on fresh flavors and good variety, making the Pacific Wharf Cafe one of my favorite stops for a counter service meal at California Adventure. And with the Boudin Bakery viewing window right next door, you can watch the bakers making the incredible breads, too.
If you’re looking for light meals and classic Disneyland pastries, definitely check out Pacific Wharf. You’ll be glad you did!
What’s your favorite option at Pacific Wharf Cafe? Let us know in comments!
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Everything looks so tasty and the idea of a Cannery Row theme is enticing. As many times as I’ve been to WDW, I still have such Disneyland envy. I just have never been able to work out the timing to spend at least the couple of weeks I would want to stay in southern California. DL always looks so alluring and so different than WDW.
Alan — I hope you guys make it out there someday; I know you’d enjoy it! 🙂
Do you know if you can get the soup in a regular bowl and the bread on the side? I love soup and bread but really hate my soup in a bread bowl. Thanks.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to DLR or the Pacific Coast (I’m sure hoping to though!), but I’m thinking that these cinnamon rolls are like the ones from the MK’s Main St. bakery.?.? I just had my first one from Main St’s bakery on our first ever holiday trip in WDW last Nov. and I was flabbergasted when I saw it! It’s not a roll at all; it’s actually an entire half of a loaf of iced cinnamon bread! I ate it for a lite dinner one night and for the next two mornings breakfasts!!!!! These things are humongous and every bit as delicious as they look. They will certainly be a ‘must do’ on all of my trips from now on. 🙂 I could probably get three breakfasts out of one!
We’ve eaten here a couple of times and the food was quite good. We had soup on one cool evening, and when we came back for lunch a couple of days later we ordered chicken salad. They told us the bread was too warm to use as a bowl for the chicken salad, so they served the salad in a paper bowl and gave us the bread on the side with butter. Worked out just fine.
Kelly — You can definitely get your soup not in the bread bowl. I was there a couple weeks ago with my family who decided that they wanted to grab a late dinner and eat it back at the hotel. If you ask for the soup to go they will just put the soup in a cup and the cut bread bowl on the side (with butter) and you can either enjoy them together or seperately.
Word of warning for others thinking of doing this…beware of hotel microwaves. One of our party lost their soup as it exploded in the microwave.
This is my favorite place to eat at California Adventure! The broccoli cheese soup there is so good!
The soups here were wonderful! DCA and Disneyland seem to do soup really well. We didn’t have a bad soup while we were there. I had them package the bread bowl to go and got our soups in a regular bowl. The also have butter available at the pick up counter. It made a great snack the rest of the day.
Do you have the recipe for Santa Rosa Corn Chowder from the Pacific Wharf Cafe?