Hey Guys! We’re back with another DFB Video today, but we’ve gotta tell you — this one wasn’t easy to make. Because we’re talking Disney World’s Worst Restaurants.
We get that this might be a little controversial. I mean, somebody has to love these places, right? But as far as we’re concerned, they’re spots where we’ve routinely — over more than once visit — had subpar experiences. Whether it’s the food, or the service, or both. These restaurants just don’t do much for us, and we think you’d be better off skipping them.
Want all the details? Check out our video below!
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Now, we’d love to hear your thoughts. What are your picks for the worst restaurants in Disney World? Leave a comment and let us know!
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Tony’s Town Square. Very Bad. Used to serve breakfast years ago, that was awesome.
I am going to throw out a couple buffet’s. I know you mostly go for the characters, but there are some great options where the food and the characters are great that we skip these:
1. Hollywood & Vine
2. Crystal Palace
San Angel Inn – I have had several bad experiences here so prefer to go to La Hacienda or save the Mexican for home and go to the other great options in World Showcase
Not impressed with Be Our Guest Dinner either. I will take Skipper Canteen, Liberty Tree or Plaza any day. Stick with BOG at breakfast and hit Chef de France for dinner if you want French food.
Our last two visits to Jiko were not impressive either. We have decided not to go there this coming two week trip.
Agree with your Sunset Market. I don’t do a lot of counter service but the burger and chicken fingers are so underwhelming.
I used to LIVE for the Mac and Cheese Dog with Bacon and Truffle Oil at Farifax Fare. I would go to the park just for that hot dog! The truffle oil made it and no one does that anywhere else on property. When they took it away, and especially when they switched to Mexican (what???), Fairfax Fare lost me as a loyal customer. just like the Cake Cups at Cheshire Cafe – why did they get rid of those? They were genius and delicious! AND the Ham and Cheese Waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow. They make the best things, then get rid of them and leave the boring, lackluster stuff – so disappointing.
I really enjoy the turf club. Their bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts in all of Disney. If you haven’t had it AJ I think you’ll really like it! And hands down my favorite restaurant in all of Disney is the Yachtsman!!
If long lines, slow counter service, a crowded noisy cafeteria and bad food are what you’re looking for, then Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is your place. The only good thing I can say about them is the large toppings bar, which is quite good because you will need those toppings to cover up the bland hamburger on your plate. Also making my do-not-bother-to-go-there list is Big River Grille at the Boardwalk resort. The beer is good, but the food is uninspiring. If you do go (for beer), sitting at an outside table on the boardwalk on a pleasant day is the only way to go because the inside of this restaurant is extremely tight and LOUD. Good luck walking inside this place to use the restroom when they’re crowded.
We really like Turf Club, actually, and always eat there at least once whenever staying at Saratoga Springs. Ok, it’s really just a basic steak and chop restaurant, but those are becoming harder and harder to find, both inside Disney World and out. And sometimes we just want a good, basic meal with a nice atmosphere and good service, and Turf Club fits that bill perfectly. The prices are decent and we’ve never had a bad meal there.
Here are some we’ve had bad experiences at:
1) Mama Melrose. Robin was served seafood that smelled of ammonia, which is a huge red flag. My steak at the same meal was hands down the worst steak I’ve ever had on-site.
2) The veggie chili at Columbia Harbor House. I’m a big chili (including veggie chili) aficionado. This stuff is just nasty, and hot sauce doesn’t make it any better.
3) La Hacienda. Not only was our food uniformly bad (we’ve gotten better food at the Cantina next door), the “communal” seating is not very conducive to either conversation or relaxation.
4) Be Our Guest dinner. Both our meals were so bad that the manager comp’ed us a lunch, which was great.
5) Yak & Yeti Restaurant. The food was just ok, but the real turn off was our server trying to get us to buy into the Landry Restaurant loyalty program. Not once. Not twice. Not three times. On at least four separate occasions during our meal he tried to get us to buy into the program. Each time we told him we weren’t interested. I get it that he was probably required to try to sell us the program, but after you’ve been told no three times, don’t you think it would be clear as a bell that it’s not wanted?
Robin also felt that the Local Cafes were actually a better deal than the similar dish at the restaurant.
I like that you give your readers honest negatives as opposed to all glossy positive information. I love pizza and have NEVER been tempted to eat at Planet Pizza! The pizza at the WPE is so good and such a bargain. However, the Cappuccino mocha cupcakes at Pizza Planet were the BEST! AJ, can I still get them anywhere? I hope you get over your cold. Feel better.
The Turf Club should not be on the list! Yes, they haven’t done much to their menu over the last few years, but the service provided by the Cast Members is top notch and the quality of food is great as well. The location of the establishment should have nothing to do with your assessment, a lot of the resort restaurants are only placed there for the convenience for the Guest staying at the resort. I get Guests staying at other resorts may want to try the food, but Trails end isn’t really worth going out of your way for either and you’ve listed that as a top choice. (Mind blown) I do agree that Planet Hollywood is well below par compared to other table service dining locations not only in springs but WDW overall.
I completely agree with you on Nine Dragons. I have a fish and shellfish alllerfy and that restaurant is the worst at accommodating. I didn’t have a choice of food item. It was chicken (plain no flavor) or I could leave. Seriously?!?! Lotus Blossom next door is so great about accommodating.
The Turf Club used the be one of our favorite restaurants. You could go there and get away from the noise of the parks. They had a lamb chop dinner with Gouda polenta and broccolini. I could not wait to go back for it. Their grilled Caesar salad is different and good. A few years ago we went and the lamb chops changed and were served with boring potatoes and green vegetables. It has never been the same. Lunch is better.
Columbia Harbor House is disgusting. The fried fish smell is gross and it is like frozen fish sticks or school cafeteria food. Even the chicken fingers are bad and the fries taste like fish. Fish and Chips at Epcot are good quick service fish otherwise stick to table service for seafood.
We have not tried Nine Dragons; my family loves Lotus Blossom though. The orange chicken is a great dish for kids and my 29 year old son must have it at least once each trip. Good, filling basic food, and they have hot tea and a clean seating area. We have good Chinese where we live (near D.C.) so if we want a gourmet dish, we can do that at home. But Lotus Blossom hits the spot, especially on a cold day.
Tony’s seems to get a lot of hate, but one of our best Disney meals ever (I’ve visited WDW more than 30 times) was a lunch at Tony’s. Good food, efficient service, reasonable cost for the four of us.
I agree with PizzeRizzo though. How disappointing that they didn’t take the opportunity to improve the pizza. Why didn’t they go with full size pizzas and serve a slice, which would be more NY for sure? The salad was nice and I don’t mind eating the veggie pizza if I’m just looking for something quick and filling But what a waste of great theming. Ditto Sunset Market: waste of a potentially great space.
My family loved Pizza Planet but I hated it. I would get the antipasta salad when we went. If I want pizza, I’ll wait and hit the former Hess, now Speedway, gas station on the way out and get Godfather’s. We haven’t been back since Pizza Rizzo come to be but I imagine the pizza is the same.
My worst restaurant list includes Casey’s Corner and Cinderella Royal Table.
I agree with all of your picks except for planet Hollywood. They have a really great veggie burger and I loved their appetizers.
I will say howeve that two of the worst restaurants I’ve eaten at in Disney world are The Hollywood Brown Derby and Be Our Guest. Both are overpriced and the food and service leave much to be desired. Plus the grey stuff is NOT delicious
Thanks Essie! My cold is getting a little better (though now my 4-year-old has it!). I haven’t seen the Cappuccino mocha cupcakes return unless they’re hidden at Pizzerizzo!
The absolutely worse is Hollywood and Vine. We had the worst experience there the Cm’s and Characters were fine but the food was the worse.
We found the food at Be Our Guest to be overrated, plus it made us sick.
I found Columbia Harbor House to be over rated. It needs a refresh.
We also didn’t like Via Napoli. The pizza was okay but the service was horrible. It too over 40 minutes to get a pizza.
Planet Hollywood is the worst place I’ve been to for the hype it has around it and for what they charge. The food quality is what you would expect of a quick serve except you pay two to three times the price. The service there was awful also. They tried to hard to copy Toothsome atUniversal except it flopped. The concept was interesting, but the quality of the product is typical of these types of chains. There are too many great places to go and pay much less or the same in Disney Springs. You’re paying to see the memorabilia.
Hands down, absolute worst dining experience we have ever had in Disney World…Tony’s in Magic Kingdom. This was the most disgusting Italian food I have ever eaten…like I can’t eat this bad. Service was great, but every member of our party was disappointed in their food. Do NOT waste your table service credits here!!!
Caseys Magic kingdom horrible . Fries are bad. See a lot of people waste food there.
Nine Dragons is one of our top restaurants! We go there each and every vacation. The staff is always friendly, they will always seat you even if you don’t have a reservation. The decor is so cool, the restaurant is always clean! The food is ALWAYS DELICIOUS! We love their fresh-brewed blackberry jasmine tea! Their chicken is always good quality and fresh. The spinach noodles are sooo good too! It has a very relaxing atmosphere the second you walk thru the doors. The service is excellent. Nine Dragons should be one of the top restaurants at Disney World. Now, Garden Grill should be one of the worse restaurants. The decor is from the 80s, the restaurant stinks when you walk in, the food is horrible and gross. The service is horrible – it took 20 minutes just to get our water brought to our table when we first were seated. The menu has completely gone down-hill.
Electric Umbrella served my family the worst cheeseburgers we have ever had! I would like to hear about the other menu options (the vegetarian options) but for now its #1 on my worst meal list.
Thanks AJ, my kids ask for DFB videos all the time. Keep it UP!!!
After a really good experience at Nine Dragons many years ago, I was really excited, two years back, to plan our anniversary dinner there, and then just destroyed when the experience was horrible — poor food, indifferent service, and, somewhere along the line, a remodel had rendered it crowded and bland. I actually emailed Disney — not like me at all, but an indicator of how upset I was. They did respond, by the way, but judging from this review, nothing of substance has been corrected.
Footnote: this year’s anniversary dinner was at Artist’s Pointe at Wilderness Lodge. Wonderful experience — exceptional food, great service, even an amazing view. Highly recommended.
We love Turf Club Bar and Grill. My Mom loves the lamb chops there. My husband and I like steak, prefer they would serve Filet Mignon, but they don’t. Great atmosphere, great place to get away from the crowds. Food is very good, but I would like to see a Filet on menu.
We had a terrible experience at Be Our Guest for dinner. We tried lunch on another trip, and it was insanely overpriced. I will not go back. Also, Mama Melrose was very bad for us as we had a rude server. Our food was just ok.
Our picks for worst restaurants are actually some of the most popular and I honestly can’t understand why.
1. Ohana. Every meal we have had there the meat was charred and cold. It could have been really good but it was next to impossible to eat it. And horrible service. Messed up drink orders, snippy attitude.
2. Be our guest. The food was overly salted to the point of being inedible. And I know French food is generally very salty, I grew up eating it as my grandmother is from France, and I didn’t want to touch my steak because of the amount of salt. Not to mention that the tables feel like they are on top of one another.
We actually really liked Nine Dragons, I was really impressed with the food and service. One of my new favorites.
Thank you for acknowledging the inconsistencies in Disney dining. It is so true that all the dining establishments have hit or miss nights so you really can’t go off of one meal.
2 places spring to mind: Casey’s Corner, who’s entire menu is pure artery goo: ultra processed meat and ultra processed cheese with ultra processed starch which is barley warm.
And Pecos Bill’s; one time I entered through the dining room exit door and the smell of ketchup was so overwhelming it made me queasy. The food there is always bad.
We’ve always had good luck with Columbia Harbor House’s food, but the inside looks so worn and not very pleasant.
AJ you’re so right when you say its hit & miss. In the past we have always had a great experience at Liberty Tree Tavern. We ate there a few weeks ago and the service was horrendous. We had a bowl literally thrown on the table.
Tiny portions, food really just warm.
We won’t be going when we are back in December, I would rather stand & wait in line at Sleepy Hollow.
The only saving grace was the toffee cake.
But there were three of us & I have had bigger desserts in other restaurants for 1 person.
Disappointing.
We tried Boathouse for the first time though and loved it!
Also enjoyed the new to us buffet at Hollywood & Vine – great service from Brian here.
(I have fed back both the fab service & the awful service to WDW)
I think ‘hit and miss’ is the order of the day when it comes to Disney dining. I just don’t think it’s acceptable for Disney to be hit and miss with the prices they charge. I haven’t ever given feedback to WDW but I may start doing it this year after our annual visit in December. Is it direct with the restaurant or is there a central contact?
Liberty Tree Tavern….I ordered cream of turkey soup…soup came and had no real flavor and I found out she brought clam chowder and I have a shellfish allergy. Great way to ruin a day.
Nine Dragons…totally agree.
Upstairs restaurant in France, Epcot…before it changed…we had the worst service of anytime in WDW. We had to keep asking other servers to find our server. It took hours because we were determined to have a nice meal and we had to find our server to order dessert, to get our check….because of this, we left no tip. The server came running after us, down the stairs yelling “no tip, no tip”…horrible experience.
Love Yak & Yeti, Germany, Plaza Restaurant and although the menu not my favorite, I love the atmosphere at San Angel. We go to Big River Grille several times each trip. Not a great menu but they have the best Nachos I have ever had and I love to relax outside with a micro brew.
Thanks for the great review and a chance for everyone to voice their opinions. Interesting to see how some peoples worst are others favorites.
We have had three meals at Mama Melrose. The first time, the food was OK, and the service was OK, but the price was a little high for the quality of the food. The second time, we liked the food a little less. The third time, I didn’t like my meal at all. Three strikes and you’re out!
We really enjoy your videos AJ. I hope you’re feeling better soon.
Sorry, long-winded comment from a longtime local! Some I’ve never had a good experience at: Coral Reef (really bland), Electric Umbrella (sandwiches were mostly bread), Pinocchio Village Haus (flatbread with hardly any toppings and hard as a rock), and Teppan Edo (same oily (teppanyaki you can get anywhere). Also not a fan of Chef Mickey/Hollywood & Vine/Crystal Palace (Golden Corral, but with great characters). I agree with other posters about Big River Grille. Columbia Harbour House is no longer on my “nice” list with the exit of the Lighthouse Sandwich. Pecos Bill: I was sorry to lose the taco salad, but I love their burritos, fajitas and topping bar. We’ve also had bad experiences at Tony’s (mediocre food and rushing us out).
But Turf Club? I’ve never had a bad experience here and consider it one of the best. Also, when Maya Grill served filet mignon a few years back it was melt-in-your-mouth amazing, with to-die-for corn souffle, and half the price of filets at the signatures. My current favorites: Jiko, Monsieur Paul, Tiffins, Spice Road Table, and Amorette’s for that incredible dark chocolate raspberry crepe. We also love the cheeseburger egg rolls in Adventureland and wish they’d bring them back.
Disney’s restaurants can really vary based on the night. My worst restaurants – Sunshine Seasons (I know DFB loves it, but the way the place is laid out makes getting your food a complete nightmare and the food is just not worth the hassle), Cinderella’s Royal Table (don’t go for the food), and Grand Floridian Cafe (I know some people love it, but to me the food is really bland.).
I was surprised to see the Maya Grill on your list. The one time my mom and I ate there, the service was excellent and the food was good. Maybe we hit it on the one good night??
Could not agree with you more on Nine Dragons though… Not that great, and not worth trying to negotiate the food allergy issues with them (shellfish).
One place I haven’t seen mentioned that is far at the bottom of my list is ABC Commissary. They used to have a great chicken curry (very similar to the one at Tusker House) and that was the only reason I would eat there. They managed to mess up my order literally every time I ate there, in both big and small ways – once, I ordered a cup of water, and they gave me Sprite! The CMs always seemed overly frazzled or just plain indifferent to the point of being rude. When the chicken curry was removed from the menu, that was it for me. The Studios really lacks a good QS option in general. The only semi-decent place is Backlot Express, but I’m not a big fan of the Star Wars-themed menu – bring back the pressed veggie sandwich!
Ok, this one is a hard one for me, but I hate the food at Sci Fi Dine in Theatre. I am a vegetarian, so that limits me, and the options they have are heavy and super bland. I LOVE the atmosphere and the staff I’ve interacted with could not have been nicer. But the food is… not good. My son would say EVERYWHERE at Disney, as he is also a vegetarian and if you’re a kid that means mac and cheese or pasta with marinara at literally every restaurant in the parks.
Tricia — We love hearing all opinions!
Ladyarli — Thank you!
Many will disagree, but we think Le Cellier in Canada is one of the worst restaurants at DisneyWorld, especially considering price-value. The steak selection is limited and overpriced. We used to love this restaurant when it was more of a counter service line years ago – but now it is just not worth the money with so many tastier places throughout Disney and especially EPCOT.
Most of the restaurants are over priced but hard for Disney to admit. If they are as profitable as they say, then don’t expect to make money off of me! The F/B is pricey to say the least. One of the reasons they will lay off over a thousand people before 2018
We are passholders too and the discount we receive because we are passholders, only brings the total cost down so it is not so pricey. WOW!!!!!!
This is a total hatchet job. On half the restaurants, you even SAY that some of the food/drinks etc are good–but you DON’T say “it’s not my favorite”; you say “it’s one of the WORST restaurants at WDW”.
I don’t have the time or energy to defend every single one of the spots you disparage, but I WILL step up for Turf Club. They have a unique cocktail program (which you don’t mention); a seasonal menu (which you ALSO don’t mention); and some extremely hard working Cast Members who are trying their TAILS off to make TC a go to spot. Yes, it’s out of the way, but Grand Floridian Cafe?? GIVE ME A BREAK. Mediocre food ON THE MONORAIL. Not even the same universe.
I have always enjoyed the DFB as pretty fair and Balanced–but this video is serious click bait. If this is the direction you are headed, I will be happy to steer EVERYONE I come across to ANY and EVERY other source of Disney Dining information I can possibly think of.
Scott D — I really appreciate your comments, Scott! This video was very difficult for me to make as we really do enjoy so many of Disney’s restaurants. I think it’s incredibly important for our credibility as a company to not only share what we love, but also share where Disney can make improvements. But I realize 100% that many readers and Disney guests have different opinions. I appreciate you sharing yours here, as I think it’s very helpful to other readers to hear all opinions and experiences. Many thanks. — AJ
The biggest disappointment for our family was Sci-Fi Dine Inn Theater. We have had restaurants that did not knock our socks off, but would still return to in a pinch. Sci-Fi, however, is the one place we have said we would never return to. We probably should, since our experience was 4 years ago. But, with all the great places to eat on Disney property, it’s difficult to go back to a place you had a very sub-par experience. Our party consisted of 4 adults and 1 child. The adults all ordered steak to get the most out of our dining plan. Every steak that came to our table was only partially edible. They were full of tough fat and gristle and I would even go as far as saying we were only able to eat about 60% of them. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fat on a steak that melts in your mouth. This, though, was that tough, hard fat that you cannot chew. On top of the food not being good, at all, the service was also very lacking. Our server was very inattentive, only coming to our table to bring us our initial drinks and then our food. He never checked on us, and only after we had to flag him down, did he come back to get us refills. Sci-Fi is by far our least favorite restaurant we have been to in Disney. The sad part is, I feel there is so much potential with the theme. If they could only increase the quality of the food.
These days, overall, we have the rare meal where we are REALLY disappointed in the food. In fact, it’s been years since we’ve had a bad experience on one of our trips. What I find most lacking in WDW on our last two or three trips has been the SERVICE. It has been so disheartening to see what has always been the pride of WDW – their castmembers – being rude, impatient, and snippy with guests. We’ve experienced a lot of impatience and flat-out carelessness in waitstaff, and I’ve witnessed so many castmembers in the retail stores being rude to customers. Has Disney changed their training program? Are they thoroughly interviewing the people they hire? It just seems like something is lacking these days among the staff…of course, there are those OUTSTANDING cast members that give me hope that it will go back to being excellent again — shout out to the castmembers at Aloha Aisle who gave me a FREE dole whip float for my birthday AND because it was my first one ever! And also the castmembers that opened up their churro stand in Frontierland early and gave my little sister a free churro. That kind of care, consideration and service used to be the norm in WDW, but it’s fading.
We love PizzeRizzo! There’s just something about those little Disney pizzas that we’ve always loved and it’s getting harder to find them. Pizza Planet was good (where’s that cappuccino cupcake?!) but they have improved so much with PizzeRizzo! Sitting on the balcony with a little pizza and a beer is a great break during the day.
Just finished a day at Disney Hollywood. All the food choices were horrible. A $12 hotdog w Cheese? All hamburger with pulled pork on top? A $50 buffet that was blah? Worst food in any theme park I’ve seen. I wouldn’t mind the prices but the food itself was cheap and horribly cooked. They do have lots of popcorn stands.
The worst for me is the counter service place near Pirates of the Caribbean. We were hot, tired, and hungry, and spotted a table there for lunch. It wasn’t until after we had our one year old set up in a high chair that we realized they only had turkey legs. Would it be so hard to throw at least an option B on the menu? Or a french fry?