It feels like it’s been a long time since Liberty Inn closed its doors in Epcot’s American Adventure Pavilion, but today the new restaurant taking its place has finally OPENED!

The former World Showcase quick-service spot has been totally reimagined into a new BBQ joint — Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue! Let’s go check it OUT!

Atmosphere

Remember how we told you Sam the Eagle would be making an appearance at this new Epcot dining experience when it opened? Well, we encountered our fine feathered friend right when we stepped inside Regal Eagle Smokehouse for the first time and saw his patriotic likeness depicted in this beautiful mural!

Even though we were soooo hungry and couldn’t wait to dig into the new menu (which we’ll get to in a sec!) we took a little time to soak in all the new decor!

There are little Muppet-y touches sprinkled here and there, but you have to look closely to find them!

Oh, Sam! You really dressed up for the occasion with your cute little stovepipe hat! It’s us who should be saluting YOU!

The colonial, early-American style furnishings are carried throughout the space. You’ll see lots of cast iron, pewter, and copper cookware lining shelves and hanging from the walls! Check out this cool old-timey-looking cast iron range! It must weigh a ton — which is about how much we’ll weigh when we’re done chowing down! 😉

Even the new pickup windows are nicely decorated! And check out the gorgeous tin ceilings you’ll see at Regal Eagle Smokehouse if you remember to LOOK UP! We love how cute and cozy this new space feels!

More shelving adorned with copper pots, pans, and crockery highlight the little peek-a-boo window to the kitchen!

One of our favorite surprises, though, has to be Regal Eagle’s selection of BBQ sauces! While we already knew each U.S. region of American-style BBQ was going to be repped by its own style of sauce, we weren’t expecting them to LOOK so ADORABLE!

Um, not only are we totally obsessing over how much the mosaic tile backsplash looks like a traditional American patchwork quilt, but each flavor of BBQ sauce has a super-cute “logo” on its dispenser! And with Regal Eagle’s BBQ sauce bar being out in the open, guests can help themselves to as much of this delicious stuff as they want!

Additional condiments are available on the side, but we’ll forgo the mayonnaise and mustard packets for the REAL THING this time around! You’ll also find packets of sugar, sweetener, and cream for Regal Eagle’s beverages.

Fountain drinks are self-serve and include a variety of Coca-Cola products just like the ones you’ll commonly find throughout the parks.

There’s also Sweetened, Unsweetened, and Flavored Iced Teas to help yourself to.

Regal Eagle’s indoor dining room is spacious and airy, much like Liberty Inn’s was before. We love the red, white, and blue bunting that add a regalness to the large seating area!

Tables include mostly backless benches, although you’ll find a few banquets on either side of the indoor dining room.

You might have to “roshambo” for who gets to sit on the booth side of the table if you choose to dine inside!

Meanwhile, the outdoor patio is absolutely GORGEOUS! We snapped a few photos of it before we headed inside, but trust us — as soon as people started getting their food, these picnic benches started to fill up quickly!

Just like you’ll find inside the restaurant, each outdoor table comes fully equipped with its own roll of paper towels — like any BBQ joint worth one’s salt should in our opinion!

Although you won’t have much coverage from the sun or weather sitting outside, you’ll get to sit right next to Regal Eagle’s smoker! Ain’t she a BEAUTY???

Menu

We know, we too are chompin’ at the bit to bite into some delicious BBQ eats! So without further adieu, let’s scope out the new Regal Eagle Smokehouse menu!

See the entire new Regal Eagle Smokehouse menu here!

For mains, there’s a variety of sandwiches and platters as well as a plant-based option to choose from. The American Platter is the most expensive meal at $18.99 and it includes a massive amount of food for the cost! We’re talkin’ three types of meats, garlic toast and your choice of side! Everything else costs between $11.49 and $13.99 which is pretty standard for a Disney World counter-service restaurant these days!

Umm… in our defense, we’ve been waiting a really REALLY long time for Regal Eagle Smokehouse to open, so we might have gotten a bit carried away! But hey, we got big plans to walk it off around the World Showcase, later on, so bring on the MEAT!

Entrees

While the South Carolina Smoked Sausage Sandwich for $11.49 with tangy mustard sauce and caramelized onions sounded tempting, we opted for the Sliced Texas Beef Brisket Sandwich for $12.99 with house-made spicy mop sauce served on garlic toast! We’ll talk about tasty sides in a minute (like this Macaroni & Cheese we got with our brisket sammy!). The price of each entree (with the exception of the Power Greens Salad and Smoked Sausage Sandwich) includes your choice of one side — but you can get ’em all a la carte as well!

We would definitely order this tasty sandwich again! The brisket was super flavorful and moist!

Plus, we loved how it came on garlic toast! The soft, rich buttery bread added just the right element of salt to the sweet, yummy smoked meat! A lot of layers of flavor here!

Regal Eagle Smokehouse also offers a variety of barbecue platters! You can order their North Carolina Chopped Smoked Pork Butt for $12.49, Kansas City Smoked Half-Chicken for $13.99, or their Memphis Dry-Rub Pork Ribs for $15.99.

Never ones to miss out on gnawing on a juicy pork rib, you can see which one we went with! The meat had a really nice bark and good flavor, even without any sauce! You could even see the nice smoke ring (pinkish outermost layer) from the pitmaster ‘s smoker!

We knew when Regal Eagle opened someday we’d be definitely ordering the American Platter for $18.99 since it’s definitely “the American way to go!” You get to select three types of meat for your meal so we chose the Smoked Chicken, Smoked Sausage, and Chopped Smoked Pork Butt — the three types of meat we hadn’t tried yet!

While the Smoked Chicken was good, it wasn’t the best item on our plate. It’s a nice option to have if someone in your party isn’t particularly into BBQ since ours only had a mild smoky flavor.

We were really happy with the Smoked Sausage. The skin had a nice snap and while it wasn’t spicy, it was very flavorful.

The Chopped Smoked Pork Butt was for many of us, our hands-down favorite meat. What can we say, we like Pork Butt and we cannot LIE! Others at our table were big fans of the Sliced Texas Beef Brisket. No matter which way you slice it, the Pork Butt and Sliced Brisket should definitely make it on your American Platter!

Sides

The French Fries were really yummy and had a light coating of seasoning salt on them. They were nice and crispy, without being too spicy!

While we thought the Beer-Battered Onion Rings were tasty as well, they weren’t as good as some of the other spots we’ve snagged these little fried goodies before, such as Flame Tree Barbecue — our favorite BBQ spot in Animal Kingdom! But we would order them again with a cocktail if we needed a snack and an excuse to sit out on Regal Eagle’s fabulous outdoor patio!

The biggest letdown for us was the Macaroni & Cheese. Despite looking soooo delicious we could barely wait to sit down before diving in, the Mac & Cheese was really lacking in the flavor department. We’re hoping it’s just first day jitters and the batch we had was just underseasoned. We did love the herby toasted panko crumb topping!

We thought the Burnt-End Baked Beans had excellent flavor. There even some nice little bits of meat to dig around for — kinda like hitting the lottery each time we found another tasty hunk!

And if you’re a fan of House-Made Pickles, we think you’ll get a kick out of Regal Eagle’s! They have a nice, surprising bit of heat to them!

And what would a barbecue joint be without all those tangy sauces to slather up your food with?! Options here include (from left to right) standard Ketchup, Blue Ribbon Brisket Sauce which is savory and spicy, Blue Ridge Vinegar League — a vinegar-based sauce, Sizzlin’ Pit Dry Rub Coalition Classic Smokehouse Sauce, and Mustard Guild “Old Glory” Sweet Mustard Sauce! 

Regal Eagle’s menu also includes a Grilled Burger for $13.49 that comes topped with BBQ pork and a fried onion ring (on more garlic toast!) or a Plant-Based BBQ Burger for $12.99 featuring a plant-based patty topped with BBQ jackfruit served on vegan garlic toast.

A light, fresh Power Greens Salad with chilled pulled chicken, fresh citrus, and a citrus vinaigrette is also an option if you’re choosing to forgo the smoky meats in favor for something less heavy! For the little patriots, there’s a Kids’ Burger, BBQ Chicken, BBQ Chicken Leg, Chicken Salad, and BBQ Rib Platter!

Dessert

For dessert at Regal Eagle, you have a tough decision to make — do you go with the Banana Pudding or S’mores Brownie? (Or you can just play it safe and get both of them like us!)

Not sure about you guys, but after we finish wiping the BBQ sauce off our hands (and faces…) we’re ready for some dessert and Banana Pudding is just about as classic as you can get!

We thought the Regal Eagle’s Banana Pudding was really yummy — just like Grandma used to make! The vanilla wafer cookies were nice and soft — it had the perfect texture and made for a nice, refreshingly-cool bite without being too sweet!

And while some of us we’re huge fans of the S’mores Brownie (we couldn’t get the Banana Pudding out of our heads!) the chocoholics on our team really enjoyed it!

But for others, the texture was a little too crumbly and the flavors were too aggressively sweet for a few in our crew.

Drinks

While some alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are available inside, we’re hitting up Regal Eagle’s new outdoor bar! Note! You can get a few of these drinks both inside and outside!

You’ll find a selection of American beer and cider from around the country, as well as wines on tap from the West Coast, and specialty regional cocktails (available with or without alcohol). Two Regal Eagle-exclusive offerings are the Tennessee Lemonade Cocktail and the Berry Sparkler!

As you can see, the traditional, colonial-style theming is carried through to Regal Eagle’s outdoor bar. You’ll see stoneware crocks, jugs, and  A LOT of pewter steins!

But don’t worry — this isn’t a historical museum — there’s BEER to be found HERE!

Like this delicious Shiner Ruby Redbird Grapefruit Lager ($9.25)! We thought it was even better than the one you can find in the German pavilion. Besides, some of us can’t imagine eating a barbecue meal without a beer in hand, anyways! Consider this one to go with your Texas Sliced Brisket!

We thought the Frozen Mint Julep ($15.00) also tasted lovely. It’s smooth and a little boozy while being insanely refreshing!

The Moonshine Sour ($14.00) is also delightful if you’re looking for something to cut through all that sweet, tangy richness of the barbecue meats. It’s got a fresh, crisp aftertaste which kept us going back for more!

Regal Eagle’s signature Berry Sparkler ($4.49) is a really pretty, refreshing drink as well if you’re looking for a sweet, non-alcoholic option!

We favored the Regal Eagle’s other exclusive offering over the Berry Sparkler. To us, the Tennessee Lemonade ($14.00) was just what the doctor ordered! (Disclaimer: We are not medical professionals, but we love a good Jack Daniels cocktail!)

Nosh or Not?

Head on down to Regal Eagle Smokehouse if:

• You’re a real American hero like Sam the Eagle. 😉
• Your four basic food groups are yummy beers, smokey meats, tasty sides, and banana pudding!
• You’ve enjoyed your fill of Epcot’s more worldly cuisine and have a hankering for some good old-fashioned backyard BBQ!

Fly away from Regal Eagle Smokehouse if:

• Pigs and cows are friends, not food. Although there are veggie-friendly menu selections, this is one meat-eater feeding frenzy!
• You’re looking for something different than typical American fare (the World Showcase is YOUR oyster!).
•  Not enough references to The Muppets and Sam the Eagle for your liking (What were you expecting? Sam the Eagle to swoop down in a pitmaster’s apron? Okay, okay… we had some lofty aspirations too!).

Overall

Given the price point, style of food, tasty drinks, and fantastic outdoor patio seating, we expect this place will be VERRRY popular with guests! Lucky for you, you can use mobile order to get your Regal Eagle grub — which we HIGHLY recommend doing! And maybe bring a stain stick, you know, just in case! We feel like this can go head to head with The Polite Pig in Disney Springs, as they both offer good portion sizes and delicious BBQ.

Are you excited about trying out the Regal Eagle Smokehouse on your next Disney World trip? Let us know what you’ll be ordering in the comments below!