Can you keep a secret? Good. Okay, come close. Closer. A little closer! Okay, perfect. We’re about to let you know about a hidden dining spot you’ve probably NEVER been to in Disney World, and it’ll be our little secret (just you and me)! 😉

You’ve probably heard us say that Disney World hotels can house some of the BEST dining spots on property. And you likely already know about the noodle obsession at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort or the delicious buffet(s) at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, but have you ever trekked over to Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa for a meal? Probably not. Well, here’s why you should.

Atmosphere

Over at Disney’s Saratoga Springs, you’ll find a hidden spot called The Turf Club Bar and Grill. Never heard of it? We’re not surprised. Since it’s tucked away in a Disney World resort that isn’t on the monorail line or the Skyliner line, and isn’t exactly a hotel that gets hyped up (especially since this is a Disney Vacation Club Resort and can fall under the radar), it’s a spot you’ve probably totally overlooked!

Allow us to introduce you to it. The Turf Club Bar and Grill is a relaxing restaurant, full of dark woods and forest greens. It’s not stuffy at all, but instead has a more laid back feel.

Outside of the restaurant, you’ll find the Turf Club Lounge, which has been open for quite some time. But the Turf Club Restaurant itself just recently reopened in February of 2022.

We’ll start on the outside. Outside the restaurant, you’ll find a check-in area where Cast Members will be positioned for any of your needs.

We used Mobile Check-In, however, and got a text indicating we had checked in and another text when our table was ready.

Once it was ready, we made our way to the front to get seated.

In both the lounge and the restaurant itself you’ll find jockey accessories and decor.

This fits in with the hotel’s overall horse racing theme. Even the carpet here features horseshoes and jockey accessories! Anyone ready to add this to their home? Anyone?

In terms of seating, there are standard tables and chairs, indoor seating, outdoor seating, and half booths.

If you make an early reservation and get some outside seating, you could enjoy a view of the golf course area which is awesome!

Inside, there is just one main dining room. When you sit down, you’ll find a cloth napkin with utensils at your table.

Let’s go over the menu!

Menu

In terms of menus, there was a QR code available as well as reusable menus.

The menu here features some returning items as well as some NEW arrivals.

There are a variety of appetizers available, including french onion soup and the new New York Cider-braised Mussels appetizer. There are also a few different entrees available, whether you’re looking for fish, steak, or chicken.

Got a sweet tooth? You can finish your meal with dessert here too!

In terms of kids’ items, there are kids’ appetizers, entrees, and create-your-own selections.

There are also non-alcoholic drinks, coffee…

…and alcoholic beverages available too.

This is just a peek at some of the alcoholic drinks they have to offer. Now, let’s eat!

Eats & Drinks

For our drink, we went with the Blue Jockey, which is priced at $15. The drink is made with Cruzan Mango Rum, Bols Blue Curaçao, Watermelon, and Minute Maid® Premium Lemonade. And it’s supposed to shimmer due to the addition of Pearl Dus. We didn’t notice any shimmer in our drink but this baby is BRIGHT blue, which makes for some fun photos!

This drink was VERY sweet. It basically tastes like an alcoholic blue lemonade. The lemonade flavor was extremely strong and overpowering in a sense. If you love sweet drinks and lemonade then this might be IT for you. It’s not something we’d necessarily order with a meal in the future though because it’s not one that we think can really compliment your food well.

But we could see it being a great drink to have if you’re sitting on a lounge chair outside by the pool!

Now, let’s get to the BREAD! The bread here is a Parmesan herb bread and we got three rolls. It was served with unsalted butter topped with black sea salt.

The rolls are so soft and truly feel like they’re homemade. They were also really flavorful which was great. They weren’t overly salty but just had a nice parmesan herb flavor, and the parmesan on top added a great crunch!

We really liked having these as an option as opposed to just a plain, standard roll. TBH they’re pretty addicting! We could have eaten a LOT of them. But we had to save up some stomach room for what was coming next!

For our appetizer, we chose the new New York Cider-Braised Mussels for $18. The dish is made with Garlic, Chorizo, Fennel, Fresno Chili, Apple Cider, and served with a Grilled Baguette. Mussels in Disney World? You mean we’re not eating churros for dinner? Nope. Today, we eat MUSSELS.

This dish was amazing! It was incredibly flavorful, without being overly spicy or sweet. We could taste a bit of some white wine in the sauce, but that was a good thing (at least for us). And the apple cider and chorizo really gave this more classic dish a fun twist!

There was a touch of sweetness, balanced out with the spice of the chorizo. Overall it was a really impressive start to the meal, with a fantastic depth of flavor.

The one critical note we have about this is that (at least for us) the baguette served with the mussels was pretty lackluster. It wasn’t really well toasted, and instead was just crusty.

It tasted a bit better once it was dipped in the sauce, but it just didn’t really reach the deliciousness level of the rest of the dish, ya know? If you love a classic white wine and mussels dish though, we think you’ll really enjoy this. We will warn though that if you don’t like the idea of that apple flavor with your mussels or if you don’t like fennel (because that flavor did really come through) then you might want to avoid this.

For our entree, we started with the Grilled Pork Chop, which is another new item and is priced at $26.50. This is described as a Fennel Pollen-dusted Pork Chop, served with Sweet Potato Purée, Cannellini Beans, Baby Kale, and ‘Nduja Vinaigrette. According to Bloomberg, ‘Nduja is “a spicy, spreadable sausage from his native Calabria in southern Italy.”

We got our pork cooked medium (per the chef’s recommendation). The topping on the pork (the ‘Nduja Vinaigrette) was a little bit spicy but was a great savory addition to the dish.

Everything in this dish was really good! The Cannellini beans and the sweet potato purée are extremely velvety and buttery. The Cannellini beans also have a great smokiness to them, which went well with the sweet potato.

The pork itself wasn’t dry at all (a BIG win). It was cooked great and was a really big portion size. It’s actually quite large for one person, but (in our opinion) totally worth the price.

If you’re a pork fan, or are looking for a dish that perfectly encapsulates that comfort food feeling, then this is the dish for you! It’s warm, filling, and a great meal to enjoy after a long day in the parks.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking for something that’s lighter this isn’t for you. Also, we will say that as much as we loved this dish, we really wish it had some kind of crunchy element to it to help break up the otherwise softer textures of the sides served with it.

Next up we had the new Braised Lamb Tagliatelle for $28. This is a
Braised Lamb Shank, House-made Tagliatelle Pasta, Peas, Crispy Potato Straws, Whipped Goat Cheese, and Sherry Gastrique.

The dish was quite gamey from the lamb and the goat cheese. It was also a very rich dish. The pasta was PERFECT though — cooked al dente and not rolled too thick. Surprisingly, the sherry gastrique didn’t add too much flavor to the dish because it was overpowered by the lamb and goat cheese. We wish it would have stood out a bit more.

We also wish that the dish had more of a sauce. There really wasn’t much of the gastrique, which caused a lot of the noodles to stick together.

If you love homemade pasta and lamb though, we think you’ll like this! Just be aware that it is pretty strong in the gamey flavor department.

Finally, we ended the night with the new New York Cheesecake priced at $9.50. The cheesecake has a Berry Sauce, Chambord-macerated Berries, Brachetto Crème, and Crisp Meringue.

Despite the accompaniments, it was a very plain, classic cheesecake. The cheesecake itself was pretty light, which was actually surprising for us (we expected it to be a bit heavier actually!). The graham cracker crust was a bit thick, but if that’s your favorite part of the cheesecake then you’ll totally love that!

Overall, it’s a fine dessert if you’re a cheesecake fan and love that plain, classic cheesecake flavor. The creme and the berry sauce didn’t have very strong flavors, but they were really fresh and nice compliments to the plain cheesecake.

Personally, we would have loved for it to have a stronger sauce or feature some kind of flavor swirled throughout the cheesecake. But other than that, it’s a fine way to end the meal and shareable if everyone had a big entree to already fill them up.

The manager at the Turf Club also sent us a Ricotta-Basil Gelato for us to try (note that we did not pay for this dish). The gelato features Strawberry Consommé, Basil Oil, and a Crispy Meringue and would be priced at $7.50.

If you’re looking to try something new, this could be a great choice since it has some more unique flavors!! It’s also quite light, so it could be a good choice if you’ve already filled up on those appetizers and entrees!

The gelato is quite refreshing, and while it’s less shareable than other options we thought it was really fun to try!

And that was our meal at the Turf Club. So should you hit up this spot?

Nosh or Not

You SHOULD make your way over to the Turf Club Bar & Grill if:

• You want a hearty, tasty meal full of meat options. If you’re looking for some comfort food, hearty dishes, and mainly meat-based options — Turf Club has some great dishes for you!
• You don’t really want to be immersed in Disney theming. While the restaurant is themed, it’s themed to horse racing (not exactly princesses and heroes!). If you’ve seen enough princesses for one day and want a bit of a break from the traditional Disney theming, this could be an awesome pick!
• You want to escape the parks & crowds and try a more hidden spot. If you are DONE with the crowds, the lines, and the stress that can sometimes come with the parks, and you want a spot that’s more out of the way this is IT.

You should SKIP the Turf Club Bar & Grill if:

• You like a restaurant that’s nice and quiet while indoors.  The one thing that really bothered us about this restaurant was the acoustics. Something about the way it was set up made it VERY loud on the inside. If you do choose to eat here and think that loud sounds could ruin your dinner, ask to sit out on the patio where the sounds can disperse a bit better.
• You’re looking for really healthy and lots of plant-based options. If you’re looking for a lot of healthier, plant-based options this restaurant might not be your cup of tea. There are some plant-based dishes, but most of the options here are a bit more on the comfort food, meat-based, heavier side.
• You’ll be with a bunch of kiddos and want a place that they’ll find entertaining. Kiddos are certainly welcome here, but there’s not a lot for them to see in terms of decor or other entertainment, so you might be better off finding a different spot for them to enjoy!

Overall

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal here. In terms of the bad things, the acoustics were quite bad, making the inside feel VERY loud. The decor was also…unique. It felt a bit outdated to us.

But our server was FANTASTIC! They really walked us through the menu, took time pacing out the food, and cared about little details (like bringing out a fresh straw for us, anticipating that ours might be soggy by this time).

Our reporter shared that they would TOTALLY go back to this spot and that they were actually really surprised by it. The general manager, the chef, and two restaurant managers were stopping by each table on the restaurant’s reopening night — giving each diner a lot of personal attention. The team was very welcoming and that’s something we could really feel.

Is this a must-do on a first Disney trip? Not really. But if you are looking for some great food in a hidden spot, this could be just the thing! Just remember, it’s our little secret so shhhhhhhh! 😉

Have you ever eaten here? Tell us your thoughts in the comments. And stay tuned for more Disney news and reviews!

Click here to see where you can get some phenomenal (but pricey) seafood in Disney World!

Have you ever been to the Turf Club bar & Grill in Disney World? Tell us in the comments!