Are you headed to Disney World in 2023? Are you spending a lot of time, like we do, thinking about what you want to eat (okay, confession — we OBSESS about it)?
Pizza at Via Napoli
Perhaps you’ve been reading all our reviews, checking out our best restaurants posts, making lists of some of our favorite foods (corn dog nuggets, cheese soup, and more). But now, we’re going to tell you exactly WHERE you should eat in 2023, so, let’s get to it!
So we’ve broken down this list for you by park, and we’re even going to mention a few resort restaurants you might want to go out of your way for. Our team had some trouble making these very serious decisions, though, so we’ll also include some alternative honorable mention restaurants that are great, too!
Magic Kingdom
Skipper Canteen
The one restaurant we ALL agreed on in Magic Kingdom is one we mention A LOT here and for good reason. It’s Skipper Canteen over in Adventureland. One, this restaurant is Jungle Cruise-themed — like does it get even more fun than that? But it’s also got a Jungle Cruise-themed menu that includes some adventurous dishes you won’t find anywhere else in Disney World.
Skipper Canteen
Some of our favorite eats here include the newish Cheese Bread — Pao de Quejo with Poblano Cream Cheese and Chimichurri Sauce. It’s cheesy bread, so you shouldn’t be surprised we’re recommending it.
Like we would ever turn down Cheese Bread
We’re also big fans of the Falls Family Falafel, which is made with Chickpeas, Garlic, Onions, Lemon Juice, and Herbs served with House-made Edamame Hummus and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. It’s not only a great plant-based option, it’s just…well…great!
Falls Family Falafel
We also love the Perkins Thai Noodles, which are usually served with Tofu, but here’s a secret: you can also order them with chicken or steak for an additional fee. While you’re at it, don’t skip out on some of the fun drinks here — the Adventureland Colada was added for Disney World’s 50th anniversary, and it’s a MUST if it’s still on the menu after the anniversary ends.
Read our most recent Skipper Canteen review!
Honorable Mentions
Okay, so here’s the thing — we didn’t have any other restaurant mentions for Magic Kingdom, but if it’s quick service you’re looking for, we will always tell you to head to Casey’s Corner for Corn Dog Nuggets and Cheese Sauce.
Corn Dog Nuggets
Trust us — this is QUALITY theme park food.
Check out our latest Casey’s Corner review!
EPCOT
Via Napoli
The DFB team loves, loves, LOVES (with capital letters, y’all) Via Napoli in EPCOT. We know you’re probably not thinking about pizza in Disney World (unless you have kiddos, that is). But Via Napoli has some of the BEST pizza in Disney World, and some of the best pizza we’ve ever had. What makes these pizzas so good is that the chefs here use REAL Italian flour and water sourced from Italy. No, really!
LOOK at that pizza
But it’s not just the pizza that’s good here — the Pollo Parmigiana (chicken parmesan) is EXCELLENT. You get a GINORMOUS breaded chicken breast topped with marinara sauce and it’s all smothered with mozzarella cheese. Every single bite of this option is like HEAVEN.
Read our most recent review!
Honorable Mentions
Okay, so we have to give Space 220 an honorable mention, mostly because it’s not just dining, but a dining experience. We’re not saying this is the BEST food in EPCOT, but you need to experience the Space Elevator and view of the stars at least once.
Space 220 elevator
We also need to mention Garden Grill, where you can join Disney characters in a rotating restaurant with dishes that are served up so fresh that they’re actually grown nearby (you’ll need to visit Living With The Land to understand how). Likewise, if it’s quick-service you’re after, be sure to check out Sunshine Seasons for delicious fresh food to go.
Read a Garden Grill review!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Brown Derby
Here’s another restaurant we mention a LOT here at DFB because it’s just THAT good. First, the Cobb Salad here is FAMOUS for a reason — this might be the best salad you’ve ever tasted. The salad, which is prepared tableside, is made with Spit-Roasted Turkey, Finely Chopped Greens, Bacon, Egg, Tomatoes, Avocado, Chives, Crumbled Blue Cheese, and Cobb Dressing.
Cobb Salad
If you’re a charcuterie fan, Hollywood Brown Derby has one of our favorite charcuterie boards in Disney World. Pretty much everything here, though, is SOLID, including the drinks (hello, MARTINI FLIGHT!). The best part? If you can’t get an advance dining reservation easily here, you can just head next door to the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge for food and drinks.
Here’s our most recent Hollywood Brown Derby review
Honorable Mentions
Hollywood Studios has a few restaurants that are absolutely a MUST if you haven’t done them before, mostly because of the experiences they offer. First, you’ll need to have your aunt, uncle, or cousin yell at you to get your elbows off the table at 50s Prime Time Cafe (all in good fun, we promise!). The food is classic homestyle cooking, with dishes like meatloaf and pot roast.
50’s Prime Time Cafe in Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Then, you’ll need to dine in a car and watch sci-fi movie shorts at Sci-Fi Dine-In while drinking shakes and eating burgers and fries. Both of these restaurants will be something the whole family will enjoy.
Here’s a Sci-Fi Dine-In review!
Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Restaurant
Almost our entire team agreed that the restaurant you MUST try in Animal Kingdom is Tusker House. First, this is a character dining experience — you can hang out with Donald Duck and friends while enjoying a buffet that offers some pretty unique options but also has food for pickier eaters.
He’s #1!
There are some AMAZING bread options, including naan that is DELICIOUS dipped in the restaurant’s housemade hummus or mango chutney. You can even get a few curry-based dishes, Za’atar Braised Beef, and Tandoori spice-rubbed rotisserie chicken. But if you eat ANYTHING here, don’t skip out on the Mac and Cheese — it’s SOOOOO GOOD.
Here’s our most recent review of Tusker House
Resorts
Sanaa
So when it comes to resorts, EVERYONE has a favorite, but the restaurant mentioned the most is Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you’ve been reading us for any amount of time, you’ll know we’ll go here sometimes JUST for the Indian-style bread service that comes with a variety of bread and NINE dipping sauces, but we haven’t met a meal here yet that we didn’t like.
Bread Service at Sanaa
We also had a few mention by our team members of Boma, the buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge — honestly, you can’t go wrong with either.
Here’s our latest review of Sanaa
Honorable Mentions
If you make it to Disney World before the 50th anniversary ends in March, be sure to check out Steakhouse 71, which has some anniversary-specific foods, as well as California Grill, which has an ENTIRE prix fixe menu centered around the anniversary.
House-made Artisanal-style Duck À L’Orange Pizza
You’ll find both restaurants in Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
Read a review of California Grill’s 50th anniversary offerings
If you DO want to eat at these restaurants, remember that you’ll need to make your advance dining reservations as soon as possible — you can do this on the Disney World website, through the My Disney Experience app, or by calling 407-WDW-DINE (3463). You can make reservations as early as 60 days before the first day of your trip.
If you have problems booking the restaurants you want, keep checking — you may find things opening up closer to your trip as other guests change or cancel their dining plans.
With DOZENS of places to eat at Disney World, we know it can be tough to plan your meals. That’s why we wrote the DFB Guide to Dining at Walt Disney World.
Get Our Guide!
We have reviews, pictures, and details about every restaurant all in one digital download – along with ALL of our best tips and strategies from decades of Disney World trips. We’ve got a special discount code for DFB readers, too! Use WDW2023 at checkout for 25% off!
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Have to disagree with the DFB crew. Personally I think Yak & Yeti and Tiffins are superior to Tusker.
Ate at Sci-Fi on our last trip. Totally disappointing! Have never liked Prime Time either, so we go with all quick service and Baseline Taphouse in Hollywood Studios…..most are really good!
Ate at Sanaa for the first time on our last trip….loved the bread service. It is everything you say it is! But I think Ohana would still get out vote for resorts.
Ugh, HATED Tusker House. Won’t ever go back there if I can help it. Nothing for pickier eaters, not very good service (though that can vary a LOT) and just an overall bad experience. Sanaa was pretty good, and we LOVED our Boma breakfast so much we’re going back again AND adding a Boma dinner, too on our next trip.
But….what about Ohana? That’s one we’ve done on every trip since we tried it, and we can’t NOT go there. That’s also one I hear consistently in the forums that people seem to love and that’s very popular. I think it deserves at least an honorable mention.
I’ve never been tempted by Brown Derby….I’d pick almost any other restaurant in HS over it, just based on menu.
Epcot is a total toss-up depending on what you like. There is so much to offer that I don’t think you can narrow it down to one and say “This is THE one” that everyone should try. We love Via Napoli, too, but I have family who hates pizza. For them, the Biergarten is heaven. And our first 2 trips we couldn’t skip Akershus because we had Princess-loving kids.
I feel like a lot of the restaurants mentioned here cater to very specific tastes, like more adventurous. To each his own, but my “must-dos” are completely different. We often leave MK for our sit down meal and go to one of the resorts. Skipper Canteen’s menu doesn’t appeal to us at all, we’ve had bad experiences at Tony’s, and Be Our Guest is too expensive for what you get. The one I do love is Liberty Tree Tavern. And of course we love the corn dog nuggets from Casey’s, too….we’re with you there!!
It just depends on what your family is into. It all comes down to doing the research yourself, because what I love isn’t want my counsins love, and what a friend loves is still going to be different. People who want to meet a lot of characters are going to have different priorities than people looking for unique experiences, and they are going to be different than those wanting unique food. And those are going to be different than people on a tight budget. There is no one-size-fits all.
Has Brown Derby changed the way they served the Cobb Salad recently? Because this is one of my faves and we go there every trip, never had it prepped tableside before!🤔
“The salad, which is prepared tableside”
The worst dining experience we ever had at WDW was at Via Napoli! I am sure the food was good but our service was horrible. We (9 of us) were there for 3 hours (with 2 small kiddos!!!!) because each entree was brought out separately…with at least 10 minutes between each entree being brought out. And this was prior to the Pandemic. Will NEVER go back. We also have been to Skipper’s Canteen twice and thought it was OK but nothing special. Love the Brown Derby, California Grill and Tiffin. That all being said, it all varies and is dependent on personal taste/preferences. Personally I think it is far easier to overlook mediocre food if the service is excellent and ambiance is top notch or presents the theme well.
Best breakfast: Boma
Best dinner: O’hana
Best overall theme: Space 220 (Don’t need a reservation, just ask to go up to the bar, people don’t stay at the bar that long cause the drinks are very expensive) You can still experience the “takeoff” and “landing” as well as the ambiance of the restaurant.
MK – Be Our Guest EP – Le Cellier AK – Yak & Yeti HS – 50’s Prime Time Cafe
My favorite restaurants are: MK – Be Our Guest EP – Le Cellier AK – Yak &Yeti HS – 50’s Prime Time Cafe