There are a lot of things to eat in the Disney parks (especially at EPCOT), but are you eating the WRONG thing or perhaps missing out on the most iconic and delicious meals? You might be! 😱

You might know that tasting flavors of Coca-Cola from around the world at Club Cool is a MUST. And you’re probably very aware of EPCOT’s many festivals and how you’ll want to save up to try all the best eats at those. But what else constitutes “essential” EPCOT eating? What are some of the BEST or most ICONIC meals in the park that you’re missing out on? Don’t worry — we’ll tell you!

Table Service

1 — Garden Grill Restaurant (World Nature)

We’ll start things off at one of our FAVORITE restaurants in all of EPCOT (and one that is often way underrated) — Garden Grill Restaurant.

Truly, this place has it all. When it comes to atmosphere, it wins on all fronts because it is a rotating restaurant (it moves very slowly throughout your meal) that takes you past scenes from the Living with the Land attraction, and it’s a character meal featuring Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale.

But the food is another draw here. Is it the most unique food on property? Maybe not. But it’s consistently tasty and is served family-style (so you can fill up on ALL your favorites without even having to leave your chair).

While breakfast can be a solid option here, we prefer the eats at lunch/dinner. For this meal, you’ll enjoy a harvest feast with a garden salad (which uses some ingredients grown at EPCOT!)…

…barbecue-roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, spoon bread, grilled beef with chimichurri, mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and berry short cake.

The salad is crisp and fresh, the barbecue chicken is cooked well and has a great flavor, the potatoes are spectacular, the vegetables go with the rest of the meal well, the spoon bread was airy and wonderfully sweet, and the grilled beef is delicious. Oh, and that berry short cake might be simple, but it’s done so well.

Lunch and dinner are priced at $55 per adult and $36 per child.

Time and time again, Garden Grill proves itself to be one of our favorite spots in EPCOT. Consistently tasty food, a meal with characters, and a view of a park attraction? It’s a must-visit in our book.

See our FULL review of the lunch menu at Garden Grill here!

2 — Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada)

One of the most iconic (and delicious!) EPCOT restaurants is Le Cellier Steakhouse in the Canada pavilion. Meant to feel like a Canadian wine cellar, the wooden tables and candle sconces are beautiful.

But the real draw here is the FOOD. There are plenty of great options to pick from but if we had to choose an iconic meal from here, here’s what it would be.

The obvious pick for your appetizer is the DELICIOUS Cheddar Cheese Soup. This thing does NOT disappoint. It’s made with Moosehead Pale Ale and Nueske’s Applewood-smoked Bacon, and is cheesy with a slightly smoky taste. Seriously, we could drink this stuff every day if given the chance.

For your entree, we’d recommend the Filet Mignon (or another steak of your choice) — this is a steakhouse after all! The Le Celier Filet Mignon is made with AAA Canadian Tenderloin, Mushroom Risotto, Asparagus-Tomato Relish, and Truffle-Butter Sauce. It’s priced at $62. There’s loads of that buttery filet flavor, the quality of the cut of meat is evident, and the risotto is deliciously creamy.

Then, as a side/item to share with the table, we recommend picking up one of the Poutine options here, a classic Canadian dish. As of the time of the writing of this post, the poutine options are the Signature Poutine (Fresh-cut French Fries, Canadian Cheddar Cheese Curds, Truffle, Red Wine Reduction — $14) and the Beef Bourguignon Poutine (Fresh-cut French Fries, Gruyère, Beef Bourguignon Gravy, Garlic Aïoli, Truffle — $15).

Fries, cheese, and special toppings — what’s not to love?

And finally, for dessert, you may want to pick up the Maple Creme Brulee with Maple Whipped Cream and Raspberries for $13. Crack past that delicious sugar on top and you’ll get a lovely maple flavor.

Another great option is the Warm Pecan-Brown Butter Tart with Maple Ice Cream, Brown Sugar Anglaise, and Whisky Caramel — $14. This one has an incredibly buttery tart with a maple flavor that is SPOT ON.

Top it all off with some Icewine and you’ll have an incredible meal.

Click here to see one of our more recent reviews of Le Cellier

Honorable Mention: Space 220 (World Discovery)

While it’s a bit newer to the EPCOT scene, Space 220 is one of those restaurants that just screams EPCOT. It has an incredibly unique atmosphere that lets you dine “in space,” with some pretty great food.

Though it’s more expensive, we’d likely recommend that you opt for the dinner menu here because it has some of our favorite eats. Dinner is priced at $79 per adult and comes with one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert per person.

For our recommended meal here, we’d start with the Blue Moon Cauliflower as an appetizer. It’s made with Tempura Fried Cauliflower, Housemade Hot Sauce, and Blue Cheese Dust. This is on the lunch and dinner menus. It is incredibly good, with the perfect amount of crunchiness mixed in with the hot sauce and blue cheese!

For the entree, we’d recommend the 8oz Filet Mignon (a dinner exclusive). This features Certified Angus Beef, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Haricot Vert, and Red Wine Reduction. This dish made us stop in our tracks. The filet melts in your mouth and it’s a pretty good bang for your buck.

We’d also recommend that you then add on the Half Lobster Stuffed with Jumbo Crab for $18. This features Roasted Corn, Broccolini, and Mornay Sauce. Yes, it’s an add-on that only makes dinner MORE expensive, but it is absolutely delicious!

The hearty pour of garlic butter is incredible and it’s (in our opinion) one of the best things you can eat at Space 220.

For dessert, our recommendation is the Carrot Cake featuring a Carrot Cake, Cream Cheese, Candied Walnuts, and Toasted Pepitas. When we’ve had it in the past, we’ve found it to be super flavorful with some major autumn vibes!

Add on a unique space-y drink (extra charge) to really take it home!

Space 220 really is a representation of EPCOT with some unique (and tasty) eats, combined with a gorgeous location that’ll inspire you to reach for the stars and into the future!

Click here to see ALL of our Space 220 reviews!

Quick Service

1 — Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie (France)

Part of the joy of EPCOT is being able to try dishes from different countries, so if you’re looking for an essential EPCOT meal from a different country with some seriously AMAZING eats, Les Halles is IT.

Again, there’s a lot on the menu here that we could recommend or that you might love, but let us take you through an ideal meal here (and be prepared for your stomachs to grumble!).

We’d start things off with the Bisque de Homard, a Lobster Bisque in a bread bowl, for $6.95. Warm, hearty, and super affordable, this could easily be a meal on its own but for the purposes of this post we’ll count it as an appetizer (because we’ve just GOT to talk about some of the other eats here too).

For our entree, we’d opt for the Croque Monsieur (or you can choose one of the MANY other sandwich options here). The Croque Monsieur feels like a particularly good pick though because it is on the more unique side. It is a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for $10.50, but it’s SO much more than that because of the bechamel sauce and extra toasted Gruyere cheese on top. It’s one of our FAVORITE things here.

For our “side” of sorts, we’d add on MORE CARBS (because of course) with the Pain Lard & Fromage. This is a Bacon and Cheese Roll for $8.25. It’s cheesy, it’s got bacon, it’s bread — what is not to love here?!

Then, it’s time to PILE up on the desserts. The most iconic choices here might be the Macaron Lime Raspberry (macaron with raspberry and lime cream for $7.50) or the Macarons Collection (comes with 6 different macaron flavors for $13.50). But there are LOTS of great options here so you can get whatever you like best!

Pair it with some Frosé (Frozen Côtes de Provence Rosé, Vodka, Peach — $15.75) and you’ve got quite the epic meal.

Check out 21 reviews from Les Halles here!

2 — Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue (American Adventure)

While the main draw of eating at EPCOT is sampling food from other countries, it doesn’t mean that the American food here isn’t good. In fact, it’s some of the best quick eats in EPCOT!

We’d recommend to start/share the Loaded Burnt Ends Fries for $12.99. This comes with Seasoned French Fries with Burnt Ends, Macaroni & Cheese, and Beer-battered Onion Rings, and yes, it’s as epic as it sounds. The mac and cheese helps balance out the saltiness, the burnt ends and onion rings add a crunchy texture, and everything mixes so well.

Then, it’s time for your main entree. Our picks would probably be the BBQ Burger (1/3 lb Angus Burger on Garlic Toast topped with BBQ Pork, Lettuce, Tomato, Garlic Aïoli, and Fried Onion Ring served with your choice of Side — $14.29) or the Kansas City Smoked Half-Chicken (Slow-smoked Half-Chicken smothered with our Sweet Barbecue Sauce served with your choice of Side — $14.29).

The pork has a great texture and flavor and the onion ring adds a nice crunch. The chicken is super moist and has a big kick of smoky flavor.

As a side, the mac and cheese can be a solid option (though maybe not always as flavorful as you’d hope) and the baked beans are a great option!

For dessert, the Banana Pudding is a great option with layers that taste fresh and delicious ($5.29) but the S’Mores Brownie ($5.29) has really impressed us lately with its moist brownie, graham cracker base, and balanced flavor that isn’t overly sweet.

Grab a BUNCH of sauces to add flavor to your meal…

…and wash everything down with a Tennessee Lemonade (Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey with Minute Maid® Premium Lemonade and Peach — $15.50) and you’ll have a hearty and tasty meal.

To see our most recent review of Regal Eagle, click here!

BONUS — A Festival Meal!

For our bonus “must-do” EPCOT meal, we recommend making a meal out of 4-5 (or more or less, depending on your hunger level) festival eats and drinks from whatever festival is going on when you visit!

EPCOT is basically festival town year-round these days, with just a few non-festival days between its annual celebrations — the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts, the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, and the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.

Grab the most interesting eats, some of our Best of the Fest picks, or whatever else you’d like and you can easily make these into a meal!

See ALL of our reviews from the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival here

And there you have it — 4 ESSENTIAL EPCOT meals. Which of these have you had? Which would you like to try next? Tell us in the comments! And stay tuned for more Disney tips.

 

Which of these meals is one you’d like to try? Tell us in the comments!