Fun, family, entertainment, pretzel bread, and beer! Those are the things that come to mind when you think of Disney World’s Biergarten Restaurant! It’s one of those restaurants that’s almost sure to put a smile on your face.
Atmosphere
The unassuming facade — and massive wooden door — of this Epcot Germany restaurant don’t begin to describe what you’ll find once you walk inside.
Oktoberfest at Biergarten
A soaring ceiling covers an auditorium of a restaurant, where long wooden tables surround a stage where just about anything can happen, including lederhosen!
Themed to represent a community square in a small village in Germany, the decor will automatically transport you to a different place. And in the main stage area, you’ll be treated to some wonderful authentic Alpine entertainment! Feel free to cut a rug on the dance floor.
Village Decor
Entertainment and Dancing
Yep. They do that.
Bells
Having fun on stage
Dancing the Night Away
And while you’re enjoying the entertainment taking place in the town square, a massive buffet stretches the length of the back wall behind the communal tables.
One aspect of this restaurant that can be make-or-break for some people is that you’ll likely be seated at the same table with strangers. Like Teppan Edo, unless you have a big enough group to cover all of the seats, if it’s a busy time at the restaurant you’ll end up getting up close and personal with other park guests. For extroverts, outgoing children, and those who enjoy meeting and engaging new people, this is an ideal experience, which has been known to facilitate new friendships that have lasted for years. For introverts and shy kids, this might end up being more stressful than anything else. Consider how your group feels about these circumstances before booking Biergarten for lunch or dinner.
Stage and Tables
Eats
The buffet structure of Biergarten makes it very easy for large groups and picky eaters. With plenty of options — most of them what you’d expect from a German-themed buffet — there’s going to be something for everyone. Staples here include carved meats, the famous pretzel bread, sausages and bratwurst, red cabbage sauerkraut, pork schnitzel and spaetzle. The kiddos who aren’t ready for sauerkraut will have plenty of mac and cheese to sample!
Pretzel Bread and Rolls
There are also several delicious desserts to choose from:
Here are a couple of “sample plates!”
Beer
Of course, who can go to the Biergarten without partaking? Here’s where you can score 33-ounce steins of Beck’s!
Celebrating With Steins
Overall
It’s often hard to tell how popular Biergarten is. While anecdotally everyone seems to love it, it’s still one of those restaurants where you can get an Advanced Dining Reservation at the last minute much of the time.
To learn more about Biergarten, including discounts, Disney Dining Plan info, and more, see our Biergarten info page.
I’d love to hear how Disney Food Blog readers weigh in on this one — please let us know where Biergarten falls on your scale of favorites in the comments section below.
Thanks to D. Galvan, M. Carrera, Tom Bricker, and Brett Young for the contribution of photos!
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Biergarten is without a doubt one of our favorite restaurants in WDW. It is a must stop for us every year we go (sometimes we go to it 2-3 times). You can’t beat the selection, the entertainment, and the Liter beers!!! Looking forward to going there again in November!
My husband and I usually eat here at least once each trip. The food and atmosphere are so much fun. Although it can be hit or miss depending on your table. I dont really like that they make you sit with a bunch of strangers. We have had dinners there with an awesome table of fun people, and we have had dinners there with a table of crabby old people. We still try and get there though because I love the giant beer!
I really loved Biergarten on my first visit last December! We were treated to a couple of dinners decked out in full costume dancing (oh and seated at out table.) It was quite a hoot! I enjoyed about 90% of the food, but I love sausage and kraut and cabbage in general. I was pretty impressed with just the number of sausage items available, as well as the different mustard varieties! Their potato leek soup is awesome! However, the wurst salad was just that–wurst! I’m not into cold hot dog and onion (and I’m not sure how it qualifies as a “salad”). The pretzel bread is great and I wish I had been hungrier. The huge mug of beer was a little daunting–I only drank about 2/3rds of mine. Beer is filling too! I’m thinking about adding a reservation here for our next trip–maybe on our last day before we get on the bus! However, I don’t want to take time away from Food and Wine Festival Fun!
I really like Biergarten…and at Thanksgiving, they add some of the US staples like Turkey!
Biergarten is my favorite WDW restaurant. In fact, it is what hooked me on the World. I’ve certainly had better German food, although that cost more per plate than the entirety of the Biergarten buffet. The Spaten Marzen by the litre is excellent though, especially since they carry it off-season.
I was a little concerned about the table thing the first time I went, but between the litres of bier and the superb show, it sort of greases the social wheels. In every case except one, we have been seated with very friendly people who we talked with the entire time.
I’ve been to Biergarten a couple of times; last time was lunch a few months back. Note that the entertainment didn’t start until 1pm. We were there when they opened at noon and were wrapping up when they finally started performing. The potato leek soup is AWESOME! I like dipping the pretzel bread into it. I love the liters of beer! And where else in WDW can you get head cheese?
Biergarten is without a doubt one of our favorite places to eat in the World. Dare I say we liked it even better than Le Cellier? 😉
The food is excellent – not your typical buffet spread, and it’s very fresh/hot. The beer is also wonderful, as there’s an opportunity to sample brews you might not find at your local bar. The entertainment is top notch; they really seem to enjoy their jobs, and it comes across in their performance.
We weren’t troubled by sitting with strangers – my husband and I (both twentysomethings) enjoyed our meal with a four-kid family. It was neat to swap stories about our trip and find out what drew them to Biergarten (the dad dining with us said it was very close to the food prepared by his German grandmother.)
If you haven’t been – go! You won’t regret it!
I love the Biergarten. Definitely underrated and I think the reason why it’s fairly easy to get an ADR for it is because the average guest is afraid of that sort of ethnic food. It’s their loss because I really think the food lends itself to being really tasty.
Tried it for the first time a couple of years ago and became a big fan. The food is definitely not the best on property, but it is good if you like the selection. This place wins in the atmosphere though…the beer, show, and overall good time make this a great place to dine.
I really want to try this now. Love pretzel bread. But I think it may have to wait until our next WDW trip. (:
I wish I could talk my husband into going, but he really doesn’t like the idea of family seating. Sigh. Maybe if I show him the pictures of the food, he’d agree!
My kids are pretty picky but they like Biergarten. Even if they don’t like the food, little kids will love the entertainment. I love German food and lived in Germany for 2 years and I think the food is pretty close to authentic. The desserts are really good too.
Oh, one more thing. I’ve written about this elsewhere, but when we went the last time we were seated with a family with only one child and my husband and I could tell that they weren’t thrilled to be seated with our rambunctious bunch, but after a while I started talking to the mom and she and I had a ton in common. So, if you’re a little nervous about communal seating, don’t be. You can meet some really nice people.
Brilliant post with a wonderful selection of photos 🙂
I love Biergarten and all the entertainment that plays whilst you eat. We always go there when we visit the world and it’s a lovely themed restaurant.
We dined there for the first time in 08 and it was as great as I hoped it would be. The food was delicious and really suits my tastes. The setting is fantastic and my kids loved dancing to the Oompah band and I had a blast listening to them. There really is nothing bad I can say about the place and I like the fact you meet new folk. We shared a table with a great couple from Texas and we all had a fantastic time talking about where we came from, Scotland in our case.
We are going back to WDW next month and have two ADRs for Biergarten. One of them will be the last meal we have of our holiday which will be sad but I cannot think of a better place to end our trip
Biergarten is a must eat EVERY visit for our family. Having spent some time in Germany we look forward to this meal of authentic food. We have not found any food as authentic in our part of the states. The atmosphere is great, the service has always been awesome, and we have been fortunate enough to dine there multiple times in a visit because we could get a last minute ADR there and not at our others choices that day. We have not had any issues dining with others. Some stayed to themselves and we respected that, others wanted to converse. Just like any of the places in World Showcase, if you attempt to learn a word or two of their language the wait staff really come to life.
I love the Biergarten. I think it’s a perfect example of how Disney combines dining and entertainment. I can’t wait for my reservation in February!
Our family tried it in December of 2008 and we loved it. I was surprised at how much we enjoyed dining there. The holiday decor was lovely and the show was a holiday treat.
My kids were 13, 10 and 7 at the time and it is now one of their favorite restaurants. This is coming from three very finicky eaters. We all had nice conversations with our table mates. This is a must on our WDW visits.
Biergarten is a tradition for us. Food, beer and atmosphere are awesome!
We love Biergarten, though we have never had to share a table – we are a party of 11! The food is great and we really enjoyed the entertainment. I have to say I love the bavarian cheesecake.
Great pictures by the way!
This looks like a very good restaraunt, with plenty of choices. Mainly meats by the look of it but pretty typical as it is Germany themed. That looks like a stick of Salami in one of the food pictures, which I have never seen whole!
Also, isn’t 33-ounces a bit much? Especially if you are driving! My guess is that they must have a 1:3 though.
We love Biergarten! It’s a definite must do on our trip to WDW!
Biergarten: It is THE place to have your Candlelight Christmas Dinner Package. It is the only restaurant to have a Christmas show before you go to the American Gardens Theater for the Christmas story program. Eat early, go to the 8:15 show and stay for the fireworks. What a perfect evening.
We ate at Biergarten last week and I was pleasantly surprised!! Even my kids were extremely full when they were done. I think my son ate 4 pretzel rolls that he stuck frankfurters in, LOL. DD loved the desserts. They had cauliflower soup on the menu that night and it was amazing!!! I was impressed with myself after finishing a 1/2 liter of beer!! LOL
Biergarten is an absolute must do when we go to Disney. I am not the biggest “people’ person but I truly enjoy the community seating here and have met some wonderful and really friendly people over the years. Striking up conversation with fellow Disney addicts and enthusiastic beer drinkers is great fun and always memorable. The food is amazing and never disappoints. If you are lucky enough to be there when the band plays you will be guaranteed to be blown away by the musical talents and swept up in the festivities. Don’t shy away from this true gem!
Deena — Agreed! Thanks for your feedback!