food IS a theme park
Fish and Chips is a staple dish at Disney Springs’ Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant and Cookes of Dublin (the counter service spot that’s Raglan-adjacent!). But what if you’re visiting the shopping district with food allergies? There’s a fish and chips for you!
Cookes of Dublin
It’s no secret we love Contempo Cafe. Located in Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World — and just a monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom — Contempo Cafe is a quick service spot that consistently serves some of our favorite fast eats. We’ve long craved the Pot Roast here, but with flatbreads and burgers and desserts galore, you and your crew can’t go wrong.
Contempo Cafe Entrance
On this visit, everything was totally awesome. It makes for some great eating and some fun blogging, if I’m being honest. First up: the Contempo Smokehouse Burger. This beauty (yup, a burger can be beautiful) is an Angus Chuck Burger topped with Smoked Bacon Marmalade, Cheddar Cheese, and a huge Onion Ring. There’s a Brioche Bun holding it all together, too.
We never turn down an opportunity to visit Walt Disney World’s Epcot, and one of our favorite Epcot activities is checking out the new eats. 😉 Refreshment Port, located on the path between World Showcase and Future World, is a convenient spot to grab a quick bite.
Epcot Beauty
When we first visited The BOATHOUSE (caps official!) in Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs back in early 2015, it wowed us with its quality seaside eats and charming decor.
We enjoyed it so much in April of that year that we returned in November to see if The Boathouse was staying afloat in the ever-changing landscape of Disney Springs. And it really was!
Truth be told, we still got a little sticker shock when we perused that mostly-seafood-and-steak menu, but with the food being as good as it was, we sort of got over it. So much so that in 2017, we headed back for dinner!
Yeah, you could say we’re fans. But even when a restaurant proves itself to be consistently good (with the exception, maybe, of that crazily overpriced, not very good S’mores Baked Alaska!), it’s our duty to keep checking on things to, you know, make sure it’s still awesome. So put on your life jacket and hoist the sails because we’re hitting the high seas at The BOATHOUSE.
The Boathouse Sign
Alert! Alert! Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant is open!
This seasonal quick service spot is located right at the entrance of Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. And when we say seasonal, we mean, like, super seasonal. It’s very rare to see this spot open, but Spring Break’s notoriously massive crowds were enough to open the Restaurant for the lunch time rush — 11AM to 3:30PM during my visit!
The menu here is small and variable, and it won’t appeal to every Walt Disney World guest. But if you’re looking for something simple and fast, this might just fit the bill for you. Plus you can use Mobile Ordering here, making this an even more convenient location!
And it’s actually a pleasant place to dine during the spring (and early summer before the heat really kicks in!). There’s a reason Tomorrowland Terrace is the spot for the Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party: views! The seating here has a Hub and Castle view (albeit blocked from some seats).
So join me as I check out Tomorrowland Terrace!
Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant is about what you’d expect from a counter service restaurant in Tomorrowland: some neon, funky fonts on the signs, and lots of metal (or metallic) accents.
Entering Tomorrowland Terrace!
So…a poutine cloud apparently burst over Orlando and now you can get varieties of this relatively obscure French Canadian pub grub delicacy pretty much everywhere in Disney World. There’s even a dining spot completely dedicated to poutine.
The dish traditionally consists of French fries covered in cheese curds and brown gravy, and Canadians will cheerfully tell you that NONE of the dishes below qualify. Yet they’re called Poutine on the menu, and since we love french fries with stuff piled on top of them, we’re happy to tally them up for you!
Oh, and here’s some real Canadian poutine for reference.
Here’s some real Canadian poutine for reference…
So here’s the Disney World Poutine Crawl!
is the most recent addition to the poutine World and can be found at the Refreshment Port in Epcot.
Refreshment Port
at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is a classic.
From its prime location at the Cinderella Castle end of Main Street, USA, to its elegant decor and moderately priced menu, The Plaza Restaurant is a truly great value. And the menu is family friendly (including those bottomless milkshakes!), so it’s easy to enjoy a meal with your whole crew.
But flashier dining options have relegated The Plaza to the realm of hidden gems.
And, honestly, we’re kind of okay with that. Because when Be Our Guest is booked solid, The Plaza is often a gettable alternative. And with a few new menu items, my most recent visit was a total home run.
Plaza Sign
Le CellierCheddar Cheese Soup
fans, rejoice! Now there’s a quick service option so you can get your fix without expending two signature Disney Dining Plan credits! Thanks to the Refreshment Port, Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup is now available (and snack credit eligible!).
Refreshment Port Menu
With so many dining options to try at Walt Disney World, it’s not every trip that I’m able to return to some classic Resort restaurants — particularly if I’m not staying at the Resort in question.
But on a recent visit, I had a meeting that was (thankfully!) at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Located off the lobby in the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa’s main building, the Grand Floridian Cafe offers lovely views of the rose garden and courtyard pool beyond. It’s nice and tranquil, but not at all stuffy. So if you want to check out the Grand Floridian with your entire crew (including kiddos), this is a great place to try it.
The Cafe menu serves up traditional American dishes with a few nods to seafood and Southern fare in celebration of the Sunshine State, and our most recent trip here was for dinner. But a great feature at the Grand Floridian Cafe is the brunch-style menu offering breakfast dishes (in addition to the lunch offerings) through 2:00 pm. Hence the “Pancakes and Burger” mashup we’re reviewing today!
And there’s another big boon for the Grand Floridian Cafe: since it’s on the Resort Monorail loop, it’s easily accessible from Magic Kingdom and a terrific get-away if you need a little break from the park.
Like every restaurant at the Grand Floridian, the Cafe is simple and elegant. You won’t find over-the-top, Disney-fied theming in terms of characters or bright colors. But you will feel as though you’ve gone back to the Victorian Era (minus all the stiff social constructs). Check in takes place at a desk with white columns and great trim details.
Grand Floridian Cafe Entrance
Right away you’ll notice the lattice-and-flowers carpeting, which carries throughout the restaurant. The wood trim also continues into the dining room, where floral wallpaper and tasteful seating await.
Here at the DFB, we love a good Disney food mash-up, but truth be told, even in our wildest dreams we never conjured up this one: Donut Nuggets.
We know, we know: they sound intriguing and delicious. (And maybe just a smidgen odd…)
The masters of American casual comfort food at D-Luxe Burger are the brainiacs behind this new creation, and since we are masters of, you know, eating donuts and nuggs, we had to get in on the action.
D-Luxe has quickly gone to the top of our favorite counter service burgers because — for once! — the burgers themselves aren’t overdone hockey pucks! We also enjoy the clever combinations of ingredients, like the Southern Burger with fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese (the caviar of the south, y’all!). Plus they have several dipping sauces, and that’s never a bad thing.
D-Luxe Burger sign
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