Biergarten Worries

[jhaig]

We have an ADR for Biergarten coming up next month. I have a picky eater in the group that is concerned about finding something decent on the buffet. She's more of a meat and potatoes gal and doesn't like a lot of spicy things. Will she do OK here?

 

[mommycrawford]

It is really mostly meat and potatoes kind of stuff...sausages, spaetzle, sliced meat, german potato salad, cabbage, etc.

I recall (2 years ago) that there were few green type salads, and much more starchy and meaty things.

If you go to the dining tab above, you could look at the menu. I think you'll find the food is very complimentary to beer: solid.

 

[sethschroeder]

Best place for that picky water is Germany than.
http://allears.net/dining/menu/biergarten/dinner

While there will be some stuff out there even that will seem like the norm if it didn't have names of the food.

Ps- I laughed when you equated German food to spicy. The farther you get away from the equator the less spicy food will be. German food is about on par with English food for spice.

 

[ses1230]

The cold salad area is huge. I have made an entire meal out if the cold salads at Biergarten.

In addition to that there is soup, pretzel bread, roast chicken, potatoes, roasted vegetables, meatballs, roast beef, schnitzel, macaroni and cheese, and all the sausages. I think a picky eater can eat here. Nothing is very spicy.

The desserts are also very good.

 

[OrangeKnickers]

I hate to be a buzzkill, but DH and I ate there in October and hated it. Although there is meat and potatoes in abundance, they are not seasoned in a way that is familiar to an American palate, so a picky eater may have trouble. We are not picky eaters (we loved Boma, for example), but neither one of us enjoyed our meal. It's all personal preference, and I know that some people like Biergarten. For us, though, it's the only meal we had at WDW where either of us truly hated the food.

 

[jhaig]

Ps- I laughed when you equated German food to spicy. The farther you get away from the equator the less spicy food will be. German food is about on par with English food for spice.

Our spicy food equivalents:

Me = equator, her = arctic circle

 

[MrsDuck]

I'm not a fan of Biergarten, admittedly. I wish I was. I'm a picky eater and really only ate off the kid's bar and pretzel bread...

 

[jhaig]

Is the pretzel bread the same kind that is at Le Cellier?

 

[Kimosabe]

Is the pretzel bread the same kind that is at Le Cellier?

The pretzel bread is very similar, but more roll-sized than "breadstick"-sized. Otherwise, basically the same.

As for a meat-and-potatoes approach to Biergarten, I'd say it could be right on target. There is "pot roast" and there are also these little beef roulades (if I'm using the right word there). They looked like sausage links, but when you cut into them, it was almost as if they had stuffed roast beef in there...could have eaten those all night. Also plenty of potato options, whether hot or cold, and several other things that a picky eater could enjoy (e.g., some of the best mac and cheese on property). We took our 9 and 12 year old girls there a few weeks ago for the first time, and they actually asked why we had been "depriving" them of this restaurant for so many years! They are not necessarily picky eaters, but they do tend to migrate toward the familiar choices and they ate more than I've ever seen them eat at one meal and never even touched the more traditional German food (sausages, kraut, etc.).

We had eight people in our group, so we had a table to ourselves, but smaller groups will likely be sitting with other people. I'm not a huge fan of that, as there's not a whole lot of extra elbow room anyway, but it does have a certain charm....and the general atmosphere and entertainment is great. Definitely transports you into another world for an hour or so, which makes it a real success in my book.

 

[carmelhp]

We have an ADR for Biergarten coming up next month. I have a picky eater in the group that is concerned about finding something decent on the buffet. She's more of a meat and potatoes gal and doesn't like a lot of spicy things. Will she do OK here?

Oh yeah, if you like bland, Germany, and Central Northern Europe in general, does bland starch and fat better than anybody. I found Biergarten to be uniformly lacking in any spice whatsoever. They give even the Brits a run for their money.

 

[starwart]

I'd rather go to Costco and spend $1.50 for their hotdog with unlimited soda and sauerkraut than waste my $$$ in Biergarten. Just my opinion. Enjoy whatever you decide

 

[nkereina]

I'm not a fan of Biergarten, admittedly. I wish I was. I'm a picky eater and really only ate off the kid's bar and pretzel bread...

What's on the kid's buffet? If it's normal "kid" food, then I think the picky eater in our group will be ok.

 

[JaimeK]

Pics and lots of info in this review:
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/10/01/review-biergarten-in-epcots-germany/

 

[ses1230]

What's on the kid's buffet? If it's normal "kid" food, then I think the picky eater in our group will be ok.

There is not a dedicated kids area at Biergarten like there is at other Disney buffets.

 

[Kimosabe]

I'd rather go to Costco and spend $1.50 for their hotdog with unlimited soda and sauerkraut than waste my $$$ in Biergarten. Just my opinion. Enjoy whatever you decide

This is what I love about these restaurant threads -- i.e., with pretty much any restaurant on property, there are going to be people who love it and others who hate it. Makes it difficult to decide sometimes, but I can appreciate a comment like this that is personal to the poster and not just a blanket statement like "the food at ________ is the worst on property" (with no acknowledgment of personal opinion or why...but rather just a flat-out "factual" statement that serves no useful purpose...those are the sorts of answers that irk me).

I'd say that Biergarten is probably in the top five (certainly top ten) WDW restaurants that fall into that love-it-or-hate-it category. German food is certainly not for everyone, but I would argue that there is plenty of food here that doesn't come across as particularly "German" and could serve as kid-friendly fare, even without a dedicated kids' area. Our whole family loved it, from one fairly picky daughter to slightly more adventurous daughter to steak-loving mom to I'll-try-anything-once dad (me). Honestly, I was surprised that the whole gang liked it, but now that I know that, I have no doubt we'll be back soon(-ish).

 

[jcvalenti]

Uh... pretty much all of German cuisine is meat and potatoes and not spicy.

If she's unwilling to try anything new, then I would just cancel all TS ADRs and get a cardboard burger every night, like Disney wants everyone to.

 

[Kimosabe]

...cardboard burger every night, like Disney wants everyone to.

Using an emoticon/smiley for the first time in my adult life (and I promise not to make a habit of it), but...

 

[Dayton Flyer]

German food is certainly not for everyone, but I would argue that there is plenty of food here that doesn't come across as particularly "German" and could serve as kid-friendly fare, even without a dedicated kids' area. Our whole family loved it, from one fairly picky daughter to slightly more adventurous daughter to steak-loving mom to I'll-try-anything-once dad (me). Honestly, I was surprised that the whole gang liked it, but now that I know that, I have no doubt we'll be back soon(-ish).

Yeah, my 6 year old son who ate only fruit, hot dogs, and mac and cheese LOVED Biergarten. He's now 12 and it's a must do every time we go to Epcot.

 

[MikeP22]

My wife and I really enjoy German food, though we're otherwise not generally particular to "plain" types of food (love Indian and Thai, for example). The only German restaurant in our immediate area closed before we really got into it, though I think one opened up somewhere else recently. We hit Das Festhaus in Busch Gardens at least twice during a 5-day visit (yeah, we usually hit BG 4-5 days out of a 7-day Williamsburg trip).

We've only been to Biergarten once (in 2010) and are very much looking forward to returning this month, and I'm very happy to learn about the 10% discount with the Disney Visa card. We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere immensely, even though our tablemates were, well, uninterested.

One other option for German food that we are considering is Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe (VERY interested after seeing it on TheTimTracker). The prices on the web look REALLY good and the food is reported to be a-mazing (for "plainish" German food). The only downside is that I think it's like a 45 minute ride from our (offsite) hotel. I may see if we want to do it on one of our non-park days, I'd hate to regret not going there.

 

[L&Lfan]

We enjoyed the food at Biergarten, though admittedly we're not picky eaters. However, what keeps us from dining there more often is that we HATE the communal seating/table sharing.