A quick bite for dinner at Downtown Disney?

GEM

Mommy to Paul - 1lb 7oz wonder
Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
5,054
I was just wondering if anybody could reccomend a place to get a quick dinner at Downtown Disney. On our trip in December, we have one evening set aside for some serious Christmas shopping and we don't want to waste shopping time in a restaurant! Any suggestions - other than McDonalds!

I was thinking about Wolfgang Puck Express. Has anybody been there? The menu looks great, but I'm worried that it might be really crowded and we might end up waiting forever in line. We tried to eat lunch there once and ended up giving up because the crowd was unbearable! This will be the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 18th.

Also, I thought I remembered that Bongos had a smaller kind of quick-service place attached to their restaurant. Did I imagine that?

What about the Gourmet Pantry? Do they have anything tasty that we could pick up and make a good dinner out of?

Other suggestions? Thanks!
 
We visited the Wolfgang Puck express and it was very good. A little pricey, but good...definately better than McDonald's!! Their buttercup squash soup is wonderful. Also, it's one of the only places where one can still get a fluffernutter! Their woodfired pizzas are good too. There are other places available out on Turkey Lake Road or 535 or whatever that is right outside of the Downtown Disney area.

My vote is for Wolfgang Puck.

Tigger's Pal.
 
We have done Wolfgang Puck Express. It was good, but it can be slow and crowded.

What we did last time, was go into Gourmet Pantry and grab-and-go there. It was quite tasty. They have sandwiches, salads, soups (I believe) and yummy goodies!!
 
Is there anyplace to sit down and eat the stuff from Gourmet Pantry?
 

Another question - are there two Wolfgang Puck Expresses at Downtown Disney? I know there is one at the Marketplace. Is there one at the West Side as well? If so, would the one at the West Side be less crowded?
 
There are two Puck's, one in the Marketplace and one on the Westside. Both offer essetially the same selections, but the sandwiches and salads may vary. The Westside Puck's has the cafe, shusi bar and gourmet restaurant attached. There is outdoor seating at both expresses, with the Marketplace having more. The westside has just installed larger coolers which provides for many more prepackaged selections.

Bongo's has a walk up window with terrific selections. Try the papa rellena! There is limited outdoor seating there.

The Gourmet Pantry has cold and hot selections. There is limited outdoor seating.

A wonderful place for a light and generally quick dinner is the Stone Crab Lounge at Fulton's. The salad, soup and other light choices are served in the lounge. Makes for a nice relaxing break from the shopping. No PS is needed. Ample lounge seating with limited outdoor seating.

There is a small place on PI that offers hot sandwiches (hot dogs, sausage, etc.) fries and drinks both alcoholic and non. Can't remember the name, but it's a tiny place, easily missed.

Shouldn't have too much trouble finding "fast" food. Just depends upon the crowd. You should be ok on the 18th. As the 25th approaches, the crowd builds.
 
We love Wolfgang Puck Express, either at DTD or DTD-WS! The food is good, and not overly expensive! We love the brick oven baked pizzas... and it is enough for 2!
 
I was also in that same situation in August. I put 4 yr old dd in the Cub's Den for a few hours so I had some adult time for myself, I wanted to have a "nice" relaxing dinner, but I wanted a quick dinner because I wanted to shop.

I actually went to Portebello's and sat at the bar, I was in and out of there in a 1/2 hour and had a nice caesar salad and a mozzarela and tomatoe salad and a great glass of wine. I would imagine it may have taken longer if I ordered a hot entree but I was the only one at the bar and it was quite relaxing. If you have an AP you get 10% off you're meal.

After that I spent too much time in ONCE UPON A TOY! What a great toy store!
 
We tried Captain Jack's last year and had a nice dinner. We got there early, though, before the regular crowd.
 












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