best restaurants for QUALITY food

[peacepiece]

We are an organic eating family of 4 who really enjoy great food. My kids (7 and 2) eat what we eat and like veggies, whole foods, healthy food. Another words, they don't have to eat french fries, burgers, chix fingers, etc. What are some suggestions of places to go in the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot? I'm sure there aren't any organic offerings, but we just want to eat fairly nutritious. Thanks so much!!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I really like Boma, they have really good soups and salads. It's a buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is a very short bus ride away from Animal Kingdom.

 

[casaazul]

The counter service in Epcot at Morocco, Tangerine Cafe I think, was awesome. We had a great meal there, and food was fresh. Boma was ok, good hummus and soups. Biergarten had some good salads, but was meat/sausage heavy.

 

[Nanabug02]

Sunshine Seasons, the counter service at The Land in Epcot has some great healthy (and yummy!) options. You might try there for a good meal.

 

[Brygida]

We are an organic eating family of 4 who really enjoy great food. My kids (7 and 2) eat what we eat and like veggies, whole foods, healthy food. Another words, they don't have to eat french fries, burgers, chix fingers, etc. What are some suggestions of places to go in the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot? I'm sure there aren't any organic offerings, but we just want to eat fairly nutritious. Thanks so much!!

Great question! I am a quality food nut too. It really hurts when I have a meal at a pre-plated, McDonald's-quality-food restaurant. Avoid the common restaurants that many people "love": Chef Mickey's, almost all character breakfasts, Cinderella's Castle, Liberty Tavern, most restaurants at Magic Kingdom.

Good quality food can be found at EPCOT, deluxe resort restaurants, Downtown Disney. My favorites are:

• Wolfgang Puck's (great kids menu selections)
• Boma (great, healthy food creations, with chefs on the premises, lots of soups/salads/choices)
• Akershus (unusual buffet foods);
• Raglan Road (home-cooking Irish-style);
• Chefs De France (has a choice of child appetizer)

Hope that helps! If not, seek out the detailed descriptions in the "Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" at your local bookstore. The descriptions and rankings are pretty accurate!

 

[PictureJumpr]

Eating 'quality' is not so hard at WDW as it can be in other vacation-type situations...

We enjoy the Plaza at MK, I have to have a strawberry-chicken salad at least once each trip. Their kids' stuff includes a kids' chef salad and turkey or grilled-cheese sandwiches, which is slightly better in our opinion than chicken tenders and french fries.

The Rose & Crown at Epcot has an interesting menu with a lovely fruit-and-cheese plate that goes well with a green salad; they also have a vegetarian curry that is nice. For kids they have some different things - mac and cheese, with the veggie sticks and the fruit cup along with it, or a version of shepherd's pie...

Fresh at the Dolphin (quick boat from MGM or Epcot) also has some great lunch options on their version of a buffet - good quality.

For snacks, there are fresh-fruit stands at most parks: Harambe Fruit Market in AK, Anaheim Produce in MGM/DHS, Toontown Farmer's Market in MK - these sell fresh cut fruit and trail mix, nuts, granola. There is a place in MK that sells orange-juice slushies, too, and the dole whip, while loaded with sugar, is still a required yearly treat.

 

[becca011906]

I was thinking the foods at the Garden Grill in the land at Epcot w/ Chip, dale, Mickey, goofy, are whole foods organicly grow at disney... I'm not postive but IIRC...

 

[Zeebs]

While my son would happily eat fries so we do let him on occasion but because we out not that often I don't have a problem spending the money on an adult meal to get him something nicer than what they seem to offer on childrens menus everywhere. We will be in the same situation at WDW as we are staying off site so most of our meals will be back at the villa that the ones we eat on site he will either share our meals or we will order him one of his own. We have so far been lucky with him that he will eat almost everything we eat. I hope this will continue and the next one follows in his footsteps.

 

[Rinderoo]

We eat pretty healthy too but I let the kids slip a bit when we go to WDW.

For healthy/different stuff try Boma (AKL), Sunshine Seasons (The Land/Epcot), and some of the character buffets where you can be selective about your choices. .

I really enjoy Artist Point and Jiko though. To me they're worth the money. We also enjoy Spoodles. (We're passholders with DDE card.)

Any of the rotisserie chicken quick service meals are pretty good too. I also love the Turkey Panini sandwich at Pinocchio's in MK.

 

[allyphoe]

There is a place in MK that sells orange-juice slushies

When we were there last week, the orange juice had apparently been replaced with Tang-equivalent. (On prior trips, it had been unsweetened orange juice - refreshing and a bit tart in contrast to the soft serve.) Nasty, icky stuff.

Sunshine Seasons has good salads, although the ones not sold pre-boxed are all pre-dressed. The multi-grain bun on the grilled chicken at Electric Umbrella was really good. The grilled turkey sandwich at Backlot Express (MGM) also comes on excellent multi-grain bread, and I think the turkey sandwich at Pinocchio Village Haus is on the same bread. We have historically gotten grapes for our sides; Pinocchio has switched to pre-packaged, prewashed grapes which IMHO are inedible. Most places, we got unwashed (or in some cases, poorly washed - think mud in the bottom of whatever container they were in) on-stem grapes, which were very dirty but delicious once washed.

My kid lives on mac-n-cheese at Disney, so she'd be fine with the kid meals if we did DDP. We usually split 3 adult meals 4 ways OOP, though, so we could feed a kid on the full DDP allotment by letting the kid credits go to waste. You'd have to do the math to know if you come out ahead with DDP, though.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Crystal Palace would be my vote for MK. We ate there for dinner and they had lots of fresh salads, fruit, fish etc... As a bonus, your kids may enjoy meeting the Pooh Bear characters.
Also, at CS places, the kids menu options can be somewhat limited. If you see something that they would rather have on the adult menu, they could likely share one meal. Most CS meals are pretty big. Also, if you have the dining plan, be aware that most CS places will let you substitute fruit as your dessert. DH and I did this and saved the fruit for later. I've also seen people sub carrot sticks for potato chips.
While there is certainly plenty of junk available, and I am a bit lax about the rules on vacation, I think you will find it not that hard to stay on track if you so choose. I know DS8 was thrilled at all the seafood and fresh fruit he was able to eat.

 

[pwyu1969]

At Epcot, the catfish at Coral reef is farm raised next door at "the seas" I don't think they pump them up with steroids Also, with kids meals, you can always get fresh carrots or celery for your appetizers, and fresh fruit for your dessert. Since they were often full from the meal, we would usually get the fruit to go which made for a great snack a hour or two later as we walked the parks. Mama Melrose at MGM had a grilled (not fried) chicken with penne pasta meal. Ironically, we were hard pressed to find french fries in many places...

Crystal palace does have a lot of fresh food for a buffet. Lots of people, so there's quick turnover on the items. Morocco was also excellent! They have a lamb and chicken with KusKus (sp) and fresh salads thats huge and only a cs on the ddp. I loved the food at epcot!