Best Restaurants for Splitting Meals

[Jennifer McMahan]

My family of 4 will be heading to Disney in January, and we are trying to be budget conscious. I'm trying to get a decent list of restaurants that are good values and/or easy to share plates at. My husband has a big appetite, so I'm hoping I can just easily share my plate with the kids.

 

[Pumbaa_]

There are many as restaurants that have very good food. Have you looked through menus

 

[crabbygal902]

Table Service:
Via Napoli--the pizza is huge and easily makes a meal for multiple people, especially when you add a salad or other appetizer for the table.
La Hacienda--The platters for 2 (seafood or chicken/beef/pork) and an appetizer like guacamole or queso fundido may be enough to feed all of you. Complimentary chips and salsa were served with the meal last time we were there, further stretching your dollars.
Sanaa--The bread service appetizer is a good value and one of my favorite dishes at WDW. The four of us are all big eaters, especially my 2 teenage boys. We get the bread service and sauces with a couple extra pieces of bread for a small charge and 2 entrees to share. It is plenty of food and so delicious.

Counter Service:
Flame Tree BBQ--The Pulled pork, Chicken, Ribs sampler is enormous and very tasty. I'm a Carolina Girl who knows her BBQ and this stuff is GOOD. It's more Kansas City style than Carolina but still great.
Tangierine Cafe--The Shawarma platter is also huge and shareable. This is my favorite CS and favorite dish at Disney World.
Many resort food courts---One breakfast Bounty Platter feeds all of us, but you should know we don't normally eat a big breakfast. One person will run to the food court while the others get ready for the day and we pick what we like off of the plate. I remember eggs, bacon, sausage, a biscuit, breakfast potatoes, and a Mickey waffle or french toast. It is pretty substantial, especially for $11.
Port Orleans French Quarter food court--the beignets are so yummy and sharable.

 

[Nancyg56]

In MK: Cosmic Rays has some pretty big platters. BOG lunch has braised Pork. It is a large meal
In DAK: Flame Tree has some big platters to choose from, and very shareable.
In Epcot: Tangerine Cafe can feed two from one plate.

I would suggest you start by looking at menus, and then set a budget for food. Once you have an idea what the costs look like, and what is included for the meal, you can then narrow down where you want to dine. My family often shares meals even though we use a dining plan because we do not like to waddle down Main Street. DH or DD and I often share a breakfast plate, and then later share a snack. Look at the snacks. Some are big enough to be a meal! Most are large enough to share.

 

[Jennifer McMahan]

Thanks y'all!

We've done the dining plan in the past, and just felt like it was SO MUCH FOOD! This time I'm hoping we can feel full and satisfied without waddling down Main Street

 

[tzolkin]

I can’t think of an item that would be the actual equivalent of two meals, but anything can be shared depending on your appetite and eating habits.

We usually do not like to eat large meals at Disney so my family of 5 has always shared counter service. We don’t have huge appetites and we especially don’t like to eat much if it’s hot out. We also like trying different foods so it’s more enjoyable for us to get one thing here and one thing there rather than five burgers all at one place.

Some people find the children’s meals to be a better value, but we have always preferred to order “adult” meals and share them. If we were all going to eat, maybe three meals to split between the five of us. When the kids were little, all three of them might just share a large chicken tender platter. And DH and I might get something more “exotic” to split somewhere else.

Even now that the kids are older (teens and adult), we still shared on our last trip. Twice four of us went to Satuli Canteen and just ordered three meals. We also ate several “meals” by snacking through the F&W festival. Pretty much everything we got was shared between the four of us. Once you split several items, everyone is full and got to try way more variety than each just ordering one or two items alone.

 

[FutureDis]

In Epcot, we liked to share the nachos at La Cantina in Mexico. They were pretty big!! As others have mentioned, Flame Tree BBQ in AK, the chicken and rib combo, is huge and easily shareable.

 

[amym2]

The meals at 50s Primetime are definitely shareable!

 

[TIME4DIZ]

We like to share food at Sanaa. Our group of 4 shared the bread service and 2 entrees. A nice way to try a good TS meal without breaking the bank.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm a light eater and my son is a picky eater so sharing seems ideal but can be tricky satisfying both of us. We can usually get out for around $40 even with tip and desserts at these places for the two of us, and it's not a lot more than 2 CS meals so we prefer to have the service.

Places where we've done it or are planning to do it:
MK:
Plaza Restaurant - these meals are comfort food so good for him but appealing to me as well as not super plain and the portions are always listed in reviews as big enough to share between two adults
Liberty Tree Tavern - I found their kid meal plenty big for me and it's even cheaper to split a full size adult meal at lunch, which is the equivalent of 2 kid meals - the pot roast with mac and cheese subbed for green beans and a side salad for me had lots of leftovers even with the two of us sharing it. they split it nicely in the kitchen.

Epcot:
Via Napoli - two adult friends told me they could not come close to finishing the 20" pizza together, that might be enough for all 4 of you (with a salad or app) and you can split the pizza type

Hollywood Studios:
50's Primetime: massive portions of comfort food for decent prices
Sci Fi Dine in: their burgers are HUGE but harder to share with 2 kids with the seat configuration

Animal Kingdom:
Yak & Yeti: I found their portions massive and their appetizers more than enough for a meal for a light eater - so 2 apps or 1 entree could definitely feed you + 2 kids. we split the ribs and left food behind.

Any of the secondary restaurants at the deluxe resorts usually have good prices and big portions too. Grand Floridian Cafe, The Wave, Ale & Compass usually get good reviews... and definitely the bread service at Sanaa is enough for a family of 4 with not a lot of room for entrees!