Disney Dining Dream! What are your must eats??

peyjax

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Flights are booked, now onto the fun part....FOOD!

5 days eating on site with one sit down a day. What are your must do's?
 
Flights are booked, now onto the fun part....FOOD!

5 days eating on site with one sit down a day. What are your must do's?

For sit down.. we like Breakfast with minnie at plaza inn and Goofy's kitchen.

On the go we have to have corn dogs and turkey legs! a trip isn't complete with some Beignets from the jazz kitchen either (DTD)
 
Well I must say there are only a handfull of things ar DLR that I do not like to eat. Myself and my DBF are all about food, so we have tried everything just about ... here are some of the highlights as we see them ;)
In DL
Gibson Girl Ice Cream
Corndogs and fries from the counter service outside of the Golden Horse Shoe
Steak Gumbo in a bread bowl from the Royal Street Veranda
Chimichangas from the ODV cart by the Matterhorn
Loaded Potato from the counter service place right out side of the old Princess Fantasy Fair
and Mint Juleps !

In DCA
we LOVE the WOC dinner menu at WCT (the filet is to die for...OMHO)
DBF likes Cucina Cucamonga

not to say everything else isnt good, these are just our MUST EATS ! :thumbsup2

enjoy your trip, and enjoy your food !
 
For sitdowns I like:
Cafe Orleans
Carnation Cafe - baked potato soap is really good
Napa Rose - spendy, but Excellent
Ariel's or Goofy's for character meals
Blue Bayou - water table for great atmosphere
Wine Country Trattoria

Counter service:
Pacific Wharf - corn chowde and clam chowder in a bread bowl
Plaza Inn - chicken dinner
French Market
Taste pilots - bleu burger

Haven't been in a few years so haven't tried the new restaurants.
 

We really like Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. It's all you care to eat BBQ and sides. The desserts and drinks are extra, but they are yummy, and the iced tea is real brewed tea! Troubadour Tavern for the loaded baked potatoes and corn cobs is also one of our favorites. Carnation Cafe is a great sit down place, and the soup is really good. If you go for dinner try to time it with the parade. In DCA I love the broccoli soup in the bread bowls. Flo's V8 was really good, but we never got back for dinner, just breakfast. Taste Pilots has a burger with blue cheese that is good. Oh, and I almost forgot about Plaza Inn for the fried chicken dinner. It's good and big servings!
 
Do you need an ADR for plaza inn?

Not for lunch/dinner. But, breakfast is a character breakfast, so you can call 60 days in advance for PS.

My faves (in no order, and I am hungry right now so this might be long :lmao:)

DL:
Dole Whip
Corn Dog from Red Wagon
Potato Soup from Carnation Cafe. Really my fave sit down, but they recently changed the menu and removed my fave breakfast item :sad2:
Goofy's is my fave character dinning so far, have never been to Storyteller's.
Bengal BBQ mmmmmm
Golden Horseshoe chicken & fries (or outside at Stage Door Cafe)

DCA:
Filet Mignon at Wine Country
Taste Pilot's Grill has excellant burgers
Award Weiner's for a quick hot dog isn't bad
Chimichangas from the carts

There are a lot of new places that I haven't tried yet, but check the menus from allears.net

My fave in DTD is Tortilla Joe's, but I'm a sucker for tacos :rotfl2:
Speaking of Tortilla Joe's, will be there for dinner Saturday night, can't wait!!
 
I try to mix it up each trip, but my favorites are:

DLR
Blue Bayou for dinner at waterside
River Belle Terrace for breakfast
Golden Horseshoe for lunch and the show
Tiki Room for a Dole Whip and singing with the birdies

DCA
Pacific Wharf Cafe for dinner (after it cools off in the evening, my favorite thing is a broccoli and cheese soup in a bread bowl)
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain for hot chocolate after it gets really cool at night

I haven't tried any of the new restaurants in Carsland yet, the area was just too crowded when we were there. Next time I
m definitely going to Flo's and maybe Carthay Circle
 
Pacific Wharf Cafe
Tortilla Joe's

Used to enjoy Carnation Cafe but looked at the new menu last night and no longer so interested.

Hungry Bear another fave - but not so much for the food (standard park fare, really, but decent) but great place to sit down below and take a break while you eat. MUCH better (relaxing) than Tomorrowland Terrace which we always seem to hit at exactly the wrong time (concert night or some other super loud equally relax killing event).
 
At Disneyland:

Bengal BBQ is an absolute must. They have various meat skewers, but the best are the bacon wrapped asparagus.

Beignets at the hidden window behind the French Market in New Orleans Square.

Dole Whip in Adventureland. BTW, if the line outside is really long, go inside the Tikiroom waiting area. The line is always shorter. Everyone and then a very Germanic CM will demand that everyone who is not waiting to see the Tikiroom leave the waiting area. They'll also say that they serve three people from the outside line to every one in the waiting area, but I haven't observed that to be the case. It seems either one-to-one or two-to-one. In any case, the wait is much shorter.

Generally, Disneyland has improved its food overall in the last several years. Rancho Zocalo in Frontierland is decent. It is fun to get either ice cream or chicken strips in the Golden Horseshoe while watching the performance. We've also found that the Hungry Bear Restaurant has good food and is quiet being at the far end of the park.

At DCA:

The new Mediterranean Skewers are really good in Paradise Pier.

The soup or salad bread bowls are also good.

I haven't tried the places in Carsland, but I've heard good things about them.
 
In Disneyland:

Gibson Girl Ice Cream
Corn Dog and Fries from Stagedoor Cafe


In DCA:


Lobster Nachos from the Cove Bar (so, so good)
Steak Nachos from Whitewater Snacks (actually located in the Grand Californian Hotel, but very easily accessible through the entrance near Grizzly River Run!)
Italian Chef Salad from Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta (it's huge and the meats/cheeses make it very filling for me. It's delicious and great for hot days)
Clam Chowder in a bread bowl from Pacific Wharf Cafe on cool nights



My favorite snack, and probably the only thing I get every single time I'm in the parks, are the jalapeño cheese pretzels. I don't know why, but I love them. The pink cotton candy is my husband's favorite. It tastes just like Lucky Charm marshmallows to us.

For character meals, so far we've done Minnie's, GK for dinner, and Surf's Up with Mickey. Surf's Up and GK certainly have a wider variety than Minnie's and we loved our experiences at both, but there is something about eating breakfast at Minnie's that I love. I think it's wonderful to have a great breakfast and tons of character interaction while Disneyland is right outside the window. It felt the most "Disney" of all our character meals whenever we went.

Have fun, special meals and treats are a fantastic part of any Disney trip :)
 
DL: Cafe Orleans, Blue Bayou (the gumbo served here and at Cafe Orleans is awesome), the French Market (great salmon!), Carnation Cafe (only ate breakfast here but loved it!), Bengal BBQ (Chieftan Chicken is the most underrated skewer here - SO GOOD)

DCA: The Cove Bar (for light snacks, cocktails), Flo's V8 Cafe (again only had breakfast here but if you like sweet breakfasts, the brioche french toast is great).

There's probably more (LOTS more) but this is what I have off the top of my head!
 
Downtown Disney - Ralph Brennan's Jazz Sit down restaurant - Like all on menu!
Next door for beignets!!!
Le Brea Bakery Cafe
Catal Restaurant
Tortilla Joe's
Grand California Hotel - Napa Rose
California Adventure - Ghiradelli's & Clarabelle's for icecream, Pacific Wharf for anything in the sourdough bread bowl
Disneyland - Gibson Girl Icecream, Bengal Barbecue
Anywhere in both parks or DTD that sells the cashew chocolate/carmel covered pretzel stick!
Churros from anywhere in both parks!
 
We find that we tend to sit down more in DTD and the hotels. Our favorites:
Tortilla Jo's
Naples
Catal
I use to LOVE UVA Bar but they no longer have the french dip...but I'm sure it's still great.
Trader Sam's (yummy cocktails and great apps)
Goofy's Kitchen for dinner
Napa Rose Chef's Counter for that once in a lifetime meal.
Storyteller's (but it can be hit or miss)
Steakhouse 55

In the parks:
Cafe Orleans
Carnation Cafe (agree with PP that the new menu doesn't wow me)
Ariel's Grotto
Looking forward to Flo's and Carthay Circle

Have a great time! Eating is definitely a big part of the fun.
 

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