Downtown Disney Dining Help

[my2mickeykids]

We have 2 nights we are going to be eating in DTD during our Feb. trip. The first will be at the Rainforest Cafe. We are unsure what to do the second. We were thinking maybe Hooks Pointe in the DLH. We have a large group of 9 (3 kids ages 4-6). We could split into 2 groups if we need to. Any ideas of where to eat or where to avoid? I want to make reservations next week. Thank you!

 

[Tink!]

Naples would be a good choice since they serve family style. It would be convienent since you have a large group and pizza always works for kids!

 

[my2mickeykids]

Naples would be a good choice since they serve family style. It would be convienent since you have a large group and pizza always works for kids!

Thank you!

 

[Tink208]

I have eaten at the Rainforest Cafe, Tortilla Joe's, and the Jazz Kitchen. I did not think the Jazz Kitchen was worth the price, but Tortilla Joe's was good both times I have been there. The first time was with a group of nine.

 

[Sherry E]

!

 

[Sherry E]

Be aware that the Rain Forest Cafe is usually hideously crowded on weekend nights, and you may end up climbing several flights of steps to be seated waaaaaayy at the top of the restaurant near the extremely hot heat lamps outside. We did eat at RFC on a Saturday afternoon for lunch, and got in right away. Naples is great and they have great pizza and just to forewarn you about that - their 'smallest' pizza, the individual size, is not as small as you would expect. It is a regular sized pizza - like the equivalent of a Domino's medium size. I thought it would be small and could not finish it myself. So you could technically split one of Naples' small, individual pizzas between two people, so that gives you an idea of what the larger sizes might be. They bring bread out to you with olive oil to start off with so no one goes hungry. Also, the LaBrea Bakery has pretty good food. And I hear House of Blues' food is decent as well. We always like to eat around DD and the hotels, just to try out everything. You can always try Goofy's Kitchen for dinner - always great for adults AND kids! A great and bountiful buffet!

 

[techno]

In DTD, our favorites are Naples (especially their pizza), La Brea, and Uva.

 

[my2mickeykids]

Be aware that the Rain Forest Cafe is usually hideously crowded on weekend nights, and you may end up climbing several flights of steps to be seated waaaaaayy at the top of the restaurant near the extremely hot heat lamps outside. We did eat at RFC on a Saturday afternoon for lunch, and got in right away. Naples is great and they have great pizza and just to forewarn you about that - their 'smallest' pizza, the individual size, is not as small as you would expect. It is a regular sized pizza - like the equivalent of a Domino's medium size. I thought it would be small and could not finish it myself. So you could technically split one of Naples' small, individual pizzas between two people, so that gives you an idea of what the larger sizes might be. They bring bread out to you with olive oil to start off with so no one goes hungry. Also, the LaBrea Bakery has pretty good food. And I hear House of Blues' food is decent as well. We always like to eat around DD and the hotels, just to try out everything. You can always try Goofy's Kitchen for dinner - always great for adults AND kids! A great and bountiful buffet!

Thank you! I never thought about Goofy's for dinner. What do they serve at the dinner buffet?

 

[Sherry E]

Well, as for the Goofy's Kitchen dinner buffet, from what I recall, they had just as good a spread as they do for the breakfast buffet (my friends and I always marvel at how fresh they keep everything, the quality of the food and how vast the selection of items is for breakfast - it's better than at Storytellers Cafe, in my opinion), but it has been a while since we ate there for dinner, because, frankly, the breakfast is cheaper than the dinner buffet! But, I think it would be worth it for your kids, because they get a lot of food choices and the characters coming to the tables and the free buttons and all that. I seem to recall there were two or three different types of chicken dishes (like BBQ, fried, baked) and maybe more than that, different fish dishes, salads, soups, different types of rice, potatoes, vegetables, corn, there was prime rib and some other sort of beef dish, there was something that looked like a souffle, etc. And lots of dessert choices. Honestly, there might be someone on this board who has eaten DINNER at Goofy's more recently than I who can give an updated menu, but I know I didn't even cover half of it! Definitely try to get priority seating for that if you can - it is always super busy. You can get dinner off the menu OR at the buffet in Storyteller's Cafe, but we found that the 'off the menu' prices were so expensive for what we got that it made more sense to get the buffet. Also, the theme is different there - the characters are not as recognizable to everyone as the ones over at Goofy's, but it's a nice restaurant. I would go with Goofy's - we are 40 years old and we always go back there to eat, hamming it up in pictures with characters just like we were kids! Sherry

 

[Sherry E]

Another thought - have you considered the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney for dining? Sometimes people forget it is a restuarant too! We have not eaten there yet, but their menu looks decent and the desserts look good and of course, they have all sorts of games for kids AND adults. That is a thought, too.

 

[kkheburn]

My family loves ESPN Zone. The prices are good and gives us a chance to unwind from the park. We have only been for lunch and the crowds were fine. Even in the mid summer.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

The one thing about the ESPN Zone that we found difficult is that it can be difficult to get a table for a large group in the evenings. If you try to get DL Vacation Planning to make a reservation for you, they are only able to make reservations until 4:00pm, I think....

We had a large group (12) and once we just sent one person over there to wait until a table was available (over 1 hour wait).

This time, I joined the ESPN MVP Club (on their website & it is free) and was able to reserve a table for us (12 again). The options were pretty limited and they only had a 4:30 or 8:30 reservation available. You can only make reservations three days in advance, with the MVP Club.

One thing, we have gone during busy holiday seasons (Spring Break, Christmas) and either on the weekends or Monday night (football night).

We like the ESPN Zone, especially with lots of sports nuts in our family, hahaha. The games upstairs are fun and the food is pretty good. I hope this helps. Have fun.

 

[Laurabearz]

Thanks for the tip on the ESPN Zone Club thing!!! I just signed up! We are going to be at DLR over Father's Day and it will be nice to be able to make a table request for that day!