Hey DL Pros...tell me your fave DL & DCA eats

[Lorelai]

Take everything you know about DL & DCA restaurants, sit-downs, counter service, best coffee, snacks, ice cream, etc and erase it...that's where I am coming from.

I am a WDW pro, planner, foodie and I am SO PSYCHED to make my 1st ever trip to California's Disneyland Resort and Walt's first park, his baby, if you will. But I need help. Massive help. I know nothing about where to eat.

Please give me your favorite sit down places in both DL & DCA. And, if I may be so bold, the best place on Disneyland Resort property to get a real cup of coffee, or a strong real cappuccino or espresso. In DisneyWorld the best coffee is at Kona Coffee Bar in the Polynesian...that's my benchmark. We love to take a nice break for lunch & dinner when on Disney property...so please feel free to name places that may take longer for a meal and offer unique atmosphere.

In WDW my faves are:

MK ~The Plaza
EP ~ Biergarten, LeCellier & Mitsukoshi
DS ~ Prime Time & Brown Derby
AK ~ actually, we love Boma in AKL.

Thank you so much...love from New Jersey!

 

[oc_tony]

You'll get many and varied replies to your questions, but here goes.

We like many of the same WDW places that you do. As for dining, the resorts and DTD tend to offer better food than the parks, but dining is not quite the big deal at DLR as it is at WDW. That being said, here are some of our favorites...

expensive but fantastic dinner at Napa Rose (GCH)
quick service breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Whitewater Snacks (GCH, just outside the DCA entrance)
breakfast or dinner at Steakhouse 55 (DLH)
pizza at Naples (DTD)
bread bowl soups and salads at Pacific Wharf (DCA)
Cafe Orleans (DL)
baked potatoes at Troubadour Tavern (DL)
ice cream from Gibson Girl (DL) or Burr-bank Ice Cream (DCA)

I have reviewed some of these as part of my blog series, Culinary Quest. Just search "Culinary Quest" on the DIS blog page if you're interested. Happy planning!

 

[I'm mikey]

In Disneyland, we like the Blue bayou, good food and amazing atmosphere....but pricey.
In DCA, wine country trattoria. the foods good but more affordable

 

[Funball]

I don’t mind giving my opinion on dining….

Dining at Disneyland (Inside Park), well I like these places:

Rancho Del zocalo-near big thunder mountain, Mexican food, has lots of choices!

Blue Bayou- the atmosphere is awesome, 2 thumbs up!

Bengal BBQ—they have the best kabobs EVER!


In Downtown Disney, I like these places:

Naples-simple, nice Italian favorites—gourmet pizzas!!

Tortillas Jo’s-mexican food, but they have the best margaritas ever and fish tacos are so yummy!

Ralph Brenneman’s jazz kitchen—you will feel like your on bourbon street when you eat here, its’ awesome!! The menu—well let’s just say your going to want one of everything!


You did not mention going to DCA, so I will list my fav’s anyway:

Taste pilots grill—burgers, ribs, chili cheese fries and vegetarian selections also(this is a fav, place among most disers)

Wine country trattoria-nice atmosphere inside and out, lovely setting, awesome menu you will want one of everything, they do serve adult beverages also.

Farmers Market—yummy STUFF!! Wraps, giant salads..etc!

Boudin Bakery—the best soup bread bowls ever

 

[DisneyMom70]

For Snacks
Jalepeno cheese pretzal from the cart near the entrance to Frontierland
Bacon wrapped asparagus from Bengal BBQ
Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich
Turkey leg - BUT only when I was pregnant. I just had it again recently and it was too salty and not as good as I remembered. Not sure if that was a DL or a hormone thing.

For Meals
I second the bread bowl salad and soups at Pacific Wharf
Napa Rose - awesome, but pricey
Three cheese Monte Cristo @ Cafe Orleans - sounds awful but is SOOOO yummy.

Those are my favorites.

 

[Funball]

Here is A food photo to help you!

This dish IS the Grilled Vegetable Panini from Wine Country Trattoria, only served for lunch and is on the lunch menu.

 

[Funball]

For Snacks
Jalepeno cheese pretzal from the cart near the entrance to Frontierland
Bacon wrapped asparagus from Bengal BBQ
Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich
Turkey leg - BUT only when I was pregnant. I just had it again recently and it was too salty and not as good as I remembered. Not sure if that was a DL or a hormone thing.

For Meals
I second the bread bowl salad and soups at Pacific Wharf
Napa Rose - awesome, but pricey
Three cheese Monte Cristo @ Cafe Orleans - sounds awful but is SOOOO yummy.

Those are my favorites.

bolded--hormone thing...

 

[magicalfoursome]

I am also a WDW vet and just returned from my first trip to DLR. I love DLR as much as WDW!!! Our best meals were at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in DTD, Blue Bayou in DL, and Steakhouse 55 in DLH. All were pricey but sooo good. I loved the loaded baked potato soup at the Carnation Cafe in DL and our breakfast at Storytellers Cafe in GCH was yummy also!

 

[ktlm]

Another WDW vet here who made a DL trip this summer. OH my GOSH- the loaded Baked Potato Soup at Carnation Cafe!!!! It is so popular that when we raved about it, our server went and got a printed recipe and handed it to us. We also really liked Blue Bayou, and if you are looking for a character meal, we thought Minnie's Breakfast was the best we had ever been to, and we have done many at WDW. There were 7 characters and they were actually spending time really interacting with the kids (playing and dancing). It was great. We really enjoyed all our meals at DL. If you feel like a splurge, we thought the Fantasmic dessert package was great. (It isn't a restaurant meal with a seating ticket like at WDW. AT DL, they set up an area of chairs and you get a box of desserts, fruit, and cheese, serve you drinks (non-alcoholic) and treat you like royalty). The only meal where we thought the food was just so so was Ariel's Grotto. Not bad, but not great. The Princesses were good though. Ariel was something special. She was really interacting and dancing with each little girl.

 

[NewbieMouse]

I ate the broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl at DCA three days in a row for lunch, so I guess you could say that's my favourite eat at DLR. I also really enjoyed the mickey mouse soft pretzels with cheese dip at the Coke Corner in DL.

FWIW, I found the monte cristo at Cafe Orleans to be waaaaay to greasy, but it is a favourite for many people. The fries were good. But those two things together in one meal - like we did - makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

We found the buffets to be pretty forgettable (i.e Goofy's dinner, PCH breakfast). We also weren't too impressed with the Wine County Trattoria WOC menu (for the price). We enjoyed Ariels' Grotto.

But the first thing I'm eating when we go back in December is that soup in a bread bowl.

 

[Lorelai]

I ate the broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl at DCA three days in a row for lunch, so I guess you could say that's my favourite eat at DLR. I also really enjoyed the mickey mouse soft pretzels with cheese dip at the Coke Corner in DL.

FWIW, I found the monte cristo at Cafe Orleans to be waaaaay to greasy, but it is a favourite for many people. The fries were good. But those two things together in one meal - like we did - makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

We found the buffets to be pretty forgettable (i.e Goofy's dinner, PCH breakfast). We also weren't too impressed with the Wine County Trattoria WOC menu (for the price). We enjoyed Ariels' Grotto.

But the first thing I'm eating when we go back in December is that soup in a bread bowl.

I may very well tell them that NewbieMouse sent me for the soup in a bread bowl! Thank you so much for your reply...it made me chuckle...and it made me hungry!

 

[SD33]

Table Service/Sit Down: Blue Bayou, Blue Bayou, Blue Bayou. The theming is incredible, and after eating at some amazing places in WDW, I still think this is my favorite Disney restaurant for atmosphere. How cool is it dinning on great food while watching the Pirates of the Caribbean boats drift by. All that Bayou ambiance, wrought iron, and starlight. Can't beat it.

 

[pixiewings71]

I agree with Blue Bayou, we love it there. not just the food, which is good, the atmosphere is great as well. We like to do lunch and get the earliest seating and get waterside seats, so cool.

We also really enjoy CS at the French Market, RiverBelle Terrace (bfast is our fave but they have great sandwiches for lunch), Pizza Port, Rancho Del Zoccalo and Plaza Inn, the PI has really good chicken and 1 meal is enough to feed DBF and myself, we usually add a side salad to share and at the end of our meal we grab a dessert and share it between the 4 of us while we watch the fireworks.

At DCA we love Taste Pilot's Grill, DBF and I get the Wild Bleu Yonder burger, I get mine without steak sauce but DBF loves the steak sauce so he gets it, I use the condiment bar and get a LOT of BBQ sauce...in fact, right now, I'm totally craving one. LOL We also like Award Weiners and the Lucky Fortune Cookery for CS there.
For TS we really like Ariel's Grotto.

In DTD we like RFC and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.

 

[Lorelai]

Table Service/Sit Down: Blue Bayou, Blue Bayou, Blue Bayou. The theming is incredible, and after eating at some amazing places in WDW, I still think this is my favorite Disney restaurant for atmosphere. How cool is it dinning on great food while watching the Pirates of the Caribbean boats drift by. All that Bayou ambiance, wrought iron, and starlight. Can't beat it.

Okay, I am definitely planning on Blue Bayou...do you need to make a reservation? Do they take ADRs in Disneyland...or are they called something else...and how far in advance can we book?

Also, is it similar to the Mexican restaurant, San Angel Inn, in the Mexico Pavilion in WS? The boats from 3 Caballeros go right by...but it's quite dark in there.

 

[oc_tony]

ADRs can be made up to 60 days in advance. Call 714-781-DINE. For BB, it is recommended that you make an ADR as soon as you know when you'll be dining there. They do fill up.

As for the comparison with San Angel, it is dark and boats are floating by, but the atmosphere is not quite the same. It has a bayou feel, with fireflies and croaking frogs.

 

[sophie832]

I am going on 10 years with a Premium AP, but I think I'm gonna go against the majority when I say that the food at Blue Bayou is only so-so. You're really there for the atmosphere. The prices are also pretty high, even for lunch. For cheaper eats, DH and I love Pizza Port (I like the salads, he likes the pasta, but we have friends who swear by the pizza, too), French Market, and Rancho. All three of those restaurants are CS, but still good. For a quick bite, Bengal BBQ is good, too.

In DCA, we're not huge fans of any CS restaurants, but to be fair, we really haven't tried them all (even after all these years of the park being open). LOVE the ice cream floats at the stand on the Boardwalk that's on your way to Screamin'. We've eaten at Ariel's Grotto, and really enjoy the food, but it is a little pricey. Hear a lot of raves about the Trattoria, but we've never eaten there.

DTD has a lot of good restaurants, mainly TS, although a lot of the TS restaurants have modified CS menus. Napoli and Ralph Brennan's are favs. I'd skip Rainforest or ESPN, since those are pretty much the same as they are anywhere else.

 

[curiouslittleoyster]

*Carnation Cafe on Main Street: Loaded Baked Potato Soup(delicious creamy soup..tastes exactly like the name implies), Chicken Pot Pie (served hot and yummy), and Pomegrante Light Lemonade (refreshing and not too sweet and not too tart either)
*Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square: Monte Cristo Sandwiches(greasy salty savory with a touch of sweet thanks to powdered sugar and berry dipping sauce), Mickey Beignets(deep fried dough doused with so much powdered sugar you gotta be careful not to inhale deeply when you take a bite! love the 2 dipping sauces: one taste like melted vanilla bean ice cream and the other is a berry dipping sauce), Pomegranate Light lemonade here, too!
*Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen: bag of fresh hot beignets! yum, beware the piping hot hot chocolate...I'd leave this out with the lid off for 20 minutes to take the scorch off of it
*Corn Dogs: I usually get mine from the cart by the Plaza Inn at the end of Main Street. The soft drinks there aren't great(I think the mixture is off or something), but I like the dogs
*Mickey Pretzels by the Coke Corner with cheese dipping sauce
*Rainforest Cafe in DTD also has really good burgers and fries. The mixed drinks are tasty, too

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

We are WDW veterans that just made our first trip to DLR! I have to say that overall we found the food at DLR to be good but not spectacular like some of the signature restaurants or Le Cellier in WDW. We enjoyed most of our meals but not many 'wowed' us. We did have a reservation at Napa Rose that we cancelled. Probably a mistake in hindsight as I am sure our meal there may have been spectacular.

We did have lunch at Blue Bayou. DS and I split the monte cristo and were disappointed. It was very greasy. I did love the veggies (broccolini and white asparagus) and potatos and DH's chicken was tasty.

Our favorite lunch was probably Cafe Orleans. We loved the Gumbo. Carnation Cafe is very similar to the The Plaza. The potato soup was really good.

We really enjoyed dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen and Tortilla Jos (we went there instead of Napa Rose as we just didn't feel like dressing up). Liked the soups and chocolate bread pudding at Ralph Brennan's so much we went back a 2nd night just for that!

We did the World of Color dinner package at Ariels and enjoyed our meal there.

For CS, we loved the soup in the bread bowls at Pacific Wharf and the skewers at Bengal BBQ, expecially the asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Our favorite character breakfast for both the characters and the food was definitely Minnie's. We saw 12 characters! That is just unheard of in WDW. And the food was very good.

 

[Funball]

****hey Disney park dining patrons, check out what I found on mousesavers.com!

"Check Out Portion Sizes to Cut Costs
Many of the entrees and combo meals served at Disneyland Resort counter-service restaurants include a large amount of food. For instance, I can say from experience that the entrees at Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland can be HUGE.
However, some food stands serve rather small portions for the money. In general I think the stands in DCA's Paradise Pier area provide a fairly poor value for the cost.
A good trick at the counter-service restaurants and snack stands is to stand to one side for a minute and watch as people leave with their orders, so you can see how the portions look. If the portions are big and you are not big eaters, consider splitting an entree or combo meal between two people and possibly ordering an extra side dish or appetizer to share.
Adults looking for a smaller portion at the counter-service restaurants should not hesitate to order from the kids' menu. No one will know you're ordering the kids meal for an adult! This is not allowed at full-service restaurants, however.
A good option at sit-down restaurants, and one that works well for someone dining alone, is to substitute an appetizer for your entree. For instance, order two appetizers instead of an appetizer and an entree, or order an appetizer instead of an entree, thus leaving yourself room for dessert. Be sure to inquire about the portion size first -- some appetizers are substantial and filling, but some aren't. "

"Best Bets
Generally speaking you'll save a lot of money by sticking with counter-service restaurants, which are substantially cheaper than table-service restaurants. Unfortunately Disneyland and DCA don't offer as much variety as one might wish, but if you look around you can find some decent options besides corn dogs, hamburgers and fries.
Some places that are relative bargains within the resort are the above-mentioned Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland; plus the Jazz Kitchen takeout window and the Tortilla Jo's takeout window in Downtown Disney. Both the Jazz Kitchen and Tortilla Jo's have pricey full-service restaurants, but check out the takeout window at each of these locations, where you can get something a little different at a reasonable price. There is seating nearby where you can enjoy your meal.
· At the Jazz Kitchen, try the beignets (New Orleans-style doughnuts), red beans and rice, or a po-boy (overstuffed sandwich), which comes with a hearty side dish. Fountain drinks are fairly expensive here, but there are free refills.
· At Tortilla Jo's taqueria, try the tacos, which are quite a bargain considering the quality. The nachos are good and reasonably priced, too. The burritos are large and filling enough to be split by two people who aren't starving. Fountain drinks are ridiculously overpriced here: order water or consider "aguas frescas" (fresh Mexican juices), which are cheaper and healthier!"

 

[pixiewings71]

I don't how I forgot Carnation Cafe.....the Loaded Baked Potato soup is delish......and the cinnamon roll french toast is to die for. Heck the cinnamon roll alone can feed 1 person. LOL We shared it and man it was huge!!!