Is SCI-FI Diner Really That Bad?

[jnfr2424]

I agree with these statements. For me, its mostly about the theme of the place. But I have been to Sci Fi a handful of times and I have to say, i've NEVER had a bad meal there. Always yummy food. With the new menu, they took away the ribs and added more options for vegetarians...including, sweet potato fries!! Thats exciting. Anyway, my past meals there included ribs and burgers. Both were tasty! Fries are good. Shakes are great. Desserts are yummy too. It kills me when ppl go to SciFi then complain its nothing but burgers, not sure why theyre expecting gourmet food, it is a drive-in theater style afterall! Lol!

I have to agree with you. It's about the theming and I feel that people tend to forget that. I too wish they stuck with the drive in menu. I've tried the shrimp pasta and it was a bit on the greasy side but it has not deterred me never to visit Sci-Fi again! I am a foodie I mainly go to Disney now for the food and we always end our vacation @ Sci Fi

 

[LovesTimone]

We have been - We really enjoyed it, the theming is so fun.
The food is not over the top. Last time we went there were 8 of us. Everyone pretty much tried something different. No complaints. I would at least try it once.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

We love Sci-Fi's atmosphere so much that we're willing to go there even thought it's not "knock your socks off" unique food. We've had decent food there, it's just nothing unique or gourmet (reminds me of casual chain restaurant food). I usually get the beef and blue salad, which is now off the menu or a burger, both have been good. DH usually has the turkey sandwich and always enjoys it.

 

[havoc315]

I'm a very tough critic, and I love the Sci Fi Diner... but not necessarily for the reasons that are important to you.
It's not a bad place to go for burgers, ribs, and milk shakes. Stick to those types of basics, and the food is good. Not great, not mouth watering delicious. But perfectly acceptable.

And with young kids, I LOVE the atmosphere. It was the quietest lunch I've had with my kids, as they are absorbed by the movie screen. Plus, if it's a hot day, it's a nice dark, cool room to relax in. It was probably the quietest restaurant I've experienced at Disney, as nobody is really talking.
So for decent food, in a nice quiet cool dark room, can't be beat.

 

[librarygeek]

I usually get the beef and blue salad, which is now off the menu

That's a shame! They must have just changed the menu, because my husband had the beef and blue salad and really enjoyed it when we were there three weeks ago.

I think the Sci-Fi is good! I had the Shrimp Pasta and it was good, I liked it! It's not gourmet but then you shouldn't be expecting gourmet here. But definitely edible and yummy!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have been to lunch there twice and really enjoy the food, burgers and reubens. The second trip our appies were sent out cold and we had to send them back, not too long after they returned with fresh and hot food.

 

[Edgehopper]

Agree with the earlier poster who said "good, but don't use a TS credit." The sandwiches are very good, as are the alcoholic milkshakes (which have to be OOP anyways), making it a good cheap TS choice, but I don't think the food is as good for a TS credit as 50s Prime Time next door.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

It's a great place for lunch! We stick to the reubens, turkey sandwich, burgers and got to have those onion rings. I personally can't drink a milk shake with my food but my son and his friends certainly can, so I just have coke! The theming is fun and I can't complain about the food but if you're looking for 4 or 5 star dinner, well this is not the place for you!

 

[budafam]

Everyone slams everything on the disboards. We ate here on our first trip (our only trip to date) and I really liked it. I had a reuben sandwich with the cucumber salad & a strawberry milkshake. Everything was REALLY good and big enough portion that I was full. My husband is a picky eater and ended up ordering a child's pizza which was inedible even by my standards. It tasted like it had been reheated about 10 times and was very hard to even bite through Other than that, everything else was good. I would return.

 

[Sappermont]

I'd say it's worth it for the theming alone. Where can you go to a restaurant like that in the "outside" world? I haven't been recently but I've been A LOT over the years and I've always enjoyed the experience. Either way, you'll have fun. Mama Melrose's and Prime Time are also great choices.

Have a great trip.

 

[nokaoi5]

We have always had a blast there. It is definitely about the ambiance and the theme and not necessarily the food. The food is fairly typical, but I have never had a bad experience with it.

Jennifer Ginn
Hyperion Travel Company

 

[small2006]

I LOVE the Sci-fi diner! The theme is great and the waiter we had absolutely made the meal for us, so friendly and helpful. I had the tofu and thought it was great! With regards to the bad rep, I suppose you're more likely to post a bad review than a good one which is maybe why it gets bad feedback. It's not a gourmet restaurant but that's not what it's about anyway! We've been twice and would definitely go again.

 

[BLTLDZ]

We enjoyed it when we went.
I had the reuben ,and DH had the burger...both were fairly good.
We were there in december.

 

[drquest]

This is another place we always seem to go, next month included. My kids enjoy it and food always seems to be pretty good.

 

[HotMama]

We love Sci-Fi. We have been there 3 times. Our meals are always delish and the atmosphere is so much fun. Take the reviews you read here with a grain of salt. Really.

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

We have to do Sci-Fi every trip. We've never had dinner there, just lunch, so I'm not sure how the menu varies between the two meals, but we've always stuck with cheeseburgers and milkshakes. The food isn't the best thing I've ever eaten, no, but it tastes just fine to us.

We go for the theming anyway...the atmosphere there is really neat, and I think everyone should try it at least once. I also think it's a great break from the brutal heat & humidity. I can sit there in the dark and drink my milkshake and just relax for a few minutes. I did try to convince DS that we should try one of the other DHS restaurants when we go next month, but he looked at me like I had 2 heads. So we'll be back at Sci-Fi for lunch on October 19th.

Agree completely with this! We've ate lunch there on every trip and will be eating there again next month! My son loves it, because he thinks it's super cool to eat "in a car in the dark" there! haha! We always get Cheeseburgers and shakes, and I think they're great! My son even chooses this over the Toy Story Pizza Planet! Haha!

 

[Tinkerbellah]

I let my DFi choose Sci-Fi Diner as our TS meal for the day we're at DHS. Honestly, all of the choices seemed awful at this park, except for Brown Derby, but we don't have enough TS credits to go there and don't want to drop one of our other Signatures. He seemed to want to go to Sci-Fi Diner because of the theming- which looks cool. But I've read terrible reviews of the food. I don't eat beef, so it looks like I'm stuck with Shrimp Pasta or Tofu. Has anyone had the tofu or shrimp? Is it decent? I'm not asking for gourmet- just edibility. I'm really looking forward to an alcohol infused shake- though I don't see that meshing flavor wise with shrimp pasta or tofu!

Ya know what I think you have to go there once. I thought the food was ok but not awesome. It is very well themed & I will take my son there someday. I have not been there in recent years. Ummm.... Tofu? No comment.

I know this place gets a bad rap, but honestly, we've been there 3 times in the last year, including a couple of weeks ago...and have had good food every time. This last time the service was very slow, but other than that, the food was good and the atmosphere/entertainment is a hoot. Our guests have thought it was great fun.

We always have the sandwiches there...have had the reuben, the chesseburger and the the turkey sandwiches. We enjoyed all of them. Fries are good, onion rings are even better. The soda fountain flavored cokes are excellent (they add the flavoring so much better than the canned version.) The milkshakes are excellent. We thought the spinach/artichoke dip was excellent. The Chocolate-peanut butter cake is fabulous, as is the sundae. My understanding is that the sandwiches are always available even if you're there at dinner time and they are not on the dinner menu. Try the sandwiches.

Sounds like a cherry coke & the desert choices make it worth the trip!!! Thanks for the nice review! I think I'll check out ur past reviews!

 

[Must C Mickey]

The fountain cherry coke is GREAT. But it is more of a burger/fries/shake place. Stick to the simpler items and you'll be fine. It's not great food but it is definitely edible.

 

[StarLight StarBright]

My family loves it, but I think more for the atmosphere than the food. The food is fine. We usually stick with burgers or sandwiches, and nothing we ordered was ever bad. I do love the cheesecake there! It comes with a caramel sauce drizzled on it and caramel popcorn and M&Ms on top, it is one of my favorite desserts at Disney. It is a really fun place to eat. I have an ADR there for the first day of our upcoming trip.

 

[BandontheRun]

I like Sci-Fi. I do go for the ambiance and not for the food. You can get some decent sandwiches, burgers etc and they do have beer.
I only look to do it every few years because they never change the movies/excerpts.

I will forever associate "The Cat That Hated People" with this restaurant, although I was never sure why they didn't use a Disney cartoon rather than an MGM/Tex Avery cartoon???

It's worth doing for the dining experience but you're not going to walk away talking about how great the food was.

They used to have the waiters/waitresses on roller skates.. I'm not sure when that ended but it added to the experience.