Just back. SO fun but DL food sucks!!

[julsmom]

Just got back on Monday. Luckily avoided the bad heat. Most noteable, even over WDW, is that DL food is so bad. There is very little variation between restaurants and its all very bland.

 

[sonnyjane]

Oh my! Do you mind sharing some of the places you ate at? The food is one of things I get most excited about at DL!!

 

[JeannieNM]

Can't agree with you more! This is one of the reasons my husband won't go to Disneyland.

 

[FlyingBelle]

It's taken us awhile, but we've finally found some food at DL that we enjoyed a lot. Our first couple trips there - we couldn't agree with you more!

Some of our favorites...

Flo's V8 Cafe - the food has been good and a large portion! We were able to share the dinner.

Fiddler Fifer and Practical Cafe - aside from being the first place on Disney property to have Starbucks - their sandwiches are really good too!

Plaza Inn - for dinner their chicken dinner is really good - a good bargain too and definitely enough to split

Jolly Holiday Cafe - I enjoyed the ham and cheese quiche - which came with a salad with a choice of dressings - I believe there were a couple of different, interesting vinaigrette dressings to choose from.

Paradise Garden Grill - DH had the Mediterranean skewers that he thought were really good!

River Belle Terrace - the fresh carved sandwiches are really good - and I usually pick up bacon wrapped asparagus spears from next door (Bengal Barbecue) to go with it!

It's not the varied choices from EPCOT - but you should give it another chance

 

[DarthMole]

A rundown of places you ate and the issues you had would help. We did our research before our last trip and the times we actually did eat at DL we were generally satisfied or at least had our expectations properly set so we wouldn't be let down (cough, Blue Bayou, cough). To be honest, I think it's a disservice to others around here to make such a blanket statement without backing it up.

 

[sonnyjane]

I agree with FlyingBelle! Not everything is amazing, but I like many of the things she mentioned. I agree that if you go to Tomorrowland Terrace or something for a generic burger, you'll be disappointed, but there are a lot of things I love. I also go often and have had time to try many of the offerings. Don't write it off entirely! Guessing you just didn't have time to give everything a try.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Oh man. Paradise Grill...I'm drooling just thinking about it

 

[Mel522]

Oh man. Paradise Grill...I'm drooling just thinking about it

I loved Paradise Grill. That and Flo's were my favorite.

 

[kylie71]

I find the food at :

Cafe Orleans
The Plaza Inn

Pacific Wharf Cafe
and
Flo's to be very good, and large portions.. enough to share most times.

Lori

 

[madmaxx]

We found the same thing our first few times at DL. The pizza and burgers were especially bad in all the obvious locations, and salads at those locations were like truck stop salads ... just iceberg and carrot shred. We felt a bit ripped off.

Our last time in the Land, though, we stumbled on a few gems and realized that we just missed the better spots. For this fall I've done a bunch of research and found dozens of spots we missed that don't seem to include that standard, bland, themepark fare. There are a lot of photos and reviews on this board and elsewhere that cover the best of the best. Perhaps not as good as WDW or other Disney parks, but there's certainly a lot of great food to be had, depending on your tastes.

 

[julsmom]

Ate at
River Belle Terrace. Dry & bland. Poor selection. Roast beef sandwich
Flo's V 8. Ok. Dd wasn't liking the food. Pork and mashed potatoes. Best part was the roll.
Cocina Cucamonga Mexican grill. Very bland and dry. Some sort of quesadilla and rice.
Taste pilots grill. Ok. Shared a burger & loaded fries with Dh

Best meal was at Downtown Disney La Brea Bakery. Excellent Caesar salad and panini. Very good. I made dinner ressies there only because we spent so much time at lunch looking for something decent. We walked to the restaraunts & looked at menus & even what people were getting at Hungry Bear, Pinocchio's, Bengal BBQ, Tomorrowland Terrace (def WDW is better), Golden Horseshoe, Stage door cafe. Walked to Plaza inn but it was only 11 & the less-than-nice woman yelled from maybe 10 ft away "Not open come back at 12!"

It is as if one truck drops off food & they just divide it between the restaurants. Same old & blah. Even the table service ones are like "that's it?".

 

[Mr Snappy]

I prefer Disneyland by far over WDW...but I have to agree with you on the food. I would not say it all "sucks" but the good choices are few and far between.

 

[FlyingBelle]

I agree with FlyingBelle! Not everything is amazing, but I like many of the things she mentioned. I agree that if you go to Tomorrowland Terrace or something for a generic burger, you'll be disappointed,

I NEVER get a burger at DL, WDW, or DCL... I have yet to have a good burger at any of them!!!

 

[cp11]

I couldn't agree more. We do not care for DL food either. We tend to eat in DTD. I always describe it to be like fair food. Yuck, IMHO.

 

[Flynn_Rider]

Ate at
River Belle Terrace. Dry & bland. Poor selection. Roast beef sandwich
Flo's V 8. Ok. Dd wasn't liking the food. Pork and mashed potatoes. Best part was the roll.
Cocina Cucamonga Mexican grill. Very bland and dry. Some sort of quesadilla and rice.
Taste pilots grill. Ok. Shared a burger & loaded fries with Dh

Best meal was at Downtown Disney La Brea Bakery. Excellent Caesar salad and panini. Very good. I made dinner ressies there only because we spent so much time at lunch looking for something decent. We walked to the restaraunts & looked at menus & even what people were getting at Hungry Bear, Pinocchio's, Bengal BBQ, Tomorrowland Terrace (def WDW is better), Golden Horseshoe, Stage door cafe. Walked to Plaza inn but it was only 11 & the less-than-nice woman yelled from maybe 10 ft away "Not open come back at 12!"

It is as if one truck drops off food & they just divide it between the restaurants. Same old & blah. Even the table service ones are like "that's it?".

I think you kinda hit a bad run of choices. Everyone I've taken to Hungry Bear has loved it. The chili is good, the cupcake is great so are the onion rings. Bengal BBQ is always great. And Golden Horseshoe is not bad for snacks.

I think you're right about Cocina and Taste Pilots, so maybe next time try Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta for a DCA choice. And I enjoyed my breakfast at Flos.

I like Riverbelle Terrace. But that was just maybe me. Sounds like you were more into counter services. But I have to say, WDW had some pretty poor counter services. The only two I've tried and liked were Sunshine Seasons and Flame Tree BBQ.

Other good counter services at DL include Rancho del Zocalo, French Market, Paradise Garden Grill and the little Red Corn Dog stand. I've wanted to try the hot dogs at Coke Corner, but have yet to (so that might also be a good choice).

I honestly won't go down to the Wharf on DCA because it seems like a glorified food court and I know Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill are awesome.

 

[Flynn_Rider]

I NEVER get a burger at DL, WDW, or DCL... I have yet to have a good burger at any of them!!!

I agree, but I think the hungry bear is making a fine burger and I've heard that the Village haus has a pretty good burger as well.

 

[madmaxx]

I think you kinda hit a bad run of choices. Everyone I've taken to Hungry Bear has loved it.

We had pretty mixed results at the Hungry Bear, enough so that it's not on our list for our next trip. Mostly the food was not very fresh (though when it was fresh, it was quite good). We are curious about the new menu (fried green tomato sandwich!), but are wary due to previous tepid meals.

I honestly won't go down to the Wharf on DCA because it seems like a glorified food court and I know Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta and Paradise Garden Grill are awesome.

We actually found the Wharf food very good, especially the noodle/rice stand (and they have beer + margaritas). in 2009 we considered the Warf the best counter service in DCA or DL (but not DTD). I'm not sure how the menu changes this year will affect that rating. We also missed a number of counter service restaurants that year due to construction (and our own lack of knowledge).

 

[Flynn_Rider]

We had pretty mixed results at the Hungry Bear, enough so that it's not on our list for our next trip. Mostly the food was not very fresh (though when it was fresh, it was quite good). We are curious about the new menu (fried green tomato sandwich!), but are wary due to previous tepid meals.

Ahh...I've only have been doing Hungry Bear since the new menu, and I've had 3 great experiences with large groups all of which chimed in and said it was a very good lunch choice. And my girlfriend can not make a Disney visit without getting the Bumblebee Cupcake.

 

[madmaxx]

Ahh...I've only have been doing Hungry Bear since the new menu, and I've had 3 great experiences with large groups all of which chimed in and said it was a very good lunch choice. And my girlfriend can not make a Disney visit without getting the Bumblebee Cupcake.

We'll have to try it again in November then. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Mary09]

I prefer Disneyland by far over WDW...but I have to agree with you on the food. I would not say it all "sucks" but the good choices are few and far between.

I agree on both counts. I didn't know DL had ANY good food until I tried the Cafe Orleans fries. Bengal BBQ is ok but expensive for the small portions.

Even at the food and wine festival at EPCOT, I thought everything was mediocre. Which was better than the outright bad food I've gotten at the usual EPCOT restaurants.