This is very subjective! However, some of our favorite places include:
MK: Crystal Palace character lunch or dinner (I haven't tried breakfast there, I'm sure its great) with Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, and Piglet. We like CP because we've found the food to be pretty good for a buffet. Some things are better than others, so we just take a tiny bit of what looks good, then go back for what *is* good. Our favorites have been the many types of salads, peel and eat shrimp, and 'adult' mac and cheese. My adult nieces and nephews LOVE the kid's buffet for the 'kids' mac and cheese and spaghetti and meatballs. The deserts are pretty good. But what we love the most is the character interaction. The characters have been FANTASTIC interacting with us, especially with the 'kids' in our party (who are usually in their 20s). Highlights have been with Tigger and Piglet.
While my family likes Tony's in MK, we haven't found the sit down places in MK to be 'must do's' outside of CP. And with CP, we pay for the characters, and if we miss it every once in a while, we're ok with that.
Epcot: We like to try new things every year, and with the wealth of sit down eateries here, we don't repeat year to year.
Highlights of both sit down and counter service have been:
- San Angel Inn in Mexico. It has a great atmosphere with the pyramid and erupting volcano (though the tables are really close together). It's relaxing and cool inside, and we like taking a midday break here to get out of the sun. One caveat, it's 'authentic' Mexican, not the kind of Tex Mex you'll find at most U.S. 'Mexican' restaurants. If you go in expecting burritos and chimichangas, you might be disappointed. So take a look at the menu to see if anything appeals.
- Via Napoli in Italy for pizza. I haven't been impressed with much of the pizza found at WDW, but we like the pizza here. And it's pretty inexpensive for a sit down place. A lot of people on the dining plan will pay out of pocket for this restaurant.
- Boulangerie Patisserie for counter service in France. Excellent soup, sandwiches, and pastries. We stop here often
.
- Chefs de France for sit down service in France. We just enjoy the food and atmosphere, though I'm sad that Remy is no longer there. The menu has changed since the last time we went for lunch, and it appears that some of my favorites are no longer offered.
- Yorkshire Fish and Chips in England for counter service. If we want a beer in this part of Epcot, we also slip in the pub for a go cup rather than go to the outside kiosk. The beer menu inside is larger than what you'll find outside.
- I haven't been to Teppan Edo in Japan, but a relative whose taste I trust went with her family this summer and said it was the highlight of their trip.
AK: Yak and Yeti. We just went for the first time recently and LOVED it so much that we'll likely go there every trip while in AK. We just like this style food, and everything we had here was really good. Plus, the 'side' fried rice is reasonably prices and can feed several kids if they don't find anything on the menu they find interesting. We had sushi, soup, some stir fried dishes (honey chicken, and the beef), and the duck and loved every bit of it.
Tusker House is good too for character interaction, but we don't find it to be a 'must do'.
Studios: The atmosphere at both 50s Prime Time and Sci Fi are worth at least one trip. We enjoy the food better at 50s, but the atmosphere there depends in large part upon your server.
Sci Fi's atmosphere is fantastic, though it's dark and hard to see the food/menu and you can't talk to everyone in your party if you're seated in a car instead of a picnic table. My family likes it there, though, because we see enough of each other that we don't need to talk to everyone during the meal
. And we like the movie clips and burgers there (some of the other entrees are hit and miss IMO).
Resorts: 'Ohana breakfast was really good with great character interaction.
California Grill is our favorite place for setting (we went last year, and our view of the castle was breathtaking) and for food (we wanted to lick our plates clean), though service wasn't as good as it should have been for a signature place. Being able to go back up to the observation deck to watch fireworks the same day you dine at CG is a great perk as well.
Artists Point at WL and Citricos at GF get high marks for food and setting from my family as well. They're signatures, so they're not inexpensive, but we tend to splurge on one meal during our trips.
DS: Raglan Road had great atmosphere, great food, and great beer. We don't go to DS every trip, but when we do, we tend to eat at RR.
