Places ta Eat

[Horizons16]

Im going to a first Disneyland visitor this winter! I am disapointed though that i dont know anything about the place. I am a WDW know-it-all around my house. The biggest thing my family is buggin me about is places to eat. so what are you guys' favorite places...
~Steve

 

[daannzzz]

One thing that is way different about Disneyland over the Magic Kingdom and other parks at WDW is that Disneyland has only one and a half real full service restaurants. The Blue Bayou which over looks the first part of the Pirates of the Carribean is the big draw. It is very atmospheric with pretty good food. The other place is very small and is on the side street mid Main St. It is the all outdoor Carnation Cafe. It is cute but small and serves sanwiches salads and soups. The rest of the restaurants are the new "scramble" system in which you grab a tray and go to the different food stations and pick out what you want and then pay.
The Plaza Inn has pretty good food and a great Atmosphere. Red Rockets in Tomorrowland has Pasta and Pizza that is decent.
Rancho Del Zocolo in Frontierland has Mexican foods and BBQ. It is just okay in my opinion though I do like the look of the place.
There is cafateria style place in New Orleans Square called the French Market that has all outdoor seating and a varied menue.
There are smaller Sandwich and burger places as well.
My favorites at Disneyland are The Plaza Inn, Blue Bayou and French Market.

 

[Rajah]

I'll echo all of Danzzz statements, and add that two of our favorite meals outside the park were at Hook's Pointe for dinner (ate there twice) and Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. Both are at the Disneyland Hotel. Storyteller's Cafe was good for both breakfast or dinner, as well -- it's in the Grand Californian. If you're looking for a *VERY* expensive but quite nice meal, make PS at Napa Rose if you can. But be aware...when I say very expensive, I mean it. Our meal cost us over $200 after tax and tip. But it was very good, and for a once-every-five-years type experience, it was worth it.

 

[Sonya in Boise]

Down town Disney is steps away from DL front gates, so eating at any of the DD locations or any of the DLR hotels is very close. The official Disneyland guide is very helpful in describing the eateries. You might check it out from you local library. I bought it and only read it the once, I should have just gotten it from the library.

We also enjoyed Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast. Great selection and even better character interaction. Plaza Inn has a very good Chicken dinner meal. It was 3 pieces of chicken w/ sides for 10.95. Easily could have shared the meal. My daughter had the Penne Pasta in the pesto sauce, w/ bread and a kids sized drink for 5.95. She didn't eat it, I did, and it filled me up just fine. Left room for desert. She wasn't with me when I bought the meal and they never even asked if I had a kid. So you may want to check out the kids meals in DL to save a few bucks.

We ate at Taste Pilots at DCA and the burger was awful. No flavor at all. Tasted like mystery meat. I ended up pulling the burger off the bun and just eating the vegies and buns. The onion rings there were good as where the HOT wings, but they were hot. The kids meal, popcorn chicken, was very good and they had cute smiley face french fries. The kids meal sliders, little burgers, were just as bad as mine.

Blue Bayou was very good, but I don't think it is worth it if you can't get a water side table. We had the first seating of the day and we were inthe middle of the place, not a great view. If I do BB again, I will ask for a PS about 70 minutes after the place opens. There should be people moving out of the water tables at that time. It took us about an hour for 3 adults and 2 kids to eat.

 

[dianedisney]

Here are my choices for eating at DLR.....

Disneyland:
1. Blue Bayou (make reservations 714-956-6755)
2. Plaza Inn
3. Red Rockets Pizza Port (Chinese Chicken Salad, yummy)
Downtown Disney:
1. Ralph Brennens Jazz Cafe (to die for)
2. La Brea Bakery
3. Wetzels Pretzels for a good snack
4. Very disappointed in Rainforest Cafe (noisy, service bad)
California Adventure:
1. Avalon Cove (character dinner)
2. Taste Pilots Grill (best fries, fresh condiment bar)
3. Award Wieners
Character Breakfasts:
1. Goofy's Kitchen (Disneyland Hotel #1 by far)
2. Minnie & Friends (Paradise Pier Hotel)
3. Plaza Inn (Disneyland Park, Pooh characters only)
4. Chip & Dale (Grand Californian Hotel, very boring, food
is good but no character action at tables
and very few characters)
Resort Hotels:
1. Disneyland Hotel: Hook's Pointe & Wine Cellar
2. Grand Californian: Napa Rose and Storytellers Cafe
3. Paradise Pier Hotel: Yamabuki's

Hope this helps, have a Disney Day!!

 

[LuvTigger]

BF and I ate our way around DLR last year, here's my quicky review:

1. Whitewater Snacks, GC: we ate breakfast here twice, and it was very reasonably priced. I highly recommend the biscuit breakfast, I think it was only about $5, and it came with some really yummy bacon, egg, cheese (kind of like a sandwich), and it was great! I couldn't even finish it.

2. Storyteller's Cafe, GC: we had the breakfast buffet here, which was very good, and dinner off the menu (they have a buffet dinner too, but we weren't that hungry). They have an awesome corn chowder! They had a really nice salad too with pears, nuts, and feta cheese.

3. La Brea Bakery, DD: we ate breakfast here one morning. BF ate two pastries, they're a little pricey for pastries, but they're BIG and yummy! I had the lox and bagels, I think it was about $7-8, but the portions were really huge. I got a large bagel (you can choose which flavor), a bunch of salmon, plus cream cheese and some other things.

4. ESPN, DD: we were disappointed in this place, mostly because of the service. While they weren't rude or anything, we waited half an hour for a table 3:00 in the afternoon during slow season, plus we had to leave an ID with them to hold the reservation, which I didn't understand at all. The portions were large, but only okay tasting. I wouldn't recommend it or go back.

5. Naples, DD: we had a GREAT lunch here. I had lasagna, BF had a pizza, and both were great. However, we made the mistake of also getting a salad, so BF couldn't finish his pizza, and I only finished my lasagna because it was so tasty. I think the next time we will probably each get a salad and share a pizza or entree.

6. Hook's Pointe, DLH: we had a nice dinner here, I had the scallops and BF had some kind of pork dish. Good food and service, and they have a nice variety of breads that were very yummy.

7. Rancho del Zocalo, DL: I agree with the above post. It's BBQ on one side, Mexican on the other. We chose the BBQ, which was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. However, the next time I will go back and try the Mexican because I was looking at the people around me eating the Mexican and it looked GREAT!

8. Blue Bayou, DL: this is the third time I've eaten here, this time for lunch. I have to say that while I always love the atmosphere, the food didn't seem as great this time. I always order the fried calamari for an appetizer because it's one of the best I've had, but this last time, it was like it was mass-cooked and sitting in a warmer or something. And we had the first lunch seating and the service wasn't slow or anything. I was also disappointed in the disorganization of getting everyone seated. I would still return though, the atmosphere is unlike anything else I've ever seen, and the food is good (I like the prime rib).

We also ate at Y'Arriba Y'Arriba in DD, which I really liked a lot, but according to everyone here it's closed now!

Happy eating, there is a great selection of restaurants there!