Restaurant options for Downtown Disney

[eargal]

I need to decide on a restaurant for our first night at DLR. We will only have 3 day hoppers so we don't want to enter a park on arrival day. We will probably hang out at the GC and Downtown Disney. I am looking for opinions for restaurants. I would like to control costs a bit $15 pp or so.

We have:
ME: 34 year old adventurous eater but can not stand seafood
DH: 34 year old adventurous eater
DS: 6 year old boy who loves food. He'll eat anything from normal kid fare to Thai or Indian with a lot of spice
DD: Almost 4 year old fussy eater...normal kid fare with the addition of salad
DBF: My best friend who is a FUSSY vegetarian. Tries to talk us into Mexican food every time. We would rather do something more interesting.

Thanks in advance!

Also, we have a Rainforest Cafe up her in W. WA and take the kids there a few times a year. I would rather try something new.

 

[Disneyland1084]

I was going to suggest the Rainforest Cafe until I read what you said at the bottom.

 

[VegasMike21]

$15 pp is probably gonna get you either HOB, ESPN, or Tortilla Jo's. Going to Jo's this Friday night, hope the food is good. Here is a link to the menus for all DTD restaurants. Enjoy!

http://www.dlresortinfo.com/downtowndisneymenus/DTDmenus.html

 

[Hambletfamily]

We also eat at ESPN - Great food, good prices.

 

[jiminy1]

There's also La Brea Bakery & Cafe. Their menu offers a pretty wide variety of things, from sandwiches to pasta. They have something for everyone.

 

[Barbday62]

Whitewater in the Grand Californian will fit the budget. They have all the normal counter service type foods and salads. You can even sit outside and enjoy the sounds of DCA. (ITS just across the bushes from you there)

Or on mothers day we was on our way home to Arizona and we stopped at Naples and got a huge Pizza for lunch. It was about $45 but it was huge. We fed 6 of us (4 adults and 2 kids) and had lots to spare. They give you bread to eat while you wait for it to cook so I think we filled up a lot on that, lol. Half of our party likes pepperoni while the other half likes Chicken with a white sauce so they made it in a rectangle and half pepperoni with red sauce and half chicken with I think alfredo sauce. Drinks will set you back another $3 per person approxametly.
They too have outdoor seating which was nice on a sunny day.

 

[noryglory]

Sounds like you are avoiding Mexican, but I really loved sitting on Tortilla Jo's patio and having lunch with my husband and son when we were there in Nov 05. The blended strawberry margarita was literally the best one I have ever had (and so I had two! goodvibes )...and if your kids are like mine they scarf down the Mexi!

I wouldn't bother with ESPN unless you are a super sports-loving family and have some time to kill in the arcade. We went there for lunch one day too, and it's really nothing special, just a bar and grill with a brand IMO. Fun, but not that interesting. If it's nice out (not too hot) I would rather be a part of "the scene" and eat somewhere outside if possible!

 

[eargal]

I will consider Tortilla Joe's. The menu looks good. Also we may look at Naples or even Napolini. I will be hitting Whitewater Snacks a lot during our stay since we will be at the GC so I will hold off on that one. As for ESPN. the menu looks good but we don't have a sports fan in the bunch unless you count tennis.

You guys are great! Thanks so much.

 

[noryglory]

The other thing I learned about DD is that when the parks close, the restaurants fill up. It seems obvious in retrospect.

We would have no problem eating lunch in DTD at an offtime, and then we thought one night we'd eat dinner after the parks closed (like 9 p.m. I guess) on the way back to the room. Oops! Of course everyone else had the same idea. So be prepared for that. I don't know how many places you can make a PS. We thought we'd do the pizza thing and even the wait to order a pizza was insane so we made the mental note to plan on ordering a pizza early on for a specific pickup time so it would be ready for us on the way back.

We ended up doing room service one night, and just grabbed a sandwich at La Brea another night.

 

[mikayla73]

I will consider Tortilla Joe's. The menu looks good. Also we may look at Naples or even Napolini. I will be hitting Whitewater Snacks a lot during our stay since we will be at the GC so I will hold off on that one. As for ESPN. the menu looks good but we don't have a sports fan in the bunch unless you count tennis.

You guys are great! Thanks so much.

We ate at Tortilla Joe's on our trip in May. It was very yummy. Here are some pics of what we had.

I had the mango chicken with sweet potato chips. It was so very good.

DH and his best friend had the chicken burrito

Our friends DD had the childrens beef and bean burrito

We also had guacamole for the chips they bring you. It was oh so good. The salsa they bring with the chips was good too, but if someone doesn't like spicy stuff, they probably wouldn't enjoy it.

It was very good and I would eat here again just for the mango chicken!