Thoughts on our restaurant choices

[sam_rogers]

We are headed to WDW for 2 weeks in September and with our ADR booking window opening soon I think I've settled on our restaurants. We are paying OOP so will mostly be getting quick service meals but treating ourselves to a few TS. I was just wondering if anyone has any feedback on these restaurants or good alternative suggestions as we're trying something new for near enough every reservation:
Boma dinner (may cancel this ADR if Disney keeps cashless payments at AKL - we'll get hit with foreign currency transaction credit card fees...)
Kona cafe breakfast before heading to MK (we've done Kona breakfast before, I need more Tonga Toast in my life!)
Art Smiths Homecomin
Biergarten
Raglan Road
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[samsteele]

Boma - best buffet on property but $. I hear you re the foreign currency transaction credit card fees. If cashless, I would (sadly) pass. If you love the dining vibe of AK, consider Sanaa at nearby Kidani and sharing the incredible bread service app, sharing an entree (that bread service is huge & filling) & sharing dessert. Much less $ but still an incredible dining experience.
Homecomin' - solid & consistent. If you see something you like on the menu, you will be happy.
Biergarten - food not that great. Not terrible scrape the bottom of the barrel but not great. Large stein of beer at reasonable for WDW price. Entertainment & atmosphere is fun. Traditional communal Munich beer hall seating. Sometimes fellow table mates are a bit taken aback by this but it's all good. For best view of show, try to get yourself right behind the CM greeter who gathers you along with your small table group from behind the podium into the restaurant. Then move down to the seats at your table closest to the stage.
Raglan Road - the OG of Disney Springs. Great live entertainment with dancing or bands. Ask to be seated in the main dining room with view of the stage. Let the podium know you can wait for an extra 10 mins or so to be in the main dining room. Worth the wait. Food very good. Irish Chef Kevin Dundon has recently cut ties with the restaurant but the majority of offerings are still his babies and/or inspired by his recipes. A must do every WDW visit for me.
Kona - haven't tried breakfast here. Only dinner. I'm sure others will chime in about breakfast & give you helpful info.

 

[jimmytammy]

Boma dinner (may cancel this ADR if Disney keeps cashless payments at AKL - we'll get hit with foreign currency transaction credit card fees...)Boma is really good and a great place to get a different taste than the average ordinary meal. Go hungry, try small bites rather filling your plate up, discover what suits your taste buds and go back for more.
Kona cafe breakfast before heading to MK (we've done Kona breakfast before, I need more Tonga Toast in my life!)If you can get someone else to do so, try the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes too.
Art Smiths Homecomin
BiergartenWhat I feel is the best buffet on property. Like Boma, get small bites then go back for what you liked
Raglan Road

Very good food and entertainment, but can get really loud, especially when the dancers hit the stage

 

[Micca]

Boma dinner (may cancel this ADR if Disney keeps cashless payments at AKL - we'll get hit with foreign currency transaction credit card fees...)
Kona cafe breakfast before heading to MK (we've done Kona breakfast before, I need more Tonga Toast in my life!)
Art Smiths Homecomin
Biergarten
Raglan Road

Boma dinner is really good. If the cashless thing gets in your way, Tusker House at AK is also very good and will have some African inspired dishes.
Homecomin' good stuff
Raglan Road--We ate there one time years ago just a few days after it opened. Gets lots of good comments here.
Biergarten-- Never tried it. Do you have any interest in F&W? If F&W is in progress we never eat TS in WS.

On the cashless sitch at AKL, you should be able to buy a Disney gift card at home & use it at Boma. Just a thought.

 

[gharter]

Boma may be the best buffet at WDW, Great selection for adults, kids, adventurous and non-adventurous eaters. Can be crowded and noisy.
Raglan Road - a lot of fun if you time your visit to when the bands and dancers are there. Enjoyed the food a lot.
Kona has been several years since we were there, but the tonga toast was awesome.
Biergarten - have never tried, prefer many other TS options at EPCOT.
Homecoming on out to do list.

 

[Linkura]

Unless you love buffets and can eat a ton of food at them, Boma just isn't worth it for dinner if you're paying OOP (DDP is another story of course). It's over $40 per adult out of pocket, and it's just not worth it if you can't eat your weight in food. Breakfast is a better deal; I think it's around $25 per adult. I agree that Sanaa would be a good alternative and much cheaper.

 

[10CJ]

I have only been to Kona and Biergarten. I enjoyed both, I thought Kona was a great breakfast option if it is convenient for you. My family really enjoyed the show at Biergarten.

 

[agavegirl1]

I have eaten at Boma, Beirgarten and Raglan Road and would do all three again. They were all repeated on my and DH's second trip together. We aren't doing them on our upcoming trip but only because there are too many new options at Disney Springs and we will have boat access. The menu at Homecomin doesn't appeal to us but I really want to try Kona Cafe' for breakfast.

 

[Haley R]

DH and I didn’t like Biergarten. I agree with a pp that the food is not the best. The entertainment was fun to watch and listen to but the food just didn’t do it for us. We also weren’t huge fans of the communal seating but that’s mainly because of who we sat by.

 

[sam_rogers]

Thanks for your input everyone. I might rethink biergarten and go for somewhere consistently good. We will be having a couple of days at f+w and I was going to park hop over to Epcot on our last mk day but I think I'll have a look at the monorail loop instead.

Unless you love buffets and can eat a ton of food at them, Boma just isn't worth it for dinner if you're paying OOP (DDP is another story of course). It's over $40 per adult out of pocket, and it's just not worth it if you can't eat your weight in food. Breakfast is a better deal; I think it's around $25 per adult. I agree that Sanaa would be a good alternative and much cheaper.

,
Dh can definitely eat his body weight in food, he put on an impressive performance last time we went to liberty tree tavern i unfortunately don't possess the same eating ability so might struggle to make the cost worth it.

 

[sam_rogers]

I'm now looking at grand Floridian cafe instead of biergarten, it seems to have good reviews on TripAdvisor so hopefully its a better choice

 

[pickers1982]

re cashless payments its worth looking at a revolut or monzo card. no fees and get interbank rate so much much better. can fx before you go or just load your home currency and it does it at market rate the exact amount. worth a look. just got one and thwy are incredible.

 

[Lola10]

re cashless payments its worth looking at a revolut or monzo card. no fees and get interbank rate so much much better. can fx before you go or just load your home currency and it does it at market rate the exact amount. worth a look. just got one and thwy are incredible.

I would second this and it was my first thought to avoid the transaction fees. I used a Monzo card on my trip to California last year and I think it saved me a fortune in transaction fees. There are some limits in terms of cash withdrawals, however card payments were not an issue and were accepted everywhere (except for one place, which was a bit strange but a one off). I’m plannng to use my card at WDW in September. It’s worth looking at to see if it would work for you.

In terms of food, I rate Boma amongst the best, however didn’t enjoy Beirgarten. I’ve not visited the others but Art Smiths is on my list to get an ADR for in September.

 

[sam_rogers]

Thanks I'll look into it

 

[piglet1979]

I am not a fan of Beirgarten. To me the food is not good. I am a picky eater so take that with a grain of salt. The entertainment is great though and my kids loved being able to go down to the dance floor to dance and run around. Teppen Edo is our favorite in WS.

We liked Raglan Road we liked. It didn't stand out much to us though. We did have an issue with getting our food in a timely matter. It didn't bother us as we did not have anywhere to be. They did credit it us for DH's beer that he got for our weight. This is not something that we asked for. We didn't even know about it until we got the bill. We were in a back room so we didn't get to see much of the entertainment but the Irish dancers came back to our area and gathered all the kids and taught them how to do the Irish dancing. The kids loved it. We were their long enough that they got to do it twice.

We have not been to the others.