Why does DHS have such terrible food?

[PatriciaH]

I love the Brown Derby and really like Mama Melrose, 50's Prime Time and Sci-Fi. We have not been to H&V since it went character but used to really like that buffett too! backlot Express used to be great as well as Staring Rolls. Commissary is not bad either. We just try to avoid CS now unless they have good food options like CHH (veggie chili, Lighthouse sand.)

 

[MollyMoo]

Although I personally find the CS at DHS to be perfectly fine I agree that the choices are limited. Consider, however, the singularity in theme of DHS compared to the other parks. EPCOT of course has the international aspect which offers all sorts of "theme based" options. MK has the themed "Lands" and AK has different and "exotic" areas on which to base a variety of menu choices. DHS is just that ... Hollywood ... which I would describe as "all American". Perhaps the lacking is not in DHS but in "American cuisine"!

P/S ... we like the ABC Commisary ... especially on a hot day. It is cool and the food is good!

 

[ransom]

We don't really have a problem with the food at DHS. It'd be nice if there were more TS restaurants, but it's fine as is.

We love Brown Derby. We really enjoy 50s Prime Time. Mama Melrose and Sci Fi are OK if you're careful about what you order.

As far as CS, the Cuban sandwich at the ABC Commissary is a nice change of pace. Rosie's serves standard Disney CS stuff. Starring Rolls has some different stuff, and then at the back of the park you have a few other options as well.

We'd read how awful the food was at DHS, but in all our times at the park, we've never had a problem.

 

[SuzieN]

We actually really like the restaurants at DHS. 50's Prime Time and Sc-Fi are 2 of our absolute favorite WDW restaurants. I've had good CS meals at The Backlot Express and Toy Story Pizza Planet too!

 

[secretpantssam]

I really like Mama Melrose.

 

[LoveTheWDWMagic]

I agree with other posters that DHS needs to improve both their CS and TS. We usually go to Epcot or the resort hotels such as YC for lunch.

 

[Amy&Dan]

See, I think MK has the weakest options for dining, esp full service. As far as cs, If they would open El Pirata y Perico all year, and serve decent counter service Mexican that would be great. It can be done, Disneyland has great Mexican cs options in both of their parks. Seeing that frequently unopen restaurant always bugs me. I spend more time waiting in line for cs at MK than I do all the other parks combined. So having one more place to feed the masses (on a consistent basis) would be great. And make the Noodle Station open more and serve something that doesn't taste like Noodle Dog Food. JMHO!

But back to DHS, I just love the way ABC Commissary has something for everyone. Fish, curry bowl, Cuban sandwich, salads, and burgers. We really love it, next to Wolfgang Puck Express in DTD its our favorite cs place.

And I think 50's Prime Time and Sci Fi are great. They may have some gimmicks to get people inside but then so do all the character meals, O'Hana, the dinner shows and lots of other places at WDW. That's the point of 99% of their restaurants. Giving entertainment and theming to their meals to go along with the entertainment and theming of their parks and resorts. PT and Sci Fi are no different. And I happen to think they are both actually quite good.

 

[bicker]

ITA, Amy&Dan. For CS, there are some mediocre options, but no better than D-HS, and for TS, the four options at D-HS are each substantially better than their counterparts at MK.

 

[Brian Noble]

Count me in the "DS dining is pretty good" camp.

Then again, I don't think Le Cellier is all that and a bag of chips either, so I must just not "get it".

 

[lisa3383]

I agree with the OP- I dread making ressies for this park the most! This year we are trying Brown Derby Fantasmic Dinner package, costing 2 TS credits I'm really hoping its good!

Mama Melroses is blah Italian food! I grew up on Italian cooking, and this is not good Italian IMHO. 50's isn't my family's thing - too much theming for our tastes (I don't much care for being scolded while paying for my dinner).

I do enjoy the fresh fruit stands near T of T - nice stop that we make every visit!

I wish there was a place like the Plaza there!

 

[jezebella]

DHS has some of the worst CS in the world. I find ABC Commissary disgusting (and it used to be our favorite in the '90's) and I just reviewed the Catering Company today on my review-a-thon (link in my signature). I will never eat there again.

I actually though really enjoy sci-fi (there's a review on that too) and used to love Prime Time. I haven't been to Prime time, however, for several years....it's on the list!

 

[Amy&Dan]

ITA, Amy&Dan. For CS, there are some mediocre options, but no better than D-HS, and for TS, the four options at D-HS are each substantially better than their counterparts at MK.

Yes, I don't understand why the busiest of the parks, has so few options for TS in particular. And don't get me wrong, my family has enjoyed some good meals at MK (we like Tony's fine, not gourmet but its good, and we enjoy character meals just not all the time, love the Plaza but its small and has limited options). It is nice to be able to monorail over to a resort, but that can be a hassle.

I just would really like to see them do something a bit innovative with El Pirata. Its large and in all the times we have been to WDW, including summer and Christmas, we have never managed to eat there due to its limited or non existant hours.

 

[sunny_stace]

What it seems like to me is that the Studios went all out with the theming and maybe missed some of the other points that are important in planning restaurants. Now, I can't say I've ever had a truly horrible meal at DHS, but only continue to go back for the atmosphere of the places. Like
50's PT, it is so much fun that I hardley notice the food! Plus they do have chocolate ice cream sodas which I love. I would really love to see them take out one (perhaps Hollywood and Vine?) and put in something brand new and start from scratch with our suggestions!

I must say though that I do love the Writer's Stop!

 

[karrit2000]

IMO the problem with the CS at DHS is there is nothing "Different". The one place that serves some different options (ABC Commisary) has nothing different on the menu that is of interest to me. I got the Chicken Ceasar Wrap at Studio Catering last trip and I couldn't even eat it. The chicken was the gloppy, slimy, probably canned stuff. The move toward healthier options is being offset by Disney's using preprocessed food in their offerings. I much prefer the fresher options they used to offer. They used to pride themselves on using all fresh ingredients.

 

[Praying Colonel]

We like the ABC Commissary for CS. Where we have difficulty is finding good snacks. IMHO DHS is 4th among the 4 parks for snack choices.

 

[liamsaunt]

I had a very enjoyable roasted vegetable sandwich from Starring Rolls on our last trip. I think they had 5 different types of sandwiches--they all looked very fresh. They are large enough to share and there are some tables with umbrellas outside the shop.

 

[solfan68]

I don't know what else I can say. We've eaten at the Prime Time and the food has been consistently good. If you get a server who is "on", that's a distinct bonus. We always go to Sci Fi, and I'll grant you 75% of the reason is the experience. THAT SAID, if you stick to what they do best, you'll have a good meal, too. The burger I had at sci fi in June was heads and shoulders above the others I had at CS that week.

As far as CS goes, we've only really eaten at the ABC Commissary. Again, this past June I had a terrific Chicken Curry Bowl with a strawberry parfait that was just a nice change of pace from the typical burger & chicken CS fare. The BEST food on property, probably not. TERRIBLE ? No. Not at all.

 

[suzimar57]

i agree the choices are limited at the Studios

although, i love to eat at Sci-Fi for the theming (eating indoors at night in a drive-in) more than the food - where DH loves to eat at 50s for the pot roast (me, i like only the theming there)

BD, for me, is a wonderful experience: lovely restaurant, cobb salad, grapefruit cake - too bad DH hates it there....

so, we treat the Sci-Fi and 50s more as "attractions with food"

 

[seadd67]

Its food everybody has diffrent tastes. We have eaten at most of the restraunts and really never found a place we have said we would not go back to. But we have found certain Items that we would not eat again, but that Is just us. Its like Hollywood and vine,It seems that most prople did not like It, but we found It pretty good try it out you might suprise your self. have fun

 

[DVC Sadie]

The Brown Derby is the only place we eat when visiting MGM.