I’ll start off by saying we LOVE Disney World food! The food at Disney World is part of the appeal for us and keeps us coming back year after year. We love our tried-and-true snacks (cheeseburger spring rolls! dole whip!) and have had some seriously delicious meals at Disney World restaurants. But we’ve learned that not every option is always a winner.
We’re nowhere near close to eating at every restaurant Disney World has to offer, but the below picks are our least favorites out of the ones we’ve tried. It’s not that these are terrible places to eat—it’s more that there are definitely BETTER places to eat at Disney World. So for each one, I’ll tell you about our experience eating there and where you should eat instead!
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Disclaimer: These are just our own opinions and personal experiences. I’m not out to diss anyone’s favorite place to eat! If you disagree with me, I welcome friendly feedback in the comments! ❤️
Sunshine Seasons
It’s really a shame to put this on here because so many people love Sunshine Seasons! And really out of all the restaurants on this list, this is hands-down the best one! This is NOT a bad restaurant by any means—I just really feel that there are now better quick-service places to eat at Epcot. If I had the choice to eat at ANY quick-service restaurant in Epcot, this would be toward the bottom of my list.
The menu here changes frequently because it’s always what’s in season, and I love that they serve food that’s grown in the Living with the Land greenhouses. Unfortunately when we ate here, our food was underwhelming—maybe we just picked the wrong things! They also used to have a stellar bakery case here, but it seems like the choices have gotten way slimmer recently (hopefully this is due to the pandemic and they’ll be back to offerings lots of yummy treats soon!).
So where should you eat instead? Regal Eagle in the American Pavilion is our new fave. It boasts excellent food and lots of indoor and outdoor seating, making it a real winner! We also love La Cantina de San Angel in the Mexico Pavilion. Definitely recommend this one if you need a margarita (the frozen mango is my fave)! And it has a great outdoor seating area right on World Showcase Lagoon—really pretty!
Pecos Bill’s
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe is a quick-service restaurant in Frontierland that serves tex-mex food like tacos and nachos along with burgers and corn dog nuggets. You can see the full menu on Disney’s website here. I got the chicken nachos, which were just tortilla chips with shredded chicken, mediocre queso, and some toppings on the side. Liam got the kid’s mac and cheese, which came with two sides for which the only options were an applesauce pouch and a mandarin.
It wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely my least favorite meal of our trip. The kid’s meal selections here are seriously lacking if you have a picky eater. (Liam would have been much happier with chicken strips and fries; we don’t ask for much lol.)
One thing to note about Disney World in 2021 is that not all of the restaurants have reopened yet. Two of our Magic Kingdom quick-service faves, Columbia Harbour House and Casey’s Corner, aren’t open right now. I wanted to try Tomorrowland Terrace, which is currently serving some fan favorites from the Columbia Harbour House menu, but it’s only open from 11:00 am–5:00 pm every day. We missed our window for an early dinner there, and by the time we thought of eating one of the only quick-service options that was open was Pecos Bill’s.
So where should you eat instead? Yikes, the options at Magic Kingdom right now are really slim. I’d try to slide in for a late lunch/early dinner at Tomorrowland Terrace if you can, or try to get a walk-up reservation at Tony’s Town Square or The Plaza. If worse comes to worse, I’d go to Cosmic Ray’s over Pecos Bill’s because at least you could get chicken strips and a Cheshire cat tail.
Restaurantosaurus
Again, not bad, but definitely not the best choice! The menu at Restaurantosaurus is very basic with hot dogs, burgers, and chicken nuggets, which is not a bad thing if that’s what you’re looking for! But in our opinion, there are much better options in Animal Kingdom.
So where should you eat instead? Our favorites are Flame Tree BBQ and Satu’li Canteen. The cheeseburger pods at Satu’li Canteen are very good and so unique! They also have different types of bowls on the menu here, which is perfect when you need a break from all the fried theme-park food. Flame Tree BBQ has a delicious pulled pork mac and cheese along with some awesome barbeque combo platters. The onion rings are also a winner!
ABC Commissary
We ate at ABC Commissary pre-pandemic, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll steer clear of this one for at least a little while. We mobile ordered our food and picked it up, which went pretty well. But we couldn’t find anywhere to sit inside because it was PACKED. And noisy. Actually, thinking back to that pre-pandemic level of crowded now gives me instant anxiety. 😅 My burger and fries were okay, but Korey’s ribs weren’t even all the way cooked. It ended up being a total bust of a meal, with the only saving grace being the Star Wars-themed dessert we ordered that ended up being pretty good.
Maybe if it gets a major overhaul, we’ll try it again, but there are DEFINITELY better places to eat in Hollywood Studios.
So where should you eat instead? Our go-to fave is Woody’s Lunchbox. We’ve eaten here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and loved it every time. The breakfast bowls are hearty, and the BBQ brisket melt is DELICIOUS. They also have totchos and those yummy lunch box tarts. The mobile order pickup here right now is super smooth, and we’ve never had a problem finding a table. There is only outdoor seating at this option, so if that’s a no for you, you might want to try Docking Bay 7 in Galaxy’s Edge. We have yet to eat here, but we’ve heard great things! It’s definitely on our list of places to try!
Earl of Sandwich
Don’t come for me! I know this is a Disney fan favorite, but we did not have a great experience here. We waited in an extremely long line and fought for an open table just to have a mediocre meal of chips and sandwiches. Someone tell me why everyone loves Earl of Sandwich because I just don’t get it.
So where should you eat instead? ANYWHERE. Disney Springs has so many amazing options that we can’t ever fit them all into one trip. Chicken Guy and D-Luxe Burger are our favorites. Or if you want a table-service option, we really recommend Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’.
Do you agree or disagree with our least favorite picks?
Did I just slam one of your faves? Let me know in the comments below! We’re not beyond giving any of these a second chance if you think we should! ❤️ These are just our own opinions and experiences.
And check out some of my Disney World restaurant reviews here!
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- www.stressfreemickey.com
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- www.magicaladventureco.com
- www.accidentaldisneyfamily.com
- www.cateatdisney.com
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Agree with earl of sandwich (so underwhelming) but we love pecos and restaurantasaurus, both because of their price points and topping bars (which aren’t around right now obviously). We loaded chilli fries and nachos and feed two adults (happily!) for $11
Ooh I’ve never been to either one when it had a toppings bar! We might have to give those two a second chance! 😀