Restaurants, how many and your most and least favorite

[zurgandfriend]

This most likely was posted in the past however I’m thinking about our next trip.

My DS and I have a father & son trip planned for next fall.

Over the years our family made many a pilgrimage to WDW. For each trip we always liked to try some new restaurants which we picked out as a family. My DW, DS and myself also had one individual pick. It could be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and it could be a new restaurant or an old favorite.

My DS and I were discussing our trip and doing some exceedingly early planning and of course meals were part of the discussion.

I started counting the restaurants we have dined at over the years and produced a list of sixty-five restaurants. These restaurants were where we sat down and ate a meal whether it was table service or counter service running the gambit from Victoria and Albert to Cosmic rays. Purchasing a bucket of popcorn or a Mickey ice cream bar and enjoying it while sitting on a bench did not count.

I am wondering if sixty-five restaurants, aside from making us a little hefty, also makes us connoisseurs or rank amateurs.

As a family the California Grill was our favorite and a must do. Unfortunately, my DS and I were underwhelmed on our last visit. The worst experience we ever had was at Hollywood and Vine.

So, how many restaurants have you experienced and what was your most and least favorite?

Z

 

[KaliSplash]

Well, after a few minutes of reflection, I come up with 63, including the water parks and Disney Springs in its many variations. That's from 1979 to 2024.
Hard to say what was worst. A fairly recent bad one was at The Dolphin, the pool bar.
As to the best, Also hard. Had a superb steak at whatever replaced the original Al Fredo's in Italy. Le Cellier in Canada is always a favorite. And there was a place on the Empress Lily back in the day, not in the main restaurant, but up on the second level that had great prime rib.

 

[JIMINYCR]

My counting over all our years of going, gives me 78. I may have overlooked a few. The DDP once was something we used to go with, but no longer.
When we go I always have favs to do and try to get something booked that we haven't done before that has had good reviews posted by others. I always consult with DW and DS before making ADR's to be sure we enjoy all our dining spots. There are some that DS absolutely refuses to dine at so those spots get booked when DW and I are on trips without him.
Our favs have consistently been La Hacienda, Chefs de France and Yak & Yeti. The bottom spots have been Brown Derby and Be our Guest, because of poor quality and quantity of food for the price. BoG once was a spot we once enjoyed.
If we have a poor dining experience I will give a place another try on a return trip because changing Chefs and menus can make or break a dining evening and that can change.

 

[MR.Dis]

The only restaurant that still rates high on our list is Tiffins (just went to the Turf Club at Saratoga Springs and it still has the best Prime Rib in WDW). So many we used to enjoy that are now disappointments like the Boathouse in Disney Springs. The one that is now totally unacceptable, in our opinion, is Tony's in MK.

 

[larryz]

The one that is now totally unacceptable, in our opinion, is Tony's in MK.

I will give Tony's high marks for flexibility. We have a traveler in our group who is dairy intolerant and has myriad other sensitivities based on certain plant families. A brief discussion with a chef brought forth a very tasty and trigger-free salmon filet accompanied by vegetables and a starch that also did not cause discomfort.

That said, our favorite in the MK is the Jungle Cruise Skipper's Canteen.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I will give Tony's high marks for flexibility. We have a traveler in our group who is dairy intolerant and has myriad other sensitivities based on certain plant families. A brief discussion with a chef brought forth a very tasty and trigger-free salmon filet accompanied by vegetables and a starch that also did not cause discomfort.

That said, our favorite in the MK is the Jungle Cruise Skipper's Canteen.

Our last visit to Tonys gave us a nice meal that was very different from a years previous visit. Our last Skippers meal was not up to our liking. That's always been Disney dining.... it all depends on when you happen to go and what you order that tells how good or bad a place will be. Our many trips with a variety of dining spots have been so variable. Wish Disney could be more consistent in their dining.

 

[joanna71985]

Favorite is Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I typically go there monthly

 

[monorail81]

Favorite is Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I typically go there monthly

Ours, too. We went three times when we stayed at the Fort in December. Bought tickets to the third show while fasting on our salad at the second. Going again at the end of the month. It’s the same show, but it’s always different! The waiter the first night asked if it was our first time. We just laughed and politely said no and had been many times. He asked how many. I said too many to count. I’ve been going long enough that I still remember the cheese dip and tortilla chips from back in the day. I still sing the old song in my head…that show will always have a special place in my heart because my father was Davey’s angel in the early 80’s.

 

[Tiggerish]

I'm not going to count how many restaurants we've visited since 1997, I've got better things to do with my time.

But I can say that we've had consistently good meals at Citricos and Flying Fish. More recently, Topolinos and Toledo.

 

[Kevin_W]

I decided it count and came up with 47 TS and 31 QS over the years. It's hard to pick a favorite - we've liked so many for different reasons: Via Napoli for great pizza with friendly Italian servers, BoG (when it wasn't a fixed menu) for the food and the atmosphere, Space 220 as a splurge for the experience, Tiffins for amazing food. And many more.

No where really stands out as bad, fortunately. I'm not a buffet fan because of the expense and I tend to over-eat at them, so I mostly stay away these days. But I've enjoyed the ones we did.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Rough attempt to count them all, I get 196 total dining locations, but I'm not counting every individual ice cream cart, nor am I counting the Epcot festival food booths. for me, it would be shorter to count the places I have not tried, though there are a number I have never tried. I also did amix of counting and not counting locations that have changed since my last visit.

Many of the places I have not tried are like some of the hotel bars, hotel locations that are out-of-the-way, some of the coffee carts, because I tend drink coffee either in the room or at the hotel (not in the parks).

In Disney Springs, I tend to return to my favorites, so there are some I have not yet tried.
I've been to Diamond Horseshoe, but that was decades ago, when it was the OLD show.

I can say I've now been to Beak and Barrel! I did not try the new Tomorrowland kiosk, though I think I have previously gotten soda there before the remodel, so not sure how to count that one.

I've never gotten a funnel cake at WDW. I've been to a number of "signature' dining locations, but not all of them. I have dined and counted the S/D/SR in my counting.

Some of my least favorites are now gone, like Mama Melrose. I've had both super experiences at Cali Grill, and just okay visits. It is now more $ than I care to spend. Most of the signature dining is now more $$ than I want to spend.

For that matter, I feel like we've been burned at multiple TS places recently. The character buffets used to be fun and decent quality, but the last five or so times we've gone to any of them, the food/quality has just not been anywhere near worth the price, IMO. The past few years, the best WDW food generally- has been the Epcot festival kiosk offerings. They aren't all super, but some are outstanding and unique.

If you have never dined at CBR's food court or Sebastian's, they were both quite good in 2025. Beak and Barrel was one and done. The service was VERY rushed. The highlight was talking to the other folks at our table. Sadly, only some of the tables can see the animatronics. We could not really see any of them from our table. It was odd they designed the place that way. It is also overpriced, IMO. Space 220 lounge and Olga's are also one and done for us. Though of the 3, Olga's is my favorite.

Universal has some great dining options, but if you will have a car, and plan to be up near Universal, I have to give a shout out to Pho 16 Express. It is a small family-run place, and the pho soup is outstanding with generous portions for about $15. If you have never had pho, it is an amazing style of soup. It is made with a rich broth, rice noodles, your choice of meat (usually cuts of beef or chicken). It is also served with a plate of fresh beans sprouts Thai basil, fresh lime, and hot sauce. You get to add as much of the toppings as you wish. Pho is not spicy unless you add the spice yourself. The restaurant also has other menu items like solid fried rice and boba tea, but you'll want to get the pho. The shrimp pho comes with a very generous portion of shrimp. The beef is sliced very thinly, and cooks in the hot broth.

Another great Universal option was the semi table service place in Paris in Epic Universe. We all greatly enjoyed our food there, and the decor is very pretty. Overall, the new park gets high marks for the creative food. In the older Universal parks, be sure to have one of the Minions popsicles (kiosk). The plain-looking ones taste the best, like mango. While Universal has some duds, overall, we feel like the food is better than current WDW. We recently had 2 great meals at Confisco Grill. It used to be so-so, but now it is rather good, if not a huge menu.