Best & Worst Buffets......Breakfast and/or Dinner

[crispy]

My favorite dinner buffets are Tusker House, Cape May Cafe, Boma, and Biergarten. Love them for the food and the atmosphere.

I don't hate any of the buffets that I have been to, but I would say the food at 1900 Park Faire and Crystal Palace are decent, but not memorable. I do enjoy the character interactions at those places though.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We weren't impressed by Chef Mickey's dinner, Tusker House breakfast, or Boma dinner.

I have eaten at Biergarten and really liked it and while not entirely a buffet for the whole meal, we love the cold buffet at Akershus.

1900 PF is our fave breakfast buffet, but Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and Hollywood & Vine are also very good breakfast options if you want a buffet.

 

[Parrain]

My favorite is the breakfast buffet at Cape May Cafe. And the worst is Chef Mickey's dinner buffet. I did not enjoy anything at Chef Mickey's.

We liked the fried shrimp at Cape Mays, but everything else was cookie-cutter the same as Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace.

 

[flavious27]

Must say I was disappointed with the crystal palace for dinner (the only buffet I have had in WDW) although trying Boma and Akershus (although I guess it is not completely a buffet) on my next trip and am looking forward to it.

What didn't you like about cp for dinner? I was hesitant to boma before, my first time there was so so. Times after that were better.

For best I will go with Biergarten. I love the food, atmoshphere, and of course the beer. It is the type of restaurant I wish we had around where I live. Not much German food around here. For worst I think absolutely Hollywood and Vine dinner. It is the one buffet I know we will never go back to.

Ditto. Biergarten is one of our must when we go down. It is hard to get real german food where I am, though one of the larger german american clubs has there annual oktoberfest that offers some good food and music.

 

[minnielaw]

We don't do many buffets at WDW because we aren't into character interaction, so my experience is somewhat limited.

Boma at AKL is one of our all-time favorite WDW restaurants. We love the unusual options and the soups are out of this world! They have several different flavors of hummus, some unusual salads and the desserts aren't too shabby either. If you are strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy...you may not enjoy. For adventurous eaters it is great.

I also enjoyed the Boma breakfast buffet, although I agree that most breakfast buffets at WDW are overpriced. Again, they had some unusual offerings and the frunch is yummy!

Cape May dinner buffet is my children's favorite buffet and actually their first pick for a restaurant on our upcoming trip. Now I have no problem with Cape May buffet, but I would not have picked it for a repeat visit. Not bad, just not memorable. The desserts were definitely the highlight for me....can you say Oreo Bon Bon!

 

[Jeff456]

What didn't you like about cp for dinner? I was hesitant to boma before, my first time there was so so. Times after that were better.



Ditto. Biergarten is one of our must when we go down. It is hard to get real german food where I am, though one of the larger german american clubs has there annual oktoberfest that offers some good food and music.

There was nothing overly wrong with it, just none of the food was particularly good, all fairly mediocre I thought. I would go again I had just read some reviews that made it out to be really good and I just felt slightly disappointed. Like I said I would go again but not in a rush.

 

[flynnibus]

Did not care for norway's buffet or really the setup they have in general. Cold fishes and cheese for their buffet and you can order hot food that was just okay

That's norway for you Cheese, breads, spreads, cold meats, cereal, and maybe eggs. That's pretty common. Boiled eggs, scrambled, and some smaller meat sides are typical. In our office, the 'fish in a tube', spreads, and bread was pretty much the staple food for meals.

The salmon is what always gets people coming back.. and brown cheese

We ate at the Norway Pavilion for a meal a few years ago and was not impressed with the authenticity or really the food.

They also don't have real Norway beers either

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Boma is the best buffet on the property, at least for dinner.

 

[DDuckFan130]

I'm definitely in the minority as my one time in Biergarten was not enjoyable. My ex boyfriend and his best friend were dying to eat there and I think the only parts I liked were a particular soup they had and dessert...and I'm not a dessert person

My favorite buffet for breakfast hands down is Boma at AKL and we've never done dinner so I'll go with Tusker House for lunch

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I forgot to mention Biergarten as one of the better buffets. Good food and good entertainment. Only aspect I don't like is sticking people who don't know each other all together at the same table.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I second what many of the posts have already said. I'm not a picky or snobbish eater by any means, but Hollywood and Vine was, in my experience, totally forgettable and not worth the price -- it reminded me of the Ponderosa chain restaurant. Crystal Palace was better -- certainly the best (in terms of variety and freshness) American-style buffet we've had at Disney World, but I still wouldn't choose it over a non-buffet table service. The Biergarten, on the other hand, has become a "must-do" for us, thanks to the immersive atmosphere and the food, which is not only delicious, but features things we can't get at most restaurants back home... and lets me practice the three or four sentences I remember from five years of studying German, all of which have to do with ordering a bier properly. Of course, if one is not already a fan of German food (sausages and sauerkraut and German potatoes, etc.), I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

I am starting to think we really lucked out on our dinners at H&V. Seems so many people haven't. The nights we went the food was fantastic. Proof positive that it all depends on the people making the food. LOL!

 

[flavious27]

I forgot to mention Biergarten as one of the better buffets. Good food and good entertainment. Only aspect I don't like is sticking people who don't know each other all together at the same table.

That experience can be awkward. I think we have only shared a table once in our last three visits, lunch, off peak. The couple that was there were from Pittsburgh and the husband worked for Bombardier.

 

[experiment624]

My family has always loved Garden Grille at the Land in EPCOT, for lunch buffet. They stopped serving lunch a while back, but I believe they are still serving dinner. The room rotates to give you views of the attraction "Living With The Land" which is a favorite for my adult sisters. The food is great, and homemade in nature, most of it grown right there in the Land Pavillion. Also, they serve family style, so its convenient and fun.

 

[flynnibus]

Only aspect I don't like is sticking people who don't know each other all together at the same table.

Be Social.. you'll never know what you'll learn!

The communal aspect is part of the atmosphere

 

[ExtinctJenn]

My family has always loved Garden Grille at the Land in EPCOT, for lunch buffet. They stopped serving lunch a while back, but I believe they are still serving dinner. The room rotates to give you views of the attraction "Living With The Land" which is a favorite for my adult sisters. The food is great, and homemade in nature, most of it grown right there in the Land Pavillion. Also, they serve family style, so its convenient and fun.

I couldn't agree more with this - Garden Grill is a favorite of ours (we go every trip). Unfortunately Garden Grille isn't a buffet, it's "family style." Similar yes but not 'self serve' obviously.

 

[tracyandalex]

We really enjoy Biergarten, Chef Mickey's breakfast and dinner, Boma breakfast and dinner, 1900 Park Fare breakfast and dinner, and Garden Grille
Tusker House breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast and dinner, O'hana breakfast and dinner are just ok, not bad, but not great either
Hollywood & Vine breakfast and dinner are not very good. I think my biggest beef with this restaurant is the lack of variety/selection.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We've eaten at 1900 PF, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and Tusker House for breakfast. CP is a staple for us the first or last morning in the park. Pooh's puffy french toast is YUM!!! Tusker House was surprisingly good though the tables were very close together. Most of the buffets are the same like people have pointed out but I'm glad they have something a little different at each to give it a little variety. Our family friend is the manager at Cape May Cafe so we're looking to try that out sometime, hopefully in the spring.

We do have Akershus booked for September, only because it seemed like a good value for a TS credit and we want to get into Epcot early on the 30th anniversary!!

 

[JillC LI]

That's norway for you Cheese, breads, spreads, cold meats, cereal, and maybe eggs. That's pretty common. Boiled eggs, scrambled, and some smaller meat sides are typical. In our office, the 'fish in a tube', spreads, and bread was pretty much the staple food for meals.

The salmon is what always gets people coming back.. and brown cheese

We ate at the Norway Pavilion for a meal a few years ago and was not impressed with the authenticity or really the food.

They also don't have real Norway beers either

Dinner at Akershus was the only meal that our family of 4 uniformly hated at WDW. However, the princess interaction was great for the kids at the age they were then, so it was still a favorble experience. I just recommend it to people for breakfast now.

As for other buffets, we loved Biergarten, liked 1900 Park Fare for breakfast (but loved the strawberry soup and the Mad Hatter), and liked Tusker House for breakfast.

 

[Katnthemouse]

Another vote for Cape May breakfast! We all loved it and booked it again for this year.