On-the-go churros or hen fingers may match as meals for some Disneyland Resort company. Nevertheless, if you’re spending as a lot as a journey to a Disney theme park prices lately, you may wish to be certain you are having fun with the very best restaurant meals, concessions and experiences that the park has to supply.
Whereas Disney World’s eating places are sometimes extra talked about, Disneyland’s eating choices have additionally reworked. With elevated crowds and shortly booked-up eating places, it is a good suggestion to map out your consuming plan prematurely — at the least for a number of meals.
What makes a Disney restaurant nice will not be essentially the meals. It could be a personality expertise, a enjoyable theme or a great spot proper close to the rides that makes the restaurant particular.
Does it get higher than really consuming inside an attraction on the Blue Bayou and watching the Pirates of the Caribbean boats go by? We predict not.
We have dined at dozens of Disneyland eating places over time on each household and adult-only holidays, from the smallest of snack carts to the fanciest white-tablecloth eateries. This is what you must find out about eating at Disneyland and our picks for the very best Disneyland eating places — whether or not you are at Disneyland, Disney California Journey Park or a Disneyland lodge.
Associated: Every thing you might want to find out about visiting Disneyland
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Greatest eating places in Disneyland Resort
Listed below are a number of the greatest Disneyland eating places to get pleasure from.
Plaza Inn
The place it’s: Essential Road, U.S.A.
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What’s on the menu: Mickey waffles and fried hen
House to the one Disneyland character meal inside both of the 2 parks, Plaza Inn is a favourite for households or anybody who needs some character face time. Throughout morning hours, Plaza Inn hosts Minnie & Buddies — Breakfast within the Park. The breakfast is buffet fashion, with kid-friendly favorites like Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles accessible alongside eggs, biscuits and gravy, and different morning consolation meals.
Guests are all the time assured a photograph alternative with Minnie Mouse. Different common characters embody Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Chip ‘n Dale, Pluto and Daisy Duck.
Reservations go shortly for this meal, so make your plans as quickly because the 60-day advance reservation window opens. A reminder: Early morning is the very best time for brief experience traces, so chances are you’ll not wish to waste these first few hours sitting down for breakfast. Reserve a time that is a number of hours after the park opens. (I’ve all the time discovered that 10:30 a.m. is good on days with an 8 a.m. park opening.)
For lunch and dinner, the characters name it a day, and the restaurant turns into a daily fast-casual restaurant. Even with out characters, Plaza Inn is a restaurant with a number of worth. Costs are affordable, and parts are hearty. Do not miss the restaurant’s signature dish, fried hen.
Bengal Barbecue
The place it’s: Adventureland
What’s on the menu: Chieftain hen skewer, Bengal beef skewer
For a really fast chew, Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland has all the time been one among my household’s favorites.
The menu affords a number of lean meats and some veggies — a welcome change from all of the churros and Mickey ice cream bars that always make up a Disneyland food regimen. Lots of the meals gadgets are on skewers, so you possibly can take them to go as you race off to your subsequent Lightning Lane reservation time. If in case you have extra time, sit and take a break within the adjoining shaded and themed seating space.
Purple Rose Taverne
The place it’s: Fantasyland
What’s on the menu: Burgers, chopped salads, pizza flatbreads
If in case you have little ones, chances are high good that you will spend a number of time in Fantasyland. The fast-service restaurant there works nicely for households with infants, toddlers and youthful youngsters. It was rebranded a number of years in the past as Purple Rose Taverne from “Magnificence and the Beast,” however many company nonetheless comprehend it as Village Haus.
You may rely on Purple Rose Taverne for the staples many choosy youngsters eat, together with hen tenders, hamburgers and flatbread cheese pizza. There’s ample indoor and outside seating, and there is even sufficient room to maneuver a stroller as much as most of the tables. The meals for adults is nothing notably memorable, however park-weary dad and mom will be glad about the simple logistics.
Tiana’s Palace
The place it’s: New Orleans Sq.
What’s on the menu: 7 greens gumbo with hen and andouille sausage, Gulf shrimp and grits
Greater than a 12 months after its debut, Tiana’s Palace restaurant in New Orleans Sq. is holding robust as among the finest quick-service eating places on the Disneyland Resort.
Tiana’s Palace changed longtime favourite French Market as a part of bringing the beloved “The Princess and the Frog” story to Disneyland. It’s going to quickly be joined by a brand new attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Journey, on Nov. 15, 2024.
Like its French Market predecessor, Tiana’s Palace is a higher-end counter service restaurant. This makes it a wise selection for company who desire a nicer eating expertise with out fairly as a lot expense or time invested as a real sit-down meal.
The menu is Creole- and Cajun-inspired, with a number of gumbo dishes, a beef po’boy sandwich, tacky shrimp and grits, and sides like buttermilk cornbread. Much less adventurous choices (toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and macaroni and cheese) are on the children’ menu if in case you have choosy eaters within the household.
Tables are outdoors on a principally shaded veranda overlooking Rivers of America and the Mark Twain Riverboat. Cease by the close by Mint Julep Bar, the place you possibly can seize a (nonalcoholic) mint julep to accompany your meal or a Mickey beignet for dessert.
Blue Bayou
The place it’s: New Orleans Sq.
What’s on the menu: Hen gumbo and filet mignon
For the quintessential Disneyland date night time, head straight for New Orleans Sq..
My husband and I’ve made dinner at Blue Bayou our date-night custom, beginning once we first visited the park collectively greater than 20 years in the past. It is honest to say the meals high quality and menu selection have each dropped a bit within the final a number of years. Nevertheless, it is nonetheless exhausting to high Blue Bayou’s location and atmosphere.
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Contained in the Blue Bayou. TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
The restaurant is totally indoors however is lit to present the phantasm of alfresco nighttime eating overlooking the bayou.
Boats from the Pirates of the Caribbean experience float by whereas fireflies dance overhead. Lunch is cheaper than dinner, however it’s nonetheless one of the costly meals at Disneyland. The restaurant has shifted considerably from its Cajun and Creole roots to supply extra customary American high quality eating fare, however there may be nonetheless some spice in a number of dishes. Reservations are an absolute should.
Whereas it is a fancier restaurant and is priced accordingly, households should not essentially rule it out. Blue Bayou is usually a very particular higher-end Disney eating expertise with older youngsters or teenagers for dinner, and it is often crammed with fairly a number of households at lunch.
Docking Bay 7 Meals and Cargo
The place it’s: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
What’s on the menu: Endorian fried hen tip-yip
The opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland in 2019 introduced a number of new eating places. The meals choices on Batuu weren’t with out some controversy and blended evaluations — at the least initially.
Associated: The important information to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland
Disneyland continuously tweaks menus in response to buyer suggestions, and Docking Bay 7 has now stood the take a look at of time as one of many extra dependable counter service eating places within the park. With ample, air-conditioned indoor seating, it is also a straightforward place to take a break and (often) discover a desk. There is a small, partially shaded outside terrace that provides recent air and high quality views for Star Wars people-watching, too.
Lunch and dinner menu gadgets embody fried hen (“tip-yip”), a number of adventurous seasonal entrees and several other vegetarian choices. The pickiest eaters will not discover many selections right here, nevertheless, so verify the menu fastidiously if in case you have younger youngsters.
Additionally, do not rule out the concept of a wrap from Ronto’s Roasters subsequent door; it is arguably a fair tastier choice and can also be open for breakfast. The normal morning wrap with egg and pork sausage is our favourite; there are additionally plant-based backyard wraps and a wrap with sausage and slaw accessible for lunch or dinner. And in the event you’re within the temper for a enjoyable, candy coffee-style drink, seize the chilly brew black caf (chilly brew topped with candy cream cheese and chocolate puffs).
Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree
The place it’s: Critter Nation (quickly to be re-named Bayou Nation)
What’s on the menu: Barbecue platters and sandwiches, burgers and ribs
Whereas it is too quickly to present this restaurant an official place on the “greatest Disneyland eating places” listing, Hungry Bear is at the least one to look at carefully within the coming weeks and months.
In a quiet nook alongside the Rivers of America in Critter Nation, Hungry Bear Restaurant was a longtime counter service favourite for households with younger youngsters. The restaurant had a number of shaded outside seating, so it was all the time a really perfect place to take a much-needed break for lunch noon.
Sadly, the meals high quality declined, and the menu grew to become fairly ho-hum, so we deleted this restaurant from our listing a number of years in the past. Fortunately, Disney responded to the lackluster evaluations. It is within the means of finishing an overhaul of the restaurant and its menu in anticipation of the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Journey subsequent door.
Associated: Disney World vs. Disneyland — which is the higher park?
The brand new menu is predicted to carry again a number of the flavors from the beloved and never-forgotten Large Thunder Ranch Barbecue restaurant, which closed practically a decade in the past to make approach for the development of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The just lately revealed meals lineup contains barbecue, brisket and ribs, together with the standard burgers and hen tenders that work nicely for choosy eaters.
Greatest eating places in Disney California Journey
Listed below are the very best Disney California Journey eating places.
Flo’s V8 Cafe
The place it’s: Automobiles Land
What’s on the menu: Burgers and turkey membership sandwich
Flo’s V8 Cafe is Disney’s tackle the basic American diner, similar to you may discover alongside Route 66.
The theming and setting in Automobiles Land are immersive and simply a lot enjoyable. By quick-service restaurant requirements, the meals is downright scrumptious. The menu is not fairly as intensive and assorted because it was once a number of years in the past. Nevertheless, it nonetheless has extra selections than your common counter-service restaurant at Disneyland Resort.
Lunch and dinner embody gadgets like burgers, a Cobb salad, fried hen and a turkey membership sandwich. Shakes are additionally accessible as a candy deal with. Youngsters can discover loads of selection, from macaroni and cheese to hen strips.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Lamplight Lounge
The place it’s: Pixar Pier
What’s on the menu: Lobster nachos, potato skins and doughnuts
Lamplight Lounge stays one of many hottest eating tickets at Disneyland Resort, so it is a should to make a reservation nicely prematurely if you wish to dine right here. Weekend brunch (Friday by way of Sunday) is very well-liked.
Instagrammable meals and cocktails abound. The decor is Pixar-themed, with tons of memorabilia and particulars to discover. Like Blue Bayou in Disneyland Park, Lamplight Lounge might be higher suited to households with older youngsters and youths attributable to its environment and worth. Nonetheless, youthful youngsters who love Pixar motion pictures will really feel proper at residence right here, too.
The sentimental favourite menu merchandise is the lobster nachos, which had been additionally accessible on the predecessor restaurant on this area, Cove Bar. The menu is unquestionably extra assorted and fascinating for foodie dad and mom than at many Disneyland eating places, and the drink menu (each alcoholic and nonalcoholic) is filled with whimsical picks.
Carthay Circle Restaurant
The place it’s: Buena Vista Road
What’s on the menu: Rib eye, pork chops and mushroom ravioli
For a signature eating expertise in California Journey, Carthay Circle Restaurant is the best choice. It is also priced accordingly, so save this for a particular adults’ night time out or price range accordingly.
Set inside a reproduction of the Carthay Circle Theater, the place Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” debuted in 1937, this restaurant teems with Disney and Outdated Hollywood historical past and lore.
Menu gadgets embody pork chops, rib eye, recent fish and pasta. Carthay Circle Restaurant’s menu is most intensive at dinner, nevertheless it has simply added a cheaper pre-fixe menu for lunch.
If you do not have the price range or the time for a fancier meal, the Carthay Circle Lounge downstairs in the identical constructing affords lighter bites and scrumptious cocktails. Consuming within the lounge’s outside seating part supplies the added perk of five-star people-watching — you may most likely even spot a personality or two strolling by on the best way to their subsequent look.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Pym Check Kitchen
The place it’s: Avengers Campus
What’s on the menu: Quantum pretzel, not-so-little hen sandwich
The meals at Pym Check Kitchen will not be the very best on a Disney property, however it’s fairly enjoyable. It made the reduce based mostly on sheer originality.
The idea of this counter-service restaurant in Avenger’s Campus is that Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Pym particles are getting used to experiment with making meals teeny-tiny or monumental.
On the menu, you may discover an unlimited pretzel, a not-so-little hen sandwich with a tiny bun however an enormous hen patty, pasta with tiny noodles and outsized Not possible plant-based “meatballs.” Youngsters often get a kick out of the pretzel, which is bigger than their heads.
Pym Check Kitchen is without doubt one of the few breakfast choices open in California Journey Park, and its choices are additionally fairly strong within the morning. The “Calculated Breakfast = E x 2 + (B+P)/T” is served with two eggs which might be completely different sizes and ready in numerous methods.
Fortunate Fortune Cookery
The place it’s: San Fransokyo Sq. (previously Pacific Wharf)
What’s on the menu: Yaki udon with Karaage-inspired crispy hen and pork wonton nachos
When Disney just lately reworked Pacific Wharf into town of San Fransokyo from the movie Large Hero 6, the world’s eating places positively benefited from the refresh. This part of the park is now a eating vacation spot with a number of delicacies selections, all sharing a single massive outside seating space.
There are actually a number of restaurant standouts value attempting anew, however my private favourite to this point is Fortunate Fortune Cookery.
The restaurant has all the time been a go-to place for a dependable teriyaki rice bowl and a few veggies for anybody in search of a more healthy chew. It now additionally affords a combination of pan-Asian delicacies that includes Korean, Chinese language and Japanese flavors. I attempted a number of menu gadgets throughout a latest journey. The meat bulgogi burrito with rice and coleslaw was the very best factor I ate all day, combining taste profiles from a number of completely different delicacies traditions.
For dessert, the restaurant serves an cute and really tasty Baymax macaron with buttercream and chocolate hazelnut filling. Boba followers can even get their repair with Thai tea.
Meals competition marketplaces
The place it’s: Grizzly Peak, Paradise Gardens
What’s on the menu: Modifications seasonally
Disney California Journey is residence to a number of meals festivals all year long. When these happen, meals “marketplaces” pop up alongside the pathways of the park — often at the least from Grizzly Peak to the tip of Paradise Gardens.
The meals choices at these festivals are enjoyable and distinctive, and so they provide a fantastic alternative for guests to strive new flavors. The all the time dependable Paradise Backyard Grill restaurant often serves competition meals gadgets as nicely, typically in bigger parts.
The biggest of those festivals is the Disney California Journey Meals and Wine Pageant within the spring.
Look additionally for the Pageant of Holidays in the course of the November and December vacation season and the Lunar New 12 months marketplaces in the course of the annual Lunar New 12 months Celebration. Households and teams can get a number of worth out of sharing a Sip ‘n’ Savor go, which provides you tickets to redeem for various dishes for a single set worth.
Greatest eating places within the Disneyland motels
Listed below are the very best eating places at Disneyland’s on-property motels.
Associated: The place to remain at Disneyland
Dealer Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar
The place it’s: Disneyland Resort
What’s on the menu: HippopotoMai-Tai, zombie, pu pu platter, Hawaiian platter
Close to the pool on the Disneyland Resort, you may discover one of many liveliest locations to eat or drink on Disneyland property: Dealer Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar. It is a spot the place volcanoes explode, servers shout, and it is easy to have a very good time.
The poke bowl and Hawaiian platter are enjoyable choices right here, however you possibly can’t go unsuitable simply coming in for a snack and a drink. Order the proper one, and chances are you’ll be part of a shipwreck, explosion or different enjoyable catastrophe.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
Napa Rose
The place it’s: Disney’s Grand Californian Resort & Spa
What’s on the menu: Steak and fish
You will not discover any shipwrecks or screaming servers at Napa Rose inside Disneyland’s Grand Californian Resort. Nevertheless, you’ll find a complicated (however not stuffy) menu of duck breast, steak and sustainably sourced fish, to call a number of gadgets.
This can be a special day meal and one you do not wish to rush by way of, so do not attempt to cram it in earlier than catching that subsequent experience on Radiator Springs Racers.
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SUMMER HULL/THE POINTS GUY
The restaurant additionally serves a premium character breakfast — Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures — Thursday by way of Monday. It is fairly costly at $142 per particular person plus tax. Nevertheless, it’s routinely one of many better-reviewed meals and experiences on the resort due to the restaurant’s meticulous service.
Friends with a critical princess fan within the household ought to actually take into account it if the price range permits, notably for a particular celebration like a birthday or anniversary.
Further suggestions for eating places and eating at Disneyland
As with all issues at Disneyland, company who’re ready may have a much less annoying and extra pleasurable expertise. Listed below are a number of remaining suggestions you might want to know earlier than you make your Disneyland eating plans and restaurant reservations.
Make use of cellular ordering
Over the previous couple of years, Disneyland has rolled out cellular ordering to the overwhelming majority of counter-service eating places in each parks. You not want to attend in a bodily queue simply to position an order.
As of late, cellular ordering is just about important. Be sure you obtain the official Disneyland app and that you simply place your order prematurely of the mealtime rush.
It isn’t a nasty thought to position your order an hour or two forward in some instances if you understand when and what you want to eat. At well-liked spots and on the busiest days, accessible time slots start to refill, and company are unable to order for fast pickup on the cellular order system. Do not wait till your abdomen is growling to position an order, or chances are you’ll be left hungry for some time.
When you place your order, wait till the time you could have chosen to eat. Then click on within the app once more to point your arrival as you strategy the restaurant. Your meals is often prepared in a couple of minutes at a pick-up window. Search for the push notification to warn you within the app.
Make Disneyland restaurant reservations 60 days prematurely
In the event you plan to go to a desk service restaurant or a preferred character meal buffet throughout your Disneyland trip, reservations are a should. We suggest reserving proper at Disneyland’s 60-day reservation window earlier than your journey in the event you can. Reservations open at 6 a.m. (Pacific time) each day and the highest eating places can e book up near immediately.
In the event you miss the prospect 60 days out, a service like MouseDining will be useful in alerting you when a gap turns into accessible. Simply act shortly, as selections disappear as quick as they seem.
Do not forget about eating packages
Disneyland has various well-liked exhibits and parades that many guests wish to see. Discovering a very good seat for them might require tenting out an hour or extra prematurely.
One resolution is to safe reserved seating or standing areas for these exhibits by reserving an related eating bundle. These packages do come at a premium worth, however they save substantial time along with offering a meal that company can be paying for anyway. Examine the Disneyland web site or app for availability, as there are sometimes modifications to the choices.
Associated: use factors for Disney tickets
Suppose past the parks
There are such a lot of wonderful eating places inside Disneyland Park and Disney California Journey, however do not forget to look past park borders for different glorious eating places.
We have already highlighted a number of the greatest choices at a number of of the Disneyland on-property motels, however there are nonetheless extra worthy restaurant selections at these properties. Scheduling a lodge character meal in your arrival or departure day at one among these lodge eating places is usually a sensible selection, because it provides you a Disney expertise with out the price of a park ticket on that day.
The Downtown Disney district adjoining to the 2 parks additionally options many high quality eating places and eating experiences. These eating places are all only a very quick stroll or monorail experience from the parks. Choices embody a brewery, a restaurant specializing in over-the-top milkshakes, a bowling alley with glorious sushi, and eating places specializing in Cajun, Italian and Mexican dishes.
The just lately opened dim sum restaurant Din Tai Fung is already proving to be one of many hardest reservations to get on the Disneyland Resort. Much more new eating places are anticipated in 2025 as development in Downtown Disney continues.
Backside line
Irrespective of who’s in your celebration or what your price range is, Disneyland has all kinds of eating places to get pleasure from in your subsequent trip.
In case you are paying by card for these meals, use a card that rewards you with additional miles for eating, just like the Citi Status® Card (5 factors per greenback), American Categorical® Gold Card (4 factors per greenback at eating places on as much as $50,000 in purchases per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback), Hilton Honors American Categorical Aspire Card (7 factors per greenback on eligible purchases at U.S. eating places) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (3 factors per greenback). (Study extra in regards to the greatest bank cards for eating.)
The data for the Citi Status Card and Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Alternatively, you may also choose up some discounted Disney reward playing cards earlier than your journey to save lots of on meals at the very best eating places in Disneyland.
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