Best Food in Disneyland, DCA, Downtown Disney and Disney-owned Hotels

Disneyland Restaurants and Dining
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We get a lot of questions about where to eat in Disneyland and DCA. In this post i’ll list some of our favorite restaurants and places to grab a snack.

Disneyland - Quick Service:

French Market - Great variety of cajun food at reasonable prices. Jambalaya, red beans & rice and chicken cesar salad are recommended.
Harbour Galley - Disneyland’s famous bread bowls are at multiple places but Galley will probably be the shortest line. This is the only bread bowl location with the delicious lobster bisque.
Plaza Inn - Home of the very popular fried chicken dish. Other entrees are okay, but expensive for quick service.
Jolly Holiday Bakery - Jolly Holiday has a good selection of soups, sandwiches and pastries. Nothing here is outstanding but it’s convenient location and variety is a big plus. Has a great vegetarian sandwich. Also the Matterhorn Macaroon is a perfect photo op and yummy dessert.
Little Red Wagon Corn Dogs - This cart is located near Plaza Inn, just off of the hub, and is home to Disneyland’s famous corn dogs. These things are popular so lines can get very long, especially on busy days.

Disneyland - Table Service:

Carnation Cafe - Solid menu and ok prices for a table service. They have a great meatloaf entree.
Cafe Orleans - Cafe Orleans has a menu filled with delicious items and is located in beautiful New Orleans Square. You can’t really go wrong with anything on the menu.
(Reservations are recommended)
Blue Bayou - I’m not a big fan of the menu at Blue Bayou but the location and theme can’t be beat. It’s expensive but any Disneyland fan should experience it at least once.
(Reservations are recommended)

Disneyland - Restaurants To Avoid:

Anything in Toontown
Rancho Del Zocallo - Bland, tasteless Mexican food. One of my least favorite quick service restaurants.

DCA - Quick Service:

Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta - All of the pasta and salads available at Boardwalk are delicious. Its ample seating and large variety make this a perfect place for families and large groups. However, the pizza is not great.
The Lucky Fortune Cookery - This is my pick for most underrated quick service restaurant. The menu is made up of rice bowls and the ingredients are always fresh. It’s cheap, quick and filling. Try it!

DCA - Table Service:

Carthay Circle Restaurant - Carthay is expensive but some of the entrees incredible. The restaurant is themed after early Hollywood and has dozens of pictures of Walt Disney on its walls. Carthay’s menu changes seasonally.

Recommended Restaurants in Downtown Disney and Disney-owned Hotels:

Napa Rose - Located in Grand Californian Hotel, Napa Rose is a must try. The menu changes seasonally and is always getting new items to enjoy.
White Water Snacks - This quick service restaurant is located in Grand Californian Hotel. They have fantastic and affordable breakfast entrees.
Trader Sam’s - Located in Disneyland Hotel. Sam’s is extremely popular due to its huge selection of specialty drinks and its highly themed interior. It’s a must see for fans of Adventureland or tiki things.

You can see menus for these restaurants and every other restaurant on property on our dining page.

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Flo’s in DCA is one of my favorite CS with turkey, roast beef and pork dinners–tasty and very filling.

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Rently tried MBBQ and was very surprised how good it was. Will. Def go again. Be sure to make ADRs.

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Flo’s is great. I really like the little pies they sell.

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I think @Nana is Flo’s biggest fan :wink:

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I totally agree with Carthay Circle - probably the best meal I’ve had in any Disney park on either coast. Some compare it to Hollywood Brown Derby at DHS in WDW. Thematically they are “similar”, but I find Carthay Circle much grander, and the food is MUCH better. Combine it with WOC, and it’s as perfect an evening at DCA as you can get.

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When I visited in February my family made multiple stops at Flo’s V8 cafe and the Jolly Holiday. We loved them. We had lovely sit down meals at Carthay Circle, Blue Bayou and Cafe Orleans. I highly recommend all of these. We were disappointed we could not try the Hungry Bear for fried green tomato sandwiches as it was not open at that time. We also enjoyed Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. Good snacks and good drinks!

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We are thinking of eating at the Blue Bayou in November. I haven’t eaten there in no lie, 38 years. How is the food and what would you recommend?

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Blue Bayou has been good lately. As long as you realize that you’re partially paying for the experience of eating in a ride, it’s not that bad. Food is above average. Prices are pretty high.

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As a long time AP holder, I can tell you that:

For casual dining, I love the Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland. Simple but terrific. Also, Pizza Planet has great salads and pasta dishes, in addition to pizza. We’ve always liked it as well.

Cafe Orleans is very hit or miss (great if you love jambalaya/gumbo and/or decadent monte cristo sandwiches).

Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue is consistently good and they have a fun bluegrass show with your meal.

Jolly Holiday I don’t like at all (but I’m on a low-carb diet, so that could be part of the lack of appeal).

Carthay Circle was the WORST meal we ever had at Disney (and one of the most expensive), but that was it’s first month and it may have improved since then.

Blue Bayou is pretty consistently good, if a bit overpriced because of the demand.

Hungry Bear is typically gross. Village Haus is similar but much better.

In DCA, we love the Boudin restaurant. Sandwiches with Boudin bread or soups in a bread bowl are amazing (I know, I’m supposed to be on a low-carb diet but that place gets me).

We really like Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel (although the meal may be very long at times) and the character brunch next door at Goofy’s Kitchen is really good too. And my kids loved the make-your-own-pizza when they were little.

Storytellers Cafe and Napa Rose are typically excellent at the Grand Californian.

In Downtown Disney I really like La Brea Bakery. I really like Naples Ristorante (great if you want more authentic Italian food), but since the reviews are bad because most people don’t like authentic Italian food I guess.

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The food at BB is good but very overpriced. You’re paying for the location.

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We also at at Carthay Circle this past February and had a terrific meal. It was expensive, but I would go again.

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Glad to hear it. We’ll have to try it again someday.

Oh, one more: Club 33 is the best restaurant I’ve ever eaten at in my life, but it’s obviously not that easy to get in there.

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How necessary is it to have reservations? Can I call that morning? We are huge planners with food at WDW (dining plan etc) but we want to do this more relaxed and eat quick service since it’s only a 2 day trip. I am just afraid that our stomachs are going to revolt and need a good meal by the end though so not sure what to do.

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It depends on the restaurant. You should probably get a reservation for Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans but other than that I’ve only been turned down a handful of times at the other restaurants.

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I actually just made a reservation for 3:30 on the day we leave for Cafe Orleans – I figure we might want a nice meal before getting on a plane all night. We can grab a snack at the airport but won’t want to rely on that for our main meal.

Thanks :slight_smile:

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The only one I disagree with is Carthay Circle - it was hands-down the best meal I’ve ever had IN a Disney park. I remember reading a lot of mixed reviews from when it first opened, but I went 4 or 5 months later and it was spot-on. A friend told me that the issue was trying to find staff (front and back of house) who had “fine dining” experience, who would be willing to work for minimum wage in a theme park (where tipping is notoriously bad).

Blue Bayou used to be my favorite, but when they went “upscale”, and basically doubled the prices of meals, I decided it just wasn’t worth going back to. Having eaten there dozens of times for $20, I just couldn’t see going back for $40+.

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I would get reservations for Blue Bayou for sure (if you want to go there), it goes months in advance. Napa Rose can get full but you can pretty much go most places without a reservation at Disneyland, if you don’t mind a 30-45 minute wait.

Oh, yeah, Wine Country Trattoria is the worst (and most overpriced) restaurant in DCA. High prices. Terrible selection. And the food is trying way too hard to be something that it’s not (you can’t make fancy high-class food with terrible, cheap ingredients).

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What are people’s thoughts about the Golden Horseshoe?

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