Daily food budget

I think you should temper your expectations across the board for everything, and hope you will be surprised at the quality of some of the food, considering it’s a theme park. If you are searching for “exceptional” at Teppan Edo, you’ll probably be setting yourself up for a letdown.
You do understand you are paying for experience and atmosphere, so I think once you temper your expectations for the food quality a little bit more, you’ll have the right mindset.

If flame tree winds up to be the best bbq you’ve ever had, I’d suggest you get out more. That being said, all in all, for the price, and for it being at a theme park, the spares are better than I thought they would be. OTOH, you can go spend 20.00 for a QS meal somewhere else in WDW, and wind up throwing it all away because it’s trash.

Never been to Via N. I can throw a rock and hit two Neopolitan Pizza joints where I live now, so no point to pay more for something that prolly won’t be as good. I’d expect it to be decent, and would probably be very happy if it turned out to be anything better than something like a Blaze Pizza. That is how my expectations are set.

SO, while I love wdw, and I love watching my kids have a blast, food is not as important, but I’m just lucky that I live in a city with vast options. I would rather just get a competent burger that’s overpriced, than get some watered down ethnic attempt that’s also overpriced. That probably sounds way snobby, but I apologize if so. I am sooo NOT a snob. I love little dive restaurants where mom&pop are cooking, and the menus are in foreign languages because they don’t even expect Americans to come inside. Card tables and cheap chairs are fine by me.

My mindset is just to find the best value for quality. WDW has a wide array of options, but quality control is just haphazard at best. I’m no longer romanticized by the thought of trying new/great ethnic options. You’re at a theme park - mind you, it’s a GOOD theme park, but, they are pumping out a lot of food, day in/day out, they have to keep it safe, and they have to make it as approachable as possible for the wide variety of clientele from all over the world. They do a great job of it, too! But, if you’re from a big city, not a lot of wdw’s ethnic options are gonna be too exciting. Just temper your expectations. For the upcharges you’ll pay for experience and ambience, sometimes, I think a competent burger is a better option than ho-hum sushi, or tacos, or teppanyaki, or middle eastern, etc. Wow, am I long winded or what?

I’ve only ever had one meal I would call bad. That same meal is what I would also call inedible. It was the QS in Mexico. Nothing else I’ve ever had has been bad, in all my trips. Certainly some places have been much better than others, but with that one exception I’ve never had a bad meal anywhere in WDW.

Also, I’m hoping you didn’t mean it as such, but telling a person, “I suggest you get out more” is a little bit harsh.

That comment about Flame Tree was “tongue in cheek” about Memphis. They already know good bbq in Memphis. They said so in a prev post.

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So then you didn’t mean it how I read it! Perfect :blush:

This is a good way to say it, perhaps:
The raves you hear about Flame Tree are definitely warranted…for WDW food.

I’m a big fan of Flame Tree, please don’t get me wrong here. It’s surprisingly good for WDW food.

I definitely took it tongue in cheek @seebee. One of my priorities (to keep DH coming back to WDW lol) is getting him in front of the best food options lol. I appreciate your candid comments. I am really looking for the diamonds in the restaurant rough and don’t mind going out of the way for good eats. But as my original post states I was most looking for realistic budget suggestions. All that said, my takeaway is that I just need more visits to WDW to decide for myself what is worth it or not worth it or value or outrageous for our tastes. I actually think this will help me make the case for more return trips! :raised_hands:t2::raised_hands:t2::raised_hands:t2: Thanks again to all for weighing in!