Mount Rushmore of Dining

Walt Disney World Dining
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Big tip of the hat to the Be Our Guest Podcast for this question. They did a show on it the other day (I’m catching back up with pods) and it really got me thinking. So thanks Rikki Niblett for the idea.

Here’s the rules. Pick four Walt Disney World Resort restaurants. They must be on property but can be in-park, at a resort or at Downtown Disney Springs (in transition). They can be counter service, table service or fine dining but no snacks.

What four restaurants would be on your Mount Rushmore of Disney Dining?

In no particular order:

Sanaa - the food was fantastic, the view from the windows was remarkable, the wait staff was warm, friendly and efficient and overall it is on my recommend list and my do again list.

Tusker House “Donald’s Safari Breakfast” - for a WDW buffet, the food is very tasty and unique. We have always had great character interaction and my favorite visual, in all the parks, is with a pre-RD ADR, coming over the bridge from Discovery Island into Africa. The imagineering in Africa always gets me.

The Hollywood Brown Derby - we’ve always had delicious food and great service here. I’ve heard some negative reviews from others but it was our first fine dining experience at WDW and holds a special place for me.

Planet Hollywood - Just kidding.

Columbia Harbor House - I know, its a fairly ordinary counter service but for years it has been our go to in MK. The food is always good, the service quick, the seating area has excellent theming (can someone reprogram Word so that it recognizes theming as a word?!?!), and the view while eating on the bridge is unique.

So, what’s on your Mount Rushmore. Only four, no ties, no honorable mentions.

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Based on what I’ve personally eaten rather than what gets the most rave reviews here’s what I would pick.

California Grill - One of the best meals and service we’ve ever had. Watching the fireworks from the roof is just a bonus.

Beaches & Cream - It’s little and out of the way, but has great food and probably some of the best dining bang for your buck on property.

Boma - It’s a great chance to not only eat good food but a reason to see one of the best resorts on property. Also so unique in this offerings but friendly enough to satisfy picky pallets.

Yak & Yeti - We thought the food and atmosphere was great, and given that we could use Landry’s options for reservations and discounts on giftcards it turned out to be a great choice.

Plenty I haven’t actually been to though and would like to try. Can’t imagine a trip without a meal at B&C and CG though.

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Ok @Outer1 I’ve eaten at exactly zero of your top four. California Grill is on my list for this trip. Just have to talk DW into it. Boma is already on our list of must do’s for the upcoming trip. As an ice cream nut, you’d think I’d have gone ot Beaches and Cream by now.

I know how you feel. We have done TH Safari Breakfast every trip since our second back in 2007. Not this trip, though. :sob: DW feels like it needs to be switched up so we are doing a dinner at Boma instead. I can live with that.

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Boma is really good and well i just love all things AKL. For me the ice cream isn’t even the highlight of B&C. The food itself is actually really good. The pork belly cuban I had last time was the stuff of dreams and you really can’t beat the value. It was easily the cheapest meal we ate the whole trip. Granted we didn’t get dessert.

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ADRs for Beaches and Cream?

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Yes unless you are getting takeout ice cream. Used to you could walk in with no wait because it was mostly unknown but not so these days. Usually easy to get an ADR though.

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Planet Hollywood :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

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I’m following this… I can’t make a list since my dining in the world consists of corn dogs, cotton candy and ice cream :slight_smile: but… Hoping to try for a dinner out on our oct trip! Sanaa is on the list of Maybes for sure and so is beaches/cream!

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Nothing wrong with that. We did almost all table service this last trip but we both agreed we mix it up a lot more next time. We did eat Pecos Bills one night which is always a consistent experience, but we were usually so full from our meals that we rarely got to try any of the snack items on our list.

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Tutto Gusto is on my list for this upcoming trip and I haven’t dined in Italy before…anyone have any experience there?

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Love this! Mine would be (again, like @outer1, ones I’ve actually eaten at):

  1. Le Cellier - incredible experience from light-up menus and fantastic bread to mouth-watering steaks

  2. Hoop De Doo Revue - would go for the food even if there wasn’t a show… best fried chicken I’ve ever had

  3. Tusker House CD - This is the only pre-RD CD we’ve ever done, with CP on our list for this year. Loved it!

  4. Sunshine Seasons - Have never had a bad meal here, and I love eating here right after LWTL… gives it a special touch knowing you could be eating hydroponic tomatoes or enormous eggplant :slight_smile:

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This is really quite difficult. It would be easy to just pick 4 signatures, because they simply have the best food. But I force myself to diversify a bit.

Victoria and Albert’s - Dining here, either at the Chef’s Table or in the “regular” dining room is monumental. Unequalled in WDW

California Grill - My favorite restaurant in WDW that I go back to on a regular basis

Biergarten - My favorite in-park Table Service Restaurant

Raglan Road - This is really a tie with Sanaa for favorite out of park non-signature dining, but the entertainment pushes it ever so slightly to the top.

If I was going purely by best meals I’ve had, it would be V&A, CG, Jiko, and MP.

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My families Mount Rushmore would be -

Breakfast at Crystal Palace - we went for the characters, but really liked the food. Nothing amazing, but nice well done breakfast buffet. My favourite was Pooh’s French toast with strawberry sauce.

Dinner at Boma - I loved this place! I thought the food was really good, especially the soups, salads and desserts. Favourites were chicken curry coconut soup, watermelon rind salad and zebra domes. Nice friendly atmosphere too - the CMs were all lovely.

Breakfast at Kona cafe - Tonga toast and strawberry sauce - nuff said :smiley:

Min & Bills - I think this is a very under rated (even ignored) little QS place. We had the frankfurters in pretzel rolls with caramel shakes (basically about a pint of soft serve icecream) and it was far far far better than anything I have previously had in the likes of ABC commissary, Backlot express, fairfax fair etc.

This list could well change when I try some new places on my next trip, but I’m going back to the above 4 as well!

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It was so good! I really liked the food at Crystal Palace, I think it’s one of the better buffet options, although I haven’t eaten dinner there.

I think Min & Bills doesn’t come up a lot because it’s closed most of the time. They seem to only open it during the busiest times. We looked while we were there in December and never saw it open on our HS day.

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If I was doing a second Mount Rushmore I would have to seriously consider Crystal Palace. The food was good and the character interaction with the entire family was great.

Kona, for me, was dinner and kind of disappointing. That being said, their ginger crusted rib-eye was excellent. The decor just was underwhelming and the service was mediocre.

Looking forward to Boma.

Will Min and Bill’s close with the Echo Lake construction?

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I loved it too! I’ve not had dinner there either - going for breakfast there again this next trip - I love American breakfast buffets!

Think you’re right about Min & Bill’s being forgotten because it’s often closed - think the only reason we caught it open last year was because we were there on MLK day.

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Yes, it’s really the character interaction that I’ll be going back to Crystal Palace for - they were just so good with my youngest - he loved it.

We’ve never tried dinner at Kona - guess it’s because if we are going to the Poly at night, we want 'Ohana!

Hope you enjoy Boma at much as we did!

Hmmm don’t know about Min & Bill’s closing, but with the construction…

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Yay! Glad to hear that CP is worth breakfast :slight_smile:

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[quote=“Outer1, post:14, topic:9466”]
I really liked the food at Crystal Palace, I think it’s one of the better buffet options, although I haven’t eaten dinner there.
[/quote]CP dinner was our first CD and Disney buffet experience. The food was delicious… kind of reminded me of a nice wedding reception with the roast beef carving station and the types of food available.

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Have you ever gone to Artist Point? We’re staying at WL, and I’m wrestling with AP vs CG if we did an upscale evening