I feel like restaurant quality has dropped over the last few years. For example, 2 all-time favorites, Kona Grill and Grand Floridian Cafe, were extremely disappointing in recent visits. Can anyone comment on the following restaurants if you have been in the last year or two? Or, additional recommendations are welcome. We are deciding on a sit-down at MK (or should we skip a sit-down), and also, a place for an early dinner before returning to DHS for Fantasmic. Ideally we are looking for non-signature table service spots. Also, one of our guests (son’s gf) is gluten free, and that is something new to me and my planning. Of course I am reviewing menus but any thoughts on that is welcome too. I would love to consider a lounge, but it is difficult to review lounge menus especially at Swan/Dolphin, and I am concerned about a gluten free meal since the menu at lounges is already so limited.
Trattoria Al Forno–I have read they have gluten free pasta and pizza, but it isn’t on the menu?
Rosa’s (swan and dolphin)
Ale and Compass lunch/dinner
La Hacienda de San Angel
Liberty Tree Tavern for MK day
Jungle Skipper Canteen
Here is an outline of our plans.
Epcot day –festival booths, optional creperie or sushi if needing a full meal at some point. I suggested La Hacienda at 8pm but no one agreed For whatever reason they want to be outside for the show
DHS day–lunch at ABC Commissary (we like it there!), break, early dinner before Fantasmic (Trattoria Al forno? Ale and Compass? Rosa’s?)
Most WDW restaurants do GF very well and most have allergy menus. When you go, ask for the allergy menu before they take you to your table. And when your server gets there, tell them that one person needs gluten free. If the person is celiac, tell them that.
On MDE, if you look on the menu for a particular restaurant, scroll down toward the bottom for their allergy friendly offerings. For example, this is Trattoria al Forno’s:
We just went to Skipper Canteen, and they were marvelous with our allergy requests.
At buffets, they give you a pamphlet with the dishes and columns for the various allergies of whether they are safe or not. If you are particularly concerned, you can talk to a chef.
If the GF is imperative to keep (very bad allergy or celiac), I would stay away from booths that have dishes with gluten due to cross contamination. At QS, always talk with a chef to make sure they are careful. I’d also be wary with buffets, to be honest. Chefs can still make meals in a dedicated space away from allergens.
Thank you for the advice! Yes, the pizza is confusing. On one of the gluten-free sites, people reported it had gluten free pizza and pasta, but neither of those are listed on the menu, which seems strange to me. I hate to choose a restaurant where she only has one or two options, but that may have to be the case sometimes.
Well, restaurants change menus all the time, so it could be that there used to but stopped.
I absolutely loved mine!
I had the beef, DH had the chicken and zucchini, and DD had the “it tastes like chicken, because it is”. We all loved our food.
The restaurant was very loud, and it was enough for DH to crash heavily. If I ever go back to it, it won’t be with him. Other than that the staff were great and the restaurant was neat. Maybe a quieter time of the day would have been better. Our meal was at 7 pm.
No experience with gluten-free options but we have eaten at Skippers Canteen, Trattoria al Forno and Ale & Compass and enjoyed all three. Skippers Canteen and Ale & Compass both have pretty varied menus with lots of choices. Trattoria al Forno was mostly pizza and pasta.
That’s great to hear. My son and I had a great dinner at Ale and Compass on our last trip, and enjoyed the food in the lounge the trip prior. Hopefully the quality is still there. I wish they had gf pasta, as she does not like seafood, so that limits her options there. My son’s gf happens to love gf pasta and gf pizza, which is why I am still considering TalF. I am going to have to reach out to someone at Disney I think to try to get the current state of that. I think it would be a solid choice for us if they offer those things. And Skipper’s might be pulling a head of LTT!
These plates look delicious. Thanks for sharing! And for the heads-up about noise. Maybe an early lunch will be ok for us. We definitely look for meals that are a break from the chaos of the parks.
We’ve eaten at Trattoria al Forno many times and have always enjoyed our meals. They do a gluten free chicken parm which is so yummy! Many restaurants just use a grilled chicken breast in place of breaded, but Trattoria uses gluten free bread crumbs and it’s delicious! We have also had great meals at Ale and Compass.
Skipper Canteen was also very good when we ate there a couple years ago. The server was great, and when he found out I ate gluten free he highly recommended the chicken, saying “When was the last time you were able to eat fried chicken?” That sold me and it was outstanding!
When you look at menus on MDE or the website, scroll all the way to the bottom, past beverage section and you’ll see the allergy menu. After each menu item it lists the allergies that it is safe for. Unfortunately, if the restaurant is not Disney owned, they don’t have the allergy section.
Most places are very accommodating, and offer that they can make many dishes gluten free even if it is not listed as such.
Do you remember if there was gf pasta and pizza at Trattoria? I have read people have enjoyed both, but neither is currently listed on the menu. Same with at Tony’s. Although there is a gf pasta on the kid’s menu there.
The first time we went to Skippers we had an 11am lunch reservation (which I believe is when the restaurant opens). I had read here in the Forum that you should ask for the SEA room if you want a quiet experience, and did that - we were not only the first people seated in the room, but we were even given the beautiful booth with the butterfly collection along the walls!
No guarantees of course, but I’m sure if you get an early lunch or dinner slot the CMs will try their best to meet seating requests.
She puts a lot of pictures on Instagram - I find food pictures really helpful.
Sometimes the Gluten Friendly sections of Mobile Order have extra items not shown on the main menu - like there’s a corn mousse at Pecos Bill hidden there.
They def have GF pasta, but I can’t confirm the pizza as I am also DF
Very mixed reviews at S&D hotels with food allergies. I’ve avoided out of caution.
It’s generally recommended to avoid the non-Disney booths. Gina from Gluten Free Disney is amazing at creating a PDF detailing the booths, what to get, what booths to avoid due to high likely cross contamination. I buy her festival guides before every trip. Her you tube channel is a treasure trove as well. https://www.glutenfreewdw.com/
I second this location. It’s so good and the staff are amazing with allergies.
A HS location that I love is 50s Prime Time. If you go to the restaurant early in the day and notify them that a member of the party is GF and wants the fried chicken, they’ll include your order in the daily batch. It takes a long time to prep and cook though so the earlier you notify them, the better. It’s hands down the best fried chicken I’ve had on property. The PB&J shake is delicious as well.
Thank you, and thanks for the additional recommendations. Any others are welcome. I am trying to do my research but I love hearing from the experts directly. I will alert our guest to the festival guide. She will be navigating that without me so this will be helpful to her I am sure.
For whatever reason they want to be outside for the show
