The best restaurants in Disneyland in 2024

On-the-go churros or hen fingers may fit as meals for some Disneyland Resort company. Nonetheless, while you’re spending as a lot as a trip to a Disney theme park costs today, you would possibly need to make sure you are having fun with the very best restaurant meals, concessions and experiences that the park has to supply.

Whereas Disney World’s restaurants are sometimes extra talked about, Disneyland’s eating choices have additionally remodeled. With elevated crowds and shortly booked-up eating places, it is a good suggestion to map out your consuming plan upfront — a minimum of 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 truly consuming inside an attraction on the Blue Bayou and watching the Pirates of the Caribbean boats go by? We expect not.

We have dined at dozens of Disneyland eating places through the years on each household and adult-only holidays, from the smallest of snack carts to the fanciest white-tablecloth eateries. Here is what you must learn 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: Everything you need to know about visiting Disneyland

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Greatest eating places in Disneyland Resort

Listed below are among the finest Disneyland eating places to take pleasure in.

Plaza Inn

The place it’s: Primary 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 type, with kid-friendly favorites like Mickey Mouse-shaped waffles obtainable alongside eggs, biscuits and gravy, and different morning consolation meals.

Guests are at all times 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 journey traces, so it’s possible you’ll not need 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 at all times 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 an everyday fast-casual restaurant. Even with out characters, Plaza Inn is a restaurant with a variety of worth. Costs are cheap, 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 at all times been one in every of my household’s favorites.

The menu provides a variety 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. Most of the meals gadgets are on skewers, so you’ll be able to take them to go as you race off to your next 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 variety of time in Fantasyland. The fast-service restaurant there works effectively for households with infants, toddlers and youthful youngsters. It was rebranded a number of years in the past as Red Rose Taverne from “Magnificence and the Beast,” however many company nonetheless understand it as Village Haus.

You may depend 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 out of doors seating, and there is even sufficient room to maneuver a stroller as much as lots of the tables. The meals for adults is nothing significantly memorable, however park-weary dad and mom will be pleased about the straightforward 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 yr 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 is going to quickly be joined by a brand new attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, on Nov. 15, 2024.

Like its French Market predecessor, Tiana’s Palace is a higher-end counter service restaurant. This makes it a sensible alternative for company who need 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 youngsters’ menu if in case you have choosy eaters within the household.

Tables are outdoors on a largely shaded veranda overlooking Rivers of America and the Mark Twain Riverboat. Cease by the close by Mint Julep Bar, the place you’ll be able to 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 truthful to say the meals high quality and menu selection have each dropped a bit within the final a number of years. Nonetheless, it is nonetheless laborious to prime Blue Bayou’s location and atmosphere.

The restaurant is totally indoors however is lit to provide the phantasm of alfresco nighttime eating overlooking the bayou.

Boats from the Pirates of the Caribbean journey float by whereas fireflies dance overhead. Lunch is inexpensive than dinner, however it’s nonetheless some of the costly meals at Disneyland. The restaurant has shifted considerably from its Cajun and Creole roots to supply extra commonplace American nice eating fare, however there’s nonetheless some spice in a number of dishes. Reservations are an absolute should.

Whereas this can be 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 full of 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 critiques — a minimum of initially.

Associated: The essential guide to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland

Disneyland always 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 simple place to take a break and (often) discover a desk. There is a small, partially shaded out of doors 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 a number of other vegetarian choices. The pickiest eaters will not discover many selections right here, nonetheless, so examine 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 possibility and can 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 obtainable for lunch or dinner. And in case 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 provide this restaurant an official place on the “finest Disneyland eating places” record, Hungry Bear is a minimum of one to observe intently 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 numerous shaded out of doors seating, so it was at all times a super place to take a much-needed break for lunch noon.

Sadly, the meals high quality declined, and the menu turned fairly ho-hum, so we deleted this restaurant from our record a number of years in the past. Fortunately, Disney responded to the lackluster critiques. It is within the strategy of finishing an overhaul of the restaurant and its menu in anticipation of the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure subsequent door.

Associated: Disney World vs. Disneyland — which is the better park?

The brand new menu is anticipated to deliver again among the flavors from the beloved and never-forgotten Massive Thunder Ranch Barbecue restaurant, which closed practically a decade in the past to make means for the development of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The just lately revealed meals lineup contains barbecue, brisket and ribs, together with the same old burgers and hen tenders that work effectively 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 traditional American diner, similar to you would possibly 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 different because it was once a number of years in the past. Nonetheless, 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 obtainable as a candy deal with. Youngsters can discover loads of selection, from macaroni and cheese to hen strips.

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 effectively upfront if you wish to dine right here. Weekend brunch (Friday by means of Sunday) is very in style.

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 ambiance and value. 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 have been additionally obtainable on the predecessor restaurant on this house, Cove Bar. The menu is certainly extra different and fascinating for foodie dad and mom than at many Disneyland eating places, and the drink menu (each alcoholic and nonalcoholic) is stuffed with whimsical choices.

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 funds 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 inexpensive pre-fixe menu for lunch.

If you do not have the funds or the time for a fancier meal, the Carthay Circle Lounge downstairs in the identical constructing provides lighter bites and scrumptious cocktails. Consuming within the lounge’s out of doors seating part gives the added perk of five-star people-watching — you may in all probability even spot a personality or two strolling by on the best way to their subsequent look.

Pym Take a look at Kitchen

The place it’s: Avengers Campus

What’s on the menu: Quantum pretzel, not-so-little hen sandwich

The meals at Pym Test Kitchen will not be the very best on a Disney property, however it’s fairly enjoyable. It made the minimize 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 huge.

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 Unimaginable plant-based “meatballs.” Youngsters often get a kick out of the pretzel, which is bigger than their heads.

Pym Take a look at Kitchen is among the few breakfast choices open in California Journey Park, and its choices are additionally fairly stable 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 remodeled Pacific Wharf into town of San Fransokyo from the movie Massive Hero 6, the world’s eating places undoubtedly 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 giant out of doors seating space.

There at the moment are a number of restaurant standouts price attempting anew, however my private favourite up to now is Lucky Fortune Cookery.

The restaurant has at all times been a go-to place for a dependable teriyaki rice bowl and a few veggies for anybody on the lookout for a more healthy chew. It now additionally provides a mix of pan-Asian delicacies that includes Korean, Chinese language and Japanese flavors. I attempted a number of menu gadgets throughout a current 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 may also get their repair with Thai tea.

Meals pageant marketplaces

The place it’s: Grizzly Peak, Paradise Gardens

What’s on the menu: Adjustments 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 a minimum of from Grizzly Peak to the tip of Paradise Gardens.

The meals choices at these festivals are enjoyable and distinctive, they usually supply an important alternative for guests to strive new flavors. The at all times dependable Paradise Backyard Grill restaurant often serves pageant meals gadgets as effectively, usually in bigger parts.

The most important of those festivals is the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival within the spring.

Look additionally for the Pageant of Holidays through the November and December holiday season and the Lunar New Year marketplaces through the annual Lunar New Yr Celebration. Households and teams can get a variety of worth out of sharing a Sip ‘n’ Savor cross, which provides you tickets to redeem for a variety of dishes for a single set value.

Associated: Where to stay at Disneyland

Dealer Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar

The place it’s: Disneyland Lodge

What’s on the menu: HippopotoMai-Tai, zombie, pu pu platter, Hawaiian platter

Close to the pool on the Disneyland Hotel, you may discover one of many liveliest locations to eat or drink on Disneyland property: Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar. It is a spot the place volcanoes explode, servers shout, and it is simple to have a great time.

The poke bowl and Hawaiian platter are enjoyable choices right here, however you’ll be able to’t go mistaken simply coming in for a snack and a drink. Order the suitable one, and it’s possible you’ll be part of a shipwreck, explosion or different enjoyable catastrophe.

Napa Rose

The place it’s: Disney’s Grand Californian Lodge & 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 Hotel. Nonetheless, one can find a classy (however not stuffy) menu of duck breast, steak and sustainably sourced fish, to call a number of gadgets.

It is a big day meal and one you do not need to rush by means of, so do not attempt to cram it in earlier than catching that subsequent journey on Radiator Springs Racers.

The restaurant additionally serves a premium character breakfast — Disney Princess Breakfast Adventures — Thursday by means of Monday. It is fairly costly at $142 per particular person plus tax. Nonetheless, it’s routinely one of many better-reviewed meals and experiences on the resort due to the restaurant’s meticulous service.

Visitors with a severe princess fan within the household ought to definitely contemplate it if the funds permits, significantly for a particular celebration like a birthday or anniversary.

Further ideas for eating places and eating at Disneyland

As with all issues at Disneyland, company who’re ready could have a much less aggravating and extra satisfying expertise. Listed below are a number of closing ideas it is advisable 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 now not want to attend in a bodily queue simply to position an order.

Lately, cellular ordering is just about important. Be sure to obtain the official Disneyland app and that you just place your order upfront of the mealtime rush.

It isn’t a nasty thought to position your order an hour or two forward in some instances if you already know when and what you wish to eat. At in style spots and on the busiest days, obtainable time slots start to replenish, 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 it’s possible you’ll be left hungry for some time.

When you place your order, wait till the time you will have chosen to eat. Then click on within the app once more to point your arrival as you method the restaurant. Your meals is often prepared in a couple of minutes at a pick-up window. Search for the push notification to provide you with a warning within the app.

Make Disneyland restaurant reservations 60 days upfront

For those who plan to go to a desk service restaurant or a preferred character meal buffet throughout your Disneyland trip, reservations are a should. We advocate reserving proper at Disneyland’s 60-day reservation window earlier than your journey in case you can. Reservations open at 6 a.m. (Pacific time) every day and the highest eating places can ebook up near immediately.

For those who miss the prospect 60 days out, a service like MouseDining will be helpful in alerting you when a gap turns into obtainable. Simply act shortly, as selections disappear as quick as they seem.

Do not forget about eating packages

Disneyland has a variety of in style exhibits and parades that many guests need to see. Discovering a great seat for them might require tenting out an hour or extra upfront.

One resolution is to safe reserved seating or standing areas for these exhibits by reserving an related eating package deal. These packages do come at a premium value, however they save substantial time along with offering a meal that company can be paying for anyway. Test the Disneyland web site or app for availability, as there are sometimes adjustments to the choices.

Associated: How to use points for Disney tickets

Suppose past the parks

There are such a lot of wonderful eating places inside Disneyland Park and Disney California Journey, however remember to look past park borders for different wonderful eating places.

We have already highlighted among the finest choices at a number of of the Disneyland on-property lodges, however there are nonetheless extra worthy restaurant selections at these properties. Scheduling a lodge character meal in your arrival or departure day at one in every of these lodge eating places is usually a good alternative, 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 journey from the parks. Choices embody a brewery, a restaurant specializing in over-the-top milkshakes, a bowling alley with wonderful 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 building in Downtown Disney continues.

If you’re paying by card for these meals, use a card that rewards you with additional miles for eating, just like the Citi Prestige® Card (5 factors per greenback), American Express® Gold Card (4 factors per greenback at eating places on as much as $50,000 in purchases per calendar yr, then 1 level per greenback), Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (7 factors per greenback on eligible purchases at U.S. eating places) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (3 factors per greenback). (Be taught extra in regards to the best credit cards for dining.)

The knowledge 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 offered by the cardboard issuer.

Alternatively, you too can choose up some discounted Disney gift cards earlier than your journey to save lots of on meals at the very best eating places in Disneyland.

For those who’re planning a household trip to Disneyland, listed here are extra articles that can assist you craft the proper journey: