I abandoned the "Best Restaurant" category in the Theme Park Insider Awards several years ago, mostly because in-park dining had gotten so bad during the pandemic that I just did not have the heart to honor anything in that category.
It's not just theme parks. Fast food has become ridiculously expensive while quality has declined across the United States. There's great fine dining to be found, but the middle class of sit-down restaurants is thinning (along with the middle class, period).
In the parks, I have found that little appeals to me anymore. Part of that is just age - I do not eat like a teenager or young adult anymore. But a lot of that is declining standards in quality, value and consistency.
As for my home parks, at Disneyland I still like the fried chicken dinner at Plaza Inn, if I am visiting with someone and can split it. I'll check to see what the current po'boy is at Tiana's and the special at the Royal Street Veranda. If those do not appeal, the Ronto Wrap remains my fallback.
At Universal Studios Hollywood, I really just don't know anymore. The Three Broomsticks is a shadow of its former, wonderful self. I might try a slice at Slice House next time I visit, though eating at CityWalk will becoming easier once it moves inside the security perimeter.
What are your favorite places now? Which quick service places are your go-to, and which sit-down places remain worth the splurge?
I have heard and read some good reviews about the Atlantic in Epic.
I have not been there yet but my friend Mr. VelocicoasterFan will soon be there so I am hoping he will give it a shot then a nice review.
I have always liked the Leaky Cauldron, Not a high end of course but still a decent grilled chicken sandwich and a Butter beer...
For me, the declines in this category are a direct result of prices to visit theme parks. With the cost to walk through the front gate of the best American parks approaching or in some cases exceeding $200, many folks simply don't have the additional money to spend in the parks to try lots of different foods. Adding to that are food prices that have similarly skyrocketed, though not to the same extreme as admission. Now, those price increases have come with more gourmet options and more diversity in cuisines, but when the cost to visit a theme park is already burning a hole in your pocket, you're naturally going to find other places to cut back, particularly when eating in a theme park usually caries a 30-50% premium over eating similar food outside of a theme park.
15-20 years ago, it used to be normal for us to explicitly plan out and try as many different restaurants in a theme park as we could. Now we maybe plan for 3-4 meals at a sit down theme park restaurant over the course of a week and then trying to find ways to cover the rest of our meals without going bankrupt. Also, the temporary loss of the Disney Dining Plan during the Pandemic and the decline in value of the reinvented DDP has caused guests to be more conservative with their meal choices when visiting WDW. For over a decade, we would explicitly plan WDW trips around "free" DDP promotions, and while Disney has started offering similar promotions again, they're not nearly as attractive as they used to be, and the revised rules of the DDP make it really difficult just to "break-even" on the price of the plan if you're actually paying for it.
I also think the proliferation of food festivals and special events has resulted in more guests grazing their way around theme parks as opposed to sitting down for full meals. This is also a biproduct of the increasing costs to visiting theme parks, because picking up smaller items from kiosks and snack carts can satisfy your hunger at a reasonable price while also not consuming large chunks of time in your day. With such a large percentage of a vacation budget going towards admissions, it's important to get the most out of that money, and sitting in a restaurant for an hour or more when there are attractions to experience can be a massive time sink. Time is money, and as admission prices continue to skyrocket, spending time at a sit down restaurant during theme park hours is like burning money without even considering the premium prices for entrees at the best in-park table service restaurants.
If I’m in the mood for a high level snack and not necessarily a full-blown meal then the Spice Road table at Epcot delivers, hands-down, every time. The Peri Peri shrimp there is one of the best dishes I’ve had anywhere.
There's something for all tastes at World Showcase at EPCOT varying in prices. My personal favourite is La Hacienda de San Angel on the lagoon.
Hey Fattyackin - Did you mean Spicy Shrimp that has - Chili, Garlic, Peri Peri Sauce..
Not that I looked it up - hahahahahah
Atlantic at Epic is very good. Bit more pricey than the other restaurants, but I'd certainly recommend anyone visiting Epic to try there.
I'm back at the end of the month and I'm going to try Blue Dragon. Which also gets good reviews.
@Brian:
Indeed i did. The dish was so packed with flavor that I forgot the actual name lol
Two words: dining plans. Two more words: food festivals. In my opinion, the rise of those has majorly contributed to a lack of motivation for parks to offer quality food offerings. The best stuff is usually reserved for festivals, where items can be sold a la carte at a premium, and if a large number of customers are buying dining plans and have thus pre-purchased their regular meals, there's no motive to do anything beyond the bare minimum.
These days, I try to avoid buying food inside the parks if at all possible, and if necessary try to keep it to one meal inside the gates. With many of the full service restaurants now on par with what counter service used to be, it's not worth the time or cost in many cases, so I just grab something that sounds acceptable at the most convenient counter service location. The only time I'll deviate from that rule is if a park has a particularly unique dining location for reasons not strictly tied to the menu.
Also, this is primarily an issue with major American theme parks, not all theme parks across the board. I've had some pretty good meals at Herschend properties and independent parks within the past few years, and many of the "just okay" offerings I've had in theme parks over in Europe or Japan were better than a lot of the "good" food here.
I should say for the record that if anyone has complaints about the food at Disneyland or Walt Disney World, just visit Disneyland Paris and the U.S. Disney parks will seem gourmet.
Allegedly, EU has some incredible food. I can't corroborate on that yet, but it's a good indicator of good food quality in Orlando.
Elsewhere at universal, you've got Thunder Falls Terrace, three broomsticks, leaky cauldron, and apparently Circus Mcgurkus has had quite the comeback. USO could use some better food options but it seems like universal is taking time improve restaurants across its original parks.
At Disney, you have Yak & Yeti, Saturi Canteen, Sci- fi dine in, Jesse's roundup, space 220, and everything else in world showcase. Admittedly none of these are at MK which can really stand to improve its food options but Epcot more than makes up for that .
And at SeaWorld, which I rarely visit nowadays, I had an incredible burger at Altitude Burgers. I could talk for hours about that thing. Maybe I was just really hungry but that might legitimately be the best burger I've ever had.
I think that the best restaurant category needs to come back (especially because we've tricked universal into thinking mythos is the best theme park food) but with EU I think it's worth another shot. I want to see what people think has the best food, or maybe which food has the best bang for their buck.
I think most of the blame for the fall of quality in theme park food is the need to appeal to everyone. People are picky, especially families with little kids, so every restaurant needs chicken tenders and burgers and fries. It drags down diverse food options when parents complain about their kids not wanting anything that hasn't been smothered in ketchup.