If you are looking for something refreshing and satisfying to eat at Disneyland's Downtown Disney - but that does not require a reservation and won't break your bank account, I have just the place for you.
Just walk all the way to the western end of Downtown Disney and check out the new Parkside Market.
The Disneyland Resort's new food hall celebrated its official opening this morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Inside, guests will find four service locations, including Seoul Sister, serving Korean-style bowls,
GG’s Chicken Shop, serving fried chicken sandwiches and chicken strips,
And Sip & Sonder, a coffee window that serves espresso, lattes, and teas, as well as cinnamon rolls and cake pops. (Sip & Sonder also is accessible outside the hall.)
On the hall's second floor, you will find Vista, a bar that overlooks Downtown Disney.
Here is a menu for the three restaurants.
At a media reception after the ribbon cutting, I sampled a few of the offered selections. Here is a full-sized version of the Original Fried Chicken sandwich [$18] from GG's.
It's a fine sandwich, with moist chicken under a tasty but not overpowering batter. A spicy mayo adds some heat, which is cut slightly by the bright pickles. Three other sandwich options are available, as are chicken strips.
I also tried the Broccoli Slaw [$7], which is dressed with a lemon poppy seed dressing as well as almonds, raisins, and a hint of dill. Those slaw flavors seemed to be fighting one another - they're all ones that I enjoy, but they did not come together well enough to make me crave another helping.
What I did love, and can strongly recommend, are the bowls at Seoul Sister.
That's the Beef & Egg Bowl [$19], with Bulgogi Beef, an egg, carrots, kale, sesame oil and a spicy sauce, served over a choice of rice, salad or noodles. I tried a sample portion of the Tofu Bowl [$16], with crispy organic tofu, avocado, carrots, kale, cucumber, and a Vegenaise Cali Sauce, served over Japchae noodles.
Finding well-prepared vegetables at a counter-service location in or near a theme park can be a challenge. And it is one that many parks fail. Fortunately, Seoul Sister wins that challenge with a delightful combination of veggies and protein that left me satisfied. Bowls are assembled to order from what appeared to be freshly sliced and prepared ingredients. With bowls, it's all about those ingredients, and if Seoul Sister can maintain the quality that it showed at its official opening, I hope that it will be able to endure as my go-to choice for a quick meal at Downtown Disney for years to come.
Unfortunately, I have seen far too many promising new eateries at Disneyland and other theme parks succumb to what seems to be an uncompromising demand by park visitors for the most basic fast food staples. Ultimately, it's up to fans who want something different to support the locations which offer that. At Downtown Disney, Disneyland seems to be trying to oblige, bringing in vendors several steps up from common fast food chains. Parkside Market is the first Disneyland Resort location from Levy Restaurants, which operates Terralina Crafted Italian and Paddlefish at Disney Springs, both of which I have found satisfying every time I have visited.
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I doubt it. But the model of Disney handling stuff in the park and vendors taking over DtD probably works. In addition to Levy, Disneyland already has Patina Restaurant Group (which does in-park operations at EPCOT), Earl of Sandwich, Din Tai Fung and some other outside companies in DtD, with Porto's on the way... someday.
@Robert - That's true, but Disney has used both Patina and Landry's for in-park restaurants in WDW (Space 220, Spice Road Table, Yak and Yeti, Rainforest Cafe, and others). I would be concerned that this gets Levy's foot in the door (a massive company that's primary business is to manage large venue food service), and that they may eventually persuade Disney to start handing off the operation of in-park restaurant locations to them.
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"the first Disneyland Resort location from Levy Restaurants"
So that answers quite a bit right there, because Levy is one of the largest providers of stadium/arena food in the country (Aramark is their main competitor and current industry leader). Levy is actually the vendor for the professional stadium/arena we visit most frequently in our area and over the years, Levy has cycled in and out as the primary food provider for other stadiums/areas we have visited over the past 10-15 years. In my experience, Levy is the best of the 3 main stadium food providers we have personally encountered (Delaware North is the other along with Aramark), but in the end, just like all stadium vendors, they're more focused on speed, efficiency, and profit over quality and originality. In our area, Levy has always done a good job engaging local vendors to introduce new concepts into venues, but rarely do those offerings have staying power because the more creative those stands are, the less profitable they can be and the more time it takes to deliver items to fans (slower and less efficient). Ultimately, new vendors rarely last more than a season or 2 whether that's because they cannot deliver the volume demanded or are deliberately cycled in and out so Levy can promote "new" offerings at the start of the season is anyone's guess, but the trend has been to have interesting inventive dishes advertised at the beginning of the season that ultimately get watered down (or "shrinkflated" - higher price and/or smaller portion) at the end of the season with the vendor replaced by a new one the following year.
A Food Hall is a little bit different than a stadium/arena (though we have been to a few stadiums that have or are developing actual Food Halls now), but my guess is that the individual vendors are going to be under massive pressure to deliver high profit AND high volume. Because of that, it's likely these 4 vendors will get burned out and replaced a year from now. I guess that's kind of the expectation at a Food Hall, but I do think theme park fans have expectations of more stability in food offerings even in an area like Downtown Disney.
While Disney has turned to outside food providers before, I do find it interesting that they are utilizing a company like Levy on their property. I don't mind Disney turning some spaces over to restaurant providers (like Landry's and Patina to name a couple), but this is the first time that I'm aware where Disney is giving a large venue food service company to operate space on Disney property. Will this, like the deals with Petina and Landry's, eventually lead to Levy assuming control of in-park locations?