Disneyland Food- what's worth the splurge?

BigBoneSista

giant turkey leg and the gourmet caramel popcorn

ckish

Last time we were at DL I logged an average of 20 miles per day so I don't fret over a little splurge. We generally hike to Bubba Gumps on Katella for lunch - return to the park and hike to Tony Roma's across the street for dinner and then back to the park. I try to make good food choices but we do so much power walking for our fast passes that I never gain weight.

DBBA21

Bump

vicky1966

bubba gumps on katella has awesome salads ....my big weakness is the beignets at downtown disney ....nom nom nom ....40 more days and we will be there!!

ishallnotwant

LOVE the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney, their food is SO good!

When we went this past Monday I went to the Jolly Holiday Bakery and had a seasonal chocolate raspberry cupcake. It was SOOO rich! Absolutely amazing tasting, had whole raspberries inside plus a raspberry mousse type filling, and was topped with a dark chocolate mousse and even had gold glittery stuff on top. It was delicious AND pretty! lol I couldn't finish it and had to give half to my husband. Here's a web link reviewing the bakery with pics of the goodies too!

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012/01/06/dining-in-disneyland-first-look-the-jolly-holiday-bakery/

I also love the Cone Shop on Main Street. You can get a huge waffle cone with two scoops for less than 5 bucks-definitely one of the less expensive treats at Disney!

fionat29

Disneyland-Pineapple Whip! Served in front of the Tiki room. Don't get the float-ruins the taste of the whip and adds too many calories. 1/2 cup serving is 110 calories.
For splurge, the BBQ place that is right by Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones is pretty darned good. I usually would just get a veggie burger at the swiss family robinson looking place by the carousel/Dumbo since I always went with my girls.
CHURROS!
California Adventure-there is a tortilla factory that hands out free samples(tortillas-the small ones), so I would always go there for a free snack. Not much is free there;-)
Splurge-Their Mexican place, take out place(chinese I guess) are decent. I haven't eaten at any of the sit down places there.
My fav is at a little stand near the entrance to Bug Land. It is a chicken wrap with grapes, and a honey yogurt sauce.

As an FYI, you can bring in ANYTHING EXCEPT GLASS, so I would most always take fruit, sandwiches, granola bars, etc with me(I had season passes for 2 years and took my 2 young kids with me, so...) We'd always get pineapple whip-a true treat and relatively cheap for DL.
ETA: If you know anyone in the S.CA area, ask them if their companies are members of Club 33. It is a long shot as it is exclusive, but my old company were members before the economy went south so I got to go. TOTALLY worth the $$$ to see a piece of DL history that even the majority of workers don't even get to see.

Churros for sure!! Delicious!!

k011185

churros!!!! Lots and lots of churros.

RedHotRunner

I love Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney... Its a very easy to walk to from either park, or take the Monorail from Tomorrowland. We found the food to be really good, the service friendly and the alcohol plenty. I have teenagers and a few times we let the kids hit the parks with friends, and sat there and listened to live music. Did I mention that the food was delish?

I second Brennan's. Have a bowl of gumbo or some shrimp. 10X better then anything you'd find inside Disney.

RedHotRunner

Oh and I meant to say they had nutritional info on their foods, Its California law that restaurants have their calories posted or in menus. I remember Carnation Cafe having it posted, but can't say I remember anywhere else.

That's only for restaurants that have a certain number plus of outlets. Most big chains. You never find this information for independent or smaller size chains (I ate at CPK last night and was surprised that it wasn't on their menu. I thought they were a larger chain then that)

ishallnotwant

I love Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney... Its a very easy to walk to from either park, or take the Monorail from Tomorrowland. We found the food to be really good, the service friendly and the alcohol plenty. I have teenagers and a few times we let the kids hit the parks with friends, and sat there and listened to live music. Did I mention that the food was delish?

I second Brennan's. Have a bowl of gumbo or some shrimp. 10X better then anything you'd find inside Disney.

You can eat at the Jazz Kitchen Express, too. It's less crowded, you can order take out, and some items aren't too expensive. We went for lunch and had the gumbo and I had a fried chicken po' boy (I don't even eat fried chicken most of the time but this was DELICIOUS!) with cajun fries-altogether I think it was like 12 or 14 dollars. For 13 bucks at Disneyland you'd get a little hamburger or cheeseburger and fries-I couldn't even finish all of my lunch from the JKE. I had to give half my sandwich and fries to hubby.

Mom2rh

Just spent 3 days at D'land last week. I had three really yummy salads from three different restaurants for lunch each day. If you find a restaurant that doesn't offer a salad, go to the next one. They were great! There is an area just off the pier at CA Adventure that has lots of options and BEER. YUM. For me, that was a worthy splurge. :drinker:

I also had really good fish tacos at the Mexican restaurant in Frontierland in D'land our last night.

You can ask for cups of water at every restaurant for free. They are very obliging. I think, besides beer, the only other "splurge" I had was a cone from the ice cream place on the pier at CA Adventure.

You can eat healthy. And I was very impressed with the food.