The Plaza Restaurant: The Oasis in the Desert of Kingdom Insanity

Perhaps you’ve heard of Magic Kingdom? Most popular and most-visited theme park in the entire world? Yea, Disney World’s crown jewel rakes in over 15 million visitors a year. So, with that the sit-down, full-service restaurants become quite difficult to get a reservation for. While character dining usually dominates the sit-down restaurant dining in the Kingdom, there is a very small (literally and in scope) exception to the rule. The Plaza Restaurant is a small low-key place with a seating capacity of less than 100, and its so embedded in the Main St. area most guests don’t notice its existence. I’ve decided to give this place a shot and see what this small eatery offers.



The Plaza Restaurant is small, very small. You get a decent view of the castle, so this spot definitely works best at night when the parade and fireworks are going off. However in the afternoon, doesn’t offer much to see. The menu isn’t too complex, just a multitude of your typical higher-scale American foods like club sandwiches, burgers, etc. They also offer a multitude of different flavors of ice cream and milkshakes. I went with a potato soup to start, the Plaza Club (Magic’s take on the Club Sandwich), and got me a cookies n’ cream milkshake. Josh orders the Cheese Steak sandwich and also a cookies n’ cream milkshake. Lastly, Michael orders the grilled Reuben.






The milkshakes and soup arrive first. The milkshakes were not thick in the least bit, as there was much more milk than ice cream. Not a complaint though, as it was still creamy goodness. The potato soup was awesome, and at a $4 price tag, it was worth every penny. This soup was doused with cheese, bacon and chives, and the overall result was like a melted baked potato. If that doesn’t bring a smile to your face, I’m not sure what will.





The Plaza Club was a hit-and-miss result. While the ham, turkey and bacon tasted great, the sourdough bread left something to be desired. Sourdough has forever been my favorite bread, and I’ve announced this love before. That being said, this bread wasn’t that good because they toasted it. I personally believe that sourdough should always stay cold, and always stay soft. Small little gripe though, as the sandwich overall was decent and the accompanying chips were a nice compliment as well. The cheese steak sandwich and reuben were liked, although Michael has pointed out that Disney’s reuben sandwiches still pale in comparison to Caddy’s over at Treasure Island.

Of course, we have to attack the dessert menu, since their dessert is made in the same area as the infamous ice cream parlor at the end of Main St. (with those delicious waffle bowls). We decided to try the brownie sundae, which was your typical blend of ice cream, brownies, hot fudge, and whipped cream. After a brief wait, we receive our dessert. This monstrosity was big, but was meant to be taken down by just one individual. Upon first tasting, we realized why: this sundae is too good for sharing.



The brownies presented here were among the best I’ve ever had. The vanilla ice cream is just as good as you can possibly make it (outside of Jaxson’s Ice Cream anyway). The overall dessert was just pure delight from start to finish. The brownie tasted fresh but wasn’t too rich. The sundae had the right mixture of cake and cream, as the bowl never looked like soup. While some of the items in the restaurant are a bit up there in price, the brownie sundae is the best deal by far, as it offers a few minutes of heaven at just a few bucks.


Bottom Line: The Plaza Restaurant is nothing outstanding or one for the record books, but it makes for a nice escape from the insanity of the Magic Kingdom. Offering a temporary asylum from the crowds, the Plaza boasts a easy, simple menu with easy sandwiches that doesn’t try to impress with random fancy ingredients but more so satisfy. While the sandwiches aren’t the best, the ice cream, milkshakes, and smaller items (like chips, soup, fries) definitely delivered, and the prices aren’t too outrageous. The Plaza Restaurant is what it is, a small escape from theme park insanity.


Final Verdict: Recommend

The Plaza Restaurant
Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista

La Hacienda de San Angel: Great for the Stomach, Awful for the Wallet

Epcot is the park that easily has the best food of the Disney parks. The World Showcase alone propels it to the top of the list, and that doesn’t even include the Coral Reef Restaurant and the surprise-surprise Sunshine Seasons Food Fair. But with the Mexican pavilion I have always had my doubts. The San Angel Restaurant isn’t as good as the other full-service spots in the Showcase, and their quick-service food has always been severely overpriced. They perhaps knew this because in recent years they’ve added a tequila bar, threw in a second quick-service spot, and totally revamped the outer part of the pavilion to include a sit-down restaurant right next to the fireworks. La Hacienda was the latest cuisine adventure from the Mexican pavilion.




The place is beautiful from the inside, as it has a nice relaxed décor with Spanish art on the walls and light Mexican music playing in the background. The menu here isn’t that extensive, and the prices are definitely on the upper-side. I was intent on trying out a drink, an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert and see how far up the price ladder I go. I started with a lime raspberry margarita ($12), and then ordered the Botana ($10) (appetizer samples of popular Mexican dishes), and shrimp tacos ($23). Warning, barely any items are less than $10 here.





They start you off with chips and the drink. The tortilla chips arrive with two dipping sauces, which both nicely complimented the fresh, warm and crispy chips. They aren’t too salty, and hand just enough flavor to offset the very strong drink. My margarita was good as it was a medley of fruit flavors jumbled in with plenty of alcohol---this drink is not for the lightweights. Repeat, these drinks are not for the lightweights. I loved it, but could not drink too much of it at one time.






After a short wait I got the Botana. The Botana consisted of a cheese empanada, and small samples of chicken tostada and pork. These small samples packed heavy punches in terms of flavor and content. The empanada was the weakest as it oddly had very little cheese inside. But the chicken tostada was incredibly rich, and the same goes with the pork. If these foods were any larger the dish could pass off as a whole entrée. Throughout the dinner, the service was wonderful and very attentive, as the entire staff was full of smiles and positive energy. If there is one thing you won’t be complaining about if you visit this place, is the service.





The shrimp tacos is a very hit-and-miss entrée. The meal itself was pretty good, but really doesn’t justify its intense price. These tacos consist of shrimp, plenty of cabbage, chipotle-lime aioli, and salsa verde. This multitude of ingredients ranging from crunchy to sweet to tender works in several levels. The fried shrimp works well with the fresh cabbage, while the sauces added a nice dosage of flavor to the whole taco. This comes with yellow rice and beans, which are good but ultimately forgettable. My one issue: $22.95. $23 for this dish is way too high; it looks more like a $13-$16 meal. I have had entire steaks that cost less than these tacos. Nearly half of my bill, despite being just a quarter of the meal, was these tacos.





The pain of the price of the tacos dissipated quite a bit with the amazing, amazing dessert. I got the Mexican ice cream, which consisted of three different flavors of homemade ice cream: mango, pineapple, and strawberry. All three scoops were thick, very creamy, and worth every single penny. I was temporarily transported to the nicest part of Mexico as I had ice cream that was the equivalent of biting into a piece of fruit straight off the plant.



Bottom Line: La Hacienda is definitely the best of the Mexican food at Epcot, but like the other spots in the pavilion it’s mauled a bit by very heavy prices. If you are willing to spend, then I recommend giving this place a try at least once. They make great drinks; they have spectacular desserts, and have a nice selection of food with heavy Mexican influence. They give you plenty of food (ironically except for the entrees) and provide it with plenty of Mexican flair. La Hacienda is a step in the right direction, but did that step have to cost so much?

Verdict: Recommend----with plenty of money in the pocket



P.S. That drink was quite strong....

La Hacienda de San Angel
Walt Disney World, Epcot
Lake Buena Vista, Fl