by Beth Keating
Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
April 7, 2023
We’ve waited a really long time for the official opening of Disney World’s newest restaurant, “Roundup Rodeo BBQ” in Hollywood Studio’s Toy Story Land. Was it worth the wait?
There’s an actual smoker behind the restaurant to prepare the BBQ meats in-house, so as you approach the Roundup Rodeo, you’ll smell the food cooking before you see it. Inside the immersive restaurant, you are one of Andy’s honorary toys, so everything, from the western towns to the train station playsets to the game board pieces, feels larger than life. A ruler along the back of a seating area will show you that you’re less than a miniaturized inch wide in this universe! There are two separate dining areas, one centered around Jessie, and the other to Bo Beep.
The décor is bright and even a bit overwhelming, not unlike the nearby Toy Story Mania attraction, but a little more child-styled, since, of course, Andy has designed this himself. Kid-created “drawings,” scenes engineered with Andy’s favorite toys and all the accoutrements you’d find in a kid’s room – pencils to hold up the boxes, wooden train tracks, game pieces, milk cartons, Christmas lights, puzzle pieces and cardboard cut-outs – make it feel a bit like Andy’s toy box exploded. It’s all of the toy sets from Andy’s room brought to life by his imagination. And while it is a continuation of the design theme of the entire Toy Story Land, Roundup Rodeo BBQ is just a touch more obvious in the child-artist territory.
If your family members are fans of Toy Story, there will be plenty to look at here while you wait for your meals – Easter eggs from the movies abound. Ask your cast member servers to point out their favorites!
This restaurant isn’t just visual. You also get to hear dialogue from the characters, ride a pogo pony to your table, and, along with the rest of the cast members, freeze in place when you hear the warning, “Andy’s coming!” While this isn’t a “character dining” restaurant, and there are no characters walking around, you’ll hear the actual voices of your favorites. Listen for the tinkling triangle dinner bell overhead, and you’ll be treated to three different audio clips, from a mistaken yardsale/lemonade stand; to a Partysaurus Rex dance party you and your servers can rock out to; to the “Andy’s coming!” warning that will have you laughing as your servers freeze in the oddest of poses until given the all-clear.
The meal is a fixed price $45 per adult and $25 per child (ages 3-9), and is the same for lunch or dinner. Your family-style menu begins with “The Prospector’s Homemade Cheddar Biscuits” with sweet pepper jelly, and a set of three salads to share for the table. “Rootin’ Tootin’ Tomato Salad” comes with cucumbers, pickled red onion, and a white balsamic vinaigrette; “Rex’s Romaine and Kale Salad” has apples, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and Green Goddess dressing; and “Wheezy’s Watermelon Salad” has fresh-torn mint.
The cheddar biscuits were delightful - fluffy, buttery biscuits with a slightly salty top, served warm. We were expecting the pepper jelly to be spicy, but it wasn’t. Rather, it was distinctly vegetable-pepper flavored, as opposed to spicy-pepper flavored. The biscuits were wonderful on their own, but the jelly elevates it to another whole level. Just be careful not to fill up on additional servings of these lovely bread offerings. It will be tempting to do so, but there is so much more food to come. This is an all-you-care to enjoy meal, with lots of options.
The salads were just slightly better than average. The Romaine and Kale salad was a leafy green salad with a tasty green goddess dressing. The apple slices added sweetness and a bit of crunch, but while it was a nice flavor, it was nothing that required second servings. The cucumber tomato salad was a more typical backyard salad, with strong onion and vinegar undertones from the pickled red onions, something like what one of your aunties would have brought to a backyard potluck. The standout in this trio was the luscious watermelon salad. While it was advertised as having mint with the melon, there weren’t too many obvious mint leaves in our dish. The small snips that appeared added a tiny bit of herby-ness, but the melon itself was so fresh and sweet we could have eaten this all afternoon. It’ll be devoured by the kiddos in your group as well.
Entrées also come out family-style, and you can dish your vittles out onto ceramic plates that look like the typical white paper plates that you’d use at a barbecue. Your cast members will bring out platters of “Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs,” “Buttercup’s Beef Brisket,” “There’s a Sausage in My Boots” fire-grilled pork sausage, and smoked “BBQ Chicken – With Style!” Plant-based diners get platters that include “Combat Carloflower” (smoked cauliflower) with harissa drizzle and walnut gremolata, a plant-based “Scrumptious Bratwurst,” and “Rip Roarin’ Rib Chop,” made from Impossible meat.
We chose the meat-based platter, with very unexpected results. The meats we were anticipating loving weren’t necessarily our favorites, and the ones that we hadn’t given a second thought to before the meal turned out to be stellar. Our ribs-loving family was not all that impressed by the Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs. While the BBQ-glazed ribs had a subtle sweetness, they weren’t fall-off-the-bone tender. There was a distinct smokiness to them, but there was just as much fat to the rib as there was meat.
We’d also been looking forward to Buttercup’s Beef Brisket, and the tastiness of the brisket didn’t disappoint. While the slices themselves were somewhat inconsistent, with most being moist and tender, but others overly greasy, you could cut the brisket with the side of your fork. There wasn’t a strong smokiness to these slices, just a gentle seasoning. There are three sauces on your table that you can choose to use with your brisket: a spicy, a sweet and a classic. We used the spicy, and while it had a little bit of heat, it was nothing that heat-adverse diners should shy away from.
The surprise for us was “There’s a Sausage in My Boots,” a rolled-up coil of sweet sausage grilled over an oak fire. It was a substantial amount of sausage, and it had a crisp snap to the outside, and a juicy, mildly seasoned inside. We’re not normally running to grab a plate of sausage, but this roll of links was so good we actually thought of asking for a second round, and it got our vote for the best of the platter.
BBQ Chicken – With Style! was also an appealing addition to the platter. The selection of chicken legs, wings and breasts is a 48-hour, brined smoked chicken with a house-made seasoning that gave a light flavor to the tender meat. There was a hint of smoke on the back end.
In addition to the entrée platters, families will also get to choose four sides from a list of eight. Choices include “Mean Old Potato Salad” with homestyle red-skinned potatoes; “The Married Spuds” loaded potato barrels; “Veggie Slaw”; “Force Field Fried Pickles”; “Campfire-roasted Vegetables”; the springy “Slinky Doooooooooog's Mac & Cheese”; “Buckin’ Baked Beans”; and “Cowpoke Corn on the Cob.”
Of the eight, we selected the potato barrels, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, and pickles, and were pleased with all of our selections. The Cowpoke Corn is an interesting take on grilled street corn, with a very sweet corn hidden beneath a coating of Queso and seasonings that offered an alternating combination of sweet and salty. There was a bit of a char to the cob, giving it a slight smokiness and the cheese (Queso? Parmesan?) was a pungent but not unwelcome flavor profile. The street corn is also prepared over the oak fire before adding the spices.
The Married Spuds (our server told us to “Congratulate them!”) were soft baked tater tots with two deliciously paired sauces, a Green Goddess and a cheese sauce. If we’d had room, we would have gotten another bowl of these, because they were a dish of cheesy goodness. But, with only so much space in our bellies, we were holding out for the Slinky Doooooooooog's Mac & Cheese. This mac and cheese was worth the price of admission! Our server told us that the pasta was specially ordered to be extra springy, like Slinky Dog himself, but we were just pleased those little coils held so much of the extra cheese! The sauce was very thick and creamy, and while we were a little hesitant about the smashed crackers (read: Goldfish crackers) on the top of the dish, it did not detract from the bowl in the slightest. This was some of the best mac and cheese in Disney World, and a great addition to a backyard barbecue.
Lastly, the fried pickles were a star. Rather than the typical round pickle chips you would see deep fried in your local pub, these were pickle spears. Not overly tart, but simply coated in a crispy shell and not greasy at all.
Of course, your meal wouldn’t be complete without dessert, and diners can choose from one chuckwagon dessert jar per guest, from among “Bo’s Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake,” “Billy’s Chocolate Silk Pie,” “Goat’s Apple Pie,” or “Gruff’s Peach-Strawberry Pie.” (In case you didn’t catch that subtlety, it’s Bo Beep and her Billy Goats Gruff.) Adorable chocolate Forky cupcakes are available for the Lil’ Riders as well.
We selected the Billy’s Chocolate Silk Pie, and Bo’s Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake. Of the two, we preferred Billy’s Pie, a smooth chocolate that was a darker chocolate, somewhat thicker than a pudding, but not quite a mousse. Bo’s cheesecake was a stronger flavor. If you like lemon, this is your dessert. Interestingly, it initially had three distinct flavors, owing to the various layers. The blueberry layer had a few plump blueberries incorporated in the filling, and the cheesecake layer wasn’t a typical “cheesecake,” but a softer, more whipped consistency. After a few spoonfuls, the layers began to blend, giving it a different taste altogether. It was a solid dessert, but a sharply flavored one.
While milk, soda and iced teas are included with your BBQ, there are also a variety of beers, wines and other entertaining drinks available for additional costs. Molly’s Frozen Iced Tea ($6.50); Partysaurus Tex strawberry lemonade – and gummy worms! ($6.50); and Frozen Cowpoke Cocoa, a cocoa and vanilla smoothie ($6.50) are the non-alcoholic offerings.
The alcoholic versions are fun, too, with such libations as the “Grown-up’s Peanut Butter & Jelly” ($16.50), from frozen Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Minute Maid® vanilla smoothie mix… and grape jelly; the “Snake Eye Margarita” ($14.50); “The Rodeo Mule” ($15.50); “Rum on the Range” ($15.50), made from SelvaRey Chocolate Rum, RumChata Liqueur, Chocolate, with toasted marshmallow; or the “Rattler Rum Punch” ($14.50).
The atmosphere at Roundup Rodeo is high-energy and the theming is fun, enough to keep your kids occupied throughout the meal. With so many Partysaurus Rex dance parties and freeze frames going on throughout the meal, this restaurant is enormously entertaining, as well as a decent food choice. We visited during the first week of operation, and there were still a few glitches (our meat platter and sides came out just as we were dishing the salads onto our plates, so timing is still a bit wonky…) and the tables are nowhere near wide enough for the number of bowls, platters and plates that land on your space. However, these cast members worked their cowboy boots off, hustling refills of dishes, dancing to Rex’s tunes, and keeping a charming banter going during the meal. This restaurant works, in part, because the cast members are very much into their roles here.
There isn’t a separate kid’s menu; they’ll be sharing the same family-style meal as the rest of the crew, but there will be plenty to fill them up on the menu. While Roundup Rodeo isn’t a restaurant you’ll visit all the time, its upbeat and engaging atmosphere will create a fun vacation memory for the Toy Story-loving fans in your home.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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