Where Should You Eat at Disney If Not Ready to Eat Indoors During COVID?

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 2, 2021

 

The pictures on the evening news might have you thinking that everyone is smiling happily, and returning to eating out at restaurants following COVID lockdowns. Despite what your TV might be telling you, not everyone is ready to head indoors and dine at their favorite restaurant. A lot of us are still bringing take-out home, and cooking from scratch in our own kitchens.

 

On a recent non-vacation journey to central Florida, we found ourselves trying to figure out how to eat dinner each day without resorting to a week’s worth of drive-thru food eaten in the comfort of our car.  Here’s a list of some of the dining choices that we discovered at Disney that allowed us to have dinner, comfortably seated outdoors, adequately socially distanced, and without needing theme park passes.

 

Geyser Point, Wilderness Lodge:  This was one of our two favorite choices on Disney property. Seated near the shores of Bay Lake, we were able to dine under an open air roof, watching the boats ferrying guests back and forth to the theme parks. The chairs were super comfortable, and some guests were even seated on cushioned couches and low coffee tables. Big screen TVs played varying sports, and the menu was casual, yet delicious. Think rustic National Parks lodge motif. We were seated at the very edge of the roofline, along the line of shrubbery, and with the more-than-adequate distance between tables, we were almost able to feel like we were dining in a garden overlooking the water.  QR codes provided the means to access the menu from our phone. We’d definitely head back to this relaxing locale again. And probably will, as the food was terrific! 

 

Three Bridges Bar and Grill, Coronado Springs: A similar open-sided design to Geyser Point, Three Bridges is out in the middle of the lake, connected by – shocker- three bridges. Décor is southwestern, with seating again on comfy couches, or wooden tables. The open air restaurant gets great breezes from the lake, and is particularly pretty at night when the lights from the tower reflect off the water.  Staff here was especially attentive, checking temperatures on the way in to the restaurant, offering small plates to rest your mask on, and parking hand sanitizer stations near all the entrances and bathrooms. QR codes again accessed the menu from your phone for less physical contact.  And the food was excellent, too!  This was the overall winner in our central Florida dining experience.  See our dining review here.

 

D-Luxe Burger, Disney Springs: D-Luxe Burger is a quick-serve restaurant that is hooked in to Disney’s mobile order system.  Using your My Disney Experience app, or by pulling up the app using your phone and the QR code at the restaurant, staff interaction is kept to a minimum.  Order your food online, pick it up at the counter when it’s ready, and pick a seat at the umbrella tables outside on the dock. We dined here in the late afternoon, when Disney Springs crowds were low. We chose a table overlooking the blue springs, and were able to enjoy the scenery while we ate. While we were the only ones seated at the dockside umbrella tables at that hour, it is possible that on a busy night, your distancing might be a little less “distanced” than you’d prefer. All in all, the burgers were good, the shakes even better, and it was a solid choice for eating outdoors.

The Polite Pig, Disney Springs: The Polite Pig doesn’t have nearly as much space, or as many tables, for eating outdoors as some of the other options at Disney Springs due to its location near a central walkway, but the food is so good and the tables turn over so quickly that if you pass by at an opportune time and see some open spaces, it’s worth the stop!  The mac and cheese is a solid choice for a side (we actually brought some back to the hotel room to eat), and the coffee-rubbed brisket was worth writing home about.  There’s even an outdoor bar, should you be so inclined after a hard day’s work… or park hopping.

 

The BOATHOUSE, Disney Springs: If you are feeling a little more upscale, The BOATHOUSE offers outside dining on a dock overlooking Lake Buena Vista where you can watch the amphicars plying the waterways. They have a brand new Sunday brunch as well, and are known for their extraordinarily fresh selection of seafood, especially for their oysters.

Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, Disney Springs: This little place in Disney Springs has been a favorite for our family on several occasions, mainly because of the kitschy “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” tie-ins. They have outdoor seating right on the water, and they are typically open late so you can grab a bite after you get done with meetings – or the theme parks! 

 

These are just a few of the choices we came across when we were in the Disney area. Disney Springs certainly has plenty of other options, from the outside upper decks at Morimoto Asia, Wine Bar George and Paddlefish, to the rotating selection of food trucks where you can find your own table. Blaze Pizza is super quick, and has a plethora of picnic tables outdoors. Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ is a favorite among locals (get the fried chicken), and has an outdoor patio and “Shine Bar.”  Cookes of Dublin has a smaller outdoor patio, and there are a number of grab-and-go spots like Earl of Sandwich and Morimoto Asia Street Food that have outside tables sprinkled nearby, and of course, there are always the pool bars at the resorts, which almost always have outside dining tables, if you don’t mind a few wet kiddos running by!  

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Restaurant Review: The Polite Pig Makes for Must-Do Disney Dining

by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

August 31, 2020

When the kids were little, picking a dining location at Disney was easier.  It had to offer chicken nuggets. A character appearance was a plus. But other than that, the decisions were pretty much up to mom and dad to choose. Now that the “kids” are adults in their own right, they seem to have a lot more to say about our choice of cuisine for the evening.

On last week’s solo trip to Disney (it was for business purposes, I swear!), I found myself in the previously unimaginable position of dining by myself. As in, “I can choose to eat wherever I want to? No questions asked?”  Wow. And I can tell you, it was even harder to decide, given the myriad of selections available at Disney. 

My first stop on the way in from the airport was Disney Springs. It was late lunch time, and I opted to head to The Polite Pig, a casual quick-serve spot in the Town Center area of the Springs (near the Lime garage). As a big fan of barbecue, I’d wanted to try this locale on previous Disney trips, but always got outvoted before we ran out of time and had to return home. This time, the food selection was mine alone.

In this era of COVID-19 social distancing, The Polite Pig had staffers stationed at the door and at the top of the ordering lanes to keep guests adequately spaced and to help the process move along more efficiently. (Polite Pig employees also handle the drink station and sauce bar for patrons.) Diners place their order at the front of the restaurant, and take a tracker back to a table to wait for your meal’s delivery.

It was a sunny, breezy Florida afternoon, and I opted to sit outside, though there were other diners eating inside the restaurant that afternoon. I collected my fountain drink from the staffer at the beverage station on my way to the table, and my food arrived almost immediately. My waiter was very attentive during the meal, reappearing a number of times, thus ensuring that I did not have to get up to gather any needed items. He also happily offered to bring additional sauces from the restaurant’s sauce bar, should I have needed them.

I’d had a tough time deciding on my meal, and knowing that I was heading from Disney Springs to my hotel after eating, I opted to try both an appetizer and an entrée, banking on the fact that I could take part of it back to my hotel for later in-room dining. The portions were more than ample to do so. 

For starters, I was torn between the Hop Salt pretzel ($9.00), and the Burnt Ends BBQ Meatballs ($12.00). In the end, I selected the meatballs, made with the house brisket. They came on a bed of cheddar grits and topped with a sweet BBQ sauce. As a northeasterner by birth, I’ve never understood the appeal of grits, but these grits were a nice touch, offsetting the sweetness of the barbecue sauce and giving a bit of balance to the dish. The cheddar incorporated into the grits also gave them a tad more flavor than any of the blander grits I’d previously had elsewhere.

The meatballs themselves were a heavier, denser meatball, served in a set of three. They were on the sweeter side with the accompanying sauce, but also had varying textures with crunchy onion straws sprinkled lightly over the top.

For my entrée, I chose the “Southern Pig,” a pulled pork sandwich topped with fennel-apple slaw in a mustard BBQ sauce (also $12.00).  The pulled pork was excellent. It was not overly sauced, allowing the true flavor of the meat to shine through. The meat itself was tender, and had a smoky flavor that hit a bit later in the bite. Without the mustard sauce, the meat might even have been considered a little dry, but the sauce brought in the right amount of moistness. The fennel-apple slaw on the top of the pork, though, really pulled the sandwich together. It was tangy, a bit vinegary, and not overly sweet. It offered another layer of flavor to the sandwich. The sandwich was quite messy, and I definitely needed the roll of paper towels that was conveniently centered on the table.

The Polite Pig offers a variety of “Market Sides” as a separate charge (though if you order one of the larger dishes “From the Smoker” you choose one to include with your meal). More traditional sides like Southern Potato Salad, Waffle Fries, Sweet Potato Tots, Mac and Cheese, or Baked Beans are options, but there are more unique offerings too, such as the Tomato and Watermelon Salad, Roasted Beets, Grilled Street Corn, BBQ Cauliflower, or Crispy Brussel Sprouts. All the sides are $6.00.  

Since I’ve never met a mac and cheese I didn’t like, I chose the Mac and Cheese as a side, and was oh, so glad that I did! It was undoubtedly one of the best mac and cheeses I’ve ever had. Maybe the best on Disney property? (I’ll have to go do some more research!) Made with aged cheddar and topped with a thin layer of crispy breadcrumbs, it was creamy and smooth. There was the tiniest bit of heat at the finish, and a slightly smoky follow through. (I even contemplated stopping in on my way back to the airport a few days later just to get another bowl of the mac and cheese, but alas, they weren’t open yet at that hour.)

While I had chosen a sandwich for my entrée, The Polite Pig offers even heartier fare as well. Maple glazed cedar planked salmon, a citrus marinated half chicken, brisket, pork shoulder, baby back ribs, BBQ cheddar sausages, and smoked turkey breast are also on the menu, at a range from $15.00-$23.00. Other sandwich options include a smoked turkey BLT ($13.00), smoked chicken salad ($11.00), brisket with pimento cheese ($14.00), and a fried chicken with BBQ sauce ($12.00).

The Polite Pig, opened in 2017, is the younger sister to The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park, Florida, and part of the Swine Family Restaurant Group. Owned by James and Julie Petrakis, who have been recognized as semi-finalists by the James Beard Foundation for "Best Chef-South," and James’ brother Brian, they have focused on combining local Florida flavors with wood-fired, smoked modern barbecue. The restaurant has a sleeker feel to its interior than your typical BBQ joint, but the décor does have artistically “swine” undertones scattered about. You can also watch the magic happening in the glass fronted cooking area. 

As part of The Polite Pig’s wide range of beverage offerings (including Florida craft beers and a bourbon bar), you can have a signature glass of wine in Polite Pig White or Polite Pig Red, or an icy cold brew with your ‘cue, and enjoy a namesake Ravenous Pig Lone Palm Golden Ale, Ravenous Pig Five Points IPA, Ravenous Pig Red Drum Amber Ale, or Ravenous Pig Working Man Porter. 

The Polite Pig has definitely made it on to my must-do list of restaurants for Disney. Now I’ll have to find the time to get my family there too.

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.