One of the core tenets at Disney Rover is: “Go where they’re not going.” By ‘they’ we mean the other guys, the influencers, the vloggers, the other blogs you read and videos you watch. Many times we have casually passed a restaurant thinking “what’s that place like?” “How come noone talks about this restaurant?”
These questions have brought us to restaurants like Rose and Crown in Epcot. Trattoria al Forno at Disney’s Boardwalk. And even to Maya Grill at Disney’s Coronado Springs. Places we’ve seen, but people didn’t seem to talk about. In some cases, after our review was published, other influencers suddenly visited these places so maybe we were ahead of game? (or they stole our idea!)
Regardless, we have a list of restaurants that we’d like to try some time in the future. A few of these don’t have many reviews by others. Some are simply brushed off. And one we’re not sure many people have been to.
So let’s get started with the first restaurant that friends of Disney Rover have spoken highly of, and we’ve heard about. It seems like quite a fun and hearty dining experience:
1. Biergarten
German food, polka, and beer! Why haven’t we been here already?! Your guess is as good as ours. By all accounts, this should already be in the Disney Rover restaurant archives but we’ve never been here!
Biergarten used to be a buffet until the pandemic. Then it became a family style restaurant. Eventually, from our understanding, it went back to a buffet. We’ll happily take a plate of sausages, potatoes, and beer in a stein bigger than our head. Our ancestors would have wanted it that way.
2. Nine Dragons
We know, we know. Everyone seems to have that local Chinese restaurant at home they always order from. We do, too! But there must be some reason this restaurant is still around. It’s been around since opening day in 1982! Is it as good as our local place at home? Is it better? Who knows?
We’ve never been, and it seems that many people skip over Nine Dragons at Epcot. We should really stop in and check it out. Heck, it can’t be worse than that one place back home (you know the one) that suddenly closes following a health inspection and reopens with a different name.
3. La Cantina de San Angel
Not to be confused with the restaurant in the Mexico pavilion that is inside the big pyramid. This is the restaurant outside of the pyramid, overlooking the lake. La Cantina de San Angel seems like yet another restaurant that gets overlooked in the plethora of World Showcase dining options.
Maybe it’s great! Maybe it’s mediocre at best. It does have a great view, though, especially for the night time show at Epcot. It’s worth checking out for research purposes. You don’t know if you don’t try it!
4. Tutto Italia
Now here’s a restaurant that gets next to no publicity! Via Napoli, sure. Italy Epcot festival food booths, certainly. Tutto Italia, crickets. Maybe it’s because the menu is in Italian? (with english translations) Maybe people are looking for lighter fare during the day?
Tutto Italia is one of those Epcot World Showcase restaurants that people seem to skip over, so naturally we’re curious to give it a try. Perhaps we’ll find yet another hidden gem before everyone else. It’s worth a shot.
5. Garden Grill
We concede this is one of the exceptions to our list. We’ve heard about Garden Grill at Epcot. We’ve watched the videos. We’re eager to meet Chip and Dale. Garden Grill is one of the restaurants on our list that we have heard good things about, but for one reason or another have never been to.
It’s possible that timing and location in Epcot could have something to do with it. By the time lunch rolls around, we’re already in World Showcase! Since Garden Grill is also open for breakfast, and we at Disney Rover are late sleepers on vacation (*ahem*), some times our desire to try a new-to-us restaurant is overshadowed by our desire to sleep in. We’ll work on that.
6. Value Resort Food Courts
How come people don’t seem to do food court reviews? Maybe we’re not looking in the right places. We seem to never find, or never find anything current, about the food at the Value Resort food courts. All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, All-Star Movies. We’ve heard about a secret menu that you have to request at a certain register and view through a Viewfinder, but that’s about it.
Is it good? Bad? At least edible? Is there a good reason why there’s a McDonald’s just outside the security gate for these resorts? (it’s true!) For us, this seems like a big mystery that we need to get to the bottom of.
We have dined at the food court at Disney’s Art of Animation, if that’s considered Value Resort. (the price for those family suites make it seem more of a moderate resort…) Did we forget to take pictures? That’s another mystery we need to get to the bottom of.
7. Moderate Resort Food Courts
This is more on us than anything. We’ve stayed at some of the moderate resorts and we’ve eaten at the food courts at said moderate resorts. What we haven’t really done, though, was talk about it!
We love the food court at Port Orleans French Quarter! We’re curious to try the food court at Port Orleans Riverside. We’ve meant to try Mercado Market at Coronado Springs but we seem to visit during hours when they’re closed. Seriously, they close mid-afternoon. Who does that?!
The Wrap-up!
That’s our list. Not exactly a bucket list. This is more of a curiosity list, if we’re being honest. Restaurants and places we’ve seen and thought to ourselves “is that place any good?” If we’re curious, chances are you, our reader, have also been curious.
With so many dining options at Walt Disney World, some restaurants simply fall by the wayside when something new opens, or an Epcot festival begins.
**One final note about our dining reviews: we pay for our meals out of our own pockets. We’re not sponsored, nor invited to any restaurant by Disney, so you can be assured that our opinions are not swayed in any direction. If we had a great meal: we’ll tell you all about it! If we hated a restaurant: we’ll tell you about it!
Also, we’re a very small operation with a small audience. It’s not like Disney has us on a special list or anything. Not filming our dining experience helps with that, also. We go incognito to give you an unbiased review! 
Disney Rover 