I'm not going to count Downtown Disney. These are the restaurants where you sit down and someone brings you the food.
Mine used to be the Blue Bayou until they doubled prices. I am glad we went numerous times when we could afford it. Our favorite/usual now is Carnation Café. Reasonably priced, good food and super kind/fun service.
I ate at Blue Bayou once. It was great for the ambiance of the place, but it's just not quite worth it for the price. I might eat there again if I could snag it as part of the Fantasmic! dining package though.
The Blue Bayou menu need a lot of work. It is not at the current stander of the rest of the park. For the price they charge the food should be better.
They used to have a pork loin with apples in a root beer sauce that was to die for. It is no longer on the menu. (The last time we ate there I think it was like $14 or so. I realize it was years back but recent prices in no way reflect the rate of inflation.) The last time I ate there my friend treated but I was disappointed. Still love the "inside Pirates" restaurant thing but am no longer willing to pay the price.
I agree with the ambiance, but the prices for food are crazy. I had the lamb a few years back, and it was deliciously cooked to perfection. The only way I would think about dining here again would be as part of the Fantasmic! dining package. I hear they have the best seating for the show.
It not just about the prices. Carthay Circle for example is expensive but the food is really good. The Blue Bayou has a wonderful location but the food quality has gone down while the prices have gone up. That is why I haven't eaten there in years and tell people that it is just not worth the money. It is all about value.
That is true. We did the River Belle. (It was a special menu and we were served.) We sat next to the BB folk who were front and center and supplied with little commemorative pads for sitting.
I remember when the Blue Bayou still had prime rib on the menu. Then again, I also remember when Cinderella's Royal Table, The Rose and Crown, and Le Cellier all had prime rib (although Le Cellier's prime rib was a total loss; the kitchen staff there apparently had no clue that prime rib is a roast, not a steak). These days, my best bet for in-park dining at DL is the Plaza Inn, and I'll note that a good many of the places I'd really enjoyed on previous trips to WDW no longer serve anything I have any interest in eating. When did fast food become the new comfort food, anyway?
I expect the prices to be high at Carthay just because of the ambiance going in to the establishment, but I'm also willing to pay the extra for that experience as well. It's an added bonus that the food/drinks are spectacular as well. I think that's the draw to BB. It's not the food anymore because it is sub par at best, but it's about the experience of eating inside PoC. People will continue to fork out the cash for that just to say that they did it.
I totally agree that it is the location that keeps the place open, not the food. Overall I will say that the food quality of the park has really improved over the past years. Which makes the quality in the Blue Bayou even more disappointing.
