ORLGuide
The Best Restaurants At Epcot
photo credit: Anne Cruz
Magic Kingdom might have a giant castle, and Animal Kingdom has actual giraffes, but only in Epcot can you find thrill rides, kids screaming to meet Elsa, and drunk adults stumbling through the World Showcase. There are a ton of great sit-down restaurants here, so you can rest your feet for a little bit before standing for hours in line for the Ratatouille ride. Need more recs for the other parks? Check out our guide to the rest of Disney World.
THE SPOTS
Takumi Tei might be most notable for making you feel like you’re no longer at Disney. The entrance is so subtle you might walk right by it in Epcot’s Japan pavilion, and once you stroll inside, the noise and chaos of adults vying for popcorn buckets and toddlers having post-naptime meltdowns fades into a quiet calm. You’ll need to spend a few hundred dollars and over two hours at this omakase-only spot, but it’s worth it for a fine dining meal that starts with a platter full of uni shooters and snow crab salad, and ends with tableside matcha and daifuku. The vegetarian omakase is just as fun and interesting as its traditional counterpart.
photo credit: Anne Cruz
Snagging a reservation to Monsieur Paul is like getting an early boarding group for the Guardians Of The Galaxy ride—it’s marginally difficult, but will earn you infinite street cred among the Disney adults. Dishes in the seven-course tasting menu are very classic French—things like rack of lamb and snapper topped with crispy potato scales aren’t exactly breaking new ground—but everything is executed very well and will impress your cousin who has seen Ratatouille 5000 times. It also doesn’t hurt that the view from the second-floor dining room makes for a much more luxurious fireworks-watching experience than standing by the lake with a toddler aiming a bubble wand at your face.
photo credit: Anne Cruz
Connections Eatery mostly sells typical drinks and snacks you’d find at Starbucks, but it’s worth stopping in here to try some baumkuchen, a rotisserie-baked cake that looks like a slice of tree rings. The pastry comes with either a rich layer of chocolate or a light vanilla glaze—go with the latter for a light snack that’s not too sweet. You can watch the bakers apply layers of batter on the spinning cakes through the kitchen windows, or find a table and wait for your friends who insisted on riding Mission: SPACE a third time that day.
photo credit: Disney
Yorkshire County Fish Shop is located just beyond the International Gateway entrance of the park, which has access to FriendShip boats that ferry guests in from nearby hotels and Skyliner gondolas that you can ride to Hollywood Studios. The fish and chips here in jolly old fake England are as good, if not better, than ones we’ve had in actual England, and they usually have a rotating meat pie, too.
If you’re a fan of Epcots’ firework shows, do your best to score an outdoor table here around the usual 9pm start time. The outdoor patio seating is first come, first served, and it has our favorite view of the lake. You can get the same excellent fish and chips they serve at the Yorkshire County Fish Shop, plus pub classics like a warm, comforting shepherd’s pie. And since this is Epcot, alcohol is readily available—including a $27 Macallan flight.
photo credit: Disney
Don’t trust anyone who talks about Epcot food if they don’t mention Karamel Külche. This is where you’ll find Werther’s-coated popcorn, but also a bunch of other stuff filled with, covered in, and otherwise made from Werther’s candies, like s’more cookies, dipped apples, and gooey caramel squares. This is a great place to stop for souvenirs on your way home, because bringing back candy is infinitely better than a Mickey-shaped keychain.
Be prepared for a lot of screaming here (seriously, bring some Advil), as this is the prime place in the park to get up close and personal with the princesses, right in Anna and Elsa’s house. In addition to being a hot ticket for kids who’ve been waiting their whole lives to hug Tiana in a medieval castle, the food here is excellent. You’ll get a lot of Norwegian dishes like lefse, a potato-based flatbread, and some nicely spiced kjØttkake meatballs. If the kid you’re with is, shall we say, specific in their tastes, you can also get plain old mac and cheese.
The people you’ll see in this little bakery largely fall into two camps: families who need a sugar hit after waiting two hours for the Frozen ride, and adults looking for some carbs to soak up all the alcohol from drinking around the world. Both of these groups are likely here for school bread—a fluffy and sweet cream-filled bun topped with shredded coconut. They also have buttery cookies and two different boozy coffee drinks for when you need to stay awake but your brain will explode if you hear the chorus to “Let it Go” one more time.
The San Angel Inn next door wins on vibes—the Three Caballeros ride runs right through the dining room—but the outdoor Cantina has better food. Grab some nachos or tacos here when you don’t want to spend forever at a sit-down meal, or when drinking around the world requires an immediate snack.
photo credit: Disney
This corner of the World Showcase is often a bit more chill, and you probably won’t have to wait as long to eat at this spot in the Morocco pavilion, even at peak meal times. We love the naan spreads, and both the lamb kofta and crispy cauliflower are good, filling options for mains.
