Late last year Pollo Campero opened up at Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World. The food is fine and has its merits, though this is not a restaurant review. What really interested me in the press event was that the chefs talking were the ones working out of Wolfgang Puck’s. It reminded me how intertwined the many Disney restaurants are at Downtown Disney. To that end, I thought I would share Downtown Disney’s Family Food Tree. It’s a tree that has not only roots, but branches that have been grafted, replanted, cut and even burned. To that end, we’ve organized this family tree under the following five headings: The Big-Chain Branches, The Celebrity Branches, The Stand-Alone Branches, the Fallen Branches, and the Missing Branches.
Entrance to the new Pollo Campero. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
The Big-Chain Branches
There are two major branches of the tree, Landry and Levy. Landry Restaurants not only has a presence at Downtown Disney, but throughout all of the Walt Disney World Resort. They are most famous at Disney for being responsible for the Rainforest Cafe. But they also recently opened up the T-Rex, A Prehistoric Family Adventure. Still, it doesn’t stop there. Have you been to Yak and Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom? They’re responsible for that, as well as the Rainforest Cafe also located there. And in Lake Buena Vista you can find them at The Crab House and at Landry’s Seafood. Beyond that you’ll find Oceanaire Orlando on International Drive and Bubba Gump’s at Universal CityWalk. Landry’s has a definite presence in Orlando.
T-REX, a Prehistoric Family Adventure (can they make these titles longer?). Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Still, the biggest branch at Downtown Disney probably goes to Levy Restaurants. They also have a dominant presence at Downtown Disney. Do you like Fulton’s Crab House? That was one of their first restaurants, which ended the era of the Empress Lilly dining experience.
Fulton’s Crab House, though most people prefer to think of it as the Empress Lilly. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Adjacent is Portobello. This is perhaps the quietest restaurant, and can easily be missed as one is moving from the former Pleasure Island area over to the Village Marketplace section.
Portobello, featuring Italian cuisine. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Wolfgang Pucks has been a hot spot since Disney’s West End opened in the 1990s. The restaurant offered a variety of dining locations on both the bottom and top floor. They also hosted a gourmet express location not only on that end of Downtown Disney but on the Marketplace side, as well.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe offers several dining options within. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Finally, there’s the newest entree, Pollo Campero, which offers not only Latin Chicken dishes, but also houses Fresh A-Peel and Babycakes NYC Bakery. The latter offer vegan and gluten, egg and soy free products. It distinguishes itself from its former occupant McDonalds, while still retaining a counter-service experience.
Pollo Campero and Fresh A-Peel share the same location where McDonald’s once stood reign. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Those two branches. Landry and Levy, reflect the biggest operating partners at Downtown Disney. Next are some restaurants that exist as branches because there were big-name celebrities involved.
The Celebrity Branches
Bongos Cuban Cafe takes its cues from a 1950’s style Havana nightclub. Created by music superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio, this restaurant is as much about music as it is about cuisine—perhaps more so. Its sounds set the tempo for the walkway along Disney’s West Side.
Bongos Cuban Cafe. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
The House of Blues was started by Isaac Tigrett and Dan Aykroyd. It has grown into a venue “where music and food feed the soul.” If you’re familiar with Isaac Tigrett, he is co-founder of the one big name restaurant that is headquartered as a chain here in Orlando, but isn’t found at Disney (it’s at Universal), Hard Rock Cafe. At the House of Blues you’ll still find popular acts lined up here all the time. It is in some ways more of the spirit of Pleasure Island than Pleasure Island ever was.
House of Blues Restaurant. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
The grand daddy of these celebrity branches has been Planet Hollywood. This chain was started by former Hard Rock Cafe CEO, Robert Earl. You may not remember when they opened back Planet Hollywood back in the 1990s, but it was hot stuff. Lines were everywhere trying to get into this place, and waits were measured in hours, not minutes. Today, you don’t see the lines, much less the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (though the costumes and props are still datedly there). Heading that restaurant chain for many years as well as the defunct Official All-Star Cafe (which was located at Disney’s Wide World of Sports) has been Robert Earl.
Planet Hollywood. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Speaking of Earls, the final Celebrity branch is Earl of Sandwich. Earl of Sandwich is a unique, and popular addition to Downtown Disney. It takes its roots from John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who had so little time to eat as First Sea Lord in the British Navy, he came up with…well…the sandwich. It’s design of putting salted meat between two slices of bread was perfect for someone eating on the go. It became an eatery at the Downtown Disney Marketplace thanks to Orlando Montagu, the son of the current Earl John Montagu and financed in part by another Earl, you guessed it, Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl. As Orlando positioned it: “My father’s an earl and you’re an Earl. My name is Orlando and you live in Orlando.” Thus the Earl receives celebrity status not just for it’s title of Earl (which means chieftain), But because of it’s ties to Robert Earl of House of Blues and Planet Hollywood.
The World’s Greatest Hot Sandwich: Earl of Sandwich. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
The Stand-Alone Branches
The next set of branches have no siblings at Downtown Disney (at least that I know of). They are one-of-a-kind offerings. You don’t have to go to a celebrity founded restaurant like House of Blues to get a little entertainment. Step inside Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. It occupies the former Pleasure Island Jazz Company and before that, a former food court experience known as Merriweather’s Market.
Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Paradiso 37 is a new dining location that has no connections to other restaurants at Downtown Disney. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have siblings elsewhere. Rashid Choufani, who is the CEO and owner of the restaurant, started years ago operating the Restaurant Marrakesh, and later the Tangierene Cafe in Morocco at Epcot. He now has a variety of offerings to include Timpano’s and the Samba Room off of Sand Lake road between Disney and Universal.
Paradiso 37, Taste of the Americas. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Finally, what remains as nearly a dead branch is one that sits as a centerpiece in the Downtown Disney lagoon. Cap’n Jack’s Restaurant started years ago as an oyster bar. Cap’n Jack’s is a remnant of another era known originally as the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. It is astonishing that so little has changed from this restaurant. But there it sits in the lagoon begging for attention.
It must be the Lego Dragon that’s protecting Cap’n Jack’s Restaurant from being changed out. Rainforest Cafe is in the distance. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
The Fallen Branches
There are a many fallen leaves and branches in this family tree. Some of them deserve mention. Fireworks Factory is an early Levy restaurant. It was followed by the Wild Horse Saloon, also run by Levy. It is now being bulldozed into what will soon be known as the Hyperion Wharf.
Here’s a favorite of mine—Cheesecake Factory at DisneyQuest. This was so good, that some people went there just for the food. I must say, I owe half of my caloric intake in the 1990s to this restaurant. It was beyond delicious, and really made DisneyQuest stand out. What is in its place does not even deserve mention in this article.
The best counter service food in all of Walt Disney World was once kept hidden inside this box. Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Did I forget McDonalds? I think Pollo Campero is a fine addition. But I think McDonalds should have stayed. Alas, it is no more. Do you remember what was in its place prior? That would be Donald’s Dairy Dip for 500 points!
But here’s one that survived—Chef Mickey’s. This character meet, greet, and eat took over the original Village Restaurant, which was the nicest location prior to the Empress Lilly. It is now a major meet, greet and eat experience at Disney’s Contemporary. But its roots are originally here at Downtown Disney.
The Missing Branches
What is curiously missing from the Downtown Disney Family Food tree is Orlando’s own Darden Restaurants. You know them for Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Bahama Breeze. They are not only the largest full-service casual dining company in the world, they are headquartered here in Central Florida. If you’ve been a fan of the California Grill, then you should be a huge fan of Darden’s Seasons 52, a restaurant that was started by the same two gentlemen, George Miliotis (master sommelier for Darden’s) and Clifford Pleau (senior director of Culinary), that started the California Grill. If you like the Grill, you’ll love Seasons 52. But you’ll have to go off property to experience it. Indeed, it has been rated by many Orlando magazines as a top favorite.
If everything sounds connected…well…it is. About the only person not experiencing close degrees of separation is Kevin Bacon. I haven’t even spoken of how many of these same restaurants have shown up in Downtown Disney Anaheim or at Disney Village at Disneyland Paris. Nor have I covered other associations that occur across Walt Disney World property, like San Angel, LLC that manages all of the Mexican eateries at both Epcot and at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. And there’s more to come in the months and years to come, even from the likes of AMC‘s concept of Dine-In movie theaters.
Even AMC is going to get into the act! Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
So What?
So what does it all mean? For you, this crazy, concocted, and grafted tree probably means more choices, and possibly better choices. Because these choices come from the same branch, it’s easier for Disney to get new restaurant concepts in and out of Downtown Disney if they are working with a core group of operating partners. The relationships are already there. The expectation of what Disney wants is already there. The challenges of pulling something together at Disney is already understood. You may say that the variety of offerings, and fairly good offerings, is due to the fact that Disney works from key relationships.
I say, skip all the above and go for dessert first! Photo by J. Jeff Kober.
Of course, that’s providing that the food and service are great to begin with. So what do you think? Do you think Downtown Disney has a great offering of restaurants? Does it matter that many come from the same operating partner branches? Do you feel that there are great culinary opportunities that Disney is missing? The answers to these questions not only suggest how well Downtown Disney does as a culinary destination, but how well it will do in the future.
