A trip to Disneyland can be many things. For a child, it might be a chance to meet Mickey Mouse or a favorite princess, adrenaline junkies will always seek the wildest thrill rides, while annual passholders might have a weekly ritual to visit the park just to see what’s new. I definitely fall into the latter category, and am perfectly content to spend a few hours strolling around the Happiest Place on Earth to see what has changed.
I am also a self-proclaimed foodie.
Being a foodie and a Disney Parks fan has often led to double adventures through Orange County. I’d walk around the park for a little while and then leave the Disneyland Resort to get some interesting food. Don’t get me wrong—I love the cult classics like the churro, Dole Whip, and smoked turkey leg just as much as you do, but I just get burnt out on food faster than most people.
My gastronomical boredom at Disneyland might be a thing of the past, though, because Disneyland is stepping up its food offerings, and doing it very well. In late 2010, Fantasyland’s Village Haus restaurant closed for refurbishing. It quietly opened in January with a new menu that featured a pastrami burger and a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) flatbread pizza.
And now, just waking up from a two-month hibernation is Critter Country’s Hungry Bear restaurant, with some very exciting menu changes.
Last week, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix and I met with Karlos Siqueiros of Disneyland’s Food Concepts department, Disneyland’s Chef de Cuisine Richard Riojas, and Hungry Bear chefs Scott Mancino and Jose Hernandez to get the inside scoop about the restaurant’s new menu.
Siqueiros explained to us that the Disneyland Resort had decided to take its Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) locations in a new direction. Instead of finding the same hamburger and fries at every QSR location, Disneyland has chosen to create a “happy menu that brings characters alive while telling a story.” This concept, Siqueiros said, enriches the dining experience and makes the food not only unique to the location, but “a terrific compliment to the theme of the area.” For example, Big Al and Trixie, two beloved characters from the now defunct Country Bear Jamboree, have a chicken salad and blueberry pie named after them, respectively. But you can’t sell a new menu on clever name changes alone; you have to taste the food too. And boy, did we ever get a treat.
Part of the formula for the QSR overhaul is to create a signature burger to anchor the menu. The Hungry Bear’s signature burger is the Pioneer Chili Cheeseburger. The first thing you notice when you see this new burger is how tall it is. You know how you see an ad for a burger and it looks big and juicy but when your order arrives, it looks nothing like the picture? Not so with the Pioneer Chili Cheeseburger. It’s a one-third pound chuck burger with home-style chili, a slice of cheese, and a giant hand-battered onion ring. The onion ring alone must be at least an inch and a half thick, and gives this sandwich its jaw-stretching height.
The star of this dish, though, is the chili. Chef Riojas created this chili himself. Through trial and error, he came up with a chili that he felt was unlike any chili served in any Disney Park. Some of the ingredients he uses in this chili include filet mignon, ground chuck, Tabasco, fresh tomatoes, and fresh (not dehydrated) onions and garlic. And one ingredient he insisted made the chili perfect? Ketchup.
Purists will be happy to know that Chef Riojas’ chili does not contain beans. Beans or no beans, the chili is delicious on its own. And here’s a tip: Even though it’s not on the menu, you can order a small cup as a side.
