Gluten Free Disney World & Orlando

[zeta-lilly]

We just got back from Disney and I thought I'd post what I ate there :-)

Magic Kingdom:

What I ate: Turkey Leg from cart

Verdict: gross

I've never found much to eat at Magic Kingdom. We thought maybe we'd eat at Liberty Tree tavern (and I've heard it's very good and a great place to get a gluten free meal), but the prices there were insane and I thought I probably wouldn't eat enough to make up for the $35 a pop price tag so I just got a turkey leg at a cart. It was awful. I got one last year at Epcot and it was so delicious, but this was dry and tough and was not fresh at all. I had the same experience last year with the turkey leg cart at MK--gross. Maybe they let them sit longer when the parks are less busy and I came at a slow time, but I was not impressed.

All Star Movies food court:

What I ate: french toast

Verdict: yum!

I wasn't super impressed with the chef I spoke to at the food court there. Of course he looked pretty young, so maybe he was just inexperienced but when i told him I needed a gluten free meal, he didn't offer anything above and beyond the gluten-free foods that were available frozen (I think it was like chicken fingers and gluten-free pasta, and then some gluten free breads and buns). It would be nice to have been told if any of the foods on the line were gluten free (they had baked chicken and some vegetables that looked really good). But he didn't offer to make anything other than this. I asked if I could get gluten free french toast (something the chef made for me last year) and he said no they didn't have it. I said "Oh, I thought maybe you could take some gluten free bread and make it", he thought for a second and said "yeah, I guess that could work. We're not really supposed to make breakfast foods cause it's not breakfast, but I'll do it". I'm not really sure if he knew that other foods can be gluten free than what comes frozen and packaged and says "gluten free" on the box (like vegetables and rice). Who knows.

While he was making my french toast I looked around to see what else they had that was gluten free and I noticed they didn't have the gluten free brownies out that they had last year so I asked the check out lady if they had any and they brought some out from the back. The food I ate here wasn't bad at all, but it was like I had to do so much work to find out what they could make me and no one offered anything unless I asked for it first. Still, aside from this, the food was good and they did have a lot of gluten-free options in the refrigerators. I found:

-several varieties of chips (Disney's own packaging, all labeled gluten free. I thought they were delicious. They had doritos, cheetos, bbq, and plain I think. I thought the doritos tasted better than dorito brand)

-kozy shack pudding labeled gluten-free

-yoplait yogurt

-various fruits

-gluten-free brownies (Decent tasting grownies. I had to ask for these, also ask if they have anything else while you're at it that they're not telling you about!)

-salads without croutons and ken's steak house dressing

Downtown Disney

We ate several places at Downtown Disney:

Pollo Campero

What I ate: grilled chicken, rice and black beans (don't eat the black beans), corn tortilla

Verdict: Delicious!

There was a mix-up at Pollo Campero. I should've spoken to a manager about my order, but the guys at the counter seemed knowledgeable so I listened to them. I was told that the black beans were gluten free but then when I got home I looked at the website and it said that the black beans contain gluten but the campero beans are gluten free. That explains the terrible headache I had that night. But I still recommend this place, it was my second favorite meal of the trip and I'm sure the compero beans would've been even more delicious than the black beans. I was really impressed with Pollo Campero's website. They outlined very clearly what foods are gluten free, dairy free, msg free, etc. It's a little disappointing that they put msg in so many things, but at least they disclose that. Open Original Shared Link

Check out the website and ask to speak to the manager when you get there (like I should've done). Even if you don't eat at Pollo Campero, you have to go into the Pollo Campero building because they also house Fresh A-peel and Babycakes bakery (a gluten free vegan bakery!)

Fresh A-Peel

I didn't eat here but while I was getting my Pollo Campero, I stepped over and asked the girl working at Fresh A-Peel if the food was gluten free and she said "Everything here is fresh and organic", which means she had no idea what I was talking about, lol. I would've asked to speak to the manager, but I wasn't planning to eat there so I didn't want to bother anyone. But I have no doubt in my mind that I could've gotten a gluten free meal here. It basically looks like a build your own salad and fruit plate bar. And if it's all natural and organic, it's probably not mixed with a ton of additives. I'll probably try this when I go back next year.

Babycakes bakery

I have no clue why they're not promoting this more. There's no sign outside and the only reason I knew this was here was because I was in another shop and I spotted a woman with a pink bakery box with "gluten free" stamped on the outside. It was like a mirage. The whole bakery is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan, and DELICIOUS! I got one of each of their varieties of doughnuts and their apple cranberry bread and they were all so yummy.

Fulton's Crabhouse

What I ate: Alaskan king crab claws, red potatoes, and caesar salad without croutons

verdict: delicious, but overpriced

The food at Fulton's was very good, and the positive thing I can say about it is that the majority of the menu is naturally gluten free, so you really have a lot of options when eating here. My complaint about this restaurant is that it's very expensive, which I knew going in, but I didn't feel like I got my money's worth. When the chef came to my table he refused to alter anything to suit my gluten free needs. There were a few items on the appetizer list that I asked about and he couldn't do any of them. Some of the restaurants at Disney had gluten-free flour on hand and can do things like gluten-free calamari or gluten-free crab cakes. He could've even served the calamari without breading and just sauteed them, but no go. To me this says one of two things, either the crab cakes and calamari are pre-made and they don't have the raw ingredients on hand or he couldn't be bothered. Either way I'm not impressed. I paid a lot of money to eat here and I was expecting to be catered to a little more than I was. My husband had steak with shrimp and the lobster bisque with crab. I tried the steak and shrimp and they were good, but not amazing. The waitress and the rest of the staff were very good though and if you are concerned about cross contamination, there is probably less of a risk here because most of the menu is gluten-free anyway.

Rainforest Cafe

What I ate: hamburger patty and mashed potatoes

Verdict: go for the atmosphere, not the food

I ate here last year, but I thought I'd include it. The chef came out and talked to me and said "what do you like to eat?". I have no idea how to answer that because I like all kinds of things and I have no idea what they have available so I asked him what things he had made in the past that were gluten free. He said he can make all kinds of things. We go back and forth for a couple minutes and he's giving me nothing, so I start asking what foods he has available (are the tortilla chips gluten-free? No. Is this ingredient gluten-free? No. Are you able to make this gluten-free? No.). Maybe I was supposed to have it in my head what I wanted before I got there and then just told him? After a few minutes he started to look as annoyed as I felt so I just ordered the plain hamburger and mashed potatoes. Pretty much everyone I've talked to says that Rainforest cafe isn't known for good food, so I'm not alone in my experience. But my kid thought it was pretty darn cool :-)

Epcot

Tangierine Cafe:

What I ate: chicken w/ lettuce, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce.

lentils

hummus

olive salad

Verdict: omg delicious

This place was the highlight of the trip. I had been craving gyros for some time so that's why we decided to eat here(and that's basically what they have here, just called something different). I was disappointed that the lamb isn't gluten-free, but the chicken is seasoned and prepared very similar, so it has the same texture and with the tzatziki sauce it was like eating a gyro without the pita. My husband had the lamb wrap and lentils, tabbouleh (not gluten free), and couscous (obviously not gluten-free). He loved it. Even my picky four year old loved this place. She proclaimed that she wasn't eating. I told her that was fine, but I was hungry and I was eating. So when we got our food, she started asking for bites. Finally we got her an empty plate and gave her a sample of each thing her had on ours and she wolfed the whole thing down and then asked for more. She loved everything but the hummus. Then my parents came by and started asking for bites TOO! They liked the bites so much they went and got their own plates. I think the only things on the menu we didn't try between the two of us were falafel and the tahini sauce. The tahini sauce is gluten-free, I didn't ask about the falafel. We ended up coming here a second time because it was so good.

Outside Disney in Orlando

Uno's Chicago Grill

Prior to this time, I've eaten at this chain twice before, once at this location and once in another state and both times it was delicious. They have gluten free pizza that actually tastes like pizza. This time, however, was disappointing. I'm not sure what went wrong, it was like they lost the whole bottom of the crust. I tried to pick up my pizza and it crumbled in my hand. I didn't even finish one slice. I'm assuming that since it was good twice before that this was the exception rather than the rule. Maybe they had a new cook who didn't know what he was doing. I still recommend eating here, the pizza I had the other two times was really great and they have a big gluten free menu aside from their gluten free pizza. They even have bananas foster (yum!).

Azteca D'Oro

The food here was good but not amazing. But then again, the Mexican restaurant in my town is one of the best around and nothing adds up to it, so I'm probably a tougher critic than most! What this restaurant has going for it is the service and the size of the portions. I would barely take two drinks before i heard "refill amiga?". Our chips and salsa were refilled without asking. It was excellent service. And the portions were ginormous. I didn't ask for a gluten-free menu when I got there because the people I dealt with had very thick accents and my reasoning was that if most native English speakers haven't heard of gluten, there's even less of a chance for non-native speakers to know the word gluten. I may have been wrong though, I emailed the company when I got home and got a very friendly reply immediately. Here is the list they sent me:

The Following List of Items are

[Lisa]

Thank you for taking time to post this. It will be a great resource!

[cassP]

i follow babycakes on twitter- apparently they just opened at disney on dec 10 and it was real hush hush.. Im sure itll be marketed now.

And OMG - 2 years ago i got that giant turkey leg at EPCOT- omg what the hell was that smoky tuff disappointment.. Look i am all about meat- always feel better on a paleo diet. I was so looking forward to that turkey leg.. It was so pink and smoky that it tasted like HAM (i dont like smoked stuff or ham).. aND on top of that there was a hard layer of cartilage over the leg that i couldnt bite thru.. I tried to cut it with a knife and it was impossible

[zeta-lilly]

And OMG - 2 years ago i got that giant turkey leg at EPCOT- omg what the hell was that smoky tuff disappointment.. Look i am all about meat- always feel better on a paleo diet. I was so looking forward to that turkey leg.. It was so pink and smoky that it tasted like HAM (i dont like smoked stuff or ham).. aND on top of that there was a hard layer of cartilage over the leg that i couldnt bite thru.. I tried to cut it with a knife and it was impossible

Yeah, I was really looking forward to the turkey legs because people rave about them online. And the first one WAS really delicious (at Epcot). But then the next two were inedible. Exactly like you describe. Their quality control isn't great on that product.