EPCOT is known for its amazing food options, but sometimes, with so many options, it can get overwhelming to know where to pick, especially if you’re looking for specific food options. We might have found your next restaurant to try for those looking for plant-based options.

We had the pleasure of stopping by Garden Grill Restaurant (one of our favorites in the park!) at World Nature to see if some of the newer changes made to the plant-based menu were worth a visit. We’re bringing you a full review, so let’s jump in and start eating!

Atmosphere

If you’ve ever been to The Land pavilion (where you totally should stop by and ride Soarin’ Around the World and Living with the Land), you might have noticed Mickey and his friends at a round restaurant—that’s Garden Grill!

The whole restaurant slowly rotates so you can get new views of murals and areas of Living with the Land. For those worried about the spinning, don’t worry, it goes so slow you probably won’t even notice it. You should be able to walk around and eat your meal without any issues.

This is a character dining meal where Chip and Dale, Mickey, and more come up to your table to say hi. They love to sign autograph books and pose for photos as you enjoy your meal.

Since it’s in The Land pavilion, the restaurant is nature themed with greens and yellows poking through. This dining experience overlooks Living with the Land, and if you ride the attraction, you can see some of the restaurant. It’s usually a quieter location because it’s tucked into the back of the pavilion and has limited tables. Because of the round shape of the building, it often feels like your table is private since you aren’t squeezed next to anyone.

Enough about this stunning location, because we need to talk about the menu!

Menu

Garden Grill is an all-you-care-to-enjoy, family-style meal. There are two platters, Chip ‘n’ Dale Harvest Feast Offerings and Chip ‘n’ Dale Plant-based Harvest Feast. Families can choose both or stick to one style and order seconds or thirds (or more!) of a specific item or the whole platter.

Both platters include seasonal vegetables, harvest garden salad, carrots and celery, home-style mashed potatoes, and farm-fresh green beans.

The Harvest Feast has cornbread, backyard grilled steak, rotiserrie-roasted turkey, and mac and cheese, while the Plant-based Harvest Feast has plant-based smoked “sausage,” pulled “pork” with southern BBQ sauce, and a farmer’s seasonal crumble with plant-based vanilla ice cream.

The cost for each child aged 3 to 9 is $42, and for every adult, it is $62. We’ll focus on the plant-based menu today, but you can take a peek at our other reviews of Garden Grill here.

Let’s start our order!

Drinks

We started our meal with the iced tea, which the server recommended. It’s freshly brewed in-house, and you can choose between sweetened and unsweetened. It’s made with a simple syrup, and believe it or not, it was one of our favorite parts of the meal! It gave us a homey, farm-fresh feeling and got us in the mood for our food.

We’re getting hungry, so it’s time to eat!

Eats

First, we had the Harvest Garden Salad, which was the same for both platters, but this one skipped the croutons. We didn’t miss them! The combination of pickled red onions, olives, and peppers was fresh and paired with a vinaigrette that was updated since the last time we went. It’s lighter, sweeter, and less acidic, which we loved.

We also had Allergy-friendly Bread and Plant-based Butter. These are the same ones used across Disney World, and they’re nothing unique, but it is nice to have some bread with dinner.

One thing that’s been added since our last visit is this little terra-cotta pot with fresh vegetables. The other platter came with ranch, but there was no plant-based dip available. We did really enjoy the raw veggies on their own but were disappointed there wasn’t a different option for the dip.

For the platter, we started with the Mashed Potatoes, and they blew us away! They’re the best plant-based mashed potatoes we’ve had at Disney. They were buttery and creamy and didn’t feel plant-based at all. We should have ordered more servings!

The Seasonal Vegetables were charred but not burnt or dry. They were soft and moist and a really great addition to the plate. There wasn’t much salt on them, but they were still enjoyable. The Farm-Fresh Green Beans were the most flavorful and even better than the last time we tried them—and we loved them last time, too!

The Smoked “Sausage” is the same plant-based option used around the property, but we still enjoyed it. Our resident plant-based eater on the team said he’s had it a million times and is still not sick of it. It had a great texture and flavor and filled us up during the meal.

Next, we tried the Pulled “Pork” with Southern BBQ Sauce, which didn’t quite win us over. This part of the platter replaced our beloved Veggie Loaf, which was one of the best plant-based items we’ve ever had at Disney. This pulled “pork” was jackfruit with barbeque sauce and it didn’t feel like a lot of effort was put into it. We’ve had a similar barbeque jackfruit sandwich with garlic toast at Regal Eagle, also in EPCOT, for $14.99, and we love how amazing it tastes, especially with the extra sauce. Considering this meal was $62 for a sit-down experience, we expected more, but this was only one element of the platter. Next time we’ll ask for more of everything else.

Don’t worry — the dessert brought us back, and all is forgiven at Garden Grill. The Farmer’s Seasonal Crumble is currently apple, and we loved it. It was warm and buttery with a sweet caramelized finish. There were cooked apple slices inside with no peel, and the plant-based ice cream topped it off nicely. We wish we could eat this every day!

With that, the meal was over, and we were glad we wore our stretchy pants!

Nosh or Not

We would recommend this restaurant to those who want…

• A slower and more relaxed meal with characters and all-you-care-to-enjoy options
• Multiple plant-based options in one dish, and to feel like they have a fully composed meal
• Fresh and light items that aren’t very heavy

You might want to pass on this Disney World spot if you…

• Need to eat quickly to run to your next Lightning Lane
• Don’t enjoy fresh or raw vegetables
• Want more unique offerings outside of classic American

Overall

Throughout the years, Garden Grill has always been a win for us. This time, we loved the mashed potatoes and apple crumble, and only had one item we thought was truly lacking on the plate. It’s a nice, slow restaurant with a calming aesthetic. It’s an easier character meet-and-greet experience since there are fewer tables and it’s a longer meal.

We always find ourselves at Garden Grill, and maybe we’ll see you there as well! Keep following Disney Food Blog for everything you need to know before your next trip.

REVIEW: We Are a $250 Meal in EPCOT and We’d Do It Again

Have you tried Garden Grill before? Tell us what you think of this spot in the comments!