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EPCOT Quick Service Restaurants Ranked from Best to Worst

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Not all of the restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando are created equal! When meticulously planning out the details of your visit, you will need to be sure you’re taking meal breaks at the best spots in each park. To help you out, here is a list of all the full-time counter service restaurants in the park. Keep in mind that EPCOT almost always has additional festival booths with food and drink options that are often superior to the regular quick service choices, even if they are served in much smaller portions. In the list, I’ve taken into account food quality and variety and restaurant atmosphere to provide the definitive rankings. Overall, EPCOT’s dining options are by far the best in any of the four Disney World parks, so you really can’t go wrong here, even if you make decisions on the fly while inside the park.

Before getting into the rankings, I’m considering most places that have a counter as a quick-service restaurant. This means that carts and window-service ice cream and snack options (and those festival booths) don’t count! There are a lot of one-item dining options or bakery locations across the park that are not included in the list that are well worth visiting. Without further ado, here’s the list of best to worst EPCOT quick service options.

  1. Katsura Grill

Overall, my overall top pick is located near the halfway point of the World Showcase in Japan. Katsura Grill has great quality food, a fairly large range of options, and easy add-ons that can ensure you get a large enough portion to stay full longer. The menu features multiple sushi options in addition to other Japanese favorites like Teriyaki Beef or Chicken. Most meals are served with rice, and you can always add an additional side of rice for a low price. The location also has multiple great drink options, including the Tokyo Sunset cocktail.

One of the best perks of this quick service restaurant is its location and atmosphere. The restaurant itself is up on a hill in the back left part of the pavilion, sort of hidden away from the view of most visitors. There are some tables inside the restaurant itself, but most of the seating is outside in the shaded garden area. The lush atmosphere of bamboo, bonsai trees, and trickling water features create an amazing sense of relaxation in an otherwise busy and crowded park. This outside dining is always great unless you visit on an excessively hot day when you’re really looking for a respite from the heat.

  1. Sunshine Seasons

Located in the Land Pavilion in the World Nature neighborhood at the front right side of the park, Sunshine Seasons offers a variety of interesting fresh choices. Soups, salads, fish, chicken, and lots of vegetables and plant-based options fill out a menu with lots of character. There are truly tons of great options, many of which are light and healthy (which might be a good choice will all the walking you will be doing while in the park). The food at this quick service restaurant feels and tastes very fresh, since a lot of the ingredients are being grown nearby in the Living with the Land ride!

There are lots of tables to sit at in the Land pavilion, so it’s a solid spot to get out of the heat and relax. While there’s nothing super special about the atmosphere, it’s still solid. The only detriment to Sunshine Seasons is the lack of more basic food options – picky eaters might not find anything that they like.

  1. Regal Eagle

Located in the American Adventure pavilion in the center of the World Showcase, the Regal Eagle offers American barbecue favorites. Previously, this quick service restaurant would have been higher on the list, but it has a couple of issues.

First, portion sizes here (like with many other restaurants across Disney property) have been drastically reduced. This has made the somewhat expensive (for quick service) menu less worth it, despite the food being very good. Second, as a barbecue fan, it also gets some points of for counting its South Carolina mustard-based sauce as “Carolina,” with no appreciation for North Carolina vinegar-based sauce.

Overall, it’s still a great place to eat. You can choose your meat, choose your sauces (you can try them all from the self-serve dispensers), and sit down in the large indoor seating area. Grabbing a meal just before or after the American Adventure show can be a great way to make the most of your time.

  1. Connections Café & Eatery

Located at the center of the park, EPCOT’s newest quick service restaurant (which replaced the classic Electric Umbrella) serves up flatbreads, chicken sandwiches, burgers, and salads, each with a tough of exotic flavor. Though there aren’t tons of options, the food is served quickly, and the clear walls to kitchen areas allow you to see the food-making process!

However, I can’t stand the atmosphere of the restaurant. I call it the “student union” because the design of the entire space looks like an average college campus dining area. Though this isn’t necessarily bad, it’s sad to see the space look exactly like tons of other places. Disney World used to be famous for its unique and interesting theming, and the Connections Café and Eatery is another new change that has gone directly against the old mantra of the company.

  1. La Cantina de San Angel

Serving as the quick service option in the Mexico Pavilion of World Showcase, La Cantina has a straight-forward menu of Mexican classics like tacos and nachos. The food is fairly good and is served in relatively large portions. Your tacos will come with rice and beans, but I know a lot of guests go straight for the loaded nachos. Before your meal, feel free to grab a margarita!

Unfortunately, this quick service restaurant is often very busy, and seating can be difficult to grab. It’s located directly on the main path of World Showcase, so every guest sees it. Most seating is outdoors, and though covered, still feels hot. Sometimes during the day, part of the indoor seating area from the next-door San Angel Inn restaurant is available, so be sure to check the doors to the right of the ordering area and head inside if the seating is available.

  1. Tangerine Café

In the past, Morocco’s Tangerine Café would have been up near the top of the list. This quick service restaurant used to offer all sorts of unique Moroccan options which looked and tasted really authentic and different. The whole pavilion, really, felt the most foreign and adventurous for an American. The whole pavilion was actually constructed by Moroccan craftsman sent by the King of Morocco at the time, which is why it looks and feels so interesting. Unfortunately, Morocco no longer funds the pavilion, which means Disney has taken over and “Mickey-fied” it, taking away a lot of the special features of the pavilion.

As it is now, the menu changes often, so it’s hard to predict what will be offered during your visit. Most of the time, they’ll at least offer some sort of kebabs or Mediterranean style gyro. Other times, the restaurant will be completely closed.

  1. Yorkshire County Fish Shop

The Yorkshire is a fish and chips quick service restaurant in the U.K pavilion in the World Showcase. There is not all that much to say about the shop, it serves up fried fish and fried potatoes. The food is fine, there just is not anything special about it. This restaurant barely makes the list as counting as a quick service joint too, since it’s a rather small shop that only serves the one meal. It doesn’t much in terms of seating, though the fish and chips are rather easy to carry around the park. If you’re vising the shop later in the day, you could carry your food over to the back of the U.K pavilion to the gardens and enjoy the live music.

  1. La Creperie

Despite being on the bottom of the list, this Crepe shop in France is a solid option – if you are in the mood for crepes. It has lots of savory and sweet crepe options and also offers wine pairings. However, this quick service restaurant is sort of in the back of the France Pavilion in the World Showcase near the Ratatouille ride, and out of the way from the rest of the park. Lines for the shop can be fairly long, too. As a final detriment, the prices for crepes are too high for my liking (and the amount of food you get).

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