Disney World has some of my very favorite restaurants ever. Table service (TS) restaurants are Disney's sit down restaurants where a waitperson will take your order and bring your meal. All of the restaurants in this category accept Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). It's strongly recommended that you make ADR's especially for popular restaurants and all character dining. If staying on property, ADRs can be made 60 days out for all days of your trip For a general overview of all dining, check out this post.
The biggest problem is that there are so many restaurant choices and so little vacation time (and so little belly room). I'm going to give you some of my personal favorite locations in Hollywood Studios, and also ones to avoid. As always, Disney adds new restaurants, updates menus, and changes suppliers and vendors. These recommendations are from winter 2023. I'll try to update as restaurants make changes.
***Important notice***
When I talk about pricing, please note that "adults" means anyone age 10 and over. "Kid" pricing is anyone age 3-9. Anyone under 3 is free and not included in the pricing.
Hollywood Studios Recommendations
50's Prime Time Cafe offers both a delicious meal and a super fun dining experience. My husband and kiddos favorite fried chicken on the entire planet is found here. For this meal, I do go full carnivore and eat the meatloaf. I have had the pot roast before, and it was ok, but the meatloaf is to die for! Keeping to the true 1950s theme, most tables have a working TV showing clips from 50s shows. Remember, this is the decade where TV dinners were invented, so it's perfectly acceptable to watch TV while you dine. Disclaimer about this restaurant: it is a fully immersive experience where the cast members will joke with you. I have seen CMs make people stand in the corner for having their elbows on the table, they made The Hubby write down his own order, and when The Kiddo didn't finish all of her vegetables the waiter "airplaned" a spoon of corn into her mouth (please enjoy the video!). We absolutely love this type of interaction. If this is not for you, then let them know when you check in and they will make sure you have a no-nonsense meal. However, if this sound like a ton of fun to you, then one million percent eat here. I'm going to call it now... this is my favorite restaurant at Disney World!
Another fun experience, one that is "hand's off" for all you introverts out there, is Sci-Fi Dine-In. As the name implies, you are enjoying your meal in a 50s movie drive-in. Tables are arranged and designed like 50s cars. A huge movie screen is in front of you showing clips of 1950 cinema. The ceiling above boasts a beautiful night sky. Based solely on theming, this restaurant takes top spot at HS. The Sister and I ate here recently for the first time in years. We were pleasantly surprised with the revamped menu. Much to my surprise, this restaurant took top spot for our entire trip. Disney has stepped up their vegan game here and offers several vegan options including non-dairy milkshakes! If you are like me and your belly room runs out quickly, you can get your shake to-go and sip on it as you stroll around the park. The vegan nachos are to die for and are the best thing I put in my mouth that whole trip. I do have two complaints with this restaurant. First, the car-style tables it makes it near impossible to talk to anyone in your party besides the person who is sitting directly beside of you (not an issue if you are only a party of two). Second, the lighting is really dim (remember, it's supposed to be a nighttime drive in movie). Those are my only two complains though.
If you are looking for something a little more upscale and refined, check out The Hollywood Brown Derby. We have friends who eat at this restaurant every single trip because it's their favorite restaurant. If you know a little something about food history, you will know that the chain restaurant "Brown Derby", located in Hollywood California, first created the iconic Cobb Salad in the 1930s. This chain was a major player in restaurants during the Golden Age of Hollywood in California, but has since closed. Disney's Hollywood Studios pay homage to this restaurant with upscale swanky cuisine such as roasted bone marrow, escargot (one of The Kiddo's favorite foods... and yes, she knows what it is), steak, fish, and of course the famous Cobb Salad. Was there ever a classic Hollywood star that wasn't seen with a cocktail in their hand? Be sure to check out one of the wines or cocktails while you're there. If you can't get reservations here but are really craving some escargot, the connected Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge serves most of the full menu in a more laid back outdoor dining experience. The Lounge does NOT accept ADRs and guests can join a walk up wait list while you are inside the park from the MDE app or with a Cast Member at the podium to the entrance of the lounge.
Hollywood and Vine is a famous intersection in Los Angeles. The Hubby, My Sissy, and I visited it once, many years ago, long before The Kiddo was ever even thought of (yes, the picture below is at the REAL Hollywood and Vine in California circa 2006...) Like the famous Brown Derby, Disney pays tribute to this famous location in Hollywood with the restaurant of the same name, Hollywood & Vine. If you want to dine with characters on your HS day, this buffet restaurant is the only option you will find at this park. Characters are different between breakfast and lunch/dinner. Breakfast is Disney Jr characters while lunch and dinner are Minnie, Mickey, and friends. Two special seasonal dining events take place here. Halloween Dine and Holiday Dine are offered seasonally where Minnie and friends are dressed in their best Halloween or Christmas outfits. The menu stays the same. Older kids or adult only groups may not be interested in having breakfast here since the Disney Jr characters may not be relatable to you. We did this several times when The Kiddo was little, but she has since outgrown it. The lunch and dinner characters are so much fun. Plus, the lunch and dinner foods are really really good. I mean, they had me at the Brussle's sprouts!
Let me share a sweet story with you that really speaks to the Disney magic! When The Kiddo was 6, we had breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with the Disney Jr characters on our last day at Disney. The Kiddo LOVED Doc McStuffins. She had lost one of her front top teeth the week before our Disney trip. For the entire 10 day long vacation, the other front tooth was dangling by a thread, sitting all cattywampus in her mouth (we have some pretty interesting pictures from that trip that I won't share here to spare her the embarrassment). She seriously looks like Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel. Anyway, during that breakfast after Doc McStuffins came to our table and they talked about her loose tooth, she decided that she wanted to go to the bathroom and pull it out. She just needed a bit of encouragement I guess. I mentioned to one of the Cast Members that she just lost a tooth and asked if they had a container I could put it in to save it for the Tooth Fairy. Much to our surprise, DocMcstuffins herself returned to our table! She made such a big deal about The Kiddo losing her tooth (she is a doctor after all). One of the CMs made a big announcement and everything. The Kiddo was so exited about everything that was happening. It really was a special moment. Just so you guys know... Tinkerbell is the official Tooth fairy of Disney. If your kid loses a tooth while staying on property at a Disney resort (or while on a Disney cruise, but that's a story for another time), let one of the front desk CMs know and they will deliver a certificate and button from Tinkerbell to your room. Needless to say, this restaurant holds a special place in my mommy heart!
Hollywood Studio's Skips
One of Disney World's newest restaurants is found at Hollywood Studio's. We were soooo excited about this new restaurant and ate here opening week in April 2023. We loved it so much, that despite all of the negative reviews, we ate here again in September. After an amazing start, I now see why there are more negative comments than positive. Roundup Rodeo BBQ is a Toy Story themed restaurant located in the Toy Story Land area. This is an all-you-care-to-enjoy family style meal. It is BBQ with all of the fixin's for $45 per adult and $25 per child. This is NOT a character meal and DVC/AP discounts are not accepted here yet (as of November 23'.) I was really excited because they have a wonderful plant based vegan option along with standard BBQ meats. It's not my favorite plant based meal out there. On our last trip, our sides came out cold, probably due to the extremely slow service. The watermelon "salad" is literally just watermelon with two tiny pieces of mint thrown on top. It's not an actual watermelon salad like you can get at Polite Pig. The positives of this restaurant is that the sides are totally customizable for the more particular eater. You can order plain tater tots that don't have the cheese and green goddess dressing, you can get plain corn on the cob vs the listed street corn, you can get the mac and cheese without the Goldfish crumb toping, etc. All of that being said, it is a LOT of food to be eating and then going to ride rides or walk around a park. If we're eating BBQ at Disney, it's going to be at Hoop-Dee Doo (one of the best plant based meals I've ever had at Disney) or Polite Pig.
Does overpriced Olive Garden sound like something you want to eat on your magical Disney vacation? no? Me neither. Honestly, I'd take the food at Olive Garden over the food at Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano. I don't know why Disney just can't quite get their Italian food right inside the parks, but it's defiantly not their strong suit. Just trust me and skip this one. If your family craves Italian food, from HS you can either walk or take the Friendship Boats over to the nearby Boardwalk Resort and eat at Trattoria al Forno. Their food is amazing and is one of our family's top resort restaurant picks.
Hopefully you now have a good understanding of all that Hollywood Studios has to offer for Table Service dining. Disney is constantly changing up their offerings, so make sure you check the website or app for current, up to date offerings during your travel time.
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