Ya Gatta Eat

Local Goat was great. There's a good brewery in Gatlinburg with above average steaks also.

RCMAC:

Over the years I’ve read Pointbuzzers report that they like to “get away from the hustle and bustle of the park” so they leave to go somewhere for a while, usually someplace to eat. I’m always astounded at this and the only reason I can see for it is if it’s their third day of a week-long visit.

I'd say it works for anyone who is at the park fairly often and isn't trying to maximize their ride count for a day. We used to go to Chet and Matt's all the time - almost religiously once on every 2-3 day trip to the park. We also used to do Famous Dave's or Quaker Steak on occasion. Once we ended up getting suckered into meal plans though and the park food became "good enough" and it wasn't more expensive on a per meal basis, we generally stay in the park unless it will be raining for a while or is just hot, crowded, and miserable. I find that I enjoy the food at CP for about 10 meals a season, working around between Pavilion, Hugo's, Backbeat and Farmhouse. After that, I start to get a little sick of it.

RCMAC:

When I visited Efteling, Phantasialand, and Europa I died of embarrassment for our US parks and what we call Dining

Agreed, I went to Phantasialand and was very impressed. Not very expensive either, compared to NA parks.

Doublemeattaco we're down at SFA today. You're right. The food isn't the best.

Getting ready for a front row lap on the SROS new blue train. Batwing and Roar were running well.

Update: Superman was running well but those shin restraints are uncomfortable.

TheMillenniumRider:

but then I see a massive line on the cruise ship buffet and what is it for? ****ty hot dogs, lukewarm crap burgers and soggy fries.

DCL's buffet would probably blow your mind, especially on the Triton ships.

Today I reconfirmed that Fun Spot food is terrible, and that was without actually buying any.

I don't know what cruise ship you were on, but both NCL and RCCL have some good buffet food. I still prefer sit-down meals, but they have Indian, Italian, steaks, made to order paninis, and a lot of other stuff with a menu that changes daily. Maybe just don't eat like a 9 year old. (Although the burgers were pretty good, too.)

Dollywood gets high marks for me. Epcot, for all of Jeff's reasons.

Honorable, surprise mention goes to California Adventure. I was pleasantly surprised with their food. We enjoyed the Carthay Circle Lounge for dinner. Bonus was some unique photography of Walt scattered around (check upstairs near bathrooms); photos I don't recall seeing other places.

Discovery Cove also have pretty good food, though you do pay for it in the all-inclusive price.

Discovery Cove has good food? Maybe they used to... or maybe they brought it back around? Because on our one and only visit in 2022, it was straight ass.

Cedar Point used to be pretty rough, but they've improved a lot the last few years. We haven't been since 2022, but I remember being pleasantly surprised. We made it a point to go back to The Farmhouse for a second meal on our 3-day visit. That place is (was?) so good.

I think you can do pretty well at Universal Orlando if you do your homework. We went for the first time in November and stuck to the highly recommended options and were pleased. But really... should you have to have a strategy to avoid bad food? Especially at those prices?

It's been over 10 years since I was at Discovery Cove...so I won't swear to it. Also, the included alcoholic beverages may have had something to do with my rating.

kpjb:

but both NCL and RCCL have some good buffet food.

Royal, yes buffet food is good, as long as you stay away from that "American" section, you know the one, with the ****ty hot dogs. It's always the one with the line too for some reason. I don't really frequent the buffet either, especially on O Class, always sailed with a UDP because of all the options.

wahoo skipper:

Honorable, surprise mention goes to California Adventure. I was pleasantly surprised with their food.

It has been 11 years, but I was blown away with how much better the quick service and casual table service food was at Disneyland/DCA compared to any of the WDW quick/casual restaurants.

Disneyland had me at the taijin included with the carton-of-mango.

Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Severville can be kind of rough. The tourst food is good but it all blends together. I thought the Apple Barn's fried chicken meal was one of the better of the genre. I have not made it to Local Goat yet--the wait is always intolerable.

My usual technique of looking for high ratings by locals on Google Maps doesn't work very well here, becuase the tourists swamp the ratings. Seasons 101 up in Sevierville is not half bad---espeically if they have a local fish on the menu. Pricey, but not much competition.

Agreed about the Applewood Farm. Their food is excellent. I could go and just eat their apple fritters and drink apple juleps (or whatever they call them) and I'd be happy. Their chicken is definitely top notch though. Local Goat was also great, but yeah, that parking lot is no joke. We got there when they opened so we didn't have to worry about a hike, but if you end up with a spot near the Parkway, that's one heck of a workout. Another restaurant we really liked was Five Oaks Farmhouse across from the Tanger Outlet Mall in Sevierville. One of the few places in town with really good buttermilk biscuits. It surprises me how so many restaurants don't have them when they are supposed to be a southern staple.

On the other end of the scale, one of the worst restaurants in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg would definitely be Paula Deen's at The Island. Their narcissistically named "World's Greatest Fried Chicken" was a notch below KFC (and I think KFC sucks since the 90's), their mashed potatoes were runny, and the desserts tasted like Marie Callendar frozen ones from the store. Yet, thousands of rubes line up every day to eat there. Maybe I need to give it another chance... but when there are so many other good places around, I think Paula's will be a one-and-done.

If you have to name a place after the celebrity chef, it's probably not very good.

When Paula was in her salad days her original restaurant was in her home town of Savannah, Ga, and that made sense. Tourists would line up down the historic street for a southern style buffet in an old house.
(Side note: When we were in Savannah we chose Mrs. Wilkes, with family style seatings at tables for ten. The sides were already on the table for passing around and they brought the main dishes out to us. The food was good and we had a meal with 8 other fun people from all around the country.)
Anyway, I checked out Ms Dean’s place at The Island and as a solo diner I was dismayed to find that they had gone from buffet to family style. Probably a post-Covid thing, and definitely less wasteful for them. So each diner chooses an entree and three (!) sides and refills are unlimited. I asked if I could take home any left overs from my original order, (no refills, mind you), and I was given a flat and rather rude no. It was expensive and way too much for just me so I passed. And truth told I was glad to not give that racist b a dime of my money, because I wasn’t sure how I would justify that just for some fried chicken.
I enjoyed Five Oaks, they had an old fashioned yellow squash casserole that I still think about. And the place was cute. The restaurant was a new-build and their old tacky hotel (where I used to stay for cheap) was razed. Now there’s an entire complex. An established hotel became Five Oaks, and there’s ice cream, a big country store and yet another mountain coaster.
If Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg knows how to do anything, it’s food. Some good some bad, but nobody goes hungry.
Btw, RayP1970, for biscuits it’s North Carolina. Raleigh’s modern southern food scene is exploding and the biscuits were the best I’ve ever had. Big cat heads, and so yummy with chicken.

I've had good meals at Bullfish Grill in Pigeon Forge...FWIW.

wahoo skipper:

It's been over 10 years since I was at Discovery Cove...so I won't swear to it. Also, the included alcoholic beverages may have had something to do with my rating.

I was just there over winter and the food was mostly meh with handful of good items. I was slightly disappointed until I got the deluxe drink package which included unlimited Patron margaritas that were some of the best I've ever had (the rocks version was legit made with Patron, Grand Marnier, and slightly sweetened lime juice, just the perfect margarita). Each time around the worlds best lazy river included a stop at the bar for one, so after a few laps the flatbread pizza at the one Tiki hut tasted amazing.

Outside of niche items like Dollywood Cinnamon Bread or Koebel's Perogies , there is very little amusement park food or drink that is memorable and I would drive past my local restaurants to get.

That Margarita is one of them however.

At Six Flags America, Johnny Rockets is the only decent place to eat. It's inside, air conditioned, and the only named commercial restaurant at the park. The other locations are just walk up, Six Flag named locations, similar to what you would expect on a boardwalk at the beach.

DoubleMeatTaco:

Johnny Rockets is the only decent place to eat

Never thought I’d read that sentence.

The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge is awesome!

Chet and Matt's in Sandusky holds a very special place in my heart. In the three seasons I worked at Cedar Point, I would eat there at least once a week. There are times that I miss their pizza. It's so good! I don't get to eat there every time I visit Cedar Point because they tend to close before the park closes.