An Terrible Magic Kingdom Restaurant is Superior Once more

Magic Kingdom’s counter service restaurant lineup has been a race to the underside for the final 5 years. There’s been zero competitors for first, whereas it’s like a 9-way tie for worst. Magic Kingdom is the weakest meals park at Walt Disney World, which is an absolute disgrace on condition that it’s the most well-liked park and has no scarcity of distinctive eating venues.

That’s exactly why we have been so excited in regards to the information that one of many Magic Kingdom’s most mediocre meal spot was getting a brand-new menu! As you would possibly recall, Pecos Invoice Tall Story Inn and Cafe was beforehand lifeless to us. We wrote that piece, titled “The Demise of Pecos Invoice” a bit of over a yr in the past, and the refrain of fifty+ reader feedback largely agreed. When it got here time to assume up a “intelligent” title for this evaluate of the brand new menu at Pecos Invoice, the phrases “alive once more” and “worst to first” stored coming to thoughts.

Nevertheless, the previous didn’t make sense with out context, and the latter someway wasn’t even true! By some means, Pecos Invoice was not beforehand the worst counter service restaurant in all of Magic Kingdom, which is basically saying one thing (and never an excellent factor). Slightly, it was the one with essentially the most squandered potential. A high-capacity restaurant that might’ve been good and, at one time, was a spotlight. So mainly, this evaluate addresses whether or not the brand new menu delivers and helps Pecos Invoice reclaim the crown because the #1 counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom…

Frankly, it has been shocking and disappointing that, on the similar time Chipotle Mexican Grill has risen in recognition, Walt Disney World had gone within the actual wrong way with Pecos Invoice. The menu had been dumbed down, delicacies high quality lowered, and many others. That is doubly true when you strive the distinctive Donald’s Cantina on the Disney Treasure and Want. (Tangential, however the deck eating on the brand new ships is an actual spotlight.)

Fortunately, Walt Disney World is lastly undoing that harm. We gained’t bury the lede: that is the perfect menu at Pecos Invoice in virtually a decade. Not precisely a excessive bar, because the outdated meals was terrible. Nevertheless it’s as if somebody lastly dared to dream: what if meals on the world’s hottest theme park have been truly edible?

In opposition to that backdrop, let’s dig into the brand new menu evaluate at Pecos Invoice Tall Story Inn and Cafe…

For the reason that 4 core menu objects are Construct Your Personal Bowls, I’m going to start out by reviewing the trio of proteins that you could select for any of those. Let’s begin with the Citrus-Chipotle Hen.

The Citrus-Chipotle Hen is my third-favorite protein choice, which isn’t a knock. There are beneficiant chunks of tender and juicy meat, which is flavorful and tastes prefer it’s truly of an affordable high quality. The ‘notes’ of citrus and chipotle are refined, however they’re there. In the event you’re within the temper for rooster, you’re not going unsuitable by ordering this–it simply wasn’t my private favourite.

Oh, and as for the dish pictured within the two pictures above, that’s the Grilled Masa Flatbread.

This corn-based, plant-based flatbread is already defunct. I can perceive why, because it didn’t fairly hit the identical excessive notes as the opposite entrees–and was an absolute mess to eat. I’m nonetheless barely disenchanted, because it was an creative entree that added menu selection. They need to’ve iterated on this (possibly ditch the faux cheese?) moderately than abandoning it. Oh nicely.

Sooner or later since we final dined at Pecos Invoice (so inside the previous few weeks), they changed the Grilled Masa Flatbread with the Plant-based Rice Bowl with Unimaginable Meatballs in Pink Chile Tomato Sauce, Pinto Beans, Cilantro-Lime Rice, Cowboy Caviar, and Lime “Crema.” We haven’t had an opportunity to strive that but, however we discover Unimaginable “Meat”balls to be the perfect of the Unimaginable merchandise.

Our subsequent protein is the Inexperienced Chili Pork.

I actually like this pork. Nearly the precise description applies as for the rooster–that is tender and juicy, and a beneficiant portion of meat is piled onto the bowl. The inexperienced chili taste is refined even while you eat the pork by itself, and masked totally when blended into the bowl.

As somebody who ate on the outdated iteration of Pecos Payments a couple of too many instances (for lack of higher choices–not everybody with whom we’d go to likes seafood, taking Columbia Harbour Home off the desk), I additionally can not understate how a lot larger high quality each the rooster and pork are than their predecessors. I beforehand known as the meats at Pecos Invoice “pet food grade.” That was solely slight hyperbole. These are on par with what you’d order at Chipotle or one other quick informal Mexican spot.

Saving the perfect for final, the ultimate protein choice is the Coca-Cola Cherry Braised Beef.

This meat is shockingly unbelievable. There’s a sweetness to the meat, and it has a slow-cooked high quality that makes it tender, juicy, and scrumptious. There are two ‘extinct’ entrees this jogged my memory of, one from lunch at Be Our Visitor Restaurant and one other from Flo’s V8 Cafe again when it first opened. These are favorable comparisons, and extremely excessive reward for a restaurant that when had its meats in comparison with pet food.

Frankly, I want they’d serve the Coca-Cola Cherry Braised Beef as a standalone, plated entree. Because it stands, I can simply envision a state of affairs the place we order a bowl with a double portion of this beef to separate. It’s that good.

Since we’re already speaking about it, let’s begin by digging into the Rice Bowl with Pinto Beans, Cilantro-Lime Rice, Cowboy Caviar, and Queso Fresco.

Like all the pieces within the ‘Construct Your Personal’ part of the menu, that is priced at $12.99. What’s pictured above is a single portion of the meat on high of the bowl.

I point out that as a result of this unhealthy boy is an enormous meal, virtually greater than sufficient for one individual–and that’s price mentioning at a time when many different Walt Disney World entrees are shrinking in dimension however rising in worth.

The substances right here work very well collectively, and there are beneficiant quantities of queso fresco in addition to the pinto beans and cilantro-lime rice under. I may’ve personally used a bit extra cowboy caviar, however that looks as if a minor quibble.

As soon as once more, the purpose to emphasise is that the standard is way improved over what was provided at Pecos Invoice earlier than. This nonetheless doesn’t attain the identical excessive bar because the glory days of the toppings bar, but it surely’s excellent–an evening and day distinction over what was right here earlier than.

The underside line is that this can be a high-quality rice bowl, and roughly precisely what you’d count on. It may’ve used a larger number of toppings, however nonetheless wonderful. It’s within the operating for my #1 entree at Pecos Invoice.

The opposite contender for that crown is the Steamed Tamale.

That is mainly the identical dish because the rice bowl, however with the addition of a Steamed Inexperienced Chili-Cheese Tamale and Pico de Gallo rather than the Cowboy Caviar.

I wasn’t an enormous fan of the tamale by itself, however it’s mainly a freebie and does add one thing to the dish as a complete. Unsurprisingly, corn is the dominant taste right here, and as a part of the bowl is offers one other texture, together with a semi-sweet and earthy high quality. Most significantly, it didn’t seem to be the parts of rice or pinto beans bought any smaller because of the tamale being added.

It’s on that foundation that the Steamed Tamale is our new #1 entree at Pecos Invoice…and maybe Magic Kingdom as a complete.

There are different dishes that we every individually actually like across the park. At Columbia Harbour Home, I’m an enormous fan of the Lobster Roll and Sarah loves the Maple-Mustard Glazed Salmon. The issue with each is taking part in the portion dimension lottery. In the event you’re a loser, you’ll stroll away hungry.

Against this, for a similar worth because the Salmon entree–or for $4 much less than the Lobster Roll–you could possibly order the Steamed Tamale with double beef from Pecos Invoice and it will simply feed one individual, maybe each of us (appetite-dependent). In different phrases, when taking worth for cash into consideration, this dish has actually no competitors in Magic Kingdom.

Our closing ‘construct your individual’ entree is the Nacho Bowl: Home-fried Corn Tortilla Chips smothered with Stewed Pinto Beans, Chipotle Queso, and Pico de Gallo.

Smothered is Disney’s phrase within the description above, and it’s an apt one. This positively had extra queso than the opposite bowls, and I actually appreciated that–it labored nicely with the nachos. Additionally paired fantastically with the meat.

With that stated, the chips are abnormal. As a base, this simply doesn’t maintain a candle to the above choices. Not as tasty or as filling. In the event you’re within the temper for nachos and need chips piled excessive with cheese and beef, you completely can not go unsuitable right here, although!

We’re not performed with the entrees–there’s additionally the Double Chili con Queso Burger: Two Flame-broiled All-Beef Patties topped with Chili con Carne, Chipotle Queso, and Corn Chips with Barbecue-Cheddar Seasoned Fries.

This burger at present prices $16.19, which is definitely a worth lower for the reason that menu launched. And albeit, that is smart, as my largest criticism of this burger can be the worth proposition versus the ‘construct your individual’ choices.

For ~$3 extra, it’s simply exhausting to justify this on condition that it’s across the similar portion dimension–if not smaller–than the bowls.

In equity to the burger, it’s fairly tasty!

It’s slathered in Chipotle Queso, with simply the correct quantity of Chili con Carne for taste and Corn Chips for texture. That is good, as a result of under which might be two normal difficulty Walt Disney World burger patties, and these function a signature mix of cardboard, capybara, and hyena.

Suffice to say, Disney counter service burgers want an overabundance of toppings to masks their mediocre meats, that are dry and flavorless. This fills that function nice, and turns into the #1 counter service burger at Magic Kingdom by default because of this. There’s no level in ordering this when the ‘construct your individual’ bowls are proper there, however I assume it’s an excellent fallback choice for choosy eaters who discover all the pieces else too adventurous.

It’s additionally price mentioning that the Barbecue-Cheddar Seasoned Fries served with the burger (or as a aspect) are the perfect fries at Magic Kingdom.

The seasoning right here takes abnormal Disney fries to the subsequent stage. They’re nothing revolutionary, however as a easy snack, they’re fairly good. I by no means knew that is what was lacking from Disney fries, but it surely completely is.

My private wishlist for Pecos Invoice can be to have loaded fries added to the menu. I’m unsure Sarah would approve, however I’d love a heaping order of those fries (as a substitute of rice) topped with a beneficiant slathering of queso to function the bottom for my double portion of that scrumptious beef. Now that will be the right entree indulgence!

Lastly, we’ve got the Candy Corn Mousse: White Chocolate and Raspberry Powder.

Walt Disney World debuted this ‘appears to be like like corn, however is definitely cake’ dessert a pair years in the past throughout both Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Celebration or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Celebration (if reminiscence serves me), and it was an enormous hit. Disney followers take pleasure in an excellent gimmick.

When you get previous that gimmick, there’s not a lot to like about this. It’s fairly costly at over $6, the portion is small, and each the flavour and texture are pretty one-note. We additionally discovered it to be overly candy (sugar, versus candy corn, is the dominant taste), however that may very well be stated about most Disney desserts. In the event you’re going to order this for the enjoyable pictures, have at it–simply possibly look elsewhere for a scrumptious dessert. Magic Kingdom has no scarcity of these.

Finally, it’s no shock that the brand new menu at Pecos Invoice Tall Story Inn and Cafe is a marked enchancment. For one factor, there was nowhere to go however up. I don’t assume Walt Disney World followers who hadn’t been in a couple of years understand simply how unhealthy and uninspired the outdated Pecos Invoice menu had gotten.

Pecos Invoice was mainly Exhibit A within the former Disney CFO’s quote about altering suppliers and substituting substances to scale back prices. Even the most affordable Mexican meals from the Dealer Joe’s freezer case have been larger high quality than what Pecos Invoice was serving. And but, it nonetheless wasn’t the worst counter service restaurant at Magic Kingdom. (Which frankly ought to’ve been embarrassing for Disney.)

It appeared just like the outdated menu was allowed to limp alongside till Pecos Invoice bought reimagined, however with that challenge nixed, Walt Disney World management realized the present incarnation of the restaurant can be round for a couple of extra years. (Till the inevitable reimagining right into a Automobiles-inspired restaurant.)

Past this, high to backside menu overhauls like this are virtually all the time an enchancment. Disney’s culinary groups get the inexperienced gentle to make vital adjustments and, the cooks have enjoyable creating new menus which might be formidable and intriguing. The culinary groups don’t truly wish to serve slop to friends with pet food grade meat and entrees which might be worse than frozen meals–that’s the byproduct of managers meddling and adjustments to make menus extra environment friendly or cheaper.

With that stated, the traditional trajectory is for tweaks to be remodeled the course of the primary yr of the brand new menu that do dilute it. We’re already seeing this with the brand new menu at Pecos Invoice, and it’ll most likely proceed all through 2025. The culinary staff goals excessive, however a few of their decisions aren’t all the time sensible for high-capacity places or in step with visitor preferences.

That is the first cause that menus are dumbed down over time, all over the place will get a primary burger added, and many others. It’s additionally usually essential to scale back preparation steps, as dishes turn into too labor intensive or time-consuming to arrange. In different circumstances, objects that aren’t getting ordered–or are receiving unfavourable visitor suggestions–are pulled or changed. That just about actually explains the lack of the Grilled Masa Flatbread.

Whether or not Pecos Invoice Tall Story Inn and Cafe dethrones Columbia Harbour Home to turn into the brand new #1 counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom might be a matter of perspective. Particularly, does your celebration desire seafood or Mexican delicacies?

For us, each are winners–all of it depends upon what we’re within the temper for and the way hungry we’re. Columbia Harbour Home is great, however it may be expensive and inconsistent, whereas Pecos Invoice reliably delivers. As you’ve most likely gathered from the number of pictures, we’ve already performed a number of meals at Pecos Invoice for the reason that overhaul and just one at Columbia Harbour Home throughout that point. That’s most likely our ‘new regular’ going ahead, particularly since there’s extra on the menu right here that Megatron can eat.

That reliability is the tiebreaker from our perspective, and what provides Pecos Invoice the slender victory. Both approach, there at the moment are double the variety of good counter service eating places at Magic Kingdom, and all friends win because of this. Right here’s hoping that Cosmic Ray’s is subsequent–it may additionally actually use a menu overhaul. Now that demand has died down for it, we’d additionally like to see Be Our Visitor revert to a counter service lunch. Are you able to think about Magic Kingdom having 4 worthwhile counter service eating places? It’s virtually unthinkable! Dare to dream, I suppose.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you concentrate on the brand new menu at Pecos Invoice Tall Story Inn and Cafe? Excited for these additions? In the event you’ve already tried the brand new menu, what are your favorites? Something you didn’t like? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we can assist you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!