Disney World has a huge variety when it comes to food.

From the theme parks to the hotels to Disney Springs, you can have bangers and mash for lunch, sushi for dinner, and crepes for dessert all in one day! But, what if you’re craving some good ol’ fashioned American food? Well, Regal Eagle Smokehouse can help you there! Come along with us as we chow down on some barbecue favorites in EPCOT.

Atmosphere

Regal Eagle Smokehouse is in the American Adventure pavilion in EPCOT’s World Showcase. It took the spot of Liberty Inn in February of 2020.

This restaurant is at the center of the World Showcase, so it’s an awesome stopping point if you’re drinking around the world. It’s also themed to seem like you’re at Sam the Eagle’s Centennial barbecue cook-off. Yeah, Sam the Eagle from the MUPPETS! We love Disney’s storytelling through theming.

Outside, there is a lot of picnic table seating, and there’s an actual smoker! The barbecue pit is the center of attention.

You will also notice a walk-up bar outside where you can get various alcoholic refreshments.

When you walk inside, you can immediately smell the smokehouse barbecue scent wafting in from outside, which is delightful.

And, as Regal Eagle is in the American Adventure pavilion, it’s obviously got a lot of American theming (Sam the Eagle would have it no other way, right?)! There are banners on the ceilings, and some of the food even comes with tiny little American flags.

There is one big dining room with booths and tables, and the tables all have rolls of paper towels on them, because barbecue can be messy!

Now, let’s see what’s on the menu.

Menu

The entrees here showcase different styles of barbecue from around the United States. You can get things like Memphis Dry-rub Pork Ribs or North Carolina Chopped Smoked Pork Butt!

There is also a plant-based option of a BBQ Jackfruit Burger! All the entrees come with a side except for the salads. For side options, you can get things like Beer-battered Onion Rings or Baked Beans with Burnt Ends. Many of the entrees also come with or on Garlic Toast (which, YES!).

For the kiddos, there are two Disney Check Meals — the BBQ Chicken Leg and Chicken Salad. These meals meet Disney Nutrition Guidelines, which you can read more about here. They also have the option of a BBQ Rib or a Cheeseburger on the regular kids’ menu!

For desserts, you can get Banana Pudding, a S’mores Brownie, or a Fresh Watermelon Cup. Although, unless there’s a cookie or frosting hiding under that watermelon, we’re likely not picking it first as our dessert, let’s be real . For drinks, there are the usual sodas, water, and teas, and there are other options like Berry Punch or Hot Cocoa.

And, for alcoholic drinks, you can get beer, hard cider, wine, or the restaurant’s specialty cocktail — Tennessee Lemonade! There are also other cocktails available from the bar on the outside of Regal Eagle.

Regal Eagle has a QR code menu and you can order up at the counter, or you can also Mobile Order your food here, which is what we decided to do!

Once our order was ready and we picked it up, we were ready to try some food!

Food

For our drink, we got the Tennessee Lemonade Specialty Cocktail. It has Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey with Minute Maid Premium Lemonade and Peach for $14.

This drink was pretty well balanced when it came to the ingredients. It didn’t have too much whiskey and the lemonade and peach together were really nice! It basically just tasted like a peach lemonade with a slight hint of whiskey.

Anyone who likes regular lemonade with a hint of peach would probably enjoy this! The whiskey taste isn’t strong — good for those non-whiskey drinkers, bad if you LOVE the taste of the stuff. Even our reporter who isn’t a big alcohol drinker liked this drink.

Before we get to the entrees, note that they have several different kinds of barbecue sauce you can grab here. They’re self-service and you have the options of classic smokehouse sauce, savory spice sauce, sweet mustard sauce, and vinegar based sauce. These are all sauces from different styles of barbecue throughout the south! They also have ketchup for fries and such.

For our entrees, we got the BBQ Burger and the Kansas City Smoked Half Chicken!

Let’s start with the burger, which is a 1/3 lb Angus Burger on Garlic Toast topped with BBQ Pork, Garlic Aïoli, and a Fried Onion Ring served with your choice of side for $13.49. We went with the Creamy Coleslaw on the side! We’ve had this burger before and been pretty impressed with it but wanted to try again!

This was really delicious! The barbecue pork on top is surprisingly not that heavy and doesn’t make the burger feel like too much. Plus the pork has a great texture and flavor. You can definitely tell it was slow-cooked, as all good pork BBQ should be.

The actual burger, on the other hand, was a bit dry. Not shocking for a Disney fast-food burger, but for a joint boasting good smoked meats, grilling up a patty of beef should be easy peasy, right? In fact, our last time having this burger the patty was nice and juicy. Bummer. The barbecue sauce and garlic aïoli saved it from being too dry, but it’s basically just a standard Disney burger — nothing too extraordinary. Sorry, no pink meat on this burger (read on tho…)!

The barbecue sauce was sweet and tangy which was a good contrast to the meat. And, the garlic aïoli was tasty too, but honestly, you can’t really go wrong with a garlic spread (it’s really just garlicky mayo — nothing wrong there!).

The garlic toast used as the buns of the sandwich was…kind of soggy, but it could just be because it sat for a minute before we took a bite, so make sure to dig in right away. No shocker here, but grabbing down on two great buttery slices of bread doesn’t make for the cleanest eating experience. Remember those rolls of paper towel? Yeah, it’s all making sense now, eh?

The onion ring did add a good crunch though, and the lettuce and tomato added some freshness that helped with the richness of the meat. (Anybody else really like shredded lettuce on their sandwiches?)

As for the Coleslaw, it definitely lived up to its name — it was really creamy! It still had a fresh taste to it though and it was very peppery, which we loved. The slaw could’ve had just a little less mayonnaise, but that’s just our personal preference.

Next, we got the Kansas City Smoked Half Chicken for $13.99. This is a Slow-smoked Half-Chicken smothered with their Sweet Barbecue Sauce served with your choice of side. For our side on this one, we got Macaroni and Cheese and it also came with some garlic toast.

The chicken was super moist (yeah, we said the word), you could actually see how tender it was when we cut into it! There was a ton of barbecue sauce on the outside that was sweet with a big kick of that smoky flavor. This was really good smoked chicken.

This is a great serving size too — it’s a lot of chicken! Disney makes a note that due to their unique smoking process, their fully cooked meats may appear pink in color. Yes. Pink meat. So the pink inside of the chicken is nothing to worry about! Smoked meats can pick up the hue from the smoking process — look at a good slice of ultra smokey brisket and see what we mean. (So no freaking out you got raw chicken — this birdie got a lot of time and love in the smoker!)

This is definitely normal and there are signs to prove it:

As for the Mac and Cheese, this one’s a winner. It’s crazy creamy and has a strong white cheddar flavor. The noodles were cooked well, as in they weren’t mushy, and the breadcrumbs on top gave a nice change of texture. We admit we were PUMPED to first try the mac here and it was kind of a letdown, but in visits since, they’ve upped their game — this stuff is solid.

And, the garlic toast was golden, garlic-y, buttery goodness! (You didn’t think the garlic toast wouldn’t be amazing, did you?)

For dessert, we got the Banana Pudding for $4.99. You can’t have barbecue without banana pudding! Well, you can, but we think it’s a necessity. In fact, pretty much every time we’ve come here to do a review, guess what we end up getting for dessert. No shocker, it’s GOOD.

This pudding wasn’t overwhelming when it came to the banana flavor, which was a good thing! The whipped cream was very light and fluffy and there was also a wonderful caramel drizzle on top and some vanilla wafers. We do wish there would have been some more caramel on top, because it was SO GOOD. It complimented the bananas perfectly.

The wafers on top got a little soggy, and the ones inside the pudding just kind of fall apart and melt in your mouth, which we are not complaining about! That’s kind of their job in banana pudding, right? The wafers added a nice hint of vanilla to all that banana.

Also, this presentation is just gorgeous, right?!

If you like banana pudding, this is for you.

Nosh or Not

Come on down to the barbecue pit if:

• You’re a big barbecue or meat lover! This place is great for those traditional styles of cooking and flavors.
• You need a hearty meal while walking (particularly, drinking) around the World Showcase. You gotta get some protein in ya!
• You want a good variety of food that can please the whole family.

Keep walking around World Showcase if:

• You’re vegetarian, vegan, or a plant-based eater, because there are only a few options for you.
• You don’t like barbecue — especially smoky meats. It’s called a smokehouse for a reason!
• You want to save room in your stomach for some more adventurous foods from around the world. You can get barbecue in a lot of places around the country, after all.

Overall

Overall, this is a great addition to World Showcase, and it’s relatively new — if you haven’t been to Disney World in the past couple of years, it’s worth checking out if you want some barbecue! If you remember the good ol’ days of Liberty Inn, this spot is a HUGE step up from that. The prices are also pretty reasonable by Disney standards, and the portions are decent. You could for sure split some food with friends or family here if you want to! (Notice practically all the barbecue spots in Disney World serve MASSIVE portions? Lookin’ atchu, Flame Tree Barbecue!)

It can also be a crowd pleaser, with comfort food like burgers and macaroni and cheese, as well as more unique options like a Brisket Sandwich. Since it’s a quick service location, you also will have a faster meal here than you would at a table service spot. So, if you want a filling meal fast, this is a really good option. Plus with loads of good mixed drinks, beers, and more on tap, you can pull up a spot at the copious outdoor seating and chill for a while. We’ve seriously stopped here in past visits just for a drink and a side to much on outside! As far as quick service restaurants in EPCOT go, this is one of the better ones!

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 What’s your favorite restaurant to eat at in EPCOT? Let us know in the comments!

The post Review: Why Pink Chicken is Totally NOT a Bad Thing in EPCOT first appeared on the disney food blog.