Those first few hours in the morning at a Disney park can be precious. You might be able to use that time to grab merchandise before it sells out, hop on a few rides with shorter wait times, or go to the meet-and-greet of your dreams. So should you waste precious morning park time at…a sit-down breakfast?

Well, that depends! For some, a sit-down breakfast experience might be the thing they need to really start their day in the “right” way. Or it might be a way to fill up on generally cheaper entrees and then skip lunch — saving a few bucks. At Disneyland Park in California, one sit-down restaurant — River Belle Terrace — has brought back its breakfast service, but is it worth your time and money? Let’s find out together!

Atmosphere

You’ll find River Belle Terrace at Frontierland in Disneyland Park, overlooking the Rivers of America. The restaurant serves up Southern dishes in two seating areas.

If you sit on the outside, you’ll get to do some awesome people-watching and check out the boats as they sail through the Rivers of America.

The seating here is cute and generally placed under some umbrellas, so you can get a bit of shade.

Inside you’ll find an airy, garden-inspired dining room.

There are a number of tables…

…and booths here to accommodate a variety of party sizes.

There are some really great details to search for here, including that flowery wallpaper, the flowers hanging from the ceiling, and other decor.

But enough about the atmosphere, let’s dive into the food options!

Menu

A number of years ago, River Belle Terrace served up breakfast in a more buffeteria style. Breakfast service was later stopped and the restaurant began to only offer table service meals for lunch and dinner. In 2018, breakfast returned to River Belle Terrace but later disappeared again.

Now, breakfast is BACK.

It seems like we weren’t the only ones excited about its return. When we went (on the day of the breakfast menu’s return) the Cast Member there told us that the restaurant was about 3/4 full and things were already backed up! This could just be due to the fact that it had just reopened, but we’d recommend you come prepared for a few crowds as guests check out this spot.

On the menu, you’ll find a section with seasonal offerings. Keep in mind that these are seasonal, so you might see things change. The seasonal offerings right now include the Big Belle Sandwich and a Monkey Bread (more on the monkey bread in a second!).

The menu then details this spot’s signature entrees. There are some returning items like the Mark Twain. The menu also includes things like New York Steak and Eggs, Hot Honey Fried Chicken Benedict, and Fried Shrimp & Catfish Benedict.

For the kiddos, there are create-your-own entrees.

In terms of entrees, adults can also opt for this spot’s Southern Sweet Skillet — the Vanilla and Maple Monkey Bread. We’ve seen monkey bread served here before, though this specific one has vanilla ice cream, lemon glaze, and berries.

Finally, you’ll also see some beverages listed on the menu, and a reminder to ask for allergy-friendly menus when needed.

That’s a look at the menu, so now let’s move on to the food we ordered!

Food

For our meal, we started with the BBQ Brisket Southern Breakfast Skillet, priced at $20. This dish is made with Beef Brisket, Pimento Cheese Sauce, Avocado Crema, and O’Brien Potato Bites.

Our reporter’s first reaction to this was that the BBQ Brisket Skillet might very well be some of the BEST breakfast food in all of Disneyland!

The eggs in this dish were perfectly fried (a bit runny in the middle so you could mix it with the rest of the dish!), and the brisket was wonderfully soft with a tangy barbecue sauce. We really loved the addition of the pimento cheese because it was rich and added a bit of a spicy kick while also adding some creaminess to the dish.

The avocado crema was more like pure avocado, which was fine by us, but we do wish there had been more of it. 

The only true downside to this dish was the bell peppers. They seemed to have been added last because they were still pretty raw and only appeared to have been slightly sweated on the skillet.

Also, the menu described the potatoes as O’Brien potato bites, and we did get some of the bell peppers that are added to Potatoes O’Brien, but our potatoes were essentially just tater tots (not really the diced potatoes you’d expect with potatoes O’Brien).

While we loved the pimento cheese, we could see that being a bit too rich for some, particularly if you’re not a big fan of cream cheese-like things or a fondue level of richness and thickness. But for us, this was a total WIN.

Next, we grabbed the Hot Honey Fried Chicken Benedict, priced at $16. This dish is made of Poached Eggs, Sautéed Spinach, and Hollandaise Sauce, and is served with Fresh Fruit.

After the success of the Skillet, we were hoping that this dish would deliver some fantastic flavors as well. But, sadly, this dish ended up being a disappointment.

The big problem here was that the food came out cold. It actually came out almost one hour after we ordered it.

Our waiter did say that there had been an issue with the first poached egg so it’s possible that affected things, but it’s not totally clear.

The biscuit did have a great buttery flavor and it was wonderfully flaky, but it was a bit overbaked, so it came out dry. Sadly, the chicken also had some issues as it was rubbery and the batter was soggy.

We got the slightest hint of a kick (this is meant to be HOT honey chicken after all) but overall what we tasted was an overpowering vinegar flavor without any sweetness from the honey.

The side of fruits was also quite watery, so the juices seeped into the biscuit. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for us because it added some moisture and sweetness to the biscuit, but it did change the whole taste of the dish.

While parts of this dish had promising elements, unfortunately it just didn’t come together well. It’s possible that this was due to a delay in delivering the dish or the fact that we ordered it on the first day of breakfast’s return to this restaurant. Perhaps when served piping hot this would be much better. If you order it in the future, be sure to tell us your thoughts.

Finally, we ended our meal with the Southern Sweet Skillet — in this case, the Vanilla & Maple Monkey Bread for $9. This monkey bread was served with vanilla ice cream, and also featured a lemon glaze and berries.

We’ve had our fair share of monkey bread at River Belle Terrace before in a variety of flavors (including pumpkin, cookie butter, and a version with candied pecans and pecan butter) so we were really curious to see what this would taste like!

The bread itself was not overly dense (which was good) and it had a delicious amount of crispy caramelization. So those were good things, but not everything here was a win.

Unfortunately, the ice cream it was served with was (as you can tell in the photos) already melted when it was delivered and the Monkey Bread itself wasn’t hot. That makes us wonder how long it may have been sitting in the back before it was served to us (similar to how the benedict was cold by the time it reached us).

In terms of flavor, the maple was very mild. But the lemon glaze was GREAT! When we got a bite of that glaze, it added a fantastic tartness and refreshing flavor to the whole dish.

The berries were in better shape than the watery fruit we got with the benedict, so that was good. A bite with the fruit, the monkey bread, and the ice cream all together was pretty tasty, so try to get a bite with everything when you can!

And that’s a look at our meal. Now, let’s go over some final thoughts!

Nosh or Not

Don’t miss breakfast at River Belle Terrace if:

• You want to start your day with a filling and relaxing breakfast — If you’re looking for a little escape from the go-go-go nature of park days, this breakfast could be just the thing.
• You want to do some serious people watching — If you sit on the outside portion, you’ll get a GREAT view of the Rivers of America and the surrounding area. It’s a nice way to enjoy breakfast without feeling like you’re missing out on too much.
• You like Southern eats and skillets — That BBQ Brisket Southern Breakfast Skillet is NOT to be missed. We really enjoyed that and would easily order it again. Plus, the menu features some other Southern staples like biscuits and gravy, so you can get your fill early in the morning.

Skip River Belle Terrace’s breakfast if:

• You’ve got a list a mile long of things you want to do in the park — One of our entrees wasn’t served until an hour after we ordered it, so things can take a bit longer here. That may have had to do with the fact that it was the first day of the breakfast service’s return and they were still ironing out the kinks, but regardless this is a table service restaurant so expect to sit down for a little while.
• You are looking for really unique food — While some of the items here are really great, none were particularly unique this time around. A special seasonal monkey bread flavor may entice you to check out this spot, but overall its food isn’t necessarily the most unique.
• You are looking for a really fancy food option — While the location is nice and some of the eats are great, this isn’t exactly a swanky dining spot. If you want to really go fancy, you may want to grab a quick breakfast and go to a fancier spot like Carthay Circle Restaurant for a more upscale meal at dinnertime.

Overall

Overall, River Belle Terrace provides Disneyland park-goers with another breakfast option, which can be really helpful if you’ve been looking for another place to grab those morning eats in the park.

The BBQ skillet we had was fantastic, but sadly the chicken benedict was cold. The monkey bread was pretty good, but we think it could have been much better had it been hot and the ice cream had been less melted.

If you want to try it out yourself, stop by River Belle Terrace in Frontierland in Disneyland Park for breakfast from 8AM to 10:30AM. If you do eat here in the future, be sure to drop us a comment about your experience! Magic Key passholder discounts do apply here, so keep that in mind.

We’ll continue to look for more Disneyland news and let you know what we find. In the meantime, click here to learn about a special discount that has been announced for Magic Key holders in Disneyland, and click here to read all about the NEW Disney Vacation Club lounge coming to Disneyland!

Click here to get a first look at Disneyland’s Halloween fireworks!

Would you try this breakfast option in Disneyland? Tell us in the comments!

The post Breakfast Is…Complicated at River Belle Terrace in Disneyland first appeared on the disney food blog.