Disney World's 10 Best Table-Service Restaurants

Victoria and Albert's: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

How exclusive is Victoria and Albert's? Children under ten are not permitted in the dining room. Need we remind you that this unusual restriction is being imposed at, of all places, Disney World? There's a reason why the fine dining restaurant racks up award after award and generates ecstatic reviews. The food is remarkable, the décor is swanky (abetted by a harpist for an extra-special touch), and the service is impeccable.

Dishes on the constantly changing menu might include exotic fare, such as octopus "a la Plancha" with black garlic aioli or Colorado bison with caraway seed vinaigrette. For an even more exclusive experience, guests can book an intimate dinner at the Chef's Table and take a culinary journey through as many as 13 courses with the restaurant's chef de cuisine. 

Of course, the extraordinary restaurant comes with extraordinarily high prices. However, it is worth it to splurge on Victoria and Albert's, especially if you would be celebrating a special occasion during your Disney World visit.

• Cost: Very High (Over $60 per adult)
• Attire: Men must wear dinner jackets with dress pants or slacks and shoes. Ties are optional. Women may wear a cocktail dress, nice dress, dressy pant suit or a skirt with a blouse.
• Food: Continental cuisine

Monsieur Paul: World Showcase at Epcot

Replacing Bistro de Paris, the second-floor restaurant in the France pavilion at Epcot maintains more or less the same elegant atmosphere as its predecessor while improving on the food.

The snapper with fennel is excellent and, like many of the dishes at Monsieur Paul, is distinctly flavored without being too heavy (as is the wont of some French chefs). The truffle soup, with its earthy umami taste of mushrooms, is a highlight among the appetizers. The baguettes served with dinner are perhaps the best bread in the entire resort. The desserts, such as La Sphere, a chocolate orb served with chocolate almond cake, praline and chocolate cream, and candied oranges ice cream, are also heavenly.

Tip: Save room for the exquisite after-dinner La Captive pear brandy. And be sure to ask the waitstaff how the pear-in-a-bottle liqueur is crafted.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult)
• Attire: Resort casual
• Food: Classic French

Flying Fish: Disney's BoardWalk (Epcot)

As you might expect, the dishes at the Flying Fish focus on seafood, Instead of old-school, cracker-crumb-crusted fish, the creative and seasonal entrees, which are prepared in the restaurant's open kitchen, might include accompaniments such as heirloom radish, leek fondue, and roasted fennel.

Despite the restaurant's name, the menu has plenty of non-seafood choices as well, including filet mignon, a tomahawk ribeye, and buttermilk-marinated chicken. The wine menu is especially extensive and can be paired with the eatery's menu of artisanal cheeses as well as with the main dishes.

Adjacent to the Flying Fish is one of Disney World's coolest places to grab a drink, AbracadaBar. Its backstory is that the retro seaside boardwalk lounge was once the hangout of vaudeville-era magicians. Fanciful drinks include The Conjurita and the Magic Hattan.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult) 
• Attire: Resort casual 
• Food: Seafood with an adventurous flair 

California Grill: Disney's Contemporary Resort

It's somewhat ironic, yet fitting, that California Grill is included among the best restaurants at Walt Disney World: ironic, in the sense that it's a restaurant in Florida that celebrates California cuisine; fitting in that Walt Disney World takes its inspiration from California's Disneyland.

Consider starting your meal with mouth-watering pizzas. Baked in a brick oven, they feature toppings such as house-made pepperoni. Sushi is also available as an appetizer. Entrees range from jumbo sea scallop to pork tenderloin to oak-fired filet of beef. The wine list features California varieties.

Located atop Disney's Contemporary Resort, the California Grill offers spectacular views. Plan your meal so that you could enjoy after-dinner drinks on the restaurant's outside balcony and watch the Magic Kingdom's nightly fireworks display. The synchronized soundtrack is piped into the balcony's speakers.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60)
• Attire: Resort casual
• Food: California fusion

Cítricos: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

The inspired Mediterranean-ish fare makes Cítricos a favorite dining spot. Located next to Victoria and Albert's, the atmosphere at the colorful, lively restaurant is decidedly less formal (and the menu is less pricey). But the attention to the food, presentation, and other details is no less remarkable. (In fact, the chef that presides over the kitchen previously ran Victoria and Albert's.)

Among Cítricos' signature dishes is beef short ribs braised in red wine and served with polenta. Plant lovers would enjoy the quinoa and Provençale ratatouille, which comes with tomato confit and a chickpea sauce. Appetizers include crisp arancini enhanced with smoked tomatoes, and pork belly served with a chermoula sauce.

The decor is light and airy and meshes well with the restaurant's open-kitchen design.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult)
• Attire: Resort casual
• Food: Eclectic fare with Mediterranean hints

Jiko - The Cooking Place: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Probably the most exotic (and among the most expensive) fare to be found on the Walt Disney World resort is at Jiko – The Cooking Place. It takes its inspiration from Africa. Drawing from the enormous continent, the menu reflects lots of variety.

Depending on the season, choices might include seared maize pudding with chakalaka (a spicy South African relish), Swahili curry shrimp with coconut rice, or seared ostrich fillet with spiced chickpeas. This is about as far removed from a theme park cheeseburger as you could get. And it's all delicious.

Be sure to peruse Jiko's overwhelming selection of South African wines. Also consider the specialty teas menu, which features African blends. They provide a great after-dinner interlude before exploring the animals grazing on the Animal Kingdom Lodge's savannah.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult)
• Attire: Resort casual
• Food: African cuisine

Toledo: Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Opened in 2019 along with the Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Toledo features Spanish-inspired tapas, steak, and seafood. With tantalizing dishes such as the Chuletón, a 28-ounce bone-in rib-eye for two, and scallops served with fava hummus, olives, harissa vinaigrette, roasted carrots, and yogurt powder, the restaurant quickly vaulted to prominence at Disney World.

The food is complemented by the rooftop dining room’s stunning views. Named for a Spanish city, Toledo’s lovely vintage ambience recalls the artists and writers that flocked there in the 1920s and 1930s.

Go for classic Spanish sides such as blistered shishito peppers and bravas potatoes. If you have room after devouring the rib-eye, you might want to try the Toledo Tapas Bar, a progressive dessert tasting.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult)
• Attire: Resort casual
• Food: Spanish cuisine

Le Cellier Steakhouse: World Showcase at Epcot

One of Disney World’s most popular restaurants, you’ll want to make reservations as soon as possible if you hope to score a table during your visit to the resort. The food is hearty and ample and includes signature dishes such as filet mignon served with mushroom risotto, asparagus-tomato relish, and truffle-butter sauce.

Themed as a wine cellar, Le Cellier can be an especially welcome and cool getaway from Florida’s sometimes brutal heat and humidity. The theme may also encourage diners to consider imbibing in Canadian wines, which are available by the glass as well as the bottle.

Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, which includes beer and bacon (two of the nation’s favorite pastimes) is a favorite appetizer. And for after the meal, consider trying Maple Crème Brûlée.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult) 
• Attire: Resort casual 
• Food: Canadian cuisine

Sanaa: Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas, Kidani Village

The decor at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge may be African-inspired, but the menu at Sanaa draws as heavily from Indian influences as from African. The hybrid menu melds the cuisines into a wonderful mishmash that might pair naan bread service as an appetizer with an African-inspired Biryani rice dish for the entree.

A lighter menu is available for lunch with dishes such as tandoori shrimp served on naan bread, a pulled pork sandwich served with Kenya coffee barbecue sauce, and a South African sausage sandwich. Sanaa is also open for breakfast and offers items such as eggs topped with tomato chutney.

The ambiance at the restaurant is funky chic. Large windows overlooking a savannah populated by zebras, giraffes, and other animals offer spectacular views.

• Cost: Moderate ($15 to $35 per adult) 
• Attire: Casual 
• Food: African and Indian cuisine

Tiffins: Disney's Animal Kingdom

One of the most extraordinary restaurant experiences inside a theme park (and outside of one, for that matter) is available at Tiffins. The diverse and adventurous menu includes African, Asian, and South American influences.

Appetizers include grilled octopus, which is charred to perfection and served with squid ink aioli. For entrees, Ethiopian coffee butter-infused venison loin is among the dishes to die for. It is served on a plate that is partly jet-black because it is covered in tasty leek ash.

The dining rooms and common areas at Tiffins are decorated with fascinating sketch books, artifacts, and indigenous art gathered by the Imagineers that developed Animal Kingdom during their research expeditions.

The adjacent Nomad Lounge offers a small plate menu that includes hints of Tiffins' main courses. It also has an impressive selection of wine, beer, and specialty cocktails rooted in Africa, Asia, and South America. Tiffins diners can order the same drinks to accompany their meals.

• Cost: High ($35 to $60 per adult)
• Attire: You are free to wear theme park clothing. Since it is a fine dining restaurant, however, you may want to get dressed up.
• Food: African, Asian, and Latin cuisine

Honorable Mention: Be Our Guest Restaurant: New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom

It's important to note that the table-service dinner at Be Our Guest is quite different from the restaurant's casual-service breakfast and lunch (although the early-day meals are noteworthy in their own right). The menu is entirely different, and the space transitions from one in which diners order at the counter to elegant waitstaff service.

The French-inspired dishes, including Marseilles-style mussels and layered ratatouille on quinoa, are scrumptious, but the real allure of the restaurant is its stunning atmosphere. This is a theme park restaurant with a striking, whimsical, and well-crafted theme. Patrons are transported to the Grand Ballroom from the film, Beauty and the Beast, where it is perpetually nighttime, and "snow" is always falling amid the moonlit mountains outside the floor-to-ceiling picture windows.

You can order The "Grey Stuff" (which is among the whimsical lyrics in the movie's popular song, "Be Our Guest") for dessert. You can also order beer or wine, which at the time that the restaurant opened was a first for the Magic Kingdom. The no-alcohol policy has since been relaxed and adult drinks are available at a few other restaurants in the park.

• Cost: Moderate ($15 to $35 per adult) 
• Attire: Anything goes at this theme park restaurant, but you may want to consider wearing fineries fit for a royal ball
• Food: French-inspired fare