My 5 Favorite Counter Service Locations

Hello to my members and readers.  It is Sunday, and that means it is once again time for my weekly feature of "My 5 Favorites."  This week, I will be rating, reviewing and giving my personal experiences of my top five favorite counter service locations on Walt Disney World property.  These are a good mixture from parks and resorts.  There are of course many locations that I have enjoyed over the years, and there ares still many more to enjoy on future trips.  We are in the process of choosing some new places to dine quick service for our upcoming trip in October.  I am looking forward to trying such places like "Flame Tree Barbecue" and "ABC Commissary."  I have heard such great things about both places.  Of course I can honestly only rate and review places where I have dined, so here we go with "My 5 Favorites" in counter service dining.

#5 - SUNSET RANCH MARKET
 On our 2010 trip to Walt Disney World we rather "winged" our dining for our day at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  I had always opted to eat at my resort or other locations on the days that I have been to this park.  So, I was not very familiar with quick service locations here.  We were just wandering around when we found Sunset Ranch Market.  With the "food stands" here, it seems like there were a lot of great choices.  Stands such as "Rosie's All-American Cafe" have cheeseburgers, chicken strips and soups.  "Catalina Eddies" offers pizza selections, sandwiches, salads and chocolate cake, just to name a few.  "Anaheim Produce" features fresh fruits and vegetables, juices and soft drinks.  "Toluca Legs Turkey Co." has of course, turkey legs, (which I totally do not understand why people like these when you have to hunt for meat in the midst of all the tendons in the leg.  Not for me.)  "Hollywood Scoops" has selections of creamy treats, and finally "Fairfax Fare" has smoked offerings like ribs, chicken, brisket and salads.  We chose "Rosies All-American Cafe" and I had chicken strips and Paul had a cheeseburger, which he classified as "average."  Really, unless you go gourmet, what can you do to a cheeseburger unless you cook it to death or serve it raw.  I do recall the chicken strips were pretty good.  Moist and not all dried out.  After this meal, we headed the short distance over to the theater for the Beauty and the Beast Live stage show, which was awesome!

#4 - CAPT. COOK'S

We discovered this great counter service location while staying at The Polynesian on our last trip.  This eatery serves light fare that is either made-to-order or they also have prepackaged items. This location is open 24 hours a day, which I guess is really nice if you are staying that the Polynesian and you get the midnight munchies.  They serve sandwiches, salads, sushi, fruit, yogurt, Asian noodle bowls and freshly prepared breakfast items.  Breakfast was delicious, and we did dine here in the morning several times.  Tonga Toast!

#3 - SUNSHINE SEASONS

Located on the lower level of The Land pavilion, "Sunshine Seasons" is one of the most interesting and diverse dining locations on Walt Disney World property.  There is plenty of seating here, which is really good because this place can get a bit busy at regular meal times.  This is due to the wide variety of food choices. It is a wonderful place for families with picky eaters, because there is so much to choose from. 
The "Sandwich Shop" has oak grilled flat breads, Reuben Panini's and many other food choices.  The "Soup and Salad Shop" has creative salads including roasted beet and goat cheese and seared tuna with sesame rice wine dressing.  All the soups are made fresh daily.  The produce used at this location along with the other areas at Sunshine Seasons comes from the items grown at The Land pavilion, I think that is so cool!   "The Grill Shop" has rotisserie chicken and pork chops, beef and grilled salmon.  The "Wok Shop" serves Mongolian beef with jasmine rice and noodle bowls.  Finally, the "Bakery" offers up fresh desserts, including the house specialty, "Soarin' Creme Brulee!"  Also served here are brownies (which are to die for!) and ice cream bars.   There is also a "grab-and-go" section that contains sushi, fruit and cheese platters, ice cream and other snacks.  We chose "The Grill Shop."  The grilled salmon was really good, and we had the brownies from the Bakery for dessert.

#2 - COSMIC RAY'S STARLIGHT CAFE

This is the largest counter service location in Magic Kingdom.  You will find this directly across from the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway in Tomorrowland.  There are three different areas for ordering food in the Cafe called Bays.  Bay 1 offers Rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken sandwiches and chicken nuggets.  This was the Bay we chose.  Bay 2 has cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs.   Bay 3 has choices of soups, salads, wraps and BBQ pork sandwiches.  There are also Kosher selections available.  "Sunny Eclipse," is always fun entertainment. Don't know who Sunny is?  Well, he is the Audio-Animatronic character who is the "house" entertainer at "Ray's."  He is a sort of alien "lounge lizard" who tells jokes and sings songs.  Not only does this location have good food, but it also keeps you entertained at the same time.  You could be tempted to stay a little longer to watch Sunny "perform," but you will need to get back out to the park to continue with your day.

#1 - SASSAGOULA FLOAT WORKS AND FOOD FACTORY

This counter service location is at Port Orleans French Quarter.  Remember please, the following statement as your continue to read this review.  I have not been to this counter service location since....1994!  You read it correctly.  Unfortunately, on trips since then, I just have not been able to get over to dine here.  The last time I was there, Port Orleans French Quarter, was still just called Port Orleans.  Think about this.  I have not been there for over 17 years, but I still remember the place, and the quality of food as if  I was just there last week.  That says a lot about this place, right?  The "ambiance" the food,  and the staff all left such an impression on me that I still remember it. I talk to people frequently who tell me it has not changed.  It is still a wonderful place.  If you have not taken a ride from a park, or another resort location to have a meal here, you are really missing something.  If you are at Downtown Disney, take a ride over on the water taxi down the Sassagoula River to Port Orleans French Quarter.  It is such a peaceful ride, and the smell of the cypress trees along the waters edge is heavenly.  Not as heavenly as what you will experience when you get to your destination.  The high quality food selections at the "Float Works" consists of pizza, pasta, gumbo, sandwiches, burgers and barbecued ribs.  Also served is spit-fired chicken and a wonderful selection of baked goodies including their famous beignets!!  Do not pass those up, they are delicious.  The atmosphere here is so fun and festive you will feel like you are in the middle of of a Mardi Gras parade.

Well, there you have it folks.  "My 5 Favorites" in quick service dining.  Join us next week for "My 5 Favorite in snacks at the parks!