When it comes to dining at Walt Disney World there’s no shortage of places to grab breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack or a cold drink at any one of the resort’s parks. But perhaps the most talked about restaurant is Be Our Guest inside the Magic Kingdom.
Based on the movie Beauty and the Beast, the restaurant is located inside the Beast’s castle in Fantasyland. It opened in 2012 and quickly became a favorite of guests for its theming, décor and of course the ability to meet the Beast himself!
Be Our Guest serves quick-service breakfast and lunch and dinner is offered up as full table service with an added perk – beer and wine! Yes, the opening of Be Our Guest ushered in a new era for the Magic Kingdom – the introduction of alcohol into a park that was dry since the day it opened. But there is a catch. Beer and wine are only served at dinner time and guests cannot take alcohol out of the restaurant.
Inside the restaurant, there are three dining rooms. The main one being the Grand Ballroom that features high, domed ceilings with an amazing floor to ceiling view of the Imagineer-created snow falling outside. The second dining room is the West Wing, the Beast’s study. This is where the enchanted rose is kept and is a smaller, more romantic and dark room. It’s also my favorite room to dine in. Then there’s the Castle Gallery, the private library of none other than Belle. As you walk in, you will see a large statue of Belle and the Beast dancing. All together, the three rooms hold a whopping 550 people! That’s a lot of hungry mouths to feed.
So let’s talk about the food. Some samplings from the breakfast menu include egg dishes, breakfast sandwiches, and a vegetable quiche. Breakfast items (except kids meals) are all priced at $24. For lunch, the menu is full of sandwiches, soups, and salads with prices in the teens.
But dinner is when Be Our Guest rolls our the red carpet for the guests entering the castle! Mussels, a strip steak, roasted lamb chops, seafood, pork, and even ratatouille are featured on the dinner menu with entree prices ranging from $21 – $35.
Then there’s dessert! Cupcakes, eclairs and “The Grey Stuff” is all waiting for you. What’s “The Grey Stuff?” Just try it. Desserts are all $5.
We have eaten dinner at Be Our Guest many, many times and we’ve honestly never had problems getting reservations. But we’ve heard the tales told that you need to book out months in advance to get in. Here’s my tip…. start checking for reservations the day before you want to dine there and also first thing the morning of. That’s when I’ve been able to score reservations ever time. It seems that with the Disney dining reservation policy, that people cancel 24 hours before their dinner reservation if you act quickly you can scoop those spots up.
So how is the food at Be Our Guest? I am not a fan of the quick service food inside the Magic Kingdom, so Be Our Guest is a great place to head for dinner after a day in the park. The mussels for an appetizer are a favorite of mine.
The French onion soup, is hit or miss at times. The strip steak is usually our go-to, but we always have to ask them to use “less salt” when cooking it. We and others have complained about the amount of salt used on the food at Be Our Guest, so we have to ask for less when we order.
Other favorites include the braised pork which is prepared Coq au Vin style. The lamb and pork chops are very good as well, although recently they have cut the portion size of both of those menu items and I haven’t been as satisfied with them.
A very good selection of French wine is available by the bottle or glass as well as French and Belguim beers by the bottle.
Have you eaten at Be Our Guest? If so, be sure to let us know what you thought of it in the comments section below.
P.S. Don’t forget to save room for the dessert. Cupcakes and the “Grey Stuff” are available.
