Menu

Restaurants at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom make USA Today’s list of the 10 Best theme park dining venues

yak and yeti and be our guest
Credit: Disney Parks

USA Today has published its 2022 list of the country’s 10 best theme park restaurants, and the Walt Disney World Resort had two dining venues on the list–one at Magic Kingdom and one at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

yak and yeti and be our guest

Credit: Disney Parks

Earlier this month, USA Today published its 2022 10Best list of best U. S. theme parks, and Disney Parks appear to have been booted off the list. Not a single theme park at Walt Disney World or at Disneyland Resort was named: not Magic Kingdom, not EPCOT, not Disney’s Hollywood Studios, not Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and not Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure.

Now USA Today has published its annual list of Best U.S. Theme Park Restaurants, and two of the named establishments are owned by The Walt Disney Company.

This year’s list, which is, as always, generated based on readers’ choice, names ten different dining venues at U. S. theme parks and includes the following:

  • 10. Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant at Knott’s Berry Farm
  • 9. Be Our Guest at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World
  • 8. Leaky Cauldron at Universal Orlando Resort
  • 7. Das Festhaus at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  • 6. Zambia Smokehouse at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
  • 5. Mythos Restaurant at Universal Orlando Resort
  • 4. Aunt Granny’s Restaurant at Dollywood
  • 3. Trappers Smokehouse at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  • 2. Yak and Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World
  • 1. Confisco Grille at Universal Orlando Resort

Be Our Guest is located inside Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom. It opened with the New Fantasyland expansion in 2014. Disney World‘s website invites Guests to “dine in palatial splendor”:

Feast on French-inspired fare in one of our elaborately themed rooms-straight out of the beloved Disney classic!

Be Our Guest Restaurant is an expansive and elegant dining destination located at the foot of Beast’s Castle in Fantasyland. Whether you are enjoying lunch or dinner, you will experience an atmosphere made for memories.

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Credit: Disney Parks

Royal Rooms for Loyal Subjects: Be Our Guest offers 3 meticulously imagineered dining areas, each designed to immerse our Guests in the heartwarming mystery and romance of “Beauty and the Beast:”

  • The Grand Ballroom – Go for baroque in this magnificent ballroom with its high, domed ceiling, chandeliers, and snow-laced Gothic arches.
  • The West Wing – Dine in the Beast’s mysterious West Wing study-if you dare-and perhaps you’ll even spy his enchanted rose.
  • The Castle Gallery – Get swept up in the romance of Belle’s private library, and inspired by the larger-than-life figures of Belle and Beast dancing.
Dining room with Southeast Asian décor of wooden tables and carved chairs guarded by fierce statues

Credit: Disney Parks

Yak & Yeti Restaurant is located in Asia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and offers a Pan-Asian menu.

Disney World‘s website welcomes Guests to “discover exciting pan-Asian cuisine at a quaint village home that’s been transformed into a restaurant”:

“At the base of Expedition Everest sits Yak & Yeti Restaurant, a table-service eatery serving delicious dishes from various regions across Asia.

Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes Menu | Walt Disney World Resort

Credit: Disney Parks

Decorated with the proprietor’s collection of Southeast Asian artifacts, this eclectic eatery offers a menu of sweet-and-sour chicken, ahi tuna nachos, pork potstickers, and Kobe beef burgers. Vegetarian options abound, as do kid-friendly choices like cheeseburgers and mac and cheese.

Unique alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages include cocktails, chilled sake, Asian beers, wine, and an assortment of hot teas. Those with a penchant for exotic tastes might try a specialty drink from our full-service bar. Guests must be 21 years of age and older to order alcoholic beverages.

Be sure to save room for one of our sumptuous desserts-chocolate pudding cake, mango pie, or fried wontons served with fresh pineapple and ice cream.”

About Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!