Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue — Restaurant in Bay Lake

Update: 08/2024 I went and got their salad again and it’s different. Instead of the power salad with cold smoked chicken, it is the House Salad and your choice of meat: chicken, brisket, or pulled pork. It’s a whole head of romaine lettuce and they give you a small dish with your choice of meat. I chose the chicken and regret it. It was overly sauced and had a gamey aftertaste. The whole lettuce was a bit ridiculous but it tasted fine, topped with ranch dressing. I’d try it again but will try a different meat. See pics below.

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Located at the American Pavilion, Regal Eagle Smokehouse is a quick service restaurant that serves barbecue. It is also available through mobile order and I suggest you order through the app 9 times out of 10, but I went on a Monday, early in January, at 12:30, and there were no lines.

I’ve been several times with friends and family, and we’ve gotten beef brisket served with Texas toast, smoked chicken, pulled pork, ribs, and chicken tenders. All well seasoned and delicious.

This time around, I ordered their Power Greens with chicken. The chicken is chilled, and is the same as the smoked chicken. You get a really good smoky, savory-seasoned flavor. The salad is crispy from different types of lettuce, fresh sliced radishes, and thinly sliced fresh Brussels sprouts. It’s topped with pumpkin seeds, craisins, and fresh slices of grapefruit and oranges. There isn’t any true vinaigrette, I believe, but the juice from the citrus fruits act as a lovely sweet and tangy dressing. It’s a hearty bowl and is perfect as a “light” lunch, especially if you’re like me and plan on getting dessert and other snacks around the showcase. 😆

There’s a large sit down area so you should be able to find a seat inside and out. The beverage dispensers are along the wall by the order counter area as well as towards the entrance. Food is served on real dishes but you’ll need to grab some napkins and disposable flatware by the beverage dispensers. You can also get condiments in the same area. At the time I purchased this meal (1/8/24), it was about $12.50 plus a regular sized beverage and it all came out...

Everything here was great, except for two things. The easy to fix issue is the insane time it takes to get food here. They have a mobile pickup station, and the app wants you to mobile order (push notification), but it wasn't enabled during our visit. Orders were taking ages to prepare, and I saw many that were incorrect, or the staff was unsure who actually ordered when the food came up. The guy in front of my ordered the exact same thing as I did but my order was prepared first.

The other, more difficult issue, is price vs. portion size. I ordered the brisket sandwich which includes one side for about $13. The side portion was fine, but the sandwich was sorely lacking. Which is a shame, because it was really good! Cooked perfectly, tender, flavorful, with great sauce options at the condiments bar (savory/spicy, mustard base BBQ, vinegar base BBQ). But there were only 4 small strips of brisket on the bread. Pretty sad. Plenty of other park quick serve restaurants have a decent (for Disney) portion to cost ratio.

Separate side dishes are $4.99 each! I sucked it up and ordered the house-made pickles just to try them, since they're a side for some reason, and they were great. But no pickles are worth $5. They should be on the condiments bar, or just a smaller portion for a much lower price.

The atmosphere is wonderful. Indoor and outdoor seating and plenty of both. A permanent smoker housing is set up in front and it smelled fantastic. Everyone was friendly, of course. My wife had the ribs and she enjoyed them, but same issue with portion size.

We loved it, but it's too much for too little to...

We grew up eating lunch at the American pavilion. Was here or the Odyssey in those days. That's just where we went. ...you know back when the drum and fife was going on and the double decker busses were making their rounds before the Living Seas or Horizons or the festivals. If we can dream it, than we can do it ...yes we can yes we can. Lol Couldn't tell you how many times we've been over the years. Several many times a year since the very beginning.

Anyway, you've got inside outside quick service venues with plenty of seating in and out. Some faux looking smoker out front, I don't know if it works. Craft beers and decent BBQ too. Very niiice improvement overall. Wawa we woo!!

I think they did right by the space with the remodel except for nixing the convenient restrooms which might could hopefully return but I don't know.

Solid better-than-expected quick service theme park BBQ. Decent enough and fairly priced. I'm kinda hooked.

Flavorful sliced brisket was unlike the flash "smoked" pot roast so many other places will sell you. Loved the garlic bread; dense and rich. Really liked the pickles. Adequate portions. Solid sauces too; everyone of them.

And people are really going to love love love the self service beverage bars, there's two of them, I can tell you that all the live long day!

...certainly not backyard brisket but welcome theme park deliciousness that plays on my weak heartstrings in this super special iconic space.

Quick queue for an off Thursday. Plenty of seating and fun helpful hosts/hostesses fussing...