Erin McKenna's Bakery — Restaurant in Lake Buena Vista

• Food Safety Opinion Being Shared * in addition to my review. A busy weekend night at Disney Springs, I'd never noticed this bakery which advertises as allergen-friendly and/or sensitive (as the manager of other not-so-great reviews has repeatedly cut/pasted, they are free of and/or sensitive to the "top 9" most common allergens).

I was bit overly excited, as my wife and daughter both have serious food allergies and/or sensitivities, which makes it impossible to eat out, or grab a treat at a bakery. I was amazed when I read that they were FREE of the top-9 allergens, because it is truly is painful to find something my family members can enjoy).

To their credit, the 2 very friendly young ladies closing that night tried to very helpful, and immediately offered up the "allergen book," that contains every single ingredient in every product sold. However, after decades of being used to reading everything so closely, I must've been a bit overwhelmed by the possibility of surprising my girls at home with some actual bakery treats that would (presumably... read on for reality) be "safe" for them to eat! So I stupidly did NOT read the book when offered (full disclosure: no one was injured or made ill due to the details of this experience, simply because we have a checks and balances in our house - for ALL foods - and my wife caught it when I got home overly excited to show them what I'd brought home for them!).

With some suggestions from the friendly crew, I picked out a chocolate-dipped chocolate chip cookie, something that looked like an old-school whoopee pie with creamy filling surrounded by 2 squished brownie saucers, a frosted chocolate cupcake, and a large, iced cinnamon roll (they were even kind enough to throw in an extra cookie at the end of the night).

So I get home, excited to show my girls my "winnings" (it felt like that anyways!), only to have my wife tell me they WERE aware of that bakery but could NOT eat anything there?! My wife then pointed out to me something I know better to check every. single. time.... to READ the ingredients book for EACH item (which, as I've already shared, I failed to do in my misplaced exuberance).

It all sounded well and good...until my wife pointed out that, despite loudly advertising themselves as being peanut-free (which they reportedly are), somehow, McKenna's Bakery has failed to recognize the connection for many peanut-allergic people to ALL legumes and legume-related products, since peanuts are NOT a tree nut at all, but rather, a LEGUME, closely related to all other legumes, such as all beans!!!

McKenna Bakery uses chickpea (garbanzo bean) and/or fava bean flour, amongst other gluten-free flours, in most of their products, yet does NOT disclose this ANYwhere. And while legumes may not be technically classified as a "peanut" (duh), they ARE in the same family, and many peanut-allergic people must avoid all legumes, depending on their personal situation.

NOW, this is not to say that each customer is not responsible for their own health and safety, as well as that of their family or other loved ones - we absolutely ARE (and shame on me for forgetting to read the ingredient book, despite all the celebrated advertising about this bakery being allergen-free or sensitive.

They are NOT making full disclosures, or providing full food safety transparency under these conditions!!!

As to the quality/taste of each item, since I ended up trying to eat them, since my family could not safely do so. Keep in mind, I am used to gluten-free and other allergen-free offerings in our house. Cupcake - not bad, with decent, fluffy frosting, kind of like a whip cream frosting. Chocolate chip-dipped cookies - very crispy, tasted pretty good. Whoopie pie - pretty tasty with the same light filling. Cinnamon roll - disgusting!! Hard, did NOT taste like a cinnamon roll at all, and the icing was sickly sweet - NO thanks - left a horrible lingering taste in my mouth (I tested these items separately, not all at once).

McKenna's Bakery...

Currently, Erin Mckenna’s at Disney Springs is only allowing one group at a time into this tiny bakery due to Covid. This means when I made a stop there, we had to wait in line, which certainly built up expectations. Especially then looking at their menu and seeing their only other locations are in places like New York and Los Angeles. Sounded pretty high bar to me, and I know I can’t be the only one to think that.

The expectations continued when it was finally my groups turn inside. A bakery that certainly looked like it was transplanted directly from NY, the decor and vibe was adorable and big city-like. There were a lot of tempting and eye-catching options- various cupcakes, pieces of cake, cookies, loaves and such.

We decided on a Key Lime cupcake, a devils food whoopi pie, and a pineapple upside down mini cake. They all looked incredible and I was excited to chow down. Even the two ladies working were funny and sweet, and we liked them a lot. I only wish I could report as positive for the actual tasting experience as all the rest.

I would expect a Key Lime cupcake to have some tart key lime flavor of some sort to it. This one was a dry vanilla cake and a sort of citrus, crusty frosting. It was so unappetizing it was barely half eaten. It had definitely been sitting out way too long, and was maybe over baked far before it sat out too long. It actually tasted more like a muffin than a cupcake to me (and that is not a good thing). The pineapple upside down cake was tough to cut, and sticky as all get out. It just didn’t work for me, and that was also hardly eaten.

As for the devils food whoopi pie, that was actually pretty darn good, to their credit. It tasted FRESH- it was soft and a strong chocolate flavor with sweet delicious frosting in the middle, and it was incredible. The whoopi pie was the first of the three I tried, so it’s safe to say I was superbly let down after the first treat.

I have to say, I’m definitely disappointed in this place. The whoopi pie was good, but even that isn’t worth coming back for, especially when put into perspective with the other things we tried and Erin Mckenna’s being located within Disney Springs, amongst multitudes of other fun...

We visited this location on Saturday, May 17th around 6 p.m., and it was an incredibly disappointing experience. I have two young children—my eldest is 6 and nonverbal with autism, and my youngest just turned 3. We stopped in because my son with autism can only eat gluten-free food, and we were glad to find a place where we could get him something he could enjoy. Taking him out is not always easy, so even getting to this point was a win for us.

Naturally, when my kids approached the display, they pointed at the glass to show what they wanted. That’s when the woman behind the counter suddenly began yelling—twice, loudly and sharply—“Do not touch the glass! Do not touch the glass!” She was so loud and aggressive that people in the store turned around. And who was she yelling at? My nonverbal autistic son, who was simply trying to show us what he wanted.

It was completely uncalled for, and absolutely unnecessary.

Then, instead of just moving on or acknowledging how harsh her behavior had been, the cashier launched into a long, exaggerated story about how kids have climbed over the glass in the past. Not only was that irrelevant, but it made the situation feel even more uncomfortable and awkward.

To top it all off, when our order was ready, she tossed the bag onto the counter at me without saying a word. Rude, dismissive, and completely unprofessional.

We took our son with special needs out to enjoy a simple moment—a treat. Instead, we were met with hostility and zero compassion. It completely ruined the experience. It was disgusting behavior, and it should not be tolerated by any business, especially one located in a place like Disney Springs that families and children frequent.

If the owner or manager of this location is reading this, I strongly urge you to look into who was working that evening and how they handled this situation. Your staff needs proper training—basic customer service, awareness around disabilities, and how to speak to people with decency.

With so many excellent, family-friendly options in Disney Springs, I won’t be returning. And if you’re a parent of a child with special needs, I suggest you don’t waste your time or money here until...