Review Carnation Cafe - Disneyland

By Jennifer Stuart

The Carnation Cafe is a table service restaurant located on Main Street USA in Disneyland. This is a Disneyland classic with many dishes being personal favourites of Walt himself.

The Carnation Cafe is well known for several dishes. At breakfast they serve a variety of options including Mickey waffles and the Oscar’s Choice, full American bacon and eggs.  For lunch and dinner, expect to see homestyle classics such as roast turkey sandwiches, cheeseburgers and chilli.  The menu also includes Walt’s favourites - meatloaf and buttermilk fried chicken.  

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Seating is available both inside and outside.  We chose to eat outside under the cheerful red and white umbrellas.  Most of the outdoor seating is tucked down a relatively quiet side street just off of Main Street. Tables throughout the restaurant are tastefully decorated with the signature red carnations.

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The menu 

Baked Potato Soup
​ This is a creamy potato soup topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon bits and green onion.  The flavours are amazing, after all these are all my favourite toppings on a baked potato.  The one downside was that I wasn’t prepared for the chunks of potato.  Although they were well cooked, I would have preferred it to be creamy throughout.  This is one of the classic Carnation Cafe menu items. ($7.00 USD).

Deep Fried Pickles.
​They are spears of dill pickles that are breaded in parmesan and panko and then deep fried. They are served with a creamy dipping sauce. These were amazing! If you like dill pickles I cannot recommend these enough. I had never had these before and I have been ordering them at other restaurants since but none have managed to live up to these!  The outside had a great crunch and it matched really well with the dill flavour.  ($7.00 USD).

Chocolate Malted Milkshake

Root Beer Float

We love a good milkshake. These were great and the perfect treat on a warm day. We tried the chocolate shakes which come tall, icy and delicious topped with whip cream.  These were very thick shakes with a great ratio of ice cream. They come in vanilla, chocolate or cherry. ($6.50 USD).  You can also get them as a traditional malted.
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Cherry Milkshake

Turkey Club
This was a great meal sized sandwich (light eaters could easily share this) It had a lot of sliced turkey breast and crisp bacon on lightly toasted bread.  This was a bit hit! It comes served with a choice of fruit (pictured) or fries on the side. (This item is not currently available) 

Main Street Cheeseburger.
​Angus Chuck Patty, Tillamook Cheddar, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Lettuce, and House Sauce on Toasted Brioche served with your choice of fresh Fruit or Seasoned French Fries   A Really good burger and a solid choice that is constantly available $14 USD

Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken 
Grilled Chicken, Spinach, Boiled Eggs, Portobello Mushrooms, Feta Cheese, and Pickled Onions tossed with Golden Balsamic-Mustard Seed Vinaigrette.  This was a great meal salad with a full chicken breast it was hard to eat the whole thing.   This was a slightly odd combination of flavours and while I love all these things separately I am not sure I loved them together.  (much as I appreciated a good meal salad option) $15 USD

Fried Chicken.
​This fried chicken breast served with mashed potatoes (substituted a diner roll( , country gravy and vegetables.This was a good and filling meal but Doug much prefers the chicken at Plaza Inn.  If you only eat one fried chicken-- eat that one.  $18USD

 Penne Pasta with Shrimp.  
This is a pasta and sautéed shrimp dish with broccoli and mushrooms in a creamy garlic sauce.  This had a easy sauce and although I would have liked to to see some more shrimp was a filling dish. $20USD

Kids burger meals come with fruit and veggies. (We asked for double fruit instead). Kids meals also include a drink (of milk or water)we chose water and took the bottles to go as we ordered milkshakes.

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As this is a table service restaurant, I highly recommend that you make reservations in advance. You can do this by phone, online or with the Disneyland App. (Read our post about why you should download the Disneyland App before you go). We have been lucky enough to get same day reservations by walking up in person in the morning on less busy days, however to get the times you want I would recommend booking in advance.  

Inside seating

Link to Carnation Cafe Menu

One of the highlights of the Carnation Cafe Used to be the legendary Chef Oscar.  Chef Oscar who was Disneyland’s longest serving cast member.  (until he recently retired) He had been working at the resort for over 60 years!  He is a true Disneyland treasure and he used walk around to tables and greet guests. Meeting this lovely man made my day!

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Meeting Chef Oscar!

All photos by Jennifer Stuart and Kim Stuart

Do you have a favourite menu item at Carnation Cafe? Questions? We would love to hear from you.