Boardwalk 1 TS Restaurants... Which One?

[junebug21981]

ESPN Club, Big River Grill, or Trattoria al forna. Are any of these worth it..... thoughts?

 

[lovin'fl]

We are staying at BWV for F&W but on arrival day we don't have park tickets so we too want to book 1 TS dinner that night for around there. I have inquired around and discussed with my travel party (DH and DDs-17). We will not have DP or TIW card so we (being DVC) want to choose a place that offers DVC discount. Most of these do. We have been to ESPN and Big River before and they are fine...bar food places. I did read that ESPN got new chef and menu????, so maybe worth trying out. Never been to Trattoria al Forna but my DH and DDs are not big on Italian (boo, because Italian is my fave).

I will add a few other places we were considering: Captain's Grille at Yacht Club and Garden Grove at the Swan. Both also have DVC discount but I read stinky reviews on garden Grove so we nixed that. Not offering DVC discount, but places I can also recommend are: Beaches and Cream (YUM!!!) and Cape May (seafood buffet...pretty good if you like seafood and a bit pricey, good if you have TIW or DP) at the Beach Club.

I am now leaning toward Captain's Grille as we have never been there for dinner. I also have 2 non-BW area places we may pick instead (House of Blues at DS or Whispering Canyon at WL).

 

[Lisa F]

if you like seafood I'd head on over to the Beach Club and do the Cape May Buffet. Great value as a TS and gets pretty good reviews. None of the BW 1TS restaurants have ever thrilled me, and I have owned there since 1999. I do like flying fish though lol.

 

[Figaro972]

DH and I love ESPN, it is usually a 1st day lunch for us if we are at BWV or BCV. and their Pom Margarita is my fav. I know, food. The food is good too. We just had some cheesecake desert in february that came with DDP and no one wanted but after we each sampled a taste we ordered another one.

 

[crabbygal902]

Haven't been to the other 2, but ESPN is okay...just average bar food. For 1 TS credit, I'd go to the Cape May Seafood Buffet. It is a great value on the DDP because it is so expensive OOP. Although not a good way to spend TS credits, we also love Beaches and Cream. It is inexpensive enough that paying OOP makes more sense.

Edit: Whoops, didn't notice that you would not have the dining plan. I'd opt for Beaches and Cream then.

 

[Dis703]

For the Boardwalk area I'd recommend Cape May Café breakfast or Captains Grille for lunch/dinner.

Of the three you posted the only one I've dined at was ESPN and it was okay but like pp said average bar food, nothing more.

 

[cluvsdisney]

We've been to all three. We both really like ESPN (traditional bar food but just about everything has always been really good) and Trattoria (we've only been once but really enjoyed our meals). Big River Grill is ok but the restaurant is incredibly loud inside so I would only go there if it was nice enough to eat outside and the wait wasn't too long.

 

[brertoad]

Not a fan of Big River Grill. I would recommend trying Captain's Grill. Haven't tried Trattoria yet, so I'm not sure.

 

[sallytigger]

It wasn't on your list, but we really enjoy Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club.

 

[goofy4prez]

I'm not a big fan of ESPN nor can I speak for Big River since I have never been there. I'm also not a big fan of Cape May; I personally think it is very "Golden Corral" in quality like every lunch/dinner buffet at WDW other than Boma. It offers mass made food made in advance and sitting on a serving station to be scooped up. I also was not impressed with the Crab Legs, they were no better than the local Chinese restaurant near me that offers the same quality crab legs. But one must take my opinion with a grain of sand, I am admittedly not a buffet fan at all. I will say that I did enjoy Captains Grill and found it to be a true hidden gem in WDW. The decor is nothing that stands out at all, but the food is very good, the dining room is quite and the service was good as well. Captains Grill is the only 1TS that I like on the Boardwalk. I am a big fan of the signature restaurants on the Boardwalk like Yachtsman Steakhouse, Flying Fish and Blue Zoo.

 

[SwanVT2]

I would not got out of my way to eat at any of these. Of the 3, Trattoria has the best ambiance and food. If you want to explore the Boardwalk, maybe eat elsewhere then visit Boardwalk for the beautiful walk, entertainment and some fried dough.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've eaten at Trattoria several times (including last Christmas!) and really enjoy it. We've also eaten at Big River (not great), but have never eaten at ESPN as it looks like sensory overload to me! Of the three, I would definitely pick Trattoria. The food is really good and the service is excellent.

If you want to consider other restaurants in the area, I would look at Capt. Grille at YC and Cape May Cafe at BC.

 

[kiford]

I haven't done Trattoria for dinner (just breakfast) so I can't comment on it, although we really liked breakfast. I've been to both ESPN and Big River Grill. I thought ESPN was horrible. I expected mediocre bar and grill food but it was below even my expectations. Big River Grill is meh for food but the beer is good. We only go there on a warm afternoon and sit outside with a beer.

Never been to Captain's Grill for dinner but we always do at least one breakfast there every trip. Never been to Cape May because I think it's only character dining.

There are also a number of nice places in the Swan and Dolphin which are only a couple of extra minutes walk away.