Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo (Disney World) Lunch Review
*This dining experience took place in August 2019. It includes information about dairy free options and fish/shellfish, peanut, and chicken & turkey free options.
Lunch at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo
Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo is a quick service restaurant located in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios. During the first few days of the land opening, we had both breakfast and lunch at the restaurant to check out all of the options available to us as guests with special dietary needs.
Atmosphere
Docking Bay 7 is themed after a working hangar bay. There is actually a bit of a storyline that goes with the restaurant's theme -- though I admit, I would not have known about it if it hadn't been listed on Disney World's official page about Docking Bay 7.
The story is that Chef Strono “Cookie” Tuggs runs the joint and prepares dishes with ingredients all across the galaxy. So, many of the dishes you find at Docking Bay 7 are said to be inspired by all of Chef Cookie's adventures.
Docking Bay 7 - Sign / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
The building for Docking Bay 7 does look a bit nondescript. But, you'll find a sign that helps guide you to the restaurant.
Docking Bay 7 - Seating / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
The inside is much more interesting, with lots of seating options set to resemble cargo and engine parts that you'd expect to see in a working hangar bay. I really loved the booth areas that were a bit more tucked away from the busy restaurant crowds. These cargo container seats are really clever!
Docking Bay 7 - Decor / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
You'll also see some nods to the restaurant's theme and back-story with various open cargo boxes that include different "food" items. Here we found some fish and other food containers.
Docking Bay 7 Dining Room / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Although I expect the crowds have thinned out a bit at Docking Bay 7 since opening weekend, do take note that it can feel very crowded very quickly in this restaurant. The layout is a little funny, and it definitely doesn't feel spacious. As you can see from this photo, early lunchtime was definitely fairly busy when we went.
The Food
Like most Disney owned and operated restaurants, Docking Bay 7 does carry an allergy-friendly lunch and dinner menu. Do be sure to always double-check this menu and speak with a chef if you have any questions about options or have special dietary needs not covered by this menu. Because of our special dietary needs, we made sure to talk to a chef directly about options.
Docking Bay 7 / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Chef Quan helped us on both of our visits. While I opted to order a gluten free dish from the menu, we did need to find out if there was anything that Brandon could eat at the restaurant. He is allergic to fish, shellfish, peanuts, hazelnuts, cabbage, and chicken & turkey. Because most of the options either contained shellfish or chicken, we weren't sure there'd much he could choose from.
Chef Quan was very helpful, though he did mention that there's limited options at the restaurant because they wanted food that could be easily and quickly prepared for guests -- anticipating that the restaurant would be really busy. With this in mind, he said options and customization would be a bit of a challenge. But, he really worked hard to ensure Brandon could eat something at Docking Bay 7.
Docking Bay 7 / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
For my entree, I decided to try one of the three gluten free options on the menu -- the Roasted Endorian Chicken Salad (formerly labeled the Roasted Endorian Tip-Yip Salad). This was marked safe for gluten/wheat, fish/shellfish, and peanut allergies. It does contain dairy and cannot be modified. The salad comes with Marinated Chicken, Mixed Greens, Roasted Vegetables, Quinoa, Pumpkin Seeds, and Green Curry Ranch.
Overall, if you can have dairy, this is an excellent gluten free option. I was really impressed by the hearty portion (there was a ton of chicken in the dish) and the flavors were surprisingly good. I had heard hit or miss reviews from Disneyland about this dish -- especially because some of the ingredients in the salad were warm while others were cold. While I definitely noticed the temperature differences, I still thought the salad was pretty good. I also didn't think the ranch or curry flavors were too prominent -- though if you don't like either of those, you might want to skip this one.
I would definitely get this dish again -- though I really want to try the shrimp and noodle salad options after reading Alexis from Alexis's Gluten Free Adventures' review in her most recent trip to Disneyland. The shrimp and noodle dish on the adult and children's menus are both gluten free and dairy free.
Docking Bay 7 / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
After talking to Chef Quan, it looked like the only safe option that would work for Brandon's special dietary needs was the Smoked Kaadu Pork Ribs with a slight modification. Chef Quan actually made a fresh batch of potatoes for Brandon to substitute for the cabbage slaw (which he is allergic to). This was really nice of the chef to do so that Brandon could also try the food at Docking Bay 7.
The Smoked Kaadu Pork Ribs typically comes with Sticky Pork Ribs, Blueberry Corn Muffin, and Cabbage Slaw. In this case, Brandon had potatoes instead of the slaw. With this modification the dish was safe for fish/shellfish, peanut/tree nut, cabbage, and chicken & turkey allergies.
Docking Bay 7 / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Generally, Brandon said the ribs were good. Neither one of us are fans of ribs and eating meat off the bone, and Brandon said this was not exactly the easiest thing to eat. The muffin was nothing to write home about. And, he said the best part of the entree were the potatoes. Because it was just so-so, Brandon said he'd probably prefer to get food elsewhere next time we visit Hollywood Studios.
Overall
While we were both glad to be able to eat something at Docking Bay 7 for lunch, neither one of us were all that impressed with the food. I liked mine a bit more than Brandon did, but knowing that he really could only get one dish doesn't make either of us want to prioritize eating there in the future. I do want to get back to try the shrimp and noodle dishes, but I'm not sure I'll do that anytime soon. Still, I'm always super glad there are special dietary needs options at any Disney restaurant. This one is just not our personal favorite for options and variety. Even though it's not our first choice, I'm still glad we went. And, huge thanks again to Chef Quan for helping ensure we had safe options there!
Have you been to Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo in Disney World? What did you think of the special dietary needs options?