Be Our Guest Restaurant -- Lunch -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This gluten free dining experience took place in June 2018.

Lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant

Be Our Guest Restaurant is a restaurant in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom that serves both quick service breakfast and lunch and table service dinner. I haven't eaten lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant since 2013, so it's been a very very long time. Recently, we asked you, the readers, what quick service restaurant we should eat lunch or dinner at, and Be Our Guest was the most requested. So, given how long it had been and your requests, we had to go! Brandon has also never eaten at Be Our Guest for any meal, so he was looking forward to checking it out too.

Atmosphere

When it comes to a well-themed restaurant, Be Our Guest is definitely one of the best. From the moment you arrive, you'll feel like you're transported to the Beast's Castle with Belle.If you do have the time, I highly recommend taking a moment to look around at the exterior of the restaurant. There's so many beautiful touches and great photo opportunities.I love everything about all the details and theme, including these amazing beast busts built into the outside lighting fixtures.There are three dining rooms in Be Our Guest -- each with a distinct and unique theme. The first is the main ballroom. From the gorgeous chandeliers to the impressive floor to ceiling windows that make it look like it's snowing outside, this is definitely the definition of grand ballroom.This room also has the most seating, which is helpful if you're eating lunch here on a busy day.The second room is where we ate -- the Rose Gallery. This is a smaller but equally impressive room. There are lovely paintings of Belle and the Beast and even a large music box style scene of Belle and the Beast dancing that actually moves.The third and final room is the West Wing. This room is well themed and detailed, that it is a must visit anytime you're at Be Our Guest Restaurant. I've never been able to dine in here because it's so popular. But, it's definitely worth taking a quick peek into just for the theming.Pro Tip if you have children. This room is both dark and can be a bit scary. If you have children who might get scared by this, I would probably avoid visiting or dining in this space (and would request to not be seated there during dinner).

The Food

Of course, we were at Be Our Guest Restaurant, not just for the theme, but the food! This restaurant does not include an allergy-friendly lunch menu. That's because guests typically order meals from a self-serve kiosk. These kiosks will let you add your special dietary need to the selection and automatically tell you what you might be able to order. This can be handy if you have a common or single special dietary need, but not in other cases (or if you have questions). So, definitely speak to a cast member if you want to talk to a chef or manager.On our visit, a cast member directed us to stations typically used for mobile ordering. Because it was so busy, the cast members there assisted us with the ordering and did let me look at their ordering screen to determine the options. As it turns out, everything Brandon wanted was also available as a gluten free option, so we ended up making our entire order gluten free so that we could try multiple dishes.Once we placed our order, we then found seats in the Rose Gallery and waited for our food to arrive. I was at the drink station when the food arrived. But Brandon noted that the manager was actually with several cast members to ensure that everything arrived safely and was gluten free.The first dish we ordered was the French Onion Soup. This dish can be made gluten free by omitting the bread/croutons. It was also listed as a vegetarian option, and I have heard mixed reports as to whether this is a vegetable stock base or beef broth based soup.Both Brandon and I thought this soup was the better of the two soups we tried. It was also insanely cheesy. So, if you enjoy cheesy French Onion soup, you'll be very happy with this option.The next item we ordered was the Potato Leek Soup. This dish is marked gluten free on the menu and does contain dairy. Both Brandon and I liked this soup a lot. But, the French Onion was hard to top. We would recommend ordering this soup, especially if you're not a fan of French Onion or want a soup that isn't as filling.For entrees, we ordered two. The first was the Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style) which included Eight Hour Slow-cooked Pork with Mushrooms, Onions, Carrots and Bacon served with Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Jardiniere. This dish can be made gluten free by omitting the gravy but does contain dairy.Both Brandon and I thought this was the better of the two entrees. The pork was extremely tender and flavorful, and the mashed potatoes were also very good. I actually loved the green beans with onions and peppers and ate a good amount of them. Brandon is not a green bean fan, and even he liked them when combined with the pork and mashed potatoes. We both agreed we would not hesitate to order this again.The second entree we ordered was the Carved Turkey Sandwich served warm on a Millet Chia gluten free bread with Dijon Mayonnaise and Pommes Frites. This dish is both gluten free and dairy free. Both Brandon and I thought this was a solid lunch option and a huge portion -- perfect for sharing. The turkey was actually proper real hand carved turkey -- not deli turkey. The millet chia bread (which is from Udi's Gluten Free) was quite tasty and paired well with the turkey, Dijon mayonnaise and arugula on the sandwich. The only real bummer from this entree were the French fries which seemed lukewarm by the time they got to our table.Though we both preferred the pork, we would also order the turkey again. Plus, it's a great option for guests who are gluten free and dairy free.And, finally, we had to order the Lemon - Raspberry Cream Puff which is gluten free. Unfortunately, this does contain dairy. But, I've heard you can get sorbet at Be Our Guest too.I should have known better ordering this, as it is a gluten free and no-sugar added dessert, and I do not typically think those two combinations mix well. Even though I love lemon, this dessert was super dry and had a weird flavor. I can guess it was due to the sugar free substitutes used in the cream puff. What a bummer and a missed opportunity, to make a decadent and fantastic gluten free cream puff!I have to admit that I do not like sugar substitutes or no sugar added desserts typically and have not usually enjoyed the ones I've tried at Disney. Next time we'll skip the dessert and get one elsewhere. However, I've heard lots of guests rave about this cream puff, so if you think you might like it, I would say give it a try. It's just not something I personally enjoyed.As you can see from this photo, we had a TON of food! We definitely over-ordered for lunch (even a late one at around 2 p.m.) and were full for the rest of the day. Next time we would skip the dessert and maybe share a soup and split two entrees.

Overall

We were pleasantly surprised by the lunch we had at Be Our Guest Restaurant. It's not a location we'd dine at all the time. But, it's nice for something completely different than traditional quick service in the park. We both thought the soups and entrees were quite good and moderately priced. My only negative would be that some of our food wasn't as warm as other dishes. But, this may also have been due to the timing and special dietary needs requests. But, this wouldn't deter us from going again. With great theming and a ton of gluten free options (and some dairy free options), we will definitely go back sooner than 4 years now!Have you been to Be Our Guest Restaurant? What did you order when you dined here?