Columbia Harbour House -- Dinner -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in February 2018.

Dinner at Columbia Harbour House

Columbia Harbour House, located in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom, is one of my go-to quick service spots in the park. Though it's allergy-friendly lunch and dinner menu is somewhat limited for guests with special dietary needs, they serve allergy-friendly chicken tenders there -- one of my favorite quick service meal options. On this occasion, we stopped by for a quick dinner in between some fastpasses on a random weeknight in the park.

Atmosphere

Columbia Harbour House has a ton of charm and lots of great theming. Set to resemble a sea-side Colonial New England town, you'll see lots of colonial decor, along with sea-faring art and collectibles. You'll find lots to look at in every nook and cranny of the restaurant.My favorite spot to dine is on the 2nd floor. A lot of guests don't know it exists, but it's a perfect spot to rest, recharge, and refuel with some allergy-friendly chicken tenders.On the night we visited, it was a bit later in the evening, so the 2nd floor was closed. Still, we found lots of seating on the main floor and even tucked away in a quiet side room.

The Food

Although there are some other gluten free and dairy free meal options, I have to order allergy-friendly chicken tenders whenever I dine at Columbia Harbour House. Even though these are the same allergy-friendly chicken tenders you can get a variety of locations at Disney, for some reason they taste best at Columbia Harbour House. Maybe it's because they have frying down to an art?Both Brandon and I ordered allergy-friendly chicken tenders. Brandon actually prefers these over the regular chicken tenders, if you can believe it. So, he's taken to ordering these, as well. We got 2 orders -- 1 with French Fries, Green Beans, and Carrots, and 1 with a double order of French Fries.As you can see from the photo, we had huge portions. The amount of food we both got was way more than we expected. And, we both joked that we could have easily split one meal. Each of us got about 6 allergy-friendly chicken tenders and a huge heaping of fries. I also got the green beans and carrots, which comes with the meal normally (Brandon asked for Double Fries, as he isn't a fan of green beans). The green beans and carrots were pretty bland, but everything else was delicious.I have also started getting a package of Ken's Steak House Cocktail Sauce with my meal. Ken's dressings are marked gluten free. These sauces are not shelved in the main dining area, but are stored in the kitchen area. So be sure to ask a manager if you want a container of this.

Overall

We absolutely loved our meal. At around $10.99 a piece, this is a huge value. Between the large portions and terrific taste, this is definitely a spot we continue to have as our go-to for a quick service dinner at the Magic Kingdom. We always enjoy the chicken tenders and never leave hungry!Have you been to Columbia Harbour House? What's your go-to menu item there? 

Columbia Harbour House -- Lunch/Dinner -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in June 2014.Hear ye, Hear ye! Columbia Harbour House is one of my top go-to quick service locations on Disney property. With it's special diets menus and nice variety of options, including healthful ones, Columbia Harbour House makes for a great spot in the Magic Kingdom to grab a meal.It's been a while since I've done a review, mostly because I tend to order just the allergy chicken tenders here. However, on this most recent visit, I split a couple of entrees with family and ordered a new dish.On this particular occasion, we stopped by for a late lunch right before the typical Florida summer afternoon thundershowers hit. It was a great thing we did because we avoided the massive storm and got into the restaurant, ordered and were seated before the floods of guests came through (which always happens during rain).When I approached the cast member at the cash register, I let them know that I have special dietary needs. What's nice about Columbia Harbour House is that they give you a special diets menu before the manager comes out to meet you. This is so very handy because it gives you a sense of what you might or might not be able to order. Of course, the manager always has the allergy/ingredients binder on hand to refer to as well, especially if your special dietary need is not covered on the menu.I decided to get my standby allergy chicken tenders and fries along with the Garden Harvest Salad with chicken and Zinfandel dressing. It was a hot day out, so the salad seemed like a great idea to split. It looks to me like the salad doesn't need really any modifications as is straight off the menu, so it's nice they have a naturally gluten free and dairy free option at the restaurant.I have said it before, and I will say it again. Columbia Harbour House sure knows how to fry food! They have the hands down best fried allergy chicken tenders on property. They always come out so crispy and delicious. I can't say a bad thing about the tenders and fries. They are delicious!As far as salads go, everyone who tried this thought it was just so-so. Not a terrible salad but not great either. The accompaniments were a little weird. It was lettuce, lots of carrots (as you can see), steamed green beans, raw red bell peppers and grilled chicken. The salad dressing, while good, was given to us in a very small portion, so next time I would ask for more. The salad was certainly fresh, but I will probably skip this and stick to my chicken tenders from now on. Or get a salad from someplace like Hollywood Brown Derby for their famous (and delicious) Cobb salad. I'm a big fan of it, and I know Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando enjoys it as well!Overall, I think the allergy chicken tenders will continue to be my go-to meal at Columbia Harbour House. I'm curious to try the grilled salmon with steamed broccoli sometime for something different. I give this particular experience a 7.5 out of 10.Have you been to Columbia Harbour House? Are you as big of a fan of the allergy chicken tenders as I am?

Columbia Harbour House -- Lunch/Dinner -- Quick Service -- Magic Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in July 2013.

 Hear ye, hear ye! If you visit the Magic Kingdom, you've probably seen Columbia Harbour House located in Liberty Square. Situated across from the Haunted Mansion, Columbia Harbour House offers quick service that proves to be more than just burgers and fries. With lots of New England inspired dishes, you'll see chowder and lobster rolls as well as fried fish on the menu. You might assume that guests with special diets won't be able to get much here; however, they carry one of my favorite quick service options on property: allergy friendly chicken tenders and french fries in a dedicated fryer!I decided to go to Columbia Harbour House on a whim while visiting the MK one day. The chicken tenders sounded like a good idea, and I will say I've always had a particular fondness for the ones prepared at this location. Even though they are the same chicken tenders served across property for special diets, there's something about the way they fry them at CHH.It was lunch time when I arrived here, so it was slightly busy but not as bad considering how busy the park was. I was greeted by a manager who brought over the famous allergy binders. She showed me the chicken tenders as one allergy option. The only other allergy option they had was Amy's mac & cheese--yeah that wouldn't quite work for me! I asked her if other options like the Lobster Roll had GF/DF alternatives. She let me look at the ingredients, but said they didn't have any buns. Well that's a bummer! It looked like the lobster salad was safe for GF/DF based on the ingredients I saw. The manager said they could serve it on a bed of lettuce, but I went with the allergy chicken tenders. On another note, it looked like the salmon served without the couscous might also be a safe option.

Seating in CHH

The seating at this quick service is located on two floors. The cool thing is there are lots of nooks and crannies and places to find quiet spots. I recommend heading to the second floor if you're looking for a quieter meal.

Allergy Chicken tender yumminess!

As you can see from the photo, the portion is quite large. They charged me for the tenders and fries separately. I believe the tenders were a little over $5 and the fries were around $2.75. All in all, I found them to be just as delicious as ever. The tenders were extra crispy and piping hot, as were the fries. From start to finish, they take 8 minutes to prepare according to the manager. The only downside is that they don't have any individual packets of ketchup or other condiments. Besides being a cross contamination risk, they also don't list what company or ingredients are in the sauces, so I ate everything plain. This wasn't a huge loss, as they both were quite delicious!Overall, I still think Columbia Harbour House prepares the best version of the allergy chicken tenders. There's just something about them! As far as other options, they are more limited than say Cosmic Rays or Be Our Guest. If you're looking for allergy chicken tenders this is the place to visit, but look elsewhere if you want other options. I give this a solid 7 out of 10.Have you been to Columbia Harbour House with a special diet? What did you get?