12/31/19 12/31/19

Restaurantosaurus Lunch Review

Restaurantosaurus, located in Dinoland U.S.A. in Disney's Animal Kingdom, is a quick service restaurant with a charming dinosaur theme that serves classic American style food. Recently, I stopped by Restaurantosaurus with my family (who were at Disney World on vacation) for lunch.

*This gluten free and dairy free dining experience took place in December 2019.

Lunch at Restaurantosaurus

Atmosphere

Dinoland U.S.A. is one of my favorite themed lands in any Disney park. I just love the charm and retro vibe of this dinosaur themed land. Restaurantosaurus fits right into this theme with a quick service restaurant set to resemble a dino-themed dorm room for the paleontology students who once stayed at Dinoland U.S.A.

Restaurantosaurus / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

If you or your family love dinosaurs, this is a great place to visit and eat.

Restaurantosaurus Interior / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

I especially love how the building and rooms look like essentially a summer camp bunkhouse filled with lots of paleontology decor. From the books to decorative elements and photos, there's a lot to look at and explore while you're dining there.

Every inch of the restaurant fits into its theme, with so many great hidden and not so hidden dinosaur touches.

For even more fun, I highly recommend dining in the Hip Joint. It's a rec-room style space that is supposed to be the entertainment room for the paleontology students who stayed there. From the outside, you can see part of the rec room is actually housed in a vintage RV. It's definitely very cute and super fun.

The Food

When it comes to meal options, Restaurantosaurus serves standard theme park fare -- including burgers, fries, sandwiches, and chicken tenders. If you have special dietary needs, you'll find an allergy-friendly menu for the restaurant. Guests can also speak to a manager at any time to discuss options too.

On this visit, I decided to go with something super simple -- the allergy-friendly chicken tenders. These tenders are gluten free and dairy free (and cover other allergens, as well, such as fish/shellfish and peanut/tree nut). The allergy-friendly chicken tenders are fried in a dedicated fryer, as are the French fries. If you have any questions about the frying process, be sure to speak to a manager about it.

The allergy-friendly chicken tenders at this location were Ian's Brand. I always really enjoy these chicken tenders, and I really love how crunchy they were on this visit. The manager did a great job frying these and not over or under cooking them.

This may sound odd, but I almost always eat my allergy-friendly chicken tenders with Ken's Steak House Cocktail Sauce, when a Disney owned restaurant has it. The sauce is marked gluten free and is also dairy free too. I don't know what it is, but I just really love the combination of the fried chicken tenders with this cocktail sauce. I found this pre-packaged sauce at the restaurant's toppings bar. But, in many Disney restaurants, you'll need to ask for it, as it's located behind the counter.

Overall

While nothing fancy, I always appreciate Restaurantosaurus' casual theme park options. It's definitely my go-to place in the Animal Kingdom for burgers and allergy-friendly chicken tenders.

Have you been to Restaurantosaurus? What did you enjoy when you dined there?

5/23/16 5/23/16

Restaurantosaurus -- Lunch -- Quick Service -- Animal Kingdom

*This dining experience took place in May 2016.Check out my YouTube video walkthrough of the Animal Kingdom Park, including this visit to Restaurantosaurus. Restaurantosaurus is a quick service dining location at Dinoland USA in Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. It's a good go-to spot for me when it comes to a solid quick service and also one that actually has air conditioning and is enclosed at the Animal Kingdom park. It always seems like the Animal Kingdom is super warm, so there's something to be said about a cool spot to grab a bite to eat.I haven't been to Restaurantosaurus in a while, but it's the spot in the Animal Kingdom where I always get allergy friendly chicken tenders. The chicken tenders on Disney property are so good, and though there was a supplier issue for a while, they seem to be back throughout Disney property which is great.Restaurantosaurus does not have an allergy friendly menu for some reason, but I was able to talk to a manager about options. Allergy chicken tenders usually take about 10 minutes or so to prepare, so there was a bit of a wait. The manager will bring out the tray and all special diets orders come out on a green tray.The allergy chicken tenders I ordered were delicious as usual. Crispy and flavorful, they really are some of the best gluten free and dairy free chicken tenders I've ever had. The chicken tenders are the same at all locations that carry them throughout Disney property, which is nice!The chicken tenders and fries are made in a dedicated fryer.My only complaint for my meal was that I had a small portion of fries (literally half of what I normally get), which I thought was odd until I realized that my brother's chili cheese fries were also on a green tray.We then realized based on the portion (and that the manager had noted the chili was gluten free) that they had made my brother's fries gluten free in a dedicated fryer and likely was the other half of the portion I typically get when I order allergy chicken tenders and fries.While we didn't order it that way, it was good to know that the chili cheese fries can be made gluten free (not dairy free). Note that in the photo below there are additional toppings added to the fries. These came from the toppings bar and should be avoided if you are concerned with cross contamination or have a severe allergy to any of those items. If you wanted toppings, you could always ask a manager for toppings from the kitchen, which is what I have done in the past at different locations.Overall, Restaurantosaurus continues to be a solid choice. The options may not be really unique or different, but it's a solid choice and a great spot to cool off and enjoy a quick service meal. Plus, they have allergy friendly chicken tenders which is reason enough to go for me!Have you been to Restaurantosaurus? What did you order there when you went?