Turf Club Bar & Grill Dinner Review

*This gluten free dining experience took place in April 2024. It includes information about dairy free options, as well as fish/shellfish, peanut/tree nut, chicken/turkey & cabbage allergies.

Dinner at Turf Club Bar & Grill

Turf Club Bar & Grill is a table service restaurant located at Disney’s Saratoga Spring Resort. A bit off the beaten path, we have found this restaurant to be a bit of a hidden gem for special dietary needs the last several years. We often go there for a low-key dinner and always enjoy the food there. Recently, the restaurant saw major menu change, so we decided to stop by for dinner to check out the new menu.

Atmosphere

Turf Club is located near the lobby of Saratoga Springs Resort and has entrances both by the lobby and in the back of the main building, near the Lake Buena Vista Golf Course clubhouse. If you’re driving to the resort, you’ll end up entering this way.

Turf Club Bar & Grill Entrance / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

We always love this side of the restaurant, which is just lovely when the weather is nice out. Not only do you get to see the golf course in action, but the ferry boat dock is also nearby, so you can watch the boats go by. If you’re a fan of outdoor seating, Turf Club Bar & Grill has a lovely covered outdoor seating area which is great for “cooler” times of the year.

Turf Club Bar & Grill Interior / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

The restaurant itself is inspired by turn-of-the-century Upstate New York horse racing. So, you’ll see a lot of equestrian nods from the carpet to the décor. I would say the theming is a bit rustic and subtle.

Turf Club Bar & Grill Decor / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

You’ll find some art and memorabilia throughout the restaurant that reflects the them. The restaurant itself is a bit on the dark side and has lots of rich wood set to resemble a clubhouse or that turn-of-the-century look.

The Food

Because this restaurant is owned and operated by Disney, so they do have an allergy-friendly menu. You can also speak to a chef at any time to discuss options.

Pondering whether Turf Club’s new menu be good or not?! / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

Over the past few years, Turf Club Bar & Grill has had a pretty static menu, with some standby favorites that we enjoy. So, we were a bit nervous going into this dinner with a new menu — wondering what options might be available and how it would stack up to some of our favorites that were no longer available.

During our meal, we spoke directly to Chef Chris who was super helpful at helping us navigate the new menu and making modifications to dishes when needed.

Turf Club Bar & Grill - Gluten Free & Allergy-Friendly Bread / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

For bread service, Chef Chris let us know that Disney was having a bit of a shortage on gluten free & allergy-friendly rolls when we went. He did offer me a gluten free, dairy free & allergy-friendly Bloomfield Farms hot dog bun for bread service, which worked. It may not be roll shaped, but I will never turn down a Bloomfield Farms bread product.

The restaurant does have both Earth Balance vegan buttery spread and dairy-filled butter options for the bread service too.

Turf Club Bar & Grill - Gluten Free Charcuterie Turf Club Bar & Grill / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

Brandon absolutely adored the previous version of the charcuterie board at Turf Club. This version can be made gluten free by omitting the GF bread. It is also marked safe for Egg, Fish/Shellfish, and Peanut/Tree Nut Allergies.

If you’re dairy free, you can order a version that doesn’t include the cheese. We’ve found that Turf Club is really good at making modifications — and even adding more of items to the charcuterie when we couldn’t have other options typically on the board.

Brandon really enjoyed this version a lot. He loved the pastrami currently being served on the charcuterie board and all of the other accompaniments. I really liked the coffee cherry jam but do miss the original charcuterie board that we used to get. It’s a soft recommend from me, but a strong recommend from Brandon.

Turf Club Bar & Grill Gluten Free Salmon Entree / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

I decided to order one of the new dishes — Lemon Pepper Salmon with Sweet Corn-Vegetable Sauté, Quinoa, and Local Greens. This dish was marked Gluten Free and safe for Egg, Milk, Peanut/Tree Nut, Sesame, Shellfish, and Soy Allergies. I love that this was a naturally gluten free and dairy free dish with no modifications needed.

Overall, I really enjoyed this dish. The salmon was cooked beautifully and very well seasoned. The lemon sauce was so flavorful too. I also really liked the fresh salad with greens from the Land pavilion. The only so-so part of this meal was the quinoa and vegetable sauté. The quinoa itself was fine, but I didn’t love the mixture of the veggie sauté with it.

I’d personally love to see this dish slightly updated, but I think it’s a lovely option if you’re GFDF and love salmon.

Turf Club Bar & Grill - Gluten Free NY Strip Steak Entree / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

Brandon was extremely sad that our favorite Filet Mignon entrée was no longer on the menu. It has now been replaced by a Char-grill New York Strip Steak with Savory Compound Butter, Seasoned French Fries, and Cherry Tomatoes. This dish was marked Gluten Free and safe for Egg, Fish/Shellfish, Peanut/Tree Nut, Sesame, Soy Allergies.

You’ll notice that Brandon’s version is heavily modified. That’s because the French fries were not safe due to Brandon’s cabbage family vegetable allergy. Chef Chris let us know that they flash fry the Brussels sprouts appetizer in the gluten free & allergy-friendly fryer, making the the fries not an option for Brandon due to cross-contamination.

Ever the potato lover, he asked for mashed potatoes instead, which was an easy fix and substitution. Chef Chris also made Brandon some carrots on the side, since he was not a fan of the tomato salad that was going to be served with the entrée.

Overall, Brandon liked the dish but didn’t love it. It’s hard to compare after having such an amazing filet mignon entrée with accompanying sides for so many years. While Brandon would get this again, we’re not in a rush to go back to Turf Club due to the menu changes.

Turf Club Bar & Grill - Gluten Free & Plant-Based Strawberry Shortcake / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

What I would come back for is this new gluten free, dairy free & vegan Strawberry Shortcake dessert. We had heard about this from Princess & the Bear and knew we needed to check it out. This dessert was marked Gluten Free and safe for Egg, Fish/Shellfish, Milk, Peanut/Tree Nut, Sesame, Soy Allergies.

I absolutely loved this dish. The shortcake was a bit dense but super moist and flavorful. It had a strong lemony flavor, which I personally loved. You do have to be a pretty big strawberry fan to enjoy this dessert. I really enjoyed the lovely strawberry sauce and the fresh berries.

I personally would have preferred a non-dairy whipped cream versus a non-dairy gelato but that’s being very nitpicky. It was an excellent dessert and a great addition to the menu.

Turf Club Bar & Grill - Espresso / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW

Brandon did not like the Strawberry Shortcake at all, so he stuck with an after dinner espresso instead.

If you want to hear more about our experience at Turf Club Bar & Grill, check out the vlog we did for our YouTube channel for more information.

Overall

We will always have a special place in our hearts for Turf Club Bar & Grill. The service team (especially one of our regular servers, Chelsea) and the chefs at this restaurant always go above and beyond to provide safe options and a lovely dining experience. As far as gluten free Disney World dining, it has always checked a lot of boxes off for us with solid options. While we liked many of the new menu items, we both do really miss the previous menu for Turf Club Bar & Grill. We will both really miss the filet mignon entrée, which we both always said was one of the best value filets on Disney property. Sadly, with the new menu changes, we will probably go to Turf Club Bar & Grill a lot less. We really applaud the culinary team for thinking creatively and coming up with an amazing new gluten free and dairy free dessert, but the rest of the menu isn’t our our favorite. Overall, we would still recommend Turf Club for the reasons we mentioned, but it’s not a high recommend like it used to be. But, if the menu really appeals to you, it’s a lovely low-key option you won’t regret going to.

Have you been to Turf Club Bar & Grill? What was your experience dining there with special dietary needs?