As we reported last week, the ABC Commissary at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has started a new dinner service with a new menu and the added service of your meal being delivered to your table after you order. Yesterday was the first day of the new dinner service, so we decided to head over and try it out.
The dinner service begins at 3:30pm and it is denoted as a different service on the menu board outside of the restaurant.
It wasn’t terribly busy when we visited, but this entire area can be filled with a queue of guests at times.
ABC Commissary Dinner Menu
The new dinner menu is largely different from lunch, but includes the chicken and ribs combo platter which moved over from Fairfax Fare and the Mediterranean Salad that is also available here for lunch.
A selection of appetizers are available as well.
The Autumn Harvest Cupcake is still available here if you are looking for it.
Some alcoholic beverages available as well. If you want to see the full menu including all drink options, you can check it out here.
Food Delivery Service
After a guest orders, they receive a Table-Tracker device (which is now used at many Disney World establishments, including Captain Cook’s and more). The table-tracker links to the receipt, so there is some correspondence between your recipe and the device you place on the table.
You simply place the tracker on the table and your food and drinks will be brought to you when they are ready. While the tracking seemed to work perfectly as the server certainly knew where we were, it did take nearly 20-minutes. Now, this was the first night of the new dinner service, so I am more than willing to give them time to figure things out. Regardless, I was so happy to not be standing at the counter waiting, that it wasn’t a big deal to me. That being said, if you are on vacation and have some FastPass reservations to make, I can see where waiting 15-20 minutes could be frustrating. I’m sure they will figure it out in the weeks ahead… well, I hope…
The cast member who brought the food was nice enough to bring a selection of condiments and some plastic silverware wrapped in a napkin, which is a nice touch for a counter service restaurant.
Now on to the real story, how was the food?
Cheddar Jalepeno Poppers ($5.49)
When I read the description of the new Southwest Burger, I was excited about the Cheddar Jalepeno Poppers, but I wasn’t really in the mood for a burger and I’m slightly adverse to avocado spread in quick service form. When I saw these offered as an appetizer, I immediately knew I was ordering them. They did not disappoint.
A look inside a Cheddar Jalepeno Popper
Now, I have expressed my love for spicy food items on this site before, and because of that, I have ordered similar items t0 these at many a restaurant over the years. That being said, these types of snacks have always been disappointing, whether the cheese inside tasted bland or the peppers inside were a little off in flavor. None of those problems existed here as these Poppers had a perfect consistency, a good cheddar cheese flavor, and were perfectly accompanied by a ranch dipping sauce.
Mediterranean Salad ($9.99)
Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Onions, Peppers, Kalamata Olives and Feta Cheese tossed in a Greek Vinaigrette and served with Hummus and Pita Chips.
This salad was pretty solid. The feta cheese gave it a nice flavor and everything tasted fresh. The hummus and pita chips were particularly good, which is good to keep in mind as that is also offered as its own side dish if you wish.
Chimichurri Steak ($17.49)
Sirloin Steak topped with Chimichurri Sauce and served with Fire-roasted Corn Medley and Steak Fries.
I want to start with my favorite part of the meal: the steak fries. While these are no longer located at The Plaza Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom, they are back in all of their glory here. I would stop here just for a side of these. They are painfully simple, but a million times better than the regular fries at all of Disney’s other counter service establishments.
The corn medley is good and the steak honestly wasn’t awful. It was a little hard to cut with a plastic knife, but the flavor was solid, certainly better than most other counter service steaks I’ve had at counter service establishments. They did bring me hot sauce along with the steak (without me asking for it), so take that for what you will.
Lemon Pepper Salmon ($14.99)
Seared Salmon served with Cous Cous and sautéed Green Beans.
The seared salmon is phenomenal. Great flavor and a generous portion that won’t make you feel horrible about your counter service decisions. The couscous and the green beans are both solid side options as well.
Overall
While ABC Commissary more often than not is a restaurant that I tell guests to avoid, I think the new dinner service is a vast improvement and makes the location a much more viable option when visiting Hollywood Studios. If you absolutely do not want to eat at a table service restaurant for dinner in this park, I think ABC Commissary is where you will want to go if you don’t just want chicken breast nuggets or a hamburger.
It is certainly better than Fairfax Fare’s new tex-mex menu, superior to counter service pizza, and more interesting than anything you can order at Backlot Express currently. While I enjoyed the new menu at Min & Bill’s Dockside Diner, the ABC Commissary meals will offer you much larger portions with real sides that will make for a filling and enjoyable dinner. For a few bucks more, I would just go to 50’s Prime Time Cafe or the Sci-Fi Dine-In, but if that isn’t an option, you may want to find yourself here for dinner. But not lunch, you still probably shouldn’t do lunch…
ABC Commissary accepts the Disney Dining Plans and also currently offers a 20% discount for Walt Disney World Annual Passholders.
