Eating Around EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival

Most of the year, if you drop into Disney World, you’ll find a Festival going on at EPCOT. These Festivals sprinkle little food booths around the World Showcase, and tasting around them is my guilty pleasure. I know that the quality is highly variable. I know that the value is not great. I love making the circuit anyway.

This last week, I was at the 2026 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. If you’re planning a visit, my best tips are below, along with nosh recommendations for those who are not completionists like me. And if not, feel free to do some vicarious tasting with me from this year’s 30th Anniversary edition.

A Play by Play

I’d been in Orlando for a week, but held off on the Festival until my husband arrived. No generosity of the heart here, it’s that he can eat quite a bit more than I can, so the snacking is more efficient. Most booths offer two “entree” dishes and a “dessert”; the three snack-size portions are about the same amount as a Disney World Quick Service meal. As a solo diner, you run out of space pretty fast.

We entered the park near France, so we started in France, and surprisingly, the escargot were my favorite. Pastry, garlic, and a bit of umami. What could go wrong? The brioche was delicious, but the fountain of cheese within was overwhelming. And the creme brulee was … weird. There is no other useful description.

⚠️Tip #1: If you’re not making the rounds solo, there are a few spots to anchor a table while others fetch. Look for good seating and several nearby booths in the following locations:

• At Tangierine Cafe and the courtyard in Morocco
• At the Odyssey near Mexico (plus air conditioning!)
• Cool Wash near Test Track
• Between World Showcase and the Imagination Pavilion

⚠️Tip #2: If you’ve got one person fetching, a cafeteria-style tray or anything similar comes in handy. Because otherwise, not enough hands to carry a booth’s full lineup.

As we moved on to Belgium, I went to grab a table in the courtyard next to Tangierine Cafe. Left unsupervised, Mark brought back a Cherry Ale that wasn’t on our tasting list. But it was a surprise hit! We went back for it a couple more times later on.

A huge challenge of Food & Wine is dishes like Belgium’s beer-braised beef. It’s a lovely dish for a day when the air is brisk, and it is, after all, the autumnal season. Except, in Orlando, it’s 90 and humid through most of the Festival’s run.

At Tangierine Cafe we only tried the cider flight. The Goji Berry was the sweetest of the three, and the Apple Chai was a wonderful fall flavor that didn’t clash with the oppressively hot weather. The Fig was … unique. I liked it; Mark didn’t so much.

The Souvlaki Gyro from Greece was surprisingly spicy—more than just “Disney spicy”—and the Spanakopita was B+. The griddled cheese with pistachios is here every year, and the quality is pretty variable. But, that’s variable from good to really good.

Being out of space, we headed off to do a few rides, wait out the afternoon thunderstorm, and allow the stomachs to empty. All told, we’d done about two hours of leisurely sampling.

Fast Forward

Three or four more sessions like this, and we’d wiped out most of the dishes on our wishlist. As you can see, a dedicated crawl takes some time; the more people you come with, the fewer runs you’ll need.

⚠️Tip #3: I like the WDW Food & Wine app (Apple | Android) to keep track of what I’ve done. And also how much I’ve spent, because it can add up fast. (You’ll pay for the food, but there’s no extra cost to access the booths beyond your park ticket.)

Most people don’t want to make a dedicated crawl. It’s a big time commitment, and there is a lot to do at Disney World. Some booths mixed in over an afternoon and evening while enjoying the rest of EPCOT’s World Showcase can also give you a flavor of the experience.

⚠️Tip #4 and #5: Be wary of Friday and Saturday afternoons & evenings, because these are popular times for locals and the lines can get long. But also, most lines move pretty quickly, so don’t let a long line scare you off something you’d like to try. Monday is also a bit more crowded than Tuesday or Wednesday.

Booths open at 11 am, but if you’re there through the evening, you may want to check out the Eat to the Beat concert schedule. There are three 25-ish minute sets per night, at 5:30, 6:45, & 8 pm. You’ll find local bands Tuesday through Thursday, and more recognizable names on weekends. ⚠️Tip #6: No need to find a seat in the theater; you can easily hear the acts from anywhere nearby. The picture above was snapped as we walked past from behind.

I do not shop at Festivals (my money goes to food), but there’s also plenty of Festival merchandise scattered around.

And of course, there is lots of nice regular park stuff to enjoy, like the garden below that we passed somewhere along the line.

Recommendations

Even with 4-5 runs and about 10 hours, we didn’t taste absolutely everything—just most of it. If you’ve got a lot less than that, here are my suggestions for some best bets.

Best Booth: Bramblewood Bites offers Grilled Cider-brined Pork Tenderloin, Cast Iron-seared River Trout, and Brûléed Sweet Potatoes. Everything here was interesting and yummy, and the fish was perfectly cooked. Avoid thinking you’re going to munch on the crunchy fish skin on its own—it’s very salty!

Best Dish: Butternut Squash and Ginger Bisque with Cinnamon Cream, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Pumpkin Seed Oil from Milled & Mulled. Yes, it was soup. Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was so worth it anyway. Avoid the mini-churros from this booth.

Best Dessert: Belgian Waffle with cookie butter, whipped cream, and speculoos pieces from Belgium.

Dessert Runner-up: Mixed Berry Pavlova from Australia.

Best Refreshing Treat: Paleta de Moras from Mexico (must like tajín). The rest of the Mexico food was pretty good too.

Best Snack: Fry Flight from The Fry Basket.

Also great:

• Hand rolls from the Japan booth (but not the chicken bun)
• Everything from Spain
• Escargot from France
• Bo Ssam Pork Belly Lettuce Wrap from Festival Favorites

Best Overall Drink: Brouwerij Verhaeghe Duchesse Red Sweet & Tart Cherry Ale, Belgium

Best Refreshing Drink: Keel Farms Golden Apple Chai Hard Cider from Tangierine Cafe.

Best Non-Alcoholic Drink: There wasn’t one I particularly liked this year. So I’m going to put in a plug for one of my year-round favorites, the Iced Mint Tea from the Spice Road Table Bar (it’s walk-up) in Morocco.

Do Not Eat: Beijing Zhajiang Noodles from China. Tasted kind of like the smell of industrial dishwashers.

The Festival runs until November 21 this year, and we tasted quite a bit that I didn’t mention. So if you’ll be there before it’s done, feel free to ask about other dishes in the comments!