The brand new 4R Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck opened today at Disney Springs. Yesterday we showed you the full menu for this highly anticipated new venue. 4R, or 4 Rivers, is a local barbecue smokehouse chain in the Orlando (and surroundings) area. We love it, everyone we know loves it, and even though who have barbecue joint preferences admire what 4 Rivers accomplishes. There’s hype for this food truck and we couldn’t wait to dig in.
Each of the main entrees allows you a choice of filling. Choose from the following: Brisket Barbacoa, Nana’s Pork Sofrito, Chicken Tinga, Grilled Tri-Tip Steak, Black Beans & Rice
Taco Cone – $9.99 – Choice of filling, shredded lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, queso, cilantro, jalapeño and a lime wedge.
We chose the brisket for this dish. Well, cone. It’s large and in charge, words can’t describe just how gigantic the cone is. The brisket has a slight spice and is extremely flavorful, an absolute killer meat. Serving this all in a cone is a bit weird, it constantly requires you to hold it. At the end it’s more of a taco salad that’s a little hard to get a bite with everything out of the cone, but all of the flavors work well and make it one of the most tasty Instagram-worthy foods at Disney Springs.
Burrito Bowl – $10.99 – Choice of filling, black beans, salsa verde, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, queso fresco, cilantro, jalapeno, and corn tortilla strips. Served over your choice of rice or lettuce.
We chose the Pork for this dish. The pork is really tender and a little fatty which equals more flavor and just enough spice to make it wonderful. Serving this all in a bowl may not look the most pleasant, but it’s a whole lot easier to eat than the cone. With the same ingredients being served in both it feels like a no brainer to take ease of eating over pictures.
Tacos (2) – $8.99 for 2, $10.99 for 3 – Choice of filling, tortilla chips, black beans, queso, pico de gallo, salsa verde, queso fresco and cilantro in a tortilla, with lime and jalapeño & cilantro.
They allow you to mix your choices of filling if you ask. We did brisket, chicken, and steak. This is a great way to try a lot at once. The steak is rather tender, cooked medium, and is very juicy compared to the others meats available. With that juiciness comes a more mild flavor, there’s no overwhelming smoke or spice. It’s well balanced. The chicken is also surprisingly good, a lot better than expected with great juicy flavorful bites.
Squash Blossom Quesadilla – Fresh squash blossom, zucchini, tomato, onion, refried beans, chihuahua cheese and queso fresco, side of pico de gallo. – $9.99
This is good if you can’t or won’t do any of the meat options. The cheese inside makes it a good choice, and the zucchini, onions, and tomatoes all tasted fresh. That being said, the meats are why you should be coming to this truck.
Kid’s Cheese Quesadilla- $5.99
Very warm and cheesey. You can tell it’s freshly pressed, similar to the squash blossom. Kids will enjoy it and even a picky adult will find enjoyment in the pressed comfort food.
Dulce de Leche Churro Balls – $5.99
The churro balls are a little plain and more akin to donuts than their namesake, but that’s fine because the sauce is what brings the ‘boys to the yard’. It tastes like a burnt caramel and we’re absolutely obsessed. But even the amazing sauce can’t hold a candle to the dessert nachos.
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread Nachos – $7.99
Easily the best dessert at Disney Springs. Yes, even beating Frontera Cocina’s pecan brownie. There’s a generous helping of Nutella on top, lots of fresh fruit, and a sizeable portion to share
OVERALL
This new food truck is a fast casual standout at Walt Disney World. It would benefit immensely from some covered seating, if this had a brick and mortar location it would destroy the Disney Springs quick service lineup. Maybe Polite Pig and 4R can switch?
The food looks nice, and the pricing seems more in line with acceptable, however, the idea of getting my lunch or dinner from a “food truck” is not appealing to me.
Disney is the place that sets the standards for quality in the Amusement Industry, and a food truck is what I would expect at a carnival.
The Ice Cream truck in Animal Kingdom is acceptable and one of my favorites, because it is a bit of the theme, and it is only ice cream…
However it becomes something else when it is supposed to be dinner.
I personally do not like Disney Springs, so I guess it is a good place for it because I will never see it.
Food trucks are a large trend in restaurants, among major chefs and in major cities. Don’t be so quick to turn your nose up to the idea of eating out of a truck. These trucks cost lots of money, are state of the art, and provide people with great food!
There is truth to that however I am speaking about presentation. There is no way you can compare getting food from a food truck and stand somewhere trying to eat it, or maybe get some dirty outside table, to a real established building even if it is fast food style. Disney was far above regular amusement parks but not when food trucks are accepted dinning experiences.
This just in: “angry old man doesn’t trust food from trucks because he doesn’t understand current trends”.
Thanks for the laughs Randy.