We’re back at Restaurantosaurus at Dinoland, U.S.A in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and no, it isn’t for the Burgers and Shakes “dining experience.” (That’s not ’till August.) We’re here to try out the two latest menu items to arrive at the old paleontologist hangout: The Spicy Southwestern Burger and the Restaurantosaurus Cobb Salad. So grab your trusty trowels and get ready, as they say… to dig in.
Restaurantosaurus has seen a number of changes lately, but for the most part, they mainly just swap around themed cupcakes. Still, it’s worth noting that the guacamole side and potato soup are now gone from the menu.
Restaurantosaurus Cobb Salad – $10.99
We’ll start off with the salad, which comes on a heaping plate of goodness. There are big chunks of blue cheese and the hard boiled eggs are surprisingly really good. Nice chunks of bacon for the price, too, and not just bacon bits.
The chicken strips are rather large and overwhelming, but they’re seasoned well. It’s worth noting that the chicken, as expected, is a bit chewy, though.
Still, the salad is fresh and comes with plenty of dressing on it. If you aren’t too keen on blue cheese, maybe ask them to hold off on it, or push it to the side, because as with all Cobb salads, it does get a bit intense after a while.
For the price, we’d definitely get this again. It’s fresh and perfect for a sweltering park day (like today.)
Spicy Southwestern Burger (Plant-based) – $12.99
Disney’s trying to get better about offering plant-based options even on their main menus, making it more accessible to people who want to eat plant-based or simply want to try it out. (Having these items on the frontline is definitely easier than having to ask for a separate vegan/vegetarian menu, or bugging the Cast Members for complicated substitutions to fully make something vegan or vegetarian friendly.) Thankfully, this is fully vegan as-is.
The Spicy Southwestern Burger comes with a Beyond burger patty, pepper jack cheese, arugula, spicy southwestern sauce, and a slice of tomato.
It’s somewhat off-putting to see how… plastic-looking this burger is, what with the cheese not being melted and all. If not for the random leaves of arugula poking out, this almost resembles the fictional Krabby Patty from Spongebob, but I digress (wrong park, too.)
Overall, though, the spicy sauce is delicious with a nice kick, but that’s the only thing saving this sandwich. The patty won’t necessarily appeal to meat-eaters as it does have a strikingly different taste. The plastic-looking cheese, while not necessarily bad, deters omnivores even further in this case.
We expected to love this since we loved the plant-based brats at B.B. Wolf’s Sausage Co., but unfortunately, the salad is the only thing we’d really recommend off of these two new menu items. If you follow a plant-based diet, definitely try out the burger, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. If you’re really in the mood for plant-based burgers, you’re better off getting the Impossible burger sliders at Nomad Lounge for just $2 more.
Great review and entertaining as well – I love the Sponge Bob reference!