It’s a big day for ABC Commissary at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We recently brought you a first look at the newly refurbished restaurant including new chairs, tables, and carpet. Today, the restaurant transitioned to a “fast casual” system for dinnertime, which requires an advance dining reservation. In addition to the new system, the restaurant also introduced a new Pot Roast offering on the dinner menu also. Let’s take a look!

“Fast Casual” Reservation System at ABC Commissary

A check-in desk has been positioned at the front entrance to the restaurant for guests with reservations to check in at. After you’ve been checked in, you are sent back to wait in line to order your food from the kiosks, almost the exact same way as you do during lunchtime.

At four o’clock, there was already a line of people waiting to check in. To be fair, half of the guests didn’t actually have a reservation, but were accommodated anyway simply by being sent back to the ordering kiosks. This makes me wonder what the point of checking in is in the first place.

A new Pot Roast offering has been added to the dinner menu board, but more on that later…

Once you order your food, you’re then given a tracker to take to the table of your choosing. If you ordered a drink, there are now shiny new self-service soda fountains to help yourself to as many refills as you’d like.

ABC Commissary has also transitioned to reusable cutlery and dishes to help reduce plastic waste. I love this! It definitely helps elevate the experience, too.

In addition to the re-usable cutlery, there are now bus stations around the restaurant to help Cast Members clean off tables.

After ordering, getting your drinks, and picking up your forks, knives, napkins, and other condiments, you then take your pager to your table.

The pager can simply be placed on the table and left there. Your food will be out shortly!

My food arrived at my table in under five minutes, which I found impressive for the very first day of this new system. I always enjoy the luxury of refillable sodas and coffee at quick-service restaurants, and the re-usable silverware is a huge step in the right direction for Disney. We’ve seen these “fast casual” reservation systems succeed at various quick-service restaurants around Walt Disney World, including Be Our Guest, for lunch. I think this system works well and is quick, efficient, and accurate for both the guest and the employee. And now, for the pot roast..

Pot Roast – $16.49

The Pot Roast is the new dinner offering at ABC Commissary. It’s a slab of Slow-Cooked Pot Roast with Root-Vegetable Mashed Potatoes, Brown Gravy, and topped with Crispy Onion Straws.

The dish was overall a winner. The mashed potatoes had a healthy amount of chunky root vegetables, which added a little more texture to the otherwise mushy dish.

The only thing I didn’t like on the plate was the Crispy Onion Straws. It added a weird taste to the mashed potatoes and a pretty unwanted, crunchy texture to the whole dish. I just don’t think the added crunch was really necessary.

The Pot Roast was excellent, however, it did taste almost identical to the Braised Beef in the Braised Beef and Enchilada offering.

The beef was cooked well and consistently all the way through. It was extremely moist and easy to cut in to. When paired with some mashed potatoes, and dipped in the warm gravy, it made up what could be the best item on the menu at ABC Commissary.

Overall, this new offering was a solid choice if you’re looking for a quick service dinner. The portion was decently sized, although I defiantly had room for dessert afterward. The flavors were good, and the beef, gravy, and mashed potatoes were all very fresh. Perhaps ask for the Onion Straws on the side or off completely, but otherwise, I’d absolutely recommend giving the Pot Roast a try during your next visit fancy fast casual visit to the to ABC Commissary!