As you know, we regularly try to review new menus at Walt Disney World restaurants as soon as they are implemented, but sadly, the changes to the menu at Boatwright’s Dining Hall slipped by us for a few weeks. Of course, the complimentary bread at each establishment is not always listed on online menus, so we were unaware of a quiet travesty of justice that took place with the menu alterations back in February 2026. We will take care of that now…
Boatwright’s Dining Hall Gets a Menu Overhaul
Boatwright’s Dining Hall, the full-service resort dining venue at Walt Disney World’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside, has rolled out the full scope of dish changes previously announced for its southern cuisine-focused menu.
We stopped by the resort to check out all the new items, which you can check out in our full review below (once I’m done yelling about cornbread).
New Menu Items at Boatwright’s Dining Hall
Bread Service
Of note, the popular freshly-made cornbread that was historically prepped and served at Boatwright’s has been replaced with ready-made, bagged ciabatta bread. The bread is served with a chimichurri butter compound. If this doesn’t sound like a Louisiana-style offering, well, it’s because it really isn’t.
There is without a doubt a noticeable difference in quality between bread delivered to a restaurant in bags and any bread freshly baked on site. The sin of replacing something made fresh with something ordered in bulk is great enough, but the cornbread has been a staple since this restaurant opened in 1992 and was a guest favorite. On top of this, the ciabatta isn’t even good, and the accompaniment does little to rectify the taste of this incredibly bland offering.
According to our server, they have had nothing but complaints from guests since the change was made. They seemed convinced that a course-correction might be made, but still implored us to tell Guest Relations about our dissatisfaction. The comedy of this moment was that we were a table of bloggers with very popular platforms who all immediately knew that we were going to write this story up, trying to convince management to make the change back.
We have been down this road before, when Walt Disney World tried to quietly eliminate free bread from most table service restaurants in early 2020. The backlash during the rollout of the changes prompted Disney to cancel the plans and reinstate the benefit. Restaurants are of course a business, and there have been endless stories over the years of attempted budget cuts at beloved Disney dining venues, such as the noodles at Ohana, in the name of increased profits. This change echoes those situations, although it is not confirmed that the change is budgetary. The removal of fresh cornbread may have been enacted to better equip the cast to handle other nightly tasks or perhaps it simply was needed to facilitate some of the new items on menu. One guess I made was that it was to improve the sales of desserts as many guests will skip the course and just have the sweet cornbread in its place. The dessert menu was heavily altered and expanded in February, which does lend some credibility to this speculation.
No matter what the reason, it’s a bad idea to discontinue an offering that is perhaps the defining item of your eatery and a reason guests return time and time again.
Appetizers
French Onion Soup Au Gratin – $10
Gruyère cheese, onions, and a toasted crouton in a rich beef broth reminiscent to Pierre D’Orr’s Home Village.
A pretty tasty and solid take on the classic. It has the right amount of salt, which is often a challenge with theme park French onion soup, and a perfectly melted layer of cheese over the broth.
Rating out of 7: 5
Pimento Cheese Fritters – $16
House-made with pepper jelly.
It’s pretty hard to mess up a ball of fried cheese, and they didn’t hear. These are packed with gooey melted cheddar cheese and are a bit salty, but that taste is offset nicely by a dollop of the sweet pepper jelly.
Rating out of 7: 5
Citrus Shrimp Cocktail – $17
Creole-style rémoulade and Aji Amarillo sauce.
These are plump and perfectly cooked shrimp, offering up a smoky flavor and a little spice from the bed of remoulade. It’s a bit pricey for the serving of 5, so if you’re in the mood for shrimp, I would just order the Shrimp Pappardelle pasta as an entree, as it offers the same serving size. The quality is there though, if you’d rather start with these.
Rating out of 7: 5
Wedge Salad – $11
Succotash, tomato confit, and green goddess dressing. Add bacon and blue cheese dressing for $1 more.
Honestly, a little sad. The serving size isn’t great and most guests aren’t a fan of the salad “you have to work for”. The additional blue cheese elevates it, but it is very basic and a little bit of a bad value.
Rating out of 7: 2
Entrees
Panko Crispy Chicken – $27
Seasonal risotto-style farro and greens.
The breading on this is very well-seasoned, however, the chicken cutlet can be on the dry side at times. While I enjoy risotto-style farro, it may not be for everyone. Note that you can always ask to substitute it with their savory mashed potatoes.
Rating out of 7: 4
Boatwright’s Jambalaya – $29
Slow-cooked spicy rice with shrimp, andouille sausage, and chicken.
A Boatwright’s staple for many years, it has shrunk in size as time has progressed, but is still of good quality. It’s a bit spicy, so be forewarned, but that is to be expected from a classic New Orleans dish. Everything was well-cooked and mixed nicely together in a perfectly seasoned mix. We highly recommend this.
It’s worth noting the weirdest part of this whole story: there’s cornbread in this dish. Are they still making cornbread just for the jambalaya??? Is this from a bag too??? Mark me confused.
Rating out of 7: 6
Char-grilled Butcher’s Steak – $44
Mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and house-made red wine steak sauce.
The cut here is supposedly the shoulder. The steak was well-cooked and was more tender than it looked. The sauce is on the thick side with what seemed to be chunks of tomatoes. The green beans and mashed potatoes were as good as ever, a staple set of sides for this restaurant.
Rating put of 7: 5
Roasted Prime Rib – $39
Herbed butter, mashed potatoes, and seasonal vegetables.
The prime rib is a guest favorite for its size and flavors, and value if using the Disney Dining Plan. This giant slab of prime rib is cooked as expected, perfectly complemented by the herbed butter and creamy, buttery mashed potatoes.
Rating our of 7: 6
Shrimp Pappardelle – $28
Roasted garlic-chardonnay cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach.
While a good-size portion and quite heavy, the noodles were a little overdone. Again, the shrimp were sizable and quite delicious. The garlic-heavy cream sauce was a little one-note, but overall the dish worked just fine.
Rating out of 7: 4
Signature Sides
Bacon and Cheddar Loaded Mashed Potatoes – $6
These are exactly what you think they are: mashed potatoes with melted cheddar on top, along with bacon bits, sour cream, and green onions. As you would expect, they are quite good. The creamy mashed potatoes work in harmony with everything above, making for a solid comfort food staple. The serving could be a little large, but this will serve about 2-3 guests we think.
Rating out of 7: 6
Spiced Smoked Gouda Potatoes – $5.50
These are essentially potato wedges with smoked Gouda cheese melted between. They sounded good, but they were a severe disappointment. The potatoes were cooked nicely and would be fine on their own, but the cheese had a distinct bitterness that was very unpleasant.
Rating out of 7: 1
Desserts
Bourbon Chocolate Cake – $12
Milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ganache.
A fairly standard dessert, but also a very good one as far as value and taste. Sure to please anyone at the table, the rich chocolate cake and milky cream offers a perfect end to the meal. The cake is light and fluffy, which is preferable to me, but it does mean the shareable dessert tends to fall apart a bit after a fork or two. This is the most shareable dessert on the menu and probably the safest option for the picky eaters in the audience.
Rating out of 7: 6
Peanut Butter Pie – $9
Chocolate Cookie Crumbs and Chantilly Cream
While not a traditional take on the item, I think many a peanut-butter-lover will enjoy this dessert. The unadvertised Oreo crumbs and candied nuts add a much-needed texture to the dish, accompanying a center of peanut butter mousse. The sauce beneath and the sweet cream add a complexity that is sure to make this a guest favorite.
Rating out of 7: 6
Banana Cream Pie Cheesecake – $12
with Toasted Meringue, Caramelized Bananas, and Banana Liqueur-Caramel Sauce
Despite the banana cream pie name, the taste here is more akin to a banana’s foster. The sweet cheesecake, caramel sauce, graham cracker crust, and underlying toasted meringue make for something worth saving space for.
Rating out of 7: 5
The new menu also continues to offer an updated All-You-Care-To-Enjoy option, the “Taste of the Bayou”, which includes hickory-smoked pork ribs, barbecue spice baked chicken, beef brisket, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and seasonal vegetables with sautéed corn and bacon.
Other recent changes to the Port Orleans Resort – Riverside include newly remodeled rooms in the Magnolia Bend section. You can watch our video tour below:
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