BBQ Restaurant Serving Craft Beer Coming to Epcot!
Walt Disney World has announced a new fast-casual barbecue restaurant featuring craft brews on tap will debut at The American Adventure pavilion in Epcot later this year. In this post, we’ll take a look at the news and offer some commentary about the latest dining development at WDW. (Updated January 2, 2020.)
Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue will take the place of Liberty Inn, the current counter service restaurant in American Adventure. The new World Showcase restaurant will be a modern barbecue smokehouse and craft brews spot that looks to up the ambition-level of its predecessor. To make way for Regal Eagle Smokehouse, Liberty Inn will close July 8.
Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue promises all the accompanying sights, sounds, smells and flavors you love — including a large smoker preparing fine food every day right on the pavilion’s promenade. There will also be a redesigned patio for doing some eating, drinking, and people-watching at Epcot…
I’ll start with the thought that’s obviously on everyone’s mind: if the “Regal Eagle” in this Smokehouse is not Sam Eagle from the Muppets, we riot. That’s right, Walt Disney World–all of us fans that bemoan the introduction of gratuitous IP into World Showcase are now demanding exactly that.
Since Walt Disney World refuses to give in to the chorus of voices who have signed my petition (we have 11 signatures and counting!) demanding that Sam Eagle be made a host of the American Adventure, this would be a satisfactory consolation prize. Do it, Disney.
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January 2, 2019 UPDATE: Hello DTB Nation Patriots, WE DID IT!!! Above is the description of Regal Eagle Smokehouse (they still have the name wrong, but at least there’s time left to fix that) on Walt Disney World’s official press release “Historic Transformation of Epcot Underway at Walt Disney World Resort.” It turns out that once we hit signature 14 on that powerful petition, we finally caught the attention of the most influential American, Mr. Robert Alan Epcot!
The odd thing here is that Walt Disney World has released the menu and concept art for the restaurant, and never once mentioned or even hinted at the Sam Eagle connection. Either this was a last-minute enhancement before the restaurant opens, or that press release is inaccurate. Either way, it’s official EPCOT Centermatic Universe canon now, so there’s no turning back. That’s the law.
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Along with this, I think it’s safe to say a better name would be “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats.” If everything Disney names is going to be a full sentence anyway, might as well go all-out.
I’m only half-kidding about both Sam Eagle and the name.
In complete seriousness, this is almost certain to be an upgrade over Liberty Inn. In the last couple of years, there have actually been a few solid additions here, but it still pales in comparison to so many restaurants around World Showcase. In fact, we’d probably rank it only above Lotus Blossom Cafe in terms of World Showcase counter service offerings, which is…not good.
On the one hand, Liberty Inn filled a certain role of having crowd-pleasing, safe options in World Showcase. It’s a huge venue, and is almost always incredibly busy at lunch. We personally think it’s unfortunate that people don’t step outside their comfort zones a bit and try some more adventurous cuisine in World Showcase, but we don’t get to dictate what other people think or eat.
On the other hand, even with some improvements, Liberty Inn has been a pretty embarrassing representation of American cuisine. It basically reinforces tired, cliched (and to a degree, untrue) stereotypes about America’s food. With Walt Disney World seeing more and more international visitors, it’s a shame that this has been what’s presented as America’s contribution to the culinary world.
There are plenty of options for crowd-pleasing American cuisine that is also inventive, and a modern fast-casual smokehouse is a perfect example of this. This is especially true with regional variations on barbecue–in this one restaurant, Epcot could present a veritable BBQ tour of the United States!
That’s probably getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but the fact is that Epcot’s culinary team is no stranger to good barbecue. The American Adventure has had some great offerings at the various festivals the last couple of years. Better still has been Flavors from Fire, our favorite Epcot International Food & Wine Festival booth for the last two straight years. (It’s also worth pointing out that the Orlando area knows barbecue, as evidenced by 4 Rivers Smokehouse, which I’d rank among the best BBQ I’ve ever had.)
While this means cutting short the Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Tape Live menu currently offered at Liberty Inn (and we’ll miss being served intergalactic goo in a moldy-looking space bun), summer is a good time to close the restaurant and begin an overhaul.
Overall, I find the announcement of “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint” (oh wow, an even long and thus better name!) to be pretty exciting. With two new restaurants already slated to open this year, Epcot is in the midst of an exciting culinary expansion. So long as these options are thematically interesting or offer upgraded food options (so far, it looks like we’re 3 for 3 on that front), I’m all on board. As more details are revealed about Epcot’s huge transformation, it’ll be interesting to see whether this is to compensate for restaurants lost elsewhere, or if there’s simply enough demand (or projected future attendance growth) to sustain more dining options. Stay tuned for more!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint”? Do you agree or disagree with our take on this replacement and addition to World Showcase? Will you be shedding any tears over the loss of Liberty Inn or that “inter-galactic” Guardians of the Galaxy menu? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Is this some type of hybrid salute to Three’s Company (Jack Tripper’s restaurant was the Regal Beagle) and Sam the Eagle? If so, I am completely fine with that!
Love Sam Eagle!
I applaud this move. If the food is as good as Flame Tree BBQ at AK, i am satisfied. I also like the potential for craft beer. Hopefully this place adds some American Double IPAs or Belgian Strongs. Right now, for us craft beer enthusiasts, World Showcase lacks decent strong beers with the exception of La Fin Du Monde in Canada (although it wasnt on the menu last time I was there) or Spaten Optimator In Germany. I’ll be happy with Jai Alai IPA which served at other parks and hotels.
america has a lot of great craft beer options, there are so many local breweries it would be great if disney could somehow showcase them here, maybe on some sort of seasonal rotation. breweries with identifying names (alaskan brewing company, for example) would be an awesome showcase of american craft options. to do any international beers here would be backward in my opinion.
I’m going to reserve judgement on the craft beers until we see the menu.
My fear is that we’ll get the InBev catalogue of microbrews. Not saying that they are bad brands, but they ARE brands of a multinational corporation, and not some local(ish) operation.
It would be an outright atrocity to not have Sam Eagle as the mascot!! Additionally, The name CLEARLY needs to be what you suggested: “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint”. I will join your riot if these do not come to fruition!!
What is it with EVERY SINGLE addition this year having a stupid hyphen or colon in the name? Lands, rides, restaurants, hotels…
It’s out of control.
This trend has been going on for the last several years, and it still baffles me. I thought we hit a low with the Little Mermaid dark ride (I still don’t know the correct/full names–plural because it’s different on each coast–for that), but it seems to be getting worse.
This year, the trend is including what the restaurant serves in the name.
Then there’s “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint” which we can all agree is just a fine name. Not a single wasted or unnecessary word there. Perfection.
And because we Disney fans love to make acronyms out of everything so that the casual tourist has no idea what we are talking about, it should be easy to just type out REDPS:ASTAFBMBM~ASECDBBQJ.
In my almost 30 years of visiting WDW as an adult, I’ve never even come close to considering Liberty Inn for a meal.
That might change now.
If it’s quality BBQ with quality beers , I’ll definitely give it a run.
Agreed! We’ve always spent more time at Epcot than any other park but we’ve never eaten there.
Does anyone else think that it’s comically inappropriate to name something in a colonial-America themed pavilion “Regal” anything? There’s no “Reg” in America!
While the term is derived from monarchy, I think it’s sufficiently detached from that at this point and can mean simply grand, dignified, etc., without evoking any impressions of royalty.
There is some amusing irony in the name, though.
Oh, of course, my complaint was meant tongue in cheek lol
I hope they have Texas Dry Rub. No, that’s not a euphemism for a depraved act, it’s by far the best type of barbecue out there. +1 vote for Sam.
This sounds great. I think Epcot should represent American food a little more ambitiously like they have at some of the other restaurants. I don’t hate it but the whole American pavilion has always seemed odd and kind of, I don’t know, not well planned out? I wouldn’t mind a large over-haul of the whole pavilion.
I hope they have sliced brisket (real Texas style) and not just pork. Not a pulled pork fan and that seems to be all they have.
DebC, they do serve a sliced brisket at the Golden Horseshoe. Its OK if it’s a fatty enough piece to not be dry, but it’s certainly not a Texas competition brisket.
I think great brisket requires a specialized skill to master that most chefs don’t know. Unless Disney partners with a good Texas brisket joint, I’m not sure they would do a good job.
Now, I’d love to get more of the Chicken the horseshoe serves, and their pork (more spice than BBQ would be outstanding on some corn tortillas with a corn salsa or something)
Brisket when properly smoked is like meat heaven. But in the wrong hands (which is to say, most hands) it’s often a tough, dry, overly fatty and/or gristly atrocity. There’s a lot of timing, process, and patience involved — having meat ready to serve in its ideal temperature/condition at all times of day is both art and science. There’s a reason many of the best brisket places only sell their product for a few hours (typically starting in the late morning) until it runs out and it’s gone. And even solid BBQ restaurants that serve product all day are often considered inconsistent.
It’s much easier (and cheaper) to create a passable version of pulled pork which is why at this scale, it’s a no-brainer for places like WDW to focus on that as the main BBQ protein across their resorts (with a few exceptions).
I’m excited for the potential that this restaurant holds, but I think we all need to reserve judgment until we see how much commitment and resources Disney is going to put in to get the BBQ experience right.
So we loose another place that has the foot long dogs with fries. I know you all think that is boring, but they were large enought to share with two poeple and came topped with Mac and Cheese and Bacon. All three whic are very American by the way.
I feel like they could keep that in this new place. I think it fits just fine.
Hi Tom! The new BBQ restaurant is great news. The only problem that I have is with the beer part. Why always this emphasis with booze? Even if this is Epcot (drinking around the world) its still part of Walt Disney World. Ain’t there already enough drunks roaming around… Poor Walt, I hope he can’t see what’s going on from where he is. He always emphasised that Disney was foremost a family park.
BOOZE = MONEY..”……….It Is That Simple
When is this going to open?
The Liberty Inn already sells Yeungling and Bud Light. This sounds like there will more palatable options.
It’s craft beers. Not just for drunks, but for people with good taste buds. Budweiser tastes like old sweat socks. But the short term craft beers by Budweiser aren’t bad.
I agree with DebC about craft beer.
because craft beers are the ultimate in anything beer related right now. they are a huge booming business, and most places that are used to selling flavorless yeast water, like miller lite, are recognizing this. most ballparks are making a killing on craft beers these days too. they are a money-maker, pure and simple, and quite frankly, they appeal to a different niche of people. once you discover draft beer, you’ll never go back.
and let’s not pretend WD didn’t have his own demons, folks. there’s a lot of company changes i’m often against, but the “walt is rolling over” comment has gotten stale. the man was not a saint.
Hi Tom! The new BBQ restaurant is great news. The only problem that I have is with the beer part. Why always this emphasis with booze? Even if this is Epcot (drinking around the world) its still part of Walt Disney World. Ain’t there already enough drunks roaming around… Poor Walt, I hope he can’t see what’s going on from where he is.
Fair point. I’d be fine with them sticking with the name Liberty Inn and just changing the menu.
Now up to 13 signatures!
This is great news!
I always thought that the American Pavilion could do better when it came to it’s food. It should celebrate some of the foods across our country….New England clam chowder, Louisiana Gumbo, Southern fried chicken, Texas ribs, Philly Cheesesteak, Chili, Buffalo Wings, Apple Pie, etc.! At least this slow-cooked BBQ sounds like a great start!
I SO agree with this!
YES!! Add baked Alaska for dessert and feature Idaho potatoes….
Not a real big fan of BBQ, but, this may just send me to the “dark side!”
I’m in total agreement about the name, but please don’t tell anyone that I endorsed a non-Figment character experience in Epcot. (I have a “strident-original-Epcot-devotee” reputation to protect). I think this sounds like a much needed, potentially tasty replacement for Epcot’s most boring restaurant. Can’t wait for the food reviews…
Make that 12 signatures!
13!
I’ve seen this suggested for years on the internet as a worth upgrade to the American Pavilion and a nice representation of what America brings to the culinary world. I’m glad they are implementing it! Not I hope the pulled pork is >= Flame Tree BBQ and not the ice-cream scoop of mush you find at some places.
It’s encouraging to hear there will be on-site meat smoking. That, hopefully, portends a more Flame-Tree styled pork! Can’t wait for the funnel cake smell to give way to smoked pork smell!!