Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar Review
Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is an Indiana Jones themed lounge in Disney Springs–and Walt Disney World’s only Christmas-themed bar during the holiday season. This review features food & drink photos, thoughts on the ambiance, and how it stacks up against other bars around WDW. (Updated October 28, 2021.)
If you’re wondering who Jock Lindsey is or what he has to do with Indiana Jones, you’re not alone. I suspect one of two things happened to bring Jack Lindsey’s Hangar Bar to fruition: 1) a different hangar bar concept fell through, and it was decided that Indiana Jones would be shoehorned in, or; 2) someone in Imagineering got really carried away with the Easter Eggs and obscure references and no one stopped them.
In general, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar has drawn a lot of praise for these Indiana Jones references, its atmosphere, and deep thematic detail. In more than a few ways, it’s like Trader Sam’s: Disney Springs Outpost. This is equal part criticism, but mostly praise.
On the whole, these references are pretty cool and there is a lot to discover here, most of which will be lost on 95% of the general public. It’s not just Indiana Jones gags and hidden details, either.
It’s always nice to see Imagineering go to such great lengths for the minority of guests that appreciate these details–details that define Disney’s best work–so no complaints there. The theme is a bit on the gritty side, but far from the point of it being random junk, so all is good in that regard.
Before we get started with the “regular” Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar review, we want to note that Jock Lindsey’s Holiday Bar is returning for Christmas 2021 and will be transformed with merry décor and festive fun from November 5 through December 30, 2021.
The premise of this Christmas overlay is that Jock Lindsey has caught the holiday spirit in a big way and has decided to throw a party for all of his adventurer friends new and old. When you walk in, you’ll notice the decorations are next-level and feature an array of gifts, lights, and little holiday nods to his love for aviation. Here ugly sweaters are not only welcome but encouraged along with holiday jokes and puns you’ll never “fir-get.”
For Christmas 2021, here’s the menu at Jock Lindsay’s Holiday Bar:
- Venison Slider — Sliders with venison sausage patties, arugula, tomato, and cranberry aïoli on house made buns (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Fried Brussel Sprouts — Fried Brussel sprouts with bacon vinaigrette (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Holiday Lights Deviled Eggs — Colored deviled eggs with tobiko, and shrimp (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Ham and Brie Flatbread — Shaved ham and brie cheese, pomegranate seeds, granny smith apples, apple vinaigrette, and watercress (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Cookies and Milk — Assorted Christmas cookies and coquito (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Lump of Coal Dessert — Cookies and cream ganache “coal” (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Elf Elixir —Tequila, crème de menthe, and half & half with cookie crumb and holly leaf sugar garnishes (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Claus Mo — Traditional cosmopolitan with a shimmery twist garnished with red and white sugar and a candy cane (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
- Yule Mule — Gin, ginger beer, cranberry juice, and rosemary simple syrup with a holly leaf sugar garnish (available Nov. 5- Dec. 30)
We’ll be checking out Jock Lindsey’s Holiday Bar in the next couple of weeks and report back on our “research.”
In terms of its regular style, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is very similar to Trader Sam’s, with a similar self-aware and referential style. This tonal similarity is slightly disappointing as there are myriad other “bar genres” (not exactly the right term since Sam’s is a tiki bar and this is not, but whatever) that could have been exploited with deep theming.
On the other hand, Trader Sam’s is an unequivocal success, so it’s tough to get too worked up that the same formula has been followed here. Ultimately, it’s different enough that each stand on their own. The other upside here is that there aren’t repetitive effects that wear out their welcome after 45 minutes or so at the bar. All things considered, we’d consider Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar a win, thematically.
The biggest problem with Jock Lindsey’s is the service. This is something that we purposefully leave out of most Disney restaurant reviews, because we feel service is typically hit or miss across the board.
You could have exceptional service one night, followed by atrocious service the very next. The table next to yours could have terrible service while yours is impeccable on the same evening. Or vice-a-versa. You get the point.
This inconsistency is a problem unto itself and one you’re less likely to find at Signature Restaurants–although it does happen even there.
Because of that, we feel any anecdotes we could make regarding service are not representative of the whole, and therefore unhelpful.
However, in the case of Jock Lindsey’s, our service has been poor on a half dozen visits spread over the course of multiple years. Friends we know who have visited separately have likewise commented on poor service.
Accordingly, we feel that service is worth mentioning when it comes to Jock Lindsey’s. Inattentive servers and drinks that take way too long to arrive are the issue here, and this is a problem that has lasted well beyond an excusable “opening hiccups” period.
There are a variety of signature drinks and souvenir mugs available. If the drinks are any indication, Jock’s “signature” is sugar.
The drinks are clearly aimed at “only drink on vacation” types, and in that regard, they are fine. Between the service and alcohol-light and sugar-intense nature of the drinks, getting buzzed at this bar is a Herculean task.
Fortunately, we were more impressed with (some of) the food…
With “Squid! Why’d it have to be Squid?” the menu team has taken some artistic license with Indiana Jones’ fears, and made him seem like more of a wuss. As Harrison Ford continues to prove he is a first class badass–crashing planes, fighting star wars, etc–even as he ages, this doesn’t seem fair. C’mon, isn’t one irrational phobia enough?!
What’s more than fair is this option.
Despite a somewhat high price, Sarah and I were both very pleased with this calamari, as it had a bit of kick to it, it wasn’t overly-breaded, and the portion size was solid. We’d definitely get this again.
One of our friends ordered Brody’s Brats.
The portion here is sizable–especially for the under $10 price, but the taste was only so-so. On the bland side and the meat didn’t have the normal ‘snap’ of a normal brat when biting into it. This is the best value for money option.
Another friend had the Rolling Boulders Sliders, which are 3 meatball sliders with yogurt sauce.
He enjoyed these, but didn’t rave about them.
These are the Air Pirate’s Pretzels. Let’s not kid ourselves–these are bagels served with some house made sauces. Nothing to write home about, and the $10+ price is absurd for a few uninspired bagels.
Overall, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar scores big for ambiance and theme, and ultimately carries it to being one of the best bars at Walt Disney World. There are a few menu items worthy of consideration, but otherwise the bar could use some more tweaking. Our recommendation would be visiting Morimoto Asia or The Boathouse for filling meals and drinks, and then follow with a night cap at Jock Lindsey’s after you’re full and liquored up.
That way you can nurse a single drink and shared plate while enjoying the ambiance, and without worrying about the service. This may irritate the management, but it also should send a message to those reviewing the bar’s performance numbers that something is wrong and the bar isn’t upholding its end of the deal.
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Your Thoughts
Have you visited Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar? Did you have any issues with service? Thoughts on the theme? Any drink recommendations? Considering a pitstop here? Share any questions or thoughts you have about this Walt Disney World bar in the comments below!
Waited by two I cleaned empty tables for a lot too long and got no service. The boathouse next store got us in. Go there instead
just now
NEW
WOW… very limited wine and beer selection for Happy Hour. We tried 2 appetizers:- the chicken street tacos and the tuna street tacos. There was not a hint of anything that resembled chicken or tuna in either of the corresponding tacos. The bartender (Suzy) was attentive and nice. We live in the Orlando area and frequent Disney Springs and all the parks on a regular basis – we will never set foot in there again. The worst experience we’ve had at Disney Springs by FAR. I cannot conceive of where all the positive reviews came from!
Best place at Disney Springs. Raglan Road being a very close second.
I was surprised by how small Jock’s was. While not Trader Sam’s sized, I wasn’t expecting a themed bar in Disney Springs to be as small as it is.
Tom, since you’ll be going back to Jock Lindsey’s for a review, and you’ll be reviewing the Royal Pacific, it might be interesting to see how Jake’s American Bar takes what seems like the same theme in a quite different direction.
I love this Bar, always have had good service over a half dozen visits, I have also noticed a few Rocketeer references, really cool.
I am quite confused how you are going to say this article was updated this year, and not have actually updated any of the food items besides the holiday bar menu. None of those other menu items have been on the menu for a great deal of time, we’re talking 2-3 years or greater. Or if they still are on the menu (the sliders) they are drastically different than your article says. Maybe update those items if you want to be considered an actual review.
As for the poor service complaints… it is recommended to get a manager involved if you have poor service. That way the issue can be best dealt with. Complaining on an online forum doesn’t always do the trick.
I’m a Massive Indiana Jones fan, Disney Fan, and also a Seaplane Pilot – so this bar really should be made for me. And I try very hard to love it, but it’s hard to. I love the little details in the bar, eg the sign: “We no longer accept artifacts for trade”.
There’s a lot to love, but layered on top is really an experience more like a Rainforest Cafe than a decent Bar.
I’ve made 4 visits here and all have been very bad on food and drinks, here are my biggest issues:
1. It’s too difficult to get a good drink, any good bar will have a spirits forward drink and not just syrup.
2. The food portions are small and the proteins are simply covered in bread and goop.
3. The tshirts have a very thick material, the same as the cheapest shirts you get at other gift shops. and are priced at around 30$ as I remember. And of course as you are in the hangar bar you can’t really get a discount or combine with other shirts like you can at other gift shops. I’d expect a soft/high quality material with a subtle logo would fix this and justify the cost.. Rather than the same shirt you get at other stores for much less money [just with the logo].
4. Service hit and miss as mentioned well in this blog. It’s almost been entirely missed for me.
How to fix:
Remake the shirts with a softer higher quality material and make them feel ‘tucked away’ and special – make them match the theme of the bar itself, not just a blasted logo.
Make a spirits forward, low sugar drink, in a souvenir mug that’s equal in quality to a Trader Sam’s mug. This mug should not be skull themed, make it Seaplane themed. An example would be a Scotch & Soda with 2 Limes. Don’t put sugar in it.
Fix the audio – use the muted tracks from Indiana jones, make it feel like a hangout, not a merry-go-round.
Don’t add the gross xmas decorations, they don’t look themed and they look like they came from Ross.
Add a detailed model of Jock Lindsey’s Seaplane, so more people understand the connection. Or a diorama of the escape scene. It’s too hard to explain the connection to people but once they understand it they all appreciate it.
I agree with the unpredictable service quality, and I would add the same regarding food and drink. I feel like some inexperienced bar tenders are mixing drink recipes from a Rolodex and servers have a part-time job attitude. The last time I went, we took two sips of our $12 drinks (the second was to make sure it was really that bad) and pushed them aside. We’ve ordered the same drinks in the past and they were amazing. The only thing amazing about these was how truly horrible they were. The fact that our drinks remained virtually untouched when we asked for the check didn’t phase our server in the least. We didn’t send them back because it was obvious the bartender had no idea how to make this particular drink, but it was still baffling that we weren’t even asked if there was a problem. We are willing to pay a premium for a Disney vacation because it’s the only place we’ve been where almost nothing can go wrong. I don’t feel like Jock’s lives up to the Disney reputation for quality and service.
The second paragraph of this post is a great example of why this blog is so readable. Your insight and subtle humor is unmatched!
We just love the Hanger Bar and have been having snacks and drinks there sense opening. We visit Disney 2 to 3 times a year and never miss our trip to The Hanger.
Jock’s is one of the only places at DS that I actually will go there for besides Raglan Road. Otherwise it’s just a very pricey outdoor mall.
Went on January 2019 then again September 2019. No problems. The food was good, the drinks were so-so, but let’s face it you buy them for the novelty mug. Both times we had great service and the servers were willing to help out, take a pic, tell you a little story here and there about the bar like the time Fred Sorenson came to visit, etc. I recently found out the original theme of this was to be Trader Sam’s which is why the boat “Reggie” looks like a reworked Jungle Cruise boat. Since the Indiana Jones universe already has two bars ( Club Obi-Wan and Marion Ravenwood’s ) I’m really surprised they went with Jock as their focal point. Marion just makes more sense. Whatever, must be a licensing thing. Maybe the best part of this bar is that it’s never crowded and kind of quiet. Great place for drinks if you don’t want the noise/crowd of the Boathouse next door.
Love the theming, but had absolutely terrible service a couple days ago. As a cast member, I was appalled. No excuse for terrible service
Be forewarned, they will not serve you if you look under 40 and don’t have your passport to prove otherwise (even though you are 43 and are with your family including two teenage kids and grandparents)! Seriously stupid! Walked out.
I understand your frustration, but the servers simply aren’t going to break the law and chance losing their license to serve. I’m sure Disney is targeted more than other places for license violations due to the deep pockets and family-friendly nature of the place. When I was there in the College Program, I was 20 and had a fake ID but rarely used it on property because getting caught meant immediate termination. They do take it seriously.
On October 16 we went arrived at the bar around six and no one was at what looked like the recieving station. After wandering around for 10 bminutes we found empty seats. After another 10 minutes we got up and left. We couldn’t tell you about the service because we never wre able to have any interaction with any of the staff.
Just absolutely terrible service ! They seem to just hate Canadians ! Will never go back to this place! Was so embarrassing!
It’s not just Canadians–they seem openly hostile to all customers.
I’ve never experienced the horrific service, and certainly not hostility!
I’ve had a great experience with the food at Jock Lindsey’s! The tanis tacos and good dates were VERY good. I recommend both!
It seems as though most reviews I’ve seen of the Hangar Bar involve people scratching their heads over the theming and having the resturant named after such an obscure character. I’m not saying that’s a bad opinion, but personally, I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s a good excuse for theming, without being off-putting for people who aren’t necessarily fans of Indiana Jones. Fans would appreciate the refreneces to the films, but even non-fans should be able to appreciate it as an adventurer/almost-sort-of-steampunk theme. I think it would be easier to convince some members of my party to eat here than they would if it were called “Indiana Jones’ Bar & Grill” or something with a better name involving Indiana Jones. It’s nice when something can be appreciated without without having to “get” every refrence.
Really good point with this. The remarks about Jock Lindsey being obscure here are mostly sarcasm (although I do question how this bar came to be), but I do appreciate that the Indiana Jones theme here is subtle.
I think it’s because Raiders has such a monumental opening scene, with the booby traps and natives chase, then rescue by Jock. Very, very few films have such a memorable start and Jock’s place as a supporting character is far better than most. Plus, the decor is amazing!
We visited Jock Lindsey’s when it first opened – partly because we wanted to be some of the first people to visit, partly because it was so hot outside!
While I’ve seen Indiana Jones, I had no idea who Jock Lindsey was and while the attention to detail in the bar is amazing – I did not get any of the references.
However, that didn’t stop us from having a great time. It was busy so we sat at the bar and just had a drink. Our server was very friendly, telling us stories of Jock Lindsey and explaining to us what the Reggie’s Revenge cocktail was. This convinced me to choose the luminous green cocktail which was very tasty, even if it did look like poison!
The bar is great for a quick stop and a drink but we were unimpressed by the menu.
Thanks for sharing with regard to Reggie’s Revenge!
Personally, I don’t mind not getting the references. I’d rather they be clever and above my head than so blatantly obvious that it feels like pandering.
How can anyone that saw Raider of the Lost Ark not know Jock? Really, he was the pilot at the beginning of the movie with his pet snake Reggie!
You know the one who told Jones to get a back bone…
I support any and all Indiana Jones themed locations unequivocally.
I was just at Jock’s a few weeks ago. I too thought it was cool looking on the inside. Not much of an atmosphere though. Drinks were OK. Definitely over priced. I probably wouldn’t put it on my Disney Springs bar to- do list. I know they are different type places but the Boathouse and definitely Raglan Road are better choices.
Maybe theme is the appropriate term, not atmosphere? The bar is thematically rich (IMO), but the atmosphere is restrained compared to something like Raglan Road. It’s more of a passive experience. I appreciate each for different reasons.