Epcot’s Regal Eagle Smokehouse Menu & Opening
Walt Disney World’s new Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue will at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion. Now, the menu has been revealed for this fast-casual BBQ restaurant and brewhouse. In this post, we’ll share the news and when you can expect to check out this new WDW dining option! (Updated January 12, 2020.)
As of the latest update to this post in January 2020, the full menu has been released along with prices for each entree, side, dessert, plus the beer and other alcoholic beverages. We have a photo of the full menu towards the bottom of this post.
This menu presents good news whether you’re on the Disney Dining Plan or paying out of pocket, as there are a range of entrees that will make Regal Eagle a great ‘bang for buck’ restaurant. This is the second good news in the last week, following the announcement by Walt Disney World that Sam Eagle of the Muppets will host the restaurant, which is gearing up for its opening this winter…
In terms of background, Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue is joining the World Showcase culinary lineup, replacing the American Adventure’s previous counter service eatery, Liberty Inn. That restaurant quickly closed several months ago to begin overhauling the venue.
Walls went up in short order, pretty much right after Walt Disney World announced the new restaurant. You might recall that we’ve been championing the name “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint” for this new restaurant.
For starters, Walt Disney World has announced that Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue will open this winter. That’s the same timeframe as the Space 220 Restaurant, and we’re pretty much equally hyped for both venues. As we’ve noted in our commentary about Space 220, “this winter” ends on March 19, 2020.
As excited as we are for both Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue and Space 220, we’d honestly prefer that these restaurants open later rather than sooner.
Liberty Inn wasn’t exactly the most thematically-compelling restaurant, and Space 220 hasn’t been fully enclosed for that long (pictured above as of late last month). More time spent building, decorating, and finishing their interiors is ideal. Waiting a few extra months (or an extra trip, as the case may be) is nothing when considering the reality that these spots will be around for decades to come.
Plus, Imagineering will likely have to redo signage and design details once someone finally comes to their senses and accepts “Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint” as this location’s rightful name. It’s the only logical choice for a dignified and stately venue such as this one.
The menu for the restaurant currently known as Regal Eagle Smokehouse will include a variety of sandwiches and platters as well as a plant-based option.
On the sandwich front, Regal Eagle will offer a sliced Texas beef brisket sandwich with house-made spicy mop sauce on garlic toast and the South Carolina smoked sausage sandwich with tangy mustard sauce and caramelized onions.
For an all-American burger, try the grilled burger topped with BBQ pork and a fried onion ring.
It’s not clear yet whether Regal Eagle will serve normal Walt Disney World counter service burger patties, which feature a proprietary blend of cardboard, capybara, and aged hyena meat, or something like the signature patties at D-Luxe that feature brisket, angus, chuck, and short rib. It should go without saying, but we’re hoping for the latter.
For a lighter option, Regal Eagle Smokehouse will serve the Power Greens Salad with chilled pulled chicken, fresh citrus, and a citrus vinaigrette.
As part of Walt Disney World’s plant-based initiative, there will be a BBQ “burger” featuring a plant-based patty topped with BBQ jackfruit served on vegan garlic toast.
Regal Eagle will also serve Kansas City smoked chicken, Memphis dry-rub pork ribs, North Carolina chopped smoked pork butt. These will be available as entree-only options or as part of platters with sides.
It’s pretty cool to see American Adventure embrace the culinary diversity of the United States–but all via the overarching concept of BBQ. I hope this comes through in the execution of these dishes, and not just their names. It’s an ambitious but achievable idea.
Side items include french fries, beer-battered onion rings, mac & cheese, baked beans with burnt ends, house-made pickles, and creamy slaw. (If the sides are even half as good as what’s served at Polite Pig, we’re in for a treat!) Desserts will include banana pudding, a s’mores brownie, and a cup of fresh watermelon garnished with torn mint.
Barbecue sauces will include a spicy mop sauce, sweet BBQ, tangy mustard, and a vinegar-based sauce. As with the dishes themselves, it sounds like we’ll be treated to a variety of different sauces favored by various regions.
Kids can enjoy their own fun-sized bites including a burger, BBQ chicken salad, BBQ chicken leg or chicken salad, and even a BBQ rib platter, all served with their choice of two sides.
Beverage offerings will include a selection of craft beer and cider from around the United States, wines from the west coast, and specialty regional cocktails with and without alcohol. These will be served at an outdoor bar pouring craft brews on draft, and the outdoor seating area will be a great place to sit back and enjoy the atmosphere of World Showcase.
Here’s the full menu that was just posted on DisneyWorld.com on January 8, 2020:
These prices are actually fairly good news all around. Several items are fairly reasonable (by Walt Disney World standards) and will likely be good buys for guests paying out of pocket. Then there’s the American Platter (which should also be known as “A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly BBQ”), which will instantly make the list of our Best Uses of Counter Service Credits on the Disney Dining Plan. Win-win!
Overall, Regal Eagle Smokehouse shows a lot of promise, and will likely get even better once they fix the name. For years, Walt Disney World fans have clamored a restaurant in American Adventure offering a culinary tour of the United States. As compelling as that’d be in theory, the reality likely would’ve been a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ dining spot attempting to do too much.
Regal Eagle Smokehouse could sidestep that by only attempting to do one thing–barbecue–but presenting an array of regional spins. If it lives up to its potential, this could end up being one of the very best counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World. We can’t wait, especially now that we know all of this will be cooked under the watchful eye of Sam Eagle!
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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!
Woo hoo!! Bell’s Oberon is on the menu! Perfect with barbecue. Can’t wait to try this place. (And thanks for being an influencer with your Sam the Eagle campaign!)
really looking forward to this whenever our next trip is.this will be a must! might flame tree bbq finally have some worthy competition?
my only question, why garlic bread instead of cornbread? i’m sure it’s a cost issue, but when you think bbq, you never follow it with garlic bread, it’s always cornbread. i think that’s the only miss i’m seeing at this point.
There are lots of barbecue places in the Southeast that serve garlic bread – or just plain white bread from a loaf – rather than cornbread. Now that I think about it, the vast majority of legit places I’ve been to just have white bread.
It also saves having the sweet or not cornbread debate.
Sounds great. Hope they follow your naming suggestion, Tom. No longer will BBQ fans have to truck to AK to get BBQ in-park! Hopefully people will try the food and reach their own conclusions about it .
That “North Carolina” platter is a hot mess. There is no such thing as “North Carolina sauce” – there’s either Eastern Carolina vinegar-based sauce or Western Carolina tomato-based sauce. But it is an insult to the entire state to call chopped pork “North Carolina” barbecue. North Carolina barbecue is pulled pork only – chopped pork is a lazy way to hide tougher meat and is a Georgia thing (as well as a non-Southern big-chain restaurant thing).
I’ve had chopped bbq at many different parties in eastern NC. I’ve even had it chopped at Lexington BBQ in Lexington NC. I’ll have to check out the NC bbq platter when I am at Disney, but I have had it pulled and chopped. I personally pull it by hand as the larger chunks stay juicer.
Yep, grew up eating chopped pork with vinegar sauce and red slaw in Eastern NC. I live in Georgia and we do all sorts here – pulled and chopped with various sauces. No prejudice!
I can deal with vinegar sauce. I can accept slaw on my sandwich. But chopped pork is a step too far EVEN FOR EASTERN NC!!!
Okay but seriously, I am surprised to hear that. Obviously I’m biased for Western Carolina, but I guess I’ve been lucky with the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Lexington, Raleigh, and the beach because I’ve always had pulled pork and just assumed that was the one thing that united the whole state. I’m sure I’ll still end up trying the platter, so pulling the large chunks is a great idea.
I assume you’re currently splitting your time between tasteful gloating, negotiating your cut of the profits, and writing the most triumphant blog post of all time now that Disney has officially announced that Sam is hosting this restaurant! For the first time ever, he approves of these shenanigans.
That is the funniest and most accurate description I’ve ever read! Literally laughed out loud when I read it!
“… not clear yet whether Regal Eagle will serve normal Walt Disney World counter service burger patties, which feature a proprietary blend of cardboard, capybara, and aged hyena meat, or …”
As I absolutely love the Muppets, and have been sadly disappointed by the lack of attention given to them, your name for the restaurant is absolutely the best!!! It should be a no-brainer for Disney! What a great mascot for the restaurant and the American Adventure pavilion!
the next step SHOULD be moving great moments in america history to the pavilion as well. no brainer.
Even though I am well aware of Tom’s preferred name, and I am very well aware of its length, I never skim through it. I read every word with the reverence it deserves – because that is my patriotic duty as am American!
Cardboard and aged hyena meat? Seriously?
Don’t forget the capybara LOL I thought it was a brilliant description of the institutional style patty forms 🙂
Tom et al. Is there a club 33 or similar thing in imagination pavilion? Thanks for any insight.
No but there is the Club33 location on the top floor of the American Adventure building and it’s amazing!
There is a DVC members lounge at Imagination, however.
Thanks. Are the lounges similar to the club lounges on club level of deluxe resorts? Food and booze?
In almost 30 years of visiting Epcot as an adult, I never once even remotely considered eating at Liberty Inn.
But I will definitely eat at Reagal Eagle on my trip next year.
The menu looks fun, hopefully will be delicious, and there’ll be some great beer options to wash it all down.
Heck, I’ll even go if they adopt your ridiculous name.
Tom ! I am truely mystified by why you continue to praise D-Lux Berger as a Great Hamberger? I had high hopes for this sandwich, but unfortunately was disappointed with a rather dense and unflavored patty in a decent bun with fine accomplishment. Not exactly what I would Rave About, as the whole Berger was a letdown. Also, what in earth are plant based options doing in a Smoke House and Craft Brewery ??? Do It Right and Do it Well, OR Don’t Do It At All ………Ho-Hum
I’m with you one this! Deluxe Burger….BIG disappointment. People need to read the ingredients of any “plant-based” burger. Real hamburger – 100% Beef. Plant based burgers – Full of chemicals. Even vegans need to stay away from these.
Since I like BBQ and craft beer, I welcome this addition to World Showcase.
This looks like a much needed addition and I’m rooting for your name change also! As a long time reader of your blog, I’m wondering if you still have personal affinity for Cosmic Ray’s after all these newer spots crop up?
Tom, I’d enthusiastically support your proposed name and note that it’s only slightly longer than the ridiculously long name Disney came up with. (Must have come from the same executive who keeps changing the menu item names at Batuu.)
Also, your info is not current: Disney has removed the capybara and hyena from their hamburgers in a cost-savings move, leaving them 100% (some would say 1000%) cardboard. Oh, and in another cost savings, that’s now USED cardboard which the recyclers rejected.
Hahahahaha best comment ever.
Hi Tom. Just FYI “Angus” is a breed of beef cattle, not a cut of meat. Love ya!
I think you are really close on the Muppet themed name, but while Sam is verbose, he is also appropriately proud and would therefore never condone a “Joint” nor the redundancy of both Barbequed and BBQ in a name.
Perhaps the full name should be: “Sam’s Regal Eagle Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse, A Salute To All-American Foods But Mostly Craft Drafts And Barbequed Meats.” or since Disney allowing <8 words: Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbeque.
The proposed menu with different regions/types of BBQ sounds great! I, too, hope they will also use this as a chance to make an actual good hamburger. Pulled pork and hamburger go together quite well.
After proving they can do good counter service burgers at both D-Luxe and Restaurantosaurus, I’d be surprised if Walt Disney World reverts to poor-tasting burgers at Regal Eagle.
Then again, nothing should really surprise me when it comes to WDW decisions–but I’m still hoping for the best!
I can’t get past the similarity to the Regal Beagle from Three’s Company. Did no one on their team live through the 80s?
Maybe it’s an intentional nod?
I couldn’t remember what you had initially hoped it would be called so I am very thankful you included that again in this post. It’s got a nice ring to it!
You might say that Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint really rolls right off the tongue. 😉
A truly great name for a truly (well, hopefully) great restaurant.
Had to google, ‘capybara’.
Genuinely funny writing; nice work.
For all I know, capybara actually taste delicious…but somehow, I doubt it.
Wikipedia says they’re hunted in part for their meat, so they’re at least edible . . . but given that capybara are part of the rodent family, I can’t help but think of the slogan “It’s Rat Pizza” found at a restaurant which also serves edible (arguably) food.
Agree with Drew that I love your sense of humor!
… and now we know what happened to all the capybaras that Disney used to have on Discovery Island back in the day …