Tortuga Tavern Review
Tortuga Tavern is a Magic Kingdom counter service restaurant at Walt Disney World, serving a limited menu of BBQ. In this post, we’ll finally review this elusive dining option, which is located around the corner from Pecos Bill and only open seasonally.
In a way, Tortuga Tavern has been our white whale. I say “in a way” not because we always miss out on when it’s open, but because we do dine here (reluctantly) when it’s open, with the goal of reviewing it, only to hesitate for too long in publishing the review and then having the menu change on us.
Over the years, we’ve done two different menus with variations of Mexican cuisine here (more like Taco Bell than real Mexican food) along with the BBQ on Texas Toast iteration of the menu before the current scaled back BBQ version of the menu. None of these menus have been inspired, with even the also-seasonal Tomorrowland Terrace consistently featuring a better revolving-door menu…
Before we dig into the bulk of this review, let’s cover the basics, which are the same for Tortuga Tavern as every other counter service restaurant in Magic Kingdom. Tortuga Tavern participates in the Disney Dining Plan as a 1-credit counter service restaurant, but does not accept the Tables in Wonderland card. It’s not a good use of a DDP credit.
In terms of ambiance, Tortuga Tavern is Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired, although you probably wouldn’t notice upon casual inspection. At quick glance, it’s like a slightly pirate-y version of Pecos Bill.
Tortuga Tavern is actually one of the newer additions to Adventureland’s Caribbean Plaza, having replaced the former quick service restaurant El Pirata Y El Perico a little over 5 years ago. The pirate flags above the door are the first sign of this, followed by the ‘Code of Conduct’ (although, personally, I think Tortuga Tavern could use some roaming monkeys to spice things up) inside by the ordering kiosks.
These are the obvious things that most guests will see, along with decor scattered about that’s reminiscent of what’s in the Pirates of the Caribbean queue, plus books used to sign up pirate crews and a large mural of Blackbeard.
Then there are the details most people will miss, me included. It turns out that the proprietor of Tortuga Tavern is “A. Smith,” which refers to Arabella Smith, a character from the Young Jack Sparrow books. A. Smith is a teenager whose father runs a tavern in Tortuga called “the Faithful Bride.” A sign for this establishment is visible outside Tortuga Tavern.
As the backstory goes, Arabella Smith returned to Tortuga in 1673 to take over from her father as operator of the renamed Tortuga Tavern. In the restaurant’s open-air courtyard, there’s a stairway to her residence outside of which her hat and coat can be seen.
A surprising amount of effort went into converting El Pirata Y El Perico into Tortuga Tavern, and I recall hearing a lot of other (now-forgotten) details at a D23 event several years ago. This was during the second phase of turning Caribbean Plaza into more of a pirate-y place, an effort that is now slowly being peeled back.
The seating area at Tortuga Tavern is surprisingly large and it connects to Pecos Bill (meaning they could share seating…or you could walk through the inside to use the toppings bar at Pecos Bill, if you so desired). Between that and the effort to ‘enhance’ the restaurant, it’s a bit surprising Tortuga Tavern isn’t open with more regularity. Perhaps it’ll be necessary to have it open daily during Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary?
The current incarnation of the menu at Tortuga Tavern is the most limited it has been since we’ve been dining here. At present, there’s only one unique item: Chipotle Barbecue Short Rib Sandwich served with citrus slaw and a side of chips.
I thought this sandwich was fine. Certainly better than other entrees I’ve had at Tortuga Tavern, but hardly anything special–and definitely not worth the money.
The short rib was more like pork spare rib than it was short rib, which is not at all what I expected. For the price, I was hoping for something meaty and hefty, but this sandwich was not quite as substantial as I would’ve liked.
The taste was passable, but again, not what I expected and not even remotely filling. If you’re even remotely hungry, you’re much better off ordering something–anything–from Pecos Bill and making a trip to the toppings bar.
Other than that, the menu at Tortuga Tavern is boring. The turkey leg you can find elsewhere in Magic Kingdom and the hot dog is indistinguishable from Casey’s Corner, so we didn’t even bother with those.
It befuddles me that Magic Kingdom doesn’t offer a more robust, permanent menu at both Tortuga Tavern and Tomorrowland Terrace. With Pecos Bill and Cosmic Ray’s perpetually madhouses, there’s clearly the demand for more dining in Magic Kingdom. Heck, the situation is so bad at Cosmic Ray’s that they’ve had to expand their seating areas and close certain entrances to properly route traffic.
When they’re open, we’ve never seen Tortuga Tavern or Tomorrowland Terrace with even a fraction of the crowds as those popular Magic Kingdom spots, but there are a couple of explanations for that. By not being consistently open, there’s a dearth of planning info about these restaurants. Most importantly, the menus at Tortuga Tavern and Tomorrowland Terrace leave a lot to be desired.
Location is also consistently blamed for the lack of popularity of each venue. That’s a possibility, but it’s not as if Big Thunder Mountain naturally would see a lot of foot traffic, yet it seems to draw crowds. While Tortuga Tavern is obviously no Big Thunder, there are certainly ways for it to draw crowds to ease the burden on other restaurants.
My Disney Experience notifications when guests walk past the front entrance would be one easy way (I get these constantly for Electric Umbrella and Lunching Pad). Prominent info on park maps would be another way. Finally, the simplest way would be better menus. Having a more diverse menu with delicious or “Instagram-able” items would work. If the internet can make 2-foot long hot dogs a popular item, it can do the same with the food at Tortuga Tavern.
That’s really about all there is to say about Tortuga Tavern. The menu will probably be different three weeks from now, so I’m not sure what value this review offers to those planning Walt Disney World trips for next year or beyond, but I will say that Tortuga Tavern has not once had a good menu since it became Tortuga Tavern over 5 years ago. Until a concerted effort is made at turning this into a permanent, full-time counter service restaurant, we would recommend avoiding it.
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Your Thoughts
Have you dined at Tortuga Tavern? Did you have a good meal there? Do you agree or disagree with our take? 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!
Tortuga Tavern could do better if it was an actual tavern.
There is a simple solution along the lines of having Starbucks in the parks, simply have Chipotle have the space to operate in and see what happens.
I really miss the Mexican food at Tortuga Tavern, it was a must stop for us every trip. Not liking many of the menu changes at many eateries, including the disappearance of the Lighthouse sandwich at Columbia Harbour House, which was my favorite in MK.
The Lighthouse sandwich is back!
Just returned from a 4th of July week trip and we were less than impressed with Tortuga Tavern. Unfortunately, it was the only thing opened and it was sub par at best. We got a variety of items and nothing was impressive. We won’t go back…. unless we get desperate enough and can’t find anything else!
I’m surprised Tortuga Tavern was the only restaurant open–at the very least, Pecos Bill, Casey’s Corner, and Cosmic Ray’s should have been open. That’s too bad!
I don’t buy that location is a problem for Tortuga Tavern. As you say, it is literally connected to Pecos Bills. Even serving the same menu as Pecos Bills with the extra ordering/eating space would be nice.
It was open on out last trip for the first time that I remember and I was quite excited. But we didn’t dine there anyway due to the menu. 🙁
It is one of the nicer stops on the sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game when the restaurant is closed because no one else is inside there.
I totally forgot it was a SotMK spot until I was taking photos for this review. I was waiting for one of these shots for the longest time while some people were just standing around. I thought they were appreciating the details, so no big deal. Then another group came along behind them, and I really wondered what was up…until I saw the portal.
All the times (years) that we have visited WDW with the family I had only seen Tortuga Tavern open once, just once and at that time they had Burritos. Unfortunately, not expecting that I would ever see it open we had eaten before passing the Tavern. It would be a nice addition if a Taco Bell type menu could be introduce other then in EPCOT alone.
When they had burritos, bowls, and a full toppings bar, that was probably the best incarnation of Tortuga Tavern. Nothing great, but at least a good value with the toppings bar.
I really wanted to like the Texas toast BBQ, but it was not good.
Tom, have you done a Tomorrowland Terrace review. I have been there recently, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts on it… Thanks!
No, we don’t have a review of Tomorrowland Terrace (at least, the WDW version). We have dined there several times in the last few years, but not with the current menu. I still think the Noodle Station was the best incarnation of that place, and wish they’d go back to that–I think it could be popular.
What did you think of it?
Well, I tried the Banh Mi Sandwich while I was there… I didn’t really want to try any of the offering for the Incredible Summer (although a lot of food items for Pixar Fest are pretty good). The Banh Mi was quite dry, and I would probably not get it again. However, I liked it much more than the previous incarnation. I really enjoy the ambiance of Tomorrowland Terrace at WDW, and I would hope that they can produce a good menu. I wouldn’t mind if they served the same food as Cosmic Rays. That would definitely be an improvement…
Well, I tried the Banh Mi Sandwich while I was there… I didn’t really want to try any of the offering for the Incredible Summer (although a lot of food items for Pixar Fest are pretty good). The Banh Mi was quite dry, and I would probably not get it again. However, I liked it much more than the previous incarnation. I really enjoy the ambiance of Tomorrowland Terrace at WDW, and I hope that they can produce a good menu. I wouldn’t mind if they served the same food as Cosmic Rays. That would definitely be an improvement…