Five favorite bites from the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival
Foodies are expected to flock to the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival this year, with familiar favorites and brand-new food and beverages to taste. The annual event, which began March 3 and runs through April 25, features sips and snacks from 12 festival marketplaces as well as culinary entertainment, demonstrations and unique bookable experiences for the home gourmet or the cocktail enthusiast.
Tastes and treats are priced at $14.99 and under, with popular items from last year’s event, like Mickey Mouse-shaped macarons, made with Snickers candy bar pieces, and house-made strawberry horchata returning to the menu. New dishes like plant-based bulgogi fried rice with kimchi and an elote paleta, made with sweet corn and parm crema, are also on the menu.
Sip and Savor passes, with eight tabs that can be redeemed for food and nonalcoholic drinks at participating marketplaces and dining locations within the park, are available for purchase and good through the duration of the festival.
With more than 50 food and drinks to choose from, it can be overwhelming to decide what to order. Here are five bites worth using a Sip and Savor tab on.
Smoked honey-habanero chicken wings
Marketplace kiosks are where foodies will find most offerings, with each booth serving different items. Order from one line, then take your receipt to the pick-up line to collect your food. Pro tip: order and pay for your food before you get hungry and come back to collect your snacks when you are ready to eat. Popular items are known to run out, like the smoked honey-habanero chicken wings ($8.50) from Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo. These wings are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The heat of the habanero is balanced by the sweetness of the honey flavor. These are not the saucy, wet wings you find at most sports bars but more of a crispy, crunchy fried-chicken flavor bomb, making them a hot item this year.
Grilled peach toast
Marketplace kiosks aren’t the only place to get Food & Wine Festival bites. Many of the full service and quick service restaurants offer special bites too. (Some locations even offer tasting-size portions, redeemable with a Sip and Savor pass.) Pacific Wharf Cafe is where parkgoers line up for soup served in Boudin’s hollowed-out sourdough bread bowls. It is also where you will find grilled peach toast ($9.99) This dish starts with a slice of toasted Boudin sourdough, topped with a savory ricotta-mascarpone spread and arugula salad. Juicy grilled peaches and folds of dry-cured prosciutto give this toast a gourmet charcuterie vibe.
Blackberry-lavender lemonade
Sip and Savor pass tabs are also redeemable for nonalcoholic beverages, like blackberry-lavender lemonade ($6.50) from Avocado Time. Lavender lemonade has become a staple at hipster coffee shops but often runs the risk of being too floral. In this version, blackberry purée brings a fresh fruity flavor to the lavender syrup, and pineapple juice helps mellow out the tart lemon juice. Disney Parks always offers a glow cube to light up drinks, and for this year’s Food & Wine Festival, glow grapes in purple and green can be added to beverages for $6.25.
Cubano slider
There are already plenty of places to get a Cubano sandwich at Disney Parks. The recently reopened Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney offers a version with carnitas, ham and Swiss cheese, and Award Wieners at California Adventure offers a Cubano dog with a hot dog added to the mix of pork, ham, Swiss cheese and mustard. The Cubano slider ($8.75) from D*Lish is a bit more manageable, however, leaving guests with more room for other treats. The pork is slow roasted and mustard-crusted, giving the whole sandwich a bold, smoked flavor. It is served on a Hawaiian roll, which has become the only acceptable bun for sliders. Melted Swiss and a thick pickle chip finish this traditional and bite-sized take on a classic.
Blueberry buttermilk pie
The Berry Patch kiosk has two desserts on the menu, and both are berry delicious: Kenny’s family cheesecake and blueberry buttermilk pie. If you only have room for one, go with the blueberry buttermilk pie ($6.50.) The delicious dessert is almost always associated with the South and is otherwise known as “desperation pie” because it can be made with staple ingredients when fresh fruit is out of season or too expensive. In this version, a light, flaky pastry crust holds a sweet and tart buttermilk custard, and fresh blueberries are baked in and topped with dollop of whipped cream. This tart-sized pie is a perfect serving size and a sweet ending to a day of snacking.
Of course wine is the other half of the festival, and although Sip and Savor tabs are not redeemable for alcohol, there are many craft beer and wine varietals to choose from. The Uncorked booth has mimosa flights and wine flights, which start at $18, and vinos from California vineyards like a red blend from McBride Sisters Wine Co. in Oakland and a sauvignon blanc from Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena, Napa Valley.
Beer enthusiasts can find beverages at the California Craft Brews beer garden. Orange County breweries are among those represented, with brews from Anaheim’s Unsung Brewing Co. and Orange’s Chapman Crafted Beer on the list. Sonoma Terrace also offers draft and bottled beers, hard ciders, seltzers and wine along with commemorative wine glasses from Corkcicle. A full list of offerings can be found on the Disney Parks Blog.
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