Restaurant Review - Biergarten Restaurant, Germany Pavillon, Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort

After shopping "around the world" at Epcot recently, we stopped in to have lunch at one of my favorite family-friendly eating places -- the Biergarten restaurant in the German pavillon. Part buffet, part dinner show, the Biergarten has many things to entertain and feed both kids and adults. For kids, and picky adults, there is macaroni and cheese and roasted chicken on the buffet. For adults, there are 12 ounce beers (yikes!) as well as beer and wine flights if you'd like to try out some new drinks. For everyone, there is the Oompah band that plays for about 20 minutes every hour and includes lots of interactive and fun instruments such as the accordian (a must for the polka dances), cow bells, a wooden xylophone-like instrument, and the huge Alpine horns (think the "Riccola" TV commercials).

The lunch buffet is served from noon to 3 PM at $10.99 for kids ages 3 - 9 and $19.99 for adults (yes, 10 year olds are considered adults at Disney).

The inside of the restaurant resembles an outside courtyard of a small Alpine village at night. And in here, it is always Oktoberfest! Tables are for eight people so if you have four or less in your group, you might be seated with others. Don't worry, after a few 12 ounce beers, you will be best friends! After being seated at one of the long wooden tables and having the server introduce us to the other family already seated there, our server took our drink orders. LB asked for water while BB asked for sweet tea. Whoops, he forgot that, at Disney, they only have unsweet tea so he asked for a Coke instead. Grandma ordered the unsweet iced tea and I perused the wine and beer menu (alcoholic drinks are not included in the buffet price). What's nice is that all of the servers actually are from Germany so you can ask them questions about their country, or how to pronounce some of the beers or wines. My server, jokingly, wouldn't take my pointing at the Riesling wine I wanted and instead worked with me until I was able to pronounce it myself. Then, we headed to the buffet!

On one side of the buffet are cold items such as salads, a huge variety of cold meats such as bologna and sausages, and cheeses. Next come the cute pretzel shaped rolls, which are super yummy, and other types of bread and rolls. The soup was Potato Leek and was hot, very creamy, with soft pieces of leeks mixed in -- it was great to dip the pretzel bread into it. There are several hot selections including meatballs, pork, salmon fillet with a light dill sauce, bratwurst, and an accompanying condiment bar with hot mustard, sweet mustard, relish, chutney, catsup, and what became my favorite -- a curry catsup. I also discovered a pork shank gratin that was bits of pork shank (which tasted like corned beef to me), mixed with a light sauerkraut, and topped with mashed potatoes and cheese -- I went back for seconds on that. At another hot station were glazed carrots, roasted potatoes, pork schnietzel with hunter sauce (like a dark beef mushroom sauce), and a carving station with sliced roast pork and meatloaf.

Of course, the challenge with every buffet is who goes up with which child and helps them choose what to eat. LB, my picky eater, just wanted a pretzel roll and mac-n-cheese but I snuck some meatballs on his plate as well and he ended up actually eating them. BB was great, trying a little bit of everything, including a few cold sausage and each of the veggies. Grandma also noshed on a little bit of everything.

The Oompah band came on and involved everyone with singing along and dancing. My boys were mesmerized and would quietly sit in their seats and eat. You can't beat that! Then, of course, came the Oktoberfest toast with the band leading everyone to raise their glasses and sing: "Zicke-Zacke-Zicke-Zacke Hoi, Hoi, Hoi! Prost!", which always makes me think of the German guy in the Man Show (remember the Man Show from Comedy Central?).


There are also desserts on the buffet such as Bavarian cheesecake, Apple Strudel with vanilla sauce, fruit salad, a Black Forest cake roll, vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles, and cookies. Grandma ended up making us a "dessert sampler" plate for us with one of each thing and we all shared dessert. It was all really good but my favorite was the strudel with the vanilla sauce.

As it is a buffet, items will periodically change. Again, non-alcoholic beverages are included, and you can even change your drink and get coffee or tea with dessert. Plus, the band will honor any birthdays or anniversaries in the audience, and will sing you traditional German songs to celebrate. At the dinner buffet ($13.99 kids/$28.99 adults), there are additional items such as sauerbraten and herring but based on the large increase in price for adults, we prefer to go for lunch.

It's a great way to relax and have fun and good food at the theme parks, and everyone will enjoy the show.

Restaurant Review: Sweet Tomatoes, State Rd 436, Altamonte Springs, FL (and other locations, too)

Several weekends ago, we ate lunch at Sweet Tomatoes in Altamonte Springs. Sweet Tomatoes is, at its most basic, a soup & salad bar. However, it also has items that can tempt your non-veggie lovers also. So, while BB, my older, almost-a-vegetarian son was happy as a clam, my younger son LB found stuff to eat as well.

It is kind of a strange process to pay for your food at Sweet Tomatoes. You start off at the long salad bar (2 identical sides) and grab a tray and plate. Hubby put LB's plate on his tray and I had BB's on mine. Luckily, BB is tall enough now that he can see what is on the salad bar and instructed me on what he wanted. LB is still too short so Hubby had to carry him down the line, while pushing his tray at the same time. For infants and those toddlers that still like a high chair, Sweet Tomatoes has rolling high chairs that you can push along the salad bar line - very convenient. The salad bar starts off with lettuces and veggie toppings and then moves to prepared salads and dressings. BB wanted to try a little bit of each prepared salad such as the tuna tarragon pasta salad and the chinese chicken salad. I helped myself to a big portion of the chinese chicken salad - it is very yummy, with crunchy noodles mixed in. LB asked for random items that are actually his favorites - black beans, corn, olives, and pickles. Imagine seeing that coming down the buffet line! We then arrived at the cashier and paid for two adults ($7.49 a piece for lunch) and one 7-year-old kid ($4.49 for 6-12 year olds; $1.49 for 3-5 year olds). LB was free since he was under three. Drinks are separate and are $1.69 a piece for adults and kids. Be sure to ask for a kid's cup for your little ones or the cashier will just give you the tall plastic glasses they provide for the adults. The kid's cup is plastic and comes with a lid and straw. Drinks are your standard fare - sodas, iced teas (including sweet), lemonade, etc. But I like that you can switch from an iced drink to a coffee if you like - just ask a server for a coffee cup.

We chose a booth close to the buffets and made sure the kids sat on the inside. I went to get all the drinks and then made another trip to get the boys' food while Hubby stayed with them. We find it is most efficient to keep the kids at the booth the whole time and then take turns getting them more food. Besides the salad bar, Sweet Tomatoes offers a Soup Bar, Bakery, Pasta Station, and Desserts. At the Soup Bar, you'll always find several "standard" soups such as clam chowder, chicken noodle, vegetable, and chili, and then new seasonal ones. Sweet Tomatoes also has a "theme" for every month - Lemon was this month - where there will be at least one offering in each buffet featuring that item. So, they had Lemon Pasta, Lemon Chicken Orzo soup, Lemon muffin, etc. I tried the Sweet Tomato and Onion soup which was very light and tasted healthy. That's another reason I like Sweet Tomatoes, I feel like we are eating healthy! There are also toppings for your soups such as cheeses, croutons, onions, etc. Located next to the soups are sweet and baked potatoes, and then you can use the same toppings bar as the soups. LB was done with his "salad toppings" when I returned so I got him the macaroni & cheese at the pasta station (always there) and the plain cheese pizza on foccacia bread at the bakery (also always there). He was happy with that so it was Hubby's turn to go up and fill his plate. I went back to get another type of soup and BB tagged along to get his favorite - Clam Chowder. I tried the chili this time and added some shredded cheddar cheese on top - yum. I also swiped a few pieces of the plain cheese pizza - they were really good, too! They had buffalo chicken pizza as well but I thought that might be too spicy for me. One more trip for me to the pasta station to try the alfredo pasta and I was done. The boys, of course, were ready for dessert. For dessert, you can go healthy and select from fresh fruit such as pineapple, melon, grapes, or oranges, or you can go for the soft serve yogurt machine. Of course, the boys wanted the soft-serve, chocolate-vanilla swirl naturally. They both wanted chocolate syrup and sprinkles on top. I made my way over to the bakery to have a blueberry muffin for my dessert. They also always have chocolate muffins, that I have tried as a base for the soft-serve to much success - brownie a la mode!

Service is usually pretty good meaning that they will clear away your dirty dishes fairly quickly. We always leave a tip, from $1 per person to a bit more if they boys have been especially messy. Sweet Tomatoes is probably not for everyone - Grandma and Grandpa won't go there because they say they can never find enough to eat. If you are a meat and pototoes person, this is not for you. But if you want some fresh, healthy food, with enough to tempt your carb or veggie-loving kids as well, this is the place.

Restaurant Review: Shamu & Crew Character Breakfast, Seafire Inn, SeaWorld Orlando, FL

When Grandpa called and said he had free tickets to SeaWorld (woohoo), we quickly planned to go the weekend before Memorial Day. LB had never been before and there were several new attractions that have opened in the past two years. I put Believe, Blue Horizons, and the new kids' area with the Shamu Express roller coaster on our list and Grandpa and I started planning out the day (it's what we do -- Grandma calls us "camp counselors"). We both decided we needed to get there early, preferably right at park open at 9 am. I'm not really a morning person -- I need to have an incentive to wake up early and get out the door. So, when I checked out the SeaWorld website, I found out they have a Shamu character breakfast that starts at 8:45 am every morning (see for yourself http://4adventure.com/seaworld/fla/res_shamuandcrew.aspx). The prices were really reasonable for a character breakfast -- $14.95 for adults, $9.95 for kids 3-9 and free for kids under 3. Of course, that just made me worry that the food wouldn't be very good. However, they promised Shamu and his furry friends would visit the tables and there would be a 35-minute show featuring the characters -- that alone would be worth the price so I booked (and pre-paid) online. The day came and we had all intentions of getting to the restaurant by 8:45 am. We weren't too far off, after entering the SeaWorld main entrance and heading to the Waterfront area of the park, it was only 9:05 am. We were seated quickly, towards the back of the theater/dining room, at the back end of a table where another family was already seated and enjoying breakfast. However, the kids were able to see the stage just fine. With only 5 minutes left before showtime, Grandma stayed with the kids while Grandpa and I staked out the buffet line. The buffet line moved slowly, mostly because the servers had to plate all the hot food for each guest versus it being serve-yourself. I'm sure they have a reason for doing it that way, but I think the line would move faster if everyone got their own food. They had a nice spread, though, with self-serve danishes, yogurts, and cereals, at the front. The fruit was really nice -- they had big bowls of cut up cantaloupe, honeydew and red seedless grapes. The hot foods offered were biscuits and gravy, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, potatoes, french toast, pancakes and corned beef hash. I was excited to see the corned beef hash - it's one of my favorites and not many places have it. I asked for a plate of french toast and bacon for BB, an empty plate for LB (I figured he would just eat off of everyone), and another plate of french toast, eggs, and corned beef hash. All in all, it took 15 minutes waiting in line. When we got back to the table, the show was already in full swing and Grandma had ordered chocolate milk for the boys and coffee for us. The kids' drinks were served in the plastic souvenir cups with lids and straws -- very handy to have as SeaWorld does not serve regular drinks with lids or straws because it harms the animals. I was happy to see those as we could use them throughout the day. The show was kind of silly -- an underwater sea explorer is afraid of the water and needs help from his friends to help him get over his fear -- but it had a good message, plus a few Beatles tunes thrown in (Yellow Submarine, Octopus' Garden), and the kids really liked it. The food was actually good! Okay, the french toast was a little cold but not too bad, and there was plenty of food for all. We also lucked out being at the back end of the table as the characters came there first and found it hard to manuveur toward the front of each of the long tables. So the family that was sitting in front of us had to get up and move if they wanted pictures with the characters. We just had to smile and say "Cheese". All of the characters came by and the kids really liked meeting them and getting kisses from them. The characters can't really move that much because of their size (hey, we are talking Shamu here) and some interacted better than others (the manatee character had some fun with BB) but a good experience overall. The only confusing part came at the end as we were leaving and Grandpa asked if we needed to leave a tip. The website where I had booked online had said nothing about gratuity and we really had only seen our server when she got our drinks. Grandpa put several bucks on the table and we hoped we were covered. SeaWorld would do better to make that more clear. All in all, a fun breakfast experience if you happen to be visiting SeaWorld Orlando.