Disney California Adventure has a couple of solid sit-down restaurants that range from casual to upscale. Recently, we enjoyed one of the more casual sit-down restaurant options. It’s been a while since I checked in on this location, and generally, I was quite pleased with the experience.
The restaurant serves food in a large courtyard area that overlooks the parade corridor and a terra cotta colored inside space. Let’s get into our full review of the dining option and whether it makes sense for your family. Plus, one mistake you’ll want to avoid if you are dining here. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including a change to Disney pin trading rules in the park, and 13 huge Disney World changes that just hit across every theme park.
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Review of Disney California Adventure Wine Country Restaurant
The Wine Country Trattoria sits in the Napa Valley-themed area of the park that pays tribute to the wine-making regions of California.
During a recent group dinner, we ended up trying a wide variety of menu items here, so I have a good breadth of items to share with you.
We started off with the pull-apart cheese bread. This was warm and topped with whipped herb ricotta cheese. A perfect starter. The dish was described as Pesto Romano Focaccia, Whipped Herb Ricotta, Mozzarella, Tomato Coulis, Red Pepper Flakes, and Micro Herbs.
Next up was the fried calamari, which also comes with haricots vert or fried green beans. The green beans were my favorite part of this dish.
The last starter was the Grapefruit Salad. This is a spring mix tossed in grapefruit vinaigrette with citrus segments, mint shaved fennel, candied pistachios, and orange-vanilla marscapone.
Moving on to the main courses, there are a number of great options. Some lean more heavily into the Italian theme of the restaurant.
This is the Chicken Parmesan, which is a breaded and fried chicken breast with marinara and mozzarella served over pasta.
This is the Braised Short Rib Marsala with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and marsala sauce.
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I had the Spaghetti Aglio Olio and added shrimp. This dish is described as light tossed seasonal vegetables, garlic, Chile flakes, and lemon olive oil white wine sauce. Both this dish and the short rib were surprisingly spicy from the Chile flakes.
This is the Pesce Bianco, which is a whitefish with orzo pasta and cannellini beans, tomato sauce, garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, and artichokes, served with grilled lemon and Calabrian Chile.
We tried both the desserts on the menu. First up is the Lemon Tiramisu with limoncello blueberries and mint.
Finally, the Banana Brûlée Tart. This is a vanilla tart with bananas topped with banana-coconut whipped cream.
The one mistake around the meal was that we ended up sitting inside. This was because we had a big group, so they seated us here. It was totally understandable in our situation, but it reminded me to give this recommendation.
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The outside seating at this restaurant makes the experience. Inside, it is loud and difficult to hear your entire party. Outside, you have views and the night air. Make sure to request an outside table, preferably close to the edge, to watch the world go by.
Generally, this restaurant impressed me more than I was expecting after not eating here for a couple of years. The food was very good, and they were quite flexible with menu items to deliver things that the entire group enjoyed.
The variety on the menu here makes it actually more appealing for a repeat visit than Lamplight Lounge, which previously would have been my top pick. That restaurant still sits at the top of our best restaurants list because of the food, atmosphere, and location. In recent months, though, the menu at that restaurant has been dramatically scaled back to a point that it is far less appealing.
Wine Country Trattoria impressed me and would actually now jump far higher on that list. This menu also reminds me to recommend the other restaurant that is housed in this building, which only select guests can enjoy. That restaurant had a complete menu overhaul last year.
What do you think? Have you eaten at Wine Country Trattoria recently? Where would you rate the restaurant? Let me know your thoughts.
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