2. 50’s Prime Time Café

Image: DisneyNo Disney restaurant goes out of its way to create a family atmosphere more than 50’s Prime Time Café. Cast members here are trained to act like your family members. They’re not working hard to be your favorites, either. You know that horrible way your aunt always made you feel? You’ll find that here. Do you remember getting chastised to sit up a straight? Someone will do that here.

50’s Prime Time Café recreates an era that may have never existed, the 1950s nuclear family as shown on black-and-white sitcoms like The Donna Reed Show, Leave It to Beaver, and Father Knows Best. The feel-good premise of these programs is that family can solve everything, although you will fight a lot along the way.

The food is the kind shown on those sitcoms that no reasonable human being could cook every day. I’m talking about heavy entrees like pot roast, pork chops, chicken pot pie, and meatloaf. You may microwave them out of boxes now, but they were once staples of family dinner. At 50’s Prime Time Café, you’ll discover the tastiest versions of these treats, ones that will remind you of the home life you once had…or always wanted.

1. Art Smith’s Homecomin’ Kitchen

Image: DisneyFittingly, the best comfort food at Walt Disney World comes from fresh from the oven of a former cast member. Before becoming a famous celebrity chef, Art Smith, was raised in Florida and worked in Disney’s college program. When the company chose to rehabilitate the image of their entertainment district by converting it to Disney Springs, they called on a native son.

Smith answered the call with a restaurant that exemplifies all the best parts of southern charm. It serves comfort food that won’t ever be described as good for you. That’s what makes it great, though. One of the signature dishes is fried chicken and donuts, a combination so decadent and delicious that folk songs should be written about it. Biscuits are fittingly a key component of a meal here, also. This place is exactly what you would expect from a famous southern chef service dishes at a restaurant he calls Homecomin’. It’s the best place to go when you want to feel a genteel reminder of home…and home cooking.