Review? ESPN Club at Boardwalk???

[chick20679]

Has anyone eaten at the ESPN club at the Boardwalk? We are planning on eating there in September, but wondered if anyone had any good or bad experiences. I'm expecting it to be quite noisy, but anything else? Thanks! :thumbsup:

[Tinkerbellfan]

Hello,

We are not picky eaters at all but we do tend to eat at at least 3 of Disney's signature restaurants each trip. And, I hate to give a bad review and normally do not give bad reviews since we are not picky eaters BUT ESPNZone in Disney goes down as one of the worst meals we have ever had a Disney world. And, it wasn't even a meal more a late afternoon snack. We ordered nachos and wings and both were almost not edible.

I have heard many positive reviews about this restaurant and we did go during late afternoon and it was really slow which may have explained the horrible food and service we received.

Sorry - I am sure you do not want to hear this and maybe entirely possible we just hit at bad time, but I cannot recommend ESPN Zone based on our experience. In fact, based on our experience, I recommend eating at Spoodles instead.

[Charlee]

I'm pretty much a newbie on here but we were at ESPN Club a coupla weeks ago and we really enjoyed our meal. I had the championship chicken sandwich, my dad had the hot roast beef and my mom the pulled pork. We all enjoyed our meal, the server was friendly and we didn't find it too noisy or too busy. We were there on a Saturday lunch time - it was great for us as we got to watch the Indianapolis Grand Prix qualifying session - we're big fans!
We had a very postive experience and we're already planning going there on next years trip! :thumbsup:

[Wrigley]

We have eaten at ESPN on previous trips and have never had a bad experience. We were all pleased with what we ordered and the service was pretty good. It is nice to have the arcade right there so while you are waiting for your meal, you can go and play some games!! I would return again.:mickey:

[Lizzie]

I ate there a couple of years ago and we enjoyed our food. If you like sports its a great place to go. A bunch of the guys in our group went back a couple of times.

[mainemajor]

Went there last October on a Saturday. We got there as the college football games were begining. There were a lot of fans of certain teams that needed to be near a TV with their team on it. DW and I both loved the food. We received great service.
One word of caution - it can get noisy during games

[Maleficent's Dad]

A few quick things:
First - to all of you and Tinkerbellfan above - this is not an ESPN Zone like you find in major US Cities. It is an ESPN Club. Different restaurant, different food, different games, different atmosphere, much different size.

The food here is typical sports bar fare. It is nor gourmet. It is not incredible. But it is a "safe bet." There are good sandwiches, burgers, etc...

And as for the wings - they are one of the few places outside of BUFFALO itself that actually serves WINGS, and not bite size pieces of smaller chickens. The wings here are very good; not anchor bar good, but very good.

Good drink. :cheers:
Pretty good food. :tasty:
Safe bet. :mickey:

[spoiledraf]

We too enjoyed our lunch here, both times. Once was the wings and another time, I had a hot dog, one of the biggest and tastiest ever.

If you are coming on a football Saturday, they will ask you if you have a preference to watch a particular game. That may or may not cause a longer wait. The waiter told us that on Sundays during NFL season, you pretty much have to be there an hour or more early to have any hope of getting a seat.

We enjoyed it. My daughter-in-laws father owns a bar that serves the best wings in our area and ESPN Club wings were considerably larger.

I'm curious. Did the concourse Steak House tell you no because of the large group? Or are they booked completely for even couples? We are hoping to go down in late September too.

[GottaluvTiggr]

I think that Tinkerbellfan is crazy. My mom and my two cousins we all went there and we love it.The food was great and there was great service. Oh and i know this is going to sound weird but if you go to ESPN club make sure to check out the restroom.:mickey:

[bleukarma]

I have eaten here twice, once a few years ago for dinner and I loved it. I went back in March for lunch during the week and I wasn’t as happy. The menu completely changed and it’s all greasy bar food. I know I shouldn’t expect anything else from an ESPN restaurant, though. Also, they were pushing for us to sit at the bar and when we decided we wanted a table in the main dining room we had to wait. When we finally got put back to the dining room it was completely empty so I don’t understand what the wait was about. I think Disney must have some sort of method because I had a 20 minute wait at Raglan Road about a month ago and when I got taken back there were at least 20 tables open. Anyway, the waiter I had served the eight table party first even though my party of two got there first. I just had an overall bad experience and I probably won’t go back. But it’s not because of the bad service or the wait (I’m very lineate and I understand these things), it’s because of the food. While the chicken sandwich I had was good, it was greasy and I cannot eat greasy food. I ordered the chicken sandwich expecting it to be the least greasy thing on the menu but I could only eat half of it. And the only non-greasy side they offer is fresh fruit, which I wasn’t in the mood for. It’s not a place that I should frequent, but I’m different then most people.

[IDreamofEeyore]

We've eaten at ESPN twice (on 2 separate trips) and received exceptionally poor service (very slow and inattentive). The food was also sub-standard both times.

We are pretty laid back folks especially when on vacation. But during our first visit, the service was so slow, it took us over 30 minutes to be able to order once we were seated and then another hour to receive our food (which was cold by the way). Our son (who was 3 at the time) was falling asleep by the time his food came.

A year or so later, we decided to give the restaurant another shot. They took our order faster on the second visit, but it still took a long time to receive the food (and the restaurant was not even close to being full). My order was wrong, but I ate it anyway because we didn't want to spend the entire evening at the restaurant. There was nothing special about the food.

I hate to be so negative about any restaurant at WDW. But we will not be giving ESPN a 3rd chance.

[chick20679]

Thanks everyone SO MUCH for the info.
I think we will still try it out, since my boyfriend really loves sports, and I think he'll enjoy the atmosphere, but maybe we'll try just a snack and not dinner?? We'll have to see I guess. Thanks again!! :mickey:

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I was stunned at the negative reviews. We've been several times and had good experiences every time! I totally disagree with my distinguished posters above. I think you'll love it! I'm psyched to take my (grown) DS in December, and loved introducing my friends to it last month. It was a hit!:thumbsup:

[MinnieMommie]

Thanks everyone SO MUCH for the info.
I think we will still try it out, since my boyfriend really loves sports, and I think he'll enjoy the atmosphere, but maybe we'll try just a snack and not dinner?? We'll have to see I guess. Thanks again!! :mickey:

If your boyfriend is a sports fan he will likely like ESPN Club. It is a really fun place with good enough but in no way gourmet food (and it is not pretentious in this way). I think the reference to the lavatories is that there are TVs with sport events on even in there. Totally a fun place with a congenial atmosphere. :mickey:

[TheAdventurer]

Personally I think it's a great place to watch sports, but not a great place to eat. I'll eat there if I'm watching a game and am hungry, but would never go out of my way to eat there. The food is typical bar food, but a little substandard and overpriced. I mean, it's not terrible (how badly can you screw up a hamburger?) but you can get much better food elsewhere in WDW. If you want to see it because your boyfriend is a sports fan, go there for a couple drinks and share an appetizer, but I wouldn't suggest planning a meal around it.

[birdybird]

The last 3 times we have been to WDW we have eaten there, once for dinner and twice for lunch. The spouse loves ESPN Club and always wants to eat there. I have to say the the survice and food has been good everytime. If you are into sports, then you will enjoy this place. Burgers, sandwiches, salads, you know regular kind of food. Nothing too fancy or unusual...........if you want that there are other places you can go to while at WDW.