It’s time for another Disney festival and we couldn’t be more excited!
Disney California Adventure Food & Wine 2024
The Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival runs from February 28th to April 21st, 2025 giving you about two months to explore everything. Not only is there exclusive entertainment, seminars, and activities, but there’s plenty of incredible food to try as well! As usual, we made our way around the festival to find the best eats this year so keep reading to see EVERY review.
California Craft Brews — 3/5
California Craft Brews
The new Lemon Pepper Wings are served with garlic ranch and cost $9 for three wings. Now, the wings were tasty and had a nice lemon taste that was balanced by the garlic ranch. They’re also crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. With that being said, though, we think $9 for just three wings seems a bit pricey.
Lemon Pepper Wings
The Sloppy Joe Slider is made with IMPOSSIBLE Beef and topped with cheese for $8. You’ll want to eat this while it’s still warm because by the time we got around to taking a bite, the texture was off, although we liked the toasted bun – it’s that sweet Hawaiian roll we’ve come to really love.
Sloppy Joe Slider
There’s a new non-alcoholic drink here, too. The California Punch is made with mango purée, guava nectar, cucumber syrup, and lemon juice for $8. This still feels like an adult drink, though, because it’s garnished with a mango chile lollipop. It’s a nice fruity drink that we found very refreshing.
California Punch
The Mango Guava Cocktail is new this year. It’s made with vodka, mango purée, guava nectar, cucumber syrup, and lemon juice for $17. Yep, it’s a bit pricey. We like how it’s garnished with a rainbow sour belt gummy, though – it makes it fun. You’ll want to stir it up before drinking it because this is the best way to make sure the vodka combines with the other flavors. It’s tasty, but like we said, pricey.
Mango Guava Cocktail
You can also order some California Craft Brews at this booth. Options include Chapman Crafted Orange Plaza Pale for $16.25 (Orange, CA), A More Perfect Day Double IPA by Stereo Brewing for $16.25 (Placentia, CA), and Green Cheek’s Guava in Berlin Berliner-style Weisse for $17.75. (Green Cheek has locations in Orange, Costa Mesa, Sunset Beach, and Oceanside.) Noble Ale Works Flamigle Hard Seltzer (Anaheim, CA) is also available for $16.25. A Spring Beer Flight including all of these is $18.
Cluck a Doodle Moo — 3/5
Cluck a Doodle Moo
We’re sorry to say it, but the Asa’DOS for $7.95 was not a hit this year. We didn’t enjoy how fatty and tough the carne asada was to eat, and the whole dish was covered in an artificial smokey flavor that was too overwhelming. We enjoyed the texture of the chicken, which came right off the bone, but it also had a deep smokey flavor, which was too much. The rice was subpar as well, so we’re unsure about this dish.
Asa’DOS
We also ordered Açai Passion Tea-ki Cocktail with pineapple rum, dark rum, passion fruit syrup, and Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. Açai Black Tea with lime juice for $18.
Açai Passion Tea-ki Cocktail
It tasted exactly like a Mai Tai! It had no strong alcohol flavor, but we loved the tropical vibes. The açaí brought a refreshing yet sweet flavor and was slightly tart from the lime.
Garlic Kissed — 2/5
Garlic Kissed
This year, you can grab the Sirloin Gruyére Mac & Cheese for $9, which is made with black garlic chimichurri and garlic butter crunch. We were really looking forward to this new dish, but unfortunately, it fell very flat for us. It came with four big chunks of sirloin, and they were all dry and tough – the group of strangers eating next to us even agreed!
Sirloin Gruyére Mac & Cheese
The mac and cheese has a super cheesy flavor and consistency, which we enjoyed, and the chimichurri was probably one of the milder ones we’ve tried in this park. It had a good garlic and tangy flavor, but we didn’t like all the flavors together, which was a real letdown.
You might want to try something else
For drinks, you can grab the Guava Lychee Mule for $17.50, which is made with Vodka, Guava Nectar, Ginger and Lychee Syrups, Lemon Juice, topped with Guava and Grapefruit Hard Cider, and garnished with a Lemon Wheel. It’s very refreshing and is more on the tart than the sweet side, which we loved. There’s more grapefruit flavor here than anything else, so keep that in mind!
Guava Lychee Mule (2024)
The Huckleberry-Citrus Cooler is also available for $7 and is made with Huckleberry and agave syrups, grapefruit soda, lemon and orange juices, and Gold Peak Black Tea garnished with an orange wedge.
Huckleberry-Citrus Cooler (2024)
We think this is a great, sweet, refreshing mocktail option around the festival, but overall, it’s nothing that will really blow your socks off, so we don’t recommend making a special trip here just for this.
Golden Dreams — 4/5
Golden Dreams
We started things off with the Musubi Fried Rice for $8.50, which is new this year. It’s an Aulani Resort-inspired steamed rice with egg, glazed spiced ham, umami mayo, and furikake. There’s tons of flavor and texture with this dish, plus the umami mayo just ties all the flavors together. We also liked that the rice and egg were both cooked wonderfully.
Musubi Fried Rice
The dessert here is the plant-based Cherry Cobbler Pot de Creme, made with Vanilla custard, cherry filling, and oat crumble for $7.50. It tastes like comfort food with a nice sweet vanilla custard and a tart but sweet cherry filling. The oat crumble adds a nice texture on top.
Cherry Cobbler Pot de Creme
The drink here is the Blueberry Pancake Cold Brew made with Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. Mexico Origin Coffee, with maple, brown butter & demerara syrup, oat milk, and a blueberry sweet cream (made with cream, oat milk, vanilla syrup, blueberry syrup, and purée) for $7.25.
Blueberry Pancake Cold Brew
This didn’t wow us. We didn’t get much blueberry flavor until we mixed things up, and the maple flavor was non-existent. This isn’t really anything special, and we would skip it in the future.
LA Style — 5/5
LA Style
For this booth, we kicked things off with the Cantarito-Style Paloma, which will set you back $17.25. We know what you’re thinking: that’s an expensive sip, but take our word at face value when we say it was so refreshing! It’s got a tart zing to it, with a little kick that can intensify with a bigger gulp, but it’s also surprisingly bubbly from the Fresca. Be careful, though – this drink is dangerous because it tastes more like a refreshing juice drink than a tequila-filled cocktail!
Cantarito-Style Paloma
Then it was time to focus on the eats here! We tried the Western BBQ Burger Bao first which is priced at $9.50. This dish tastes just like a western bacon cheeseburger, and we couldn’t get enough of it! The ground beef was perfectly cooked and kept inside the fluffy bao. As we took a bite, the flavors and textures from the fried crispy onions and warm bacon pieces were undeniably essential. We thought this was the dish most worth your sip and savor credits at this booth, but that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a shareable size. Overall, we had no complaints about this one and could easily see ourselves stopping by on a future visit to the festival for another!
Western BBQ Burger Bao
Last but not least, for this booth, we tried the Mini LA Street Dog! This one will cost you $8, and we’ve got nothing but good things to say about it. The first flavor we noticed was definitely that jalapeno mayo! It knows how to bring the heat with a flavorful kick right from the first bite that leaves quite the impression. This hot dog had a good crunch to it, thanks to the pepper and onion relish, and it really works to create something that sets it apart from your average hot dog. The soft bun isn’t toasted either making this one a yummy little street dog that’s good for a quick bite.
Mini LA Street Dog
Overall, this booth was a blast…of flavors!
LA Style
While we really enjoyed all the eats and the drink we tried here, there was one dish that shined brighter than its LA Style counterparts, but such is LA, right?!
Mercado de Antojos — 4/5
Mercado de Antojos
We tried the new Birria Mac & Cheese with onion-cilantro sauce and tortilla crunch for $9! The mac and cheese was perfectly creamy and cheesy, exactly how mac and cheese should be. The birria was moist and tender, but the onion-cilantro sauce was very onion-heavy, and we thought it overpowered the other delicious flavors of the bowl. We did love the guacamole on top, which provided a lemon tang, and the tortilla chip crumbles gave a much-needed crunch and made us want more toppings.
Birria Mac & Cheese
The second food item at this booth is the new Café de Olla Tres Leches Cake with piloncillo chantilly, cinnamon, and a Mickey-shaped cookie that costs $7.75. We loved the texture of the tres leches cake since it wasn’t soggy, and the coffee flavors reminded us of tiramisu. The coffee flavor was present but not overwhelming, but we thought the chantilly cream on top was too much. The whipped cream consistency blobs weren’t necessary and took away from the beautiful flavors and texture of the cake. We did love the Mickey sugar cookie on top, though!
Café de Olla Tres Leches Cake
One of the stars of the booth was this Raspberry Horchata with raspberry, almond, and cinnamon syrups, rice pudding, milk, and condensed milk with more raspberries on top! For $7.50, this brand-new, non-alcoholic drink was one of our favorites! The raspberry taste really comes through and if you love horchata, this is one you have to try for yourself. We didn’t taste the almond, but the sweetness level was perfect. We loved this drink!
Raspberry Horchata
Returning from last year’s Earth Eats booth, this Watermelon Cucumber Mojito for $18 was fantastic, once again! We love the watermelon and cucumber combo and how it’s sweet, strong, and refreshing. The little tajin kick was perfect but you do need to be a spice lover to enjoy this. It’s the perfect summer drink, and we’re so glad it’s back.
Watermelon Cucumber Mojito
We always love welcoming a new booth to the festival, and this one did not disappoint! We loved both of the drinks and will be ordering them again and again.
Peppers Cali-Ente — 3/5
Peppers Cali-Ente
We started with the Shrimp Papas Locas, which is cheddar-bacon potatoes with jalapeño cheese sauce and spicy shrimp, featuring Tajín chipotle sauce for $9.25. We liked this dish in the past, but the bacon tasted so artificially smoked that it overwhelmed all the other flavors going on here and we just couldn’t get past that this year.
Shrimp Papas Locas
However, we only have GREAT things to say about the Corn Chip Chili Pie with seasoned IMPOSSIBLE Beef, spicy cheese sauce, tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, and cream for $8. There is just something so classic and comfy about this snack, and we would order it again. The description does say that it has “spicy cheese sauce,” but we really didn’t think it was spicy at all.
Corn Chip Chili Pie
Okay, now time for the drink, and we’re continuing with Disney’s pickle trend. The Pickle Whiskey Sour Cocktail is a new drink with Bourbon, pickle juice, lime juice, and sweet and sour, garnished with Tajín Chile Lime Sauce, Tajín, and a pickle spear for $18.25.
The Pickle Whiskey Sour Cocktail
This is basically like drinking a jar of pickle juice. Now some people will love that. We do admire that this is a unique offering, but that’s about it.
Uncork California — 3/5
Uncork California
The only food item at this booth is the Mickey-shaped Macaron made with SNICKERS bar pieces, a macaron with caramel ganache and Snickers pieces for $8.50. This was one of our favorites last year, so we had to try it again, and we love it just as much! With the light and airy ganache and the crispy shell, which is full of flavor, this is one you definitely need to try. The chocolates and peanuts bring it all together for one perfect bite!
Mickey-shaped Macaron
One of the cocktails we tried was the Green Apple Slush Cocktail made with Green Apple BeatBox, blue Curaçao syrup, melon liquor, kiwi purée, and lime juice for $18.50. It even has a gummy shark on top! This is one of the sweetest cocktails we’ve had, and we’re thinking it’s just too sweet. It tasted like a melted sour apple popsicle, but we did enjoy the gummy shark on top.
Green Apple Slush Cocktail
This booth offers wine flights, but we wanted to try the Cocktail Flight for $20. The flight consists of the Lychee Melon Cocktail, California Wine Cocktail, and Strawberry and Cola Cocktail.
Cocktail Flight
The Lychee Melon Cocktail was our favorite of the flight! This cocktail has white wine aperitif, vodka, lychee, lime juice, and rock melon syrup and is topped with a lychee skewer. This drink was so refreshing! We couldn’t taste the vodka, but we loved the lychees and lime juice, and the whole drink was light and mild. This drink is at the top of our ranking!
There are some SWEET drinks in this flight!
The second drink of the flight was the California Wine Cocktail, which has white wine, gin, peach purée, lemon juice, and blue Curaçao syrup and is garnished with blue rock candy. The peach and gin were the most prominent flavors of this drink! It’s on the sweeter side but not too sweet, and we loved how refreshing it is.
That’s it for Uncork California!
The final drink of the flight was the Strawberry and Cola Cocktail. This was made with Central Coast Pino Noir, whisky, Italian amaro, strawberry purée, lime juice, and Coca-Cola! While there was a lime gummy on top, this drink was not our favorite since we didn’t like all the flavors together. We enjoyed the Coke and whisky but wished it was bubbly like a glass of Coke. This drink was insanely sweet and our lowest-ranked drink in the booth.
Additional Locations
Paradise Garden Grill — 3/5
Paradise Garden Grill
We first grabbed the Esquites Loaded Chips for $9.99. This was easily our favorite at this booth! The chips stayed crunchy, and the toppings added a nice mix of flavors. There’s a decent spice to these, but the refreshing lime flavor helps offset it. The cotija adds a light cheesy layer that the spice can overpower in some bites, and the cilantro adds a fresh element that works well with everything. This is definitely one of the best items and bangs for your buck at the festival!
Esquites Loaded Chips
While neither of our reporters is the biggest fan of fish, they grabbed the Pescado Zarandeado to try, which is $29.99. We first noticed that this looks nothing like the media display. The fish was overly salted and charred, visually off-putting, this it was extra fishy compared to other seafood items we’ve reviewed here. The tomatoes, pickled onions, and cilantro freshened it up a bit, but if you don’t like fish, it won’t be enough to save the dish. The beans, rice, and slaw were all good but pretty average and nothing to write home about. The carrots actually had a little kick from sitting right next to the jalapeños, so watch out for that. If we had to pick a favorite part of the dish, it would be the corn tortillas and chips.
Pescado Zarandeado
We also grabbed the Chicken Taquito Ahogado for $14.99.This has a good, crunchy texture, but some bites can be boring unless you get a bite with a little bit of everything – in that case, then everything works very well together. There’s no spice here so it’s a better pick for pickier eaters, and we feel this was also a decent deal for the price and is easily splittable! The chicken wasn’t the star here but everything else makes up for it!
Chicken Taquito Ahogado
For dessert, we grabbed the Lime Parfait for $7.29, and while this wasn’t bad by any means, it did taste a little artificial to us. However, it was still tart like lime should be, and we felt it was like a key lime pie in a cup! If you’re a big fan of key lime, you won’t be disappointed, but otherwise, there are better options at the festival.
Lime Parfait
Finally, to drink, we snagged the new Hard Peach Tea Seltzer for $14.50.
Hard Peach Tea Seltzer
Honestly, a lot of the main flavor here comes from the tea, which isn’t a problem necessarily, but it does make the drink a little flat and bland. We think it would benefit from a stronger sweet and sugary flavor (more than just the slight peach flavor that’s there now), and we’d recommend either spending a few extra dollars and getting a cocktail instead, or saving a few dollars and getting a water or soda.
Corn Dog Castle — 4/5
There is a LOT going on with the SoCal Corn Dog, which is a corn dog rolled in fries and topped with tomato and pickle relish, American cheese, and house dressing. It’s for $10.79 without sides and $13.59 with sides.
SoCal Corn Dog
The breading is nice and crunchy, and the cheese is gooey inside. This is like the ultimate loaded hot dog. But we still think it’s overpriced for what you get. Is it unique? Definitely! Is it a little…much? Yes. Did we have fun eating it? Yes!
Terran Treats — 5/5
The Crème Brûlée Churro is made with pastry cream, strawberry coulis, and crushed brûléed sugar for $7.25. This could be one of our favorite new treats.
Crème Brûlée Churro
You would think the crushed brûléed sugar would make it too sweet, but it was perfect, especially paired with the light and creamy pastry cream. The strawberry coulis just brought all the flavors together. YUM!
Churros at Hollywood Land — 3/5
The Peach Tea Churro is a classic churro rolled in peach sugar with diced peaches and peach tea sauce for $7.50. Peach is the defining flavor here, so if you don’t like peaches, you should pass.
Peach Tea Churro
The churro is sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The sauce is gritty, sort of like applesauce, and we didn’t really love that. It’s still a refreshing snack, but the thing that makes this good is the sliced peaches on it. So maybe it needed a little something more.
Churros near Goofy’s Sky School — 4/5
The Mango Sticky Rice-inspired Churro is new this year. It’s a classic churro rolled in sugar with sticky rice and mango pieces for $7.50.
Mango Sticky Rice-inspired Churro
This tasted so fresh, and the mango is really the forward flavor here. We didn’t get a HUGE taste of the rice, but when we did, it was sweet and nutty. We do have a warning, though: all those toppings can make for a soggy churro.
Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta — 5/5
We tried the Smoked Hawaiian Pizza made with Spicy Marinara, Smoked Mozzarella, Glazed Ham and Charred Pineapple for $9.49 per slice. OK, this was a winner; in fact, this is one of the best pizzas we’ve had here! It’s not too spicy, and despite its name, the mozzarella didn’t have a strong smoky flavor. Our favorite part is the glazed ham. It was sweet and salty and so well-balanced. Oh, and the pineapple topping? Amazing. This was a great slice of pizza!
Smoked Hawaiian Pizza
We also tried the Pineapple and Coconut Cheesecake, which is a Coconut Cheesecake topped with Pineapple Jam, Pineapple DOLE Whip Mousse, and a Maraschino Cherry for $6.79. This one is great, too. It’s light and refreshing and has a lovely whipped texture on the cheesecake. The pineapple jam is pretty thick, and there were some nice pieces of pineapple mixed in. Think of it like a Pineapple DOLE Whip with Coconut Swirl but with cheesecake.
Pineapple and Coconut Cheesecake
Schmoozies! — 3/5
Over at Schmoozies!, it’s time to try the Study Break Brewery Lychee + White Tea for $17. Listen, we know that lychee is an acquired taste, but the main things we tasted in this drink were sweet and floral notes with a light melon flavor. The seltzer wasn’t too bubbly, but it did go flat after about ten minutes.
Study Break Brewery Lychee + White Tea
That said, if you love the flavors of lychee and sweet tea, this could be a big hit.
Willie’s Churros — 5/5
Time for another churro! We ordered the Strawberry-Caramel Churro with whipped topping, strawberries, and caramel for $7.50. We love strawberries. We love caramel. And we OBVIOUSLY love churros. Put it together? It works perfectly; all the sweet flavors here really complemented each other.
Strawberry-Caramel Churro
The strawberries were fresh and paired nicely with the light vanilla flavor from the whipped cream topping. The caramel drizzle on top added a rich and sweet flavor that went so well with the fresh and sweet strawberries but know that the caramel is going to be the strongest flavor. We really loved this one, and if you’re looking for a sweet treat, GET THIS!
Whew, we made it! We hope these reviews helped you decide what to get on your visit to the festival. Stay tuned to AllEars for more!
FULL Menus Announced for Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival
What would you try first at this festival? Let us know in the comments!
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