By now you know, going out to eat is one of my favorite things. I detest cooking. As a mom I want there to be kids menu that my kids will actually eat from. As a wife, I want a little elegance and romance that I can sneak in with my spouse. Not every place can fulfill each of my desires for the perfect dining experience, but it should at least touch on them. On October 14th 2022 my family and I went to Liberty Tree Tavern in Disney's Magic Kingdom for a lunch.
First Impression
This was the first time we had ever dined here before. The restaurant is located in Liberty Square, in Magic Kingdom Park. It is a colonial American themed dining experience. Personally, I love themed dining. The building, architecture, design, and table set up all looked perfectly in theme. The staff are all dressed in colonial outfits. We arrived about 10 minutes early for our reservation (Reservations strongly recommended) and were seated roughly within about 10-15 minutes.
Dining Experience
There isn't really a menu for this restaurant. It is a three-course meal, served family style (which means they put a large serving bowl of each dish on the table, and you share, just like if you were at home). The first course is bread, and salad. The second course is traditional American Thanksgiving fare, which included Foul, Pork, Roast beef, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. The final course, dessert, is a sweet sticky toffee pie with ice cream. The staff did inform me that if the kids were not pleased with the meal that is provided, they can always order some chicken nuggets instead, which while not needed, was incredible to know that such an option was available.
For a table of 8, they brought us out two large serving platters of each dish, which was more than enough. Food presentation was lovely, and everything was prepared well and served hot, My favorite though, was definitely the dessert. I had to show some serious restraint not taking all of it. Because this was themed dining, it was on the more expensive side, and rather than a standard lunch, this was a dining experience.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Themed dining, with costumed staff, large amount of food served, no need to escort kids to a buffet line since its all served at your table
Cons: Expensive, need reservations
Overall Restaurant Rating
Let me be clear on my rating scale here, because I don’t want it to seem harsh. I rate 1-5 stars. If you ever have reviews at your job on their 1-5 scale, its kind of like that.
1 star = falls below standards
2 stars= needs improvement, falls short of expectations
3 stars = meets expectations
4 stars = exceeds expectations
5 stars = entirely another category of awesome – way above target.
So essentially 3 stars is good, rather than mediocre.
Category | Score |
wait time | 3 - about 10 minutes which is what I expect |
Staff Friendliness | 4 - My kids were in a BAD mood- and the staff tried engaging, and lifting spirits - way above what Id expect from anyone |
comfort/ seating | 3 - Nothing extraordinary, air conditioned, comfortable |
view/appearance | 5 - Its a colonial building ... Its freaking awesome |
menu diversity | 3 - I'm going with a 3 on this, because while the food was great, you didn't get much of a choice, so if you are a vegetarian, its kind of slim |
food appearance | 3- Presentation was great, but nothing beyond expectation |
taste & Temperature | 3 - everything was great, but again, nothing beyond expectation |
portion size | 3 - There was plenty of food provided, no individual portions were provided |
Kid friendly food options | 4 - I'm going to rate this as a 4, since even though mac and cheese, and thanksgiving fare are pretty kid friendly, they did go out of their way to offer us another option |
Drink selection | 3 - Nothing beyond, or short of expectations |
Dessert selection | 3 - Ok - so they don't give you a dessert option, there is only the one dessert, but it is REALLY good |
Price | 3- Price is pre-fixe since you do not order a la carte, and a little pricey, because its theme dining |
Total Score | 3.3 |
Overall 3.3 stars, I thought this was a great little place, but I am a fan of historical re-enactments, and love thanksgiving fare. I was definitely trying to rate it beyond my own scope. I think this is a place that the adults would enjoy more than the kids, although in our party, all seemed to enjoy it. (The aforementioned bad mood was resolved with some full bellies and air conditioning)