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This lists the best dishes & desserts at the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, which is Walt Disney World’s spring special event running through June 2, 2025. Here we cover the best dishes at the Outdoor Kitchens, with something for everyone–marvelous meats, sweet treats, and preeminent plant-based products.
The food served at the Outdoor Kitchen is of varying quality: good, bad, and ugly. The good news is that the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival booths are overwhelmingly good. This much might clear if you’ve already browsed the Booth Menus for the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival.
The biggest under-the-radar improvement is that far fewer food booths only have 2 dishes this year. That was a problem last year, and while there are still a few booths suffering from this, they’re mostly high-traffic locations, which makes sense. This also means that, despite not having “new” tags, there are far more dishes at the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival that you couldn’t have purchased last year.
While we have standalone reviews of the Outdoor Kitchens, this list should be more practical for your planning purposes. Rather than searching through a dozen different posts, everything you need to know is right here. You should be able to plan your 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival ‘culinary crawl’ in about 10 minutes. Perhaps longer if you read every word, or significantly shorter if you just look at the photos–my favorite way to read!
There are 5 Outdoor Kitchens that stand apart from the pack, and should be prioritized. At each of these booths, you should order most (or all) of the menu. The actual 5 very best dishes can all be found at these Outdoor Kitchens; the first half of the list catches the stragglers.
By contrast, there are other Outdoor Kitchens that can be bypassed entirely. That is, unless you like overpriced, microwaved cafeteria food. In which case, make haste to the Italy booth! Most of the other skippable booths are also in World Showcase, and that’s probably a bit of bias on our part as EPCOT festival regulars. There are very few changes at most of these, and the offerings in China, Germany, and Japan have all gotten stale, figuratively. Mexico, Morocco, France, and Canada are also largely unchanged over the years, but at least they’re good.
Our final caveat is that our tastes may differ from yours. Obviously, that goes without saying. However, it’s probably worth laying out our preferences and dislikes, so you can adjust your expectations accordingly or disregard our opinions entirely. While we’re suckers for ‘elevated comfort food,’ we are also big fans of inventive and envelope-pushing dishes with nuanced and unexpected flavors.
We’d rather eat items that challenge our taste buds than ones that are stereotypical theme park fare. That’s precisely why we appreciate what Walt Disney World has been doing lately with the new dishes. There was a time when EPCOT festivals lagged significantly behind their California counterparts. In 2025, that’s not even remotely true. Whereas DCA has a bunch of mac & cheese, heavy comfort foods, and other boring dishes, EPCOT actually has inventive and ambitious dishes. A good mix, with something for everyone.
With all of that rambling out of the way, let’s start with the best-of list for the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival…
Top 5 Dishes of the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival
Jamaican Jerk Chicken (La Isla Fresca – Between France & Morocco) – This dish offers up a drumstick of Jamaican Jerk Chicken on a bed of Pigeon Pea Rice, along with Roasted Sweet Plantains, and Cinnamon Butter. The chicken has a surprising amount of heat by Walt Disney World standards, but the sweet plantains and cinnamon butter help offset that to some degree.
As you’d expect, the Jamaican Jerk Chicken is the highlight. It has an exceptional rub and char, and is bursting with flavor. Ours was also shockingly juicy and moist–far better than you’d expect of EPCOT festival food. The accompaniments make this a nuanced dish that works really well.
Also worth mentioning is the price: $6.25. This is a hearty portion that’s almost on par with a smaller counter service meal. Granted, a lot of that is rice, which is filler, but the rice here is good filler. Highly recommended.
Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre, Herbes et Ail Rôtie (Fleur de Lys – France) – This is a croissant with goat cheese, herbs, and roasted garlic. From the outside, it’s not much to look at–a pretty unassuming item.
The inside tells the real story, with the tangy and earthy flavor of the goat cheese is contrasted nicely by the buttery crust, with the herbs providing further depth. This is fantastic, far and away the best item at the France booth for the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.
I know a lot of Walt Disney World fans love the Beignet Caramélisé, but we’ve yet to have a positive experience with that. It’s really just a cheap doughnut, but with a fancy name and look. (Sorry not sorry.) Even so, the France booth comes close to the top 5 at the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival.
Seared Scallops (Northern Bloom – Canada) – These scallops are topped with bacon vinaigrette, and accompanied by a generous portion of with french green beans along with a few butter potatoes. This dish follows one of the time-honored EPCOT Festival Castellano Commandments: “leave the shrimp, take the salmon and scallops.”
The scallops are perfectly-prepared, with a light exterior crunch that gives away to a tender and flavorful interior. If that alone weren’t enough, the acidic vinaigrette mixes perfectly with the sweet and smoky bacon to provide the perfect sweet and tangy flavor. This is a perpetual favorite of the festival, and is the standout item at the #6 or #7 overall booth.
The Beef Tenderloin Tips are also highly recommended if that type of dish ‘speaks to you.’ More of a straightforward “meat and potatoes” type of dish, which is perfect for some people!
Liquid Nitro Honey-Mascarpone Cheesecake (Swirled Showcase – Walkway between World Showcase and Imagination) – For years, our favorite dessert at EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival was the Honey-Mascarpone Cheesecake at Honey Bee-stro. It was an award-winning dessert by the chefs at Le Cellier, and could’ve been served at that Signature Restaurant.
This is similar, but also very different. While I normally love the liquid nitro presentation, it makes this much more one-note, depriving the dessert of the wider variety of distinct flavors and textures. The cheesecake was a nuanced and delicate dessert, and you could put your finger on the various types of honey. Not so here. The liquid nitro version is simpler, and also just uglier.
It’s still very good, just no longer #1. The honey, mascarpone, and blueberry compote flavors all stand out, and there’s a lovely decadence to the dessert. I’ll still order this again and again, and it doesn’t feel quite right to be knocking a liquid nitro dessert, but it’s predecessor was an all-timer. One of the 5 best dishes at any EPCOT festival, ever.
Lemon-Lavender Baumkuchen (Connections Eatery) – The Baumkuchen prepared in the show kitchen at Connections Cafe & Eatery, the main counter service restaurant in the former Future World, is quietly become a fan-favorite. It’s easy to see why with this dish, which is the best Baumkuchen iteration we’ve had at EPCOT to date.
The cake is delicate and its layers moist, while the lavender anglaise is sweet and has a refreshing flavor, as does the lime. Desserts can be tricky at EPCOT festivals, as the mass-produced nature usually means lower quality ingredients and pre-made items.
The Baumkuchen is perhaps the biggest exception to that, and everything about this dessert exudes quality. We’d highly recommend grabbing this–perhaps via Mobile Order after picking up the dishes from nearby BRUNCHCOT, and eating them all inside the air-conditioned Connections seating area.
Top 5 Booths at the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival
Magnolia Terrace (American Adventure) – It’s interesting how the food booth in the American Adventure evolves changes with the seasons. A few months from now, this will probably sling a half-dozen different regional hot dogs…and that’s not even the worst version of American cuisine served here! (To be honest, the hot dogs are pretty good…but they’re just hot dogs.)
For its part, Magnolia Terrace has iterated on its menu repeatedly over the last few years–one of the few World Showcase booths to make any meaningful changes, along with France and La Isla Fresca (either of which could also make this list). This is far from the best food booth the American Adventure has ever done, but it’s up there.
From the spicy chicken gumbo (that’s actually spicy) to the cajun-style grilled gulf oysters (unique and shockingly good for food both oysters) to the bananas foster (not all that special, but a guilty pleasure I can never pass up), Magnolia Terrace is a strong contender. Even the muffuletta is good if you want a simpler and filling option.
Beach Grub (Walkway Between World Showcase and Imagination) – One of two new booths inspired by Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts (the other being Yacht Grub), we have to admit to being a little disappointed by Beach Grub. But that’s entirely due to it squandering its potential as purportedly being “inspired by” those sister resorts.
Once you get past that, the food here is good to great. The Seafood Bake is similar to what’s served at Cape May Cafe, but regardless, it’s shockingly delicious and flawlessly executed–you’d never expect as much from a food booth. The corn on the cob is a perennial Flower & Garden fan favorite that has bounced around from booth to booth over the years–who can resist grilled street corn?! The S’mores Bar punches above its weight with great flavors and textures.
These are either winners thanks to inventiveness, execution, or value for money. All three dishes are in the good-to-great range, even if none of them are all-timers worthy of the Outdoor Kitchen Hall of Fame.
BRUNCHCOT (Near Test Track) – This booth used to be EPCOT Sunshine Griddle, but was renamed a few years back. Unfortunately, it’s gone downhill a bit since thanks to menu changes (replacing a good dish with an IMPOSSIBLE “meat”) and reductions. Still, this booth is very good.
It’s hard to argue with avocado toast (perfectly on-theme for a spring garden festival), the shrimp & grits are rich and delicious (and perfect for a Floridian festival), and the cinnamon roll bites are amazing. Honestly, even the fake “meat” biscuits and gravy is way better than it has any right being.
If you only want a few snacks from the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, the easiest approach is simply ordering everything on the menu here, then placing a Mobile Order at Connections for the Lemon-Lavender Baumkuchen, and making a meal of it.
Florida Fresh (CommuniCore Hall) – This is one of the better Outdoor Kitchens at the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, but it might be the weakest link of the top 5. Everything here is at least worth trying and sharing, and I personally love the Conch Fritters (and that delicious dip) enough to get them again and again.
With that said, the Cubanito and strawberry shortcake are nothing revolutionary, but I really enjoyed both. The other asset to Florida Fresh is that it often opens early and it’s right there are CommuniCore Hall, making it very convenient.
Florida Fresh is not as excellent as the other booth in CommuniCore Hall, but everything here is at least good. It may not wow, but it also won’t disappoint. It’s enough to be in the conversation as one of the best booths at the event, and the top tier in World Celebration.
EPCOT Farmers Feast (CommuniCore Hall) – Perhaps it’s unhelpful to be recommending this booth a little over one week before the “Early Bloom” menu ends and the Springtime menu (followed by the Summer Solstice menu) debuts. That would be true if we didn’t have extensive past experience with the EPCOT Farmers Feast menu and were reasonably confident that this booth will bat (at least) .750 throughout the season.
This is another booth that’s now in CommuniCore Hall and, if past precedent is any indication, the Springtime and Summer Solstice menus are only going to be better than the Early Bloom offerings. And those are no slouch! The scallops, blueberry crumble cake, and asparagus are all fantastic. Yes, even the asparagus (it’s really more like an egg and bacon salad).
Looking forward, each of the upcoming menus follow the same ambitious appetizer-entree-dessert formula. I cannot wait to try the peach dishes, pork tenderloin, and grilled beef strip loin. All sound fantastic. Everything on all of the menus–current and future–is pretty much guaranteed to be good. You could (and should!) make a meal of these last 4 booths, rounding up your items and eating them indoors here at CommuniCore Hall or back at Connections (which has much more seating).
Hopefully this ‘best of’ list helps you plan your day at EPCOT between now and June 2, 2025. If I have the time, energy, and inclination, I’ll also work on updating the standalone Outdoor Kitchen reviews with new food photos and reviews, but no promises that I’ll finish that task. For everything else you need to know about the event, read our Ultimate Guide to the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Guide before you go to get an idea of what to do, strategy for the festival, and much more.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you have any favorites from the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival? If you’ve tried any of the dishes on this list, what’d you think of them? Did we snub any of your top picks? Agree or disagree with our choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
