Most people understand that dining at Magic Kingdom, especially quick service, is very hit-or-miss. For the longest time, it was almost a given that you’d be eating either a burger, hot dog, salad or chicken tenders if you chose to eat inside the park. However, the tide is changing, and the choices have gotten significantly better with the brand new menu at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe in Frontierland.
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe’s menu has already changed earlier this year. Back in January, the Taco Salad (a fan favorite) disappeared and never returned. The death of the Taco Salad left the menu feeling very burger-heavy, but the fixin’s bar lived on and all was okay. Then in June, the fixin’s bar lost the cheese sauce and life lost meaning. All that is unimportant now, because the new menu and fixin’s bar at Pecos Bill is awesome.
Gone are the days of burgers at Pecos Bill. Instead, the restaurant has opted for a Tex-Mex style menu and offers fajita platters, rice bowls, salads and burritos. The dishes are all served plainly, so you can have it your way at the fixin’s bar. Unfortunately, the cheese sauce is still gone, but the fixin’s bar complements the menu items perfectly.
Here’s what you’ll find on the new fixin’s bar:
- Chipotle Ranch Dressing
- Onion
- Lime
- Sour Cream
- Tomato
- Guacamole
- Roasted Corn
- Monterey Jack Cheese
- Jalapeño
- Salsa
Let’s get into the important part – the food.
The fixin’s bar is relatively simple, but every topping was fresh and delicious. The standout topping is the guacamole, which was made with perfectly ripe avocado and was mixed and seasoned consistently. The roasted corn and tomatoes were bursting with flavor and helped keep the dishes light and healthy. All in all, this fixin’s bar brings a magic that most of Walt Disney World doesn’t offer anymore.
The lone side dish on the menu is Chicken Enchilada Soup. At $5.99, the price seems a bit steep, but the portion size is great and the soup is actually very tasty. The creamy soup had a heavy cheese flavor and I was able to identify pieces of white meat chicken, black beans, pepper and corn mixed in as well. This soup could easily be plussed with a trip to the fixin’s bar, but I’d argue that it’s fine as is. This soup would be hit the spot on a chilly winter night at Magic Kingdom, but might be a little too much on a hot summer day.
The rice bowl jumped out as the most intriguing entree to try. Restaurants like Chipotle have made rice bowls more popular and common, and surely Disney got the idea to include this dish on their menu because of them. The rice bowl served as is looked unappealing and not extremely appetizing. It comes with either roasted vegetables, chicken or spicy beef, cilantro rice and black beans. White rice can be substituted in for the cilantro rice if you’re not a huge fan of cilantro.
Any preconceived notions needed to be completely dismissed. The chicken was moist and seasoned well. The cilantro rice didn’t have an overwhelming cilantro flavor and was actually quite good on its own. However, the fixin’s bar took this somewhat small and decent plain dish and turned it into one of the best things I’ve ever consumed at the Magic Kingdom. With the addition of chipotle ranch, guacamole, sour cream, roasted corn and salsa, this dish ended up having a smorgasbord of flavors that all blended together perfectly to make a slightly heavy, but filling dinner that was well worth the price of $12.99.
For those who like to eat light, a Southwest Salad is offered and can be served with chicken or spicy beef. The salad is unique in that it comes already fixed up for you. The mixed greens are topped with cheese, tomatoes, roasted corn, tortilla strips and a jalapeño, and can be topped with the chipotle ranch found at the fixin’s bar.
What kind of critic would I be if I didn’t give the spicy beef a chance after enjoying the chicken from the rice bowl? A bad one. So, I made this salad infinitely healthier by adding the spicy beef. If I sound like I’m repeating spicy beef a lot, it’s because I wish it would’ve actually been spicy beef. The thinly sliced beef did have seasoning on it, but I’d imagine that even a person with a sensitive tongue would argue that it wasn’t spicy. Again, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t spicy. Overall, this salad had a ton of flavor, and felt light and healthy, without the addition of the chipotle ranch or any other toppings. However, I couldn’t call myself an American if I didn’t take the opportunity to supersize my salad with a trip to the fixin’s bar.
The end result of this was a salad so large that the Seinfeld gang would be proud of this big salad. The fixin’s bar really can do anything when utilized correctly. It may even be able to cure all diseases and bring world peace. The addition of MORE roasted corn along with a heaping helping of guacamole, onions, salsa and a light drizzle of chipotle ranch made this salad not only a filling meal, but a steal for the price of $11.99.
No meal is complete without dessert, so Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe offers two desserts – churros and sopapillas. Churros are a Disney staple, so it felt important to try this version of them. The churros are cut into one-bite pieces and served with a chocolate sauce that makes this the perfect dessert for sharing. However, the churros were slightly stale, but still decent when doused in the chocolate sauce.
Kids have a few options, including the rice bowl with beef, chicken or vegetables, a quesadilla or an Uncrustable sandwich. So, for pickier kids out there who just want chicken tenders, a hot dog or a hamburger, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe may not be the greatest choice.
Overall, the new menu at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe is a complete success, as long as the standards don’t fall in the kitchen and the fixin’s bar remains a place to get fresh, delicious toppings. Magic Kingdom has been working diligently to reinvigorate their menus, whether we’re talking everything at Be Our Guest, the waffle fries at Golden Oak Outpost, the specialty macaroni & cheese at The Friar’s Nook or the barbecue at Tortuga Tavern. These new and different options have made eating at Magic Kingdom exciting again. You have to satisfy your craving for a classic Casey’s Corner hot dog (which taste better than any other hot dog on property) or whatever is edible at Cosmic Ray’s every once in awhile, but it is incredibly refreshing to have great alternatives. Do yourself a favor and give Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe & Fixin’s Bar a chance and you won’t be disappointed.
