GG’s Chicken Shop is one of the eateries inside the new Parkside Market at the west end of Downtown Disney in the Disneyland Resort. I didn’t make it to the new location last trip, so I made sure to stop by this visit to check things out. The location features fried and grilled chicken sandwiches, chicken strips, and specialty salads, along with some interesting sides.
The other restaurant that shares the first floor is Seoul Sister, featuring Korean bowls and salads. Just outside the Parkside Market is Sip & Sonder with a large menu of coffees and teas. Upstairs, Vista Point is serving cocktails with a view.
I wanted to try some of the sides, so I skipped what I thought might be a filling sandwich and went with the Three Crispy Chicken Strips for $14.
I may have misjudged the ability of these strips to be filling because these were three very large strips. They were definitely a step above standard Disney fast-food chicken strips, but still not the best I’ve had. While the coating did make them crispy, I felt that the coating was too thick. The garlic ranch dip helped some, but I still thought the chicken strips were just average. If you’re not a fan of ranch, BBQ and honey mustard sauces are available as well.
As far as sides go, there are four options: Waffle Fries, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Corn Elote, and Broccoli Slaw. I wanted something a little more elevated than waffle fries and I’m not a big fan of raw broccoli, so I went with the Brussels sprouts and the elote. All sides were $6 each.
The Crispy Brussels Sprouts were sprinkled with chili lime salt. I’ve finally developed a taste for Brussels sprouts, so I had high hopes for these. There were a couple issues with them though. First, to get the advertised crispiness, the sprouts ended up with a bitter char on some of the outside leaves. In addition, the chili lime salt flavor didn’t really come through. They definitely could’ve used a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or some other sauce. They needed an accent flavor. Now that I think about it, I probably should’ve tried dipping them in the garlic ranch that came with the chicken strips. Lesson learned.
The Sweet Corn Elote with lime, chipotle, cotija cheese, and cilantro was delicious. If you’ve had Mexican street corn with mayo and cheese, this is similar, except the corn is cut off the cob. In my opinion, this was the best dish of the three and the only one I finished. I’m not saying go to GG’s Chicken Shop just for the elote, but I wouldn’t judge you if you did.
I picked up two sides just because I wanted to try them, but the portions are big enough that you could have just one side and be full, so a meal with an order of strips and one side would set you back $20. Then again, the strips are large enough that you may be able to split those as well and have two meals. An order of strips to share and two sides for $26 total is actually not bad for Disney.
As for the rest of the menu, there are four different sandwiches: the Original Fried Chicken, Sweet Chili Fried Chicken, Ranch Fried Chicken, and Grilled Chicken. Sandwiches are $16 each.
The California Salad and Kale & Brussels Salad are also $16 each. Fried or grilled chicken can be added for an additional $7, making the salads rather pricey.
The chicken shop also has two desserts: a chocolate dirt pudding and an oatmeal cream pie. Both desserts are $7.
One last tip for you before you visit Parkside Market: GG’s Chicken Shop and Seoul Sister share an ordering system, so you can order from either location no matter which menu you want to order from. Plus, for families with differing tastes, you can likely order from both menus at the same time. Not a huge time saver, but a little extra convenience.
While not all of the food I had was successful, I’m very glad to see more quick service locations in Downtown Disney. They were needed. Neither of these cuisines are really represented at the Disneyland Resort, so I hope both of them do well. Maybe eventually we’ll see Parkside Market expanded.
Have you tried the options at Parkside Market? Do you have any favorites that you’d like to share?
