Downtown Disney in Anaheim currently has 27 dining locations, ranging from full restaurants like Din Tai Fung, Paseo and Naples to quick stops for pizza, chicken, lumpia, coffee, ice cream and beignets.
I’ve eaten my way through most of Downtown Disney over multiple visits, and the biggest change in recent years is that the dining lineup has become much more interesting. You can still get burgers, pizza and giant shakes, but places like Din Tai Fung, Paseo, Céntrico, Seoul Sister and the newer Parkside Market have given the district much more variety.
You do not need a Disneyland ticket to eat here. If you only want the quick answer, the table below lists every dining location Disney currently includes in Downtown Disney. After that, I’ll get into the places I would actually choose.
All Downtown Disney Restaurants and Food Spots
| Restaurant or Food Spot | Type | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Ballast Point Brewing Co. | Table service | Beer, burgers and a relaxed meal |
| Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes | Casual dining | Burgers and CrazyShakes |
| CrazyShake Window by Black Tap | Walk-up treat | Over-the-top shakes without a full meal |
| Earl of Sandwich | Quick service | Sandwiches and an easy meal |
| Naples Ristorante e Bar | Table service | Pizza and Italian food |
| Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio | Table service | New Orleans-inspired food |
| Beignets Expressed | Quick service | Beignets |
| Salt & Straw | Dessert | Creative ice cream |
| Splitsville Luxury Lanes | Table service | Groups and broad menu choices |
| Starbucks | Quick service | Coffee and light food |
| Wetzel’s Pretzels | Quick service | Pretzels and snacks |
| Big Boi Lumpia Co. | Quick service | Filipino lumpia |
| Blue Ribbon Corn Dog | Quick service | Corn dogs |
| Cathy’s Cookies | Dessert | Fresh cookies |
| Céntrico | Table service | Mexican food and outdoor dining |
| Din Tai Fung | Table service | Dumplings and Taiwanese cuisine |
| GG’s Chicken Shop | Quick service | Chicken sandwiches and casual lunch |
| Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby | Table service | British gastropub food |
| Happy Ice | Frozen treat | Philadelphia-style Italian ice |
| Kayla’s Cake | Dessert | Macarons and sweets |
| Napolini Pizzeria | Quick service | Pizza without a long sit-down meal |
| Parkside Market Coffee | Coffee / casual dining | Coffee and breakfast |
| Paseo | Table service | Upscale Mexican dining |
| Seoul Sister | Quick service | Korean-inspired bowls |
| Tiendita | Casual dining | Mexican street food |
| Vista Parkside Market | Bar / table service | Cocktails and Parkside Market views |
| Wetzel’s Pretzels Cart | Quick service | Grab-and-go pretzels |
Disney changes the lineup periodically, so I check the official Downtown Disney dining directory before a trip if there is one restaurant I specifically want to visit.
Best Restaurants at Downtown Disney
If you don’t want to sort through all 27 options, these are the places I would narrow it down to first.
Din Tai Fung: My Pick for the Best Overall Meal
Din Tai Fung is one of the biggest reasons I would deliberately plan a meal at Downtown Disney rather than simply eating wherever is convenient.
The menu centers on Taiwanese dishes such as Xiao Long Bao, wontons, noodles, fried rice and vegetables, and the whole experience feels more polished than a typical theme-park-adjacent restaurant.
I treat Din Tai Fung as a planned meal rather than something I casually walk into at peak dinner time. Disney recommends advance reservations, although walk-ins can be accepted.
Paseo: Best for a Nicer Dinner
Paseo is where I would go when I want Downtown Disney to feel like a real night out rather than an extension of a theme park day.
Chef Carlos Gaytán’s restaurant blends Mexican flavors with a more refined dining style. This is one of the choices I would make when I’m not in a hurry to get back into Disneyland and want dinner itself to be part of the evening.
Naples Ristorante e Bar: Best for Pizza and Groups
Naples remains one of the easiest recommendations when a group wants pizza or Italian food.
I’ve had both a great lunch here and a dinner where service dragged, so I prefer it when I’m not on a tight schedule. The outdoor seating is excellent for people-watching, and pizza is easy to share when you’re feeding several people.
Splitsville Luxury Lanes: Best for Groups That Can’t Agree
Splitsville has one of the broadest appeals in Downtown Disney. It works when one person wants sushi, someone else wants pizza or burgers, and nobody wants to negotiate the menu for 20 minutes.
The bowling component also gives it a much more playful atmosphere than a normal restaurant, which makes it especially easy for families and groups.
Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio: Best New Orleans-Inspired Meal
Jazz Kitchen still fills a useful niche because there isn’t much else like it in the district. The menu leans into New Orleans and coastal flavors, and I especially like it earlier in the day before the dinner crowd makes the room louder.
If you’re mainly after the beignets, though, you don’t need the full restaurant. Beignets Expressed next door is the easier move.
Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby: Best New British Option
Gordon Ramsay at The Carnaby is one of the newest major additions to the Downtown Disney restaurant lineup.
Disney describes it as a British gastropub built around modern British dishes and specialty cocktails in a retro London setting. It gives Downtown Disney another true dinner option rather than another variation on burgers, pizza or snacks.
Reservations are available, so this is one I would book rather than leave completely to chance on a busy evening.
Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes: Best for Burgers and a Fun Meal
Black Tap is the easiest recommendation when the group wants burgers and somebody is already talking about ordering one of the enormous CrazyShakes.
I think the shakes work better as something to share than as a casual drink with a full meal. I tried tackling one after eating and regretted that decision pretty quickly.
If you only want the shake, use the separate CrazyShake Window rather than making the whole meal about it.
Best Quick-Service Food at Downtown Disney
Quick food is where Downtown Disney has improved the most. You no longer have to choose between a pretzel, a sandwich and committing to a full restaurant.
GG’s Chicken Shop
GG’s Chicken Shop is part of Parkside Market and serves chicken sandwiches, salads and sides. Disney also offers Order Ahead for Pickup here, which makes it especially useful when you want an actual meal without turning lunch into a long restaurant stop.
Seoul Sister
Seoul Sister gives the district something different from the standard burger-and-pizza lineup. The menu is built around Korean-inspired bowls with choices such as bulgogi beef and garlic chicken, and Disney currently offers Order Ahead for Pickup.
Napolini Pizzeria
Napolini is the answer when I want the Naples-style pizza without sitting through a full Naples meal. It’s faster, more casual and much easier to work into a day when Downtown Disney isn’t the main event.
Earl of Sandwich
Earl of Sandwich is still one of the simplest dependable meals in the district. I usually order the Holiday Turkey sandwich even when it isn’t the holidays.
The only thing I try to avoid is the main lunch rush because the convenience attracts a crowd.
Big Boi Lumpia Co.
Big Boi Lumpia Co. is one of the newest quick-service choices. The cart specializes in Filipino lumpia with savory and sweet varieties, including pork, chicken, plant-based, ube and peach-mango options.
Blue Ribbon Corn Dog
Blue Ribbon Corn Dog is exactly what it sounds like: a good option when I want something hot, filling and easy to eat without a reservation or a long meal.
Parkside Market: Four Dining Options in One Area
Parkside Market is worth understanding as its own little dining cluster because it gives groups several choices without making everyone eat the same thing.
- GG’s Chicken Shop for chicken sandwiches, salads and sides.
- Seoul Sister for Korean-inspired bowls.
- Parkside Market Coffee for coffee, breakfast and lighter options.
- Vista Parkside Market for cocktails and mocktails upstairs, with food available from the surrounding Parkside restaurants.
I like the concept because it solves one of the most common group problems at Downtown Disney: everyone wants something different.
The Three Mexican Restaurants: Paseo, Céntrico and Tiendita
Paseo, Céntrico and Tiendita are all associated with Chef Carlos Gaytán, but they serve different purposes.
Paseo is the one I would choose for the more refined sit-down dinner.
Céntrico has a more open-air restaurant-and-bar atmosphere and works well when you want food and drinks without the formality of Paseo.
Tiendita focuses more heavily on Mexican street-food flavors and is the most casual-feeling of the three.
If Mexican food is what I’m after, I would choose between the three based more on the kind of meal I want than which menu is objectively “best.”
Best Desserts and Sweet Stops
Salt & Straw
Salt & Straw is still my first dessert stop when I want ice cream. The rotating flavors are part of the fun, and I always sample the stranger ones before committing. Even the olive-oil flavor surprised me.
Beignets Expressed
If I specifically want beignets, I skip the longer restaurant meal and use Beignets Expressed. It’s the quickest way to get the New Orleans-style treat without building the evening around Jazz Kitchen.
CrazyShake Window
The CrazyShake Window is for exactly the kind of dessert that looks ridiculous in a photo and then arrives even bigger in real life. I would share one unless you’re treating the shake as the meal.
Happy Ice
Happy Ice serves Philadelphia-style Italian ice made with real fruit and gives the district a lighter frozen-dessert alternative to ice cream or a giant shake.
Cathy’s Cookies and Kayla’s Cake round out the current sweets lineup when I want something I can carry while walking rather than stopping for dessert.
Do Downtown Disney Restaurants Take Reservations?
Several Downtown Disney table-service restaurants accept reservations, while many of the quick-service and snack locations are walk-up only.
For a restaurant I consider a must-do, especially Din Tai Fung, Paseo or one of the other popular sit-down restaurants, I check reservation availability before the trip instead of assuming I’ll get a table at dinner time.
You can check current availability through Disneyland’s official dining directory because reservation policies and hours can change.
Where Should You Eat at Downtown Disney?
If I had to narrow the entire list down by situation, this is how I would do it:
| If You Want… | I Would Choose… |
|---|---|
| Best overall sit-down meal | Din Tai Fung |
| Nicer dinner | Paseo |
| Pizza | Naples or Napolini |
| Burgers and shakes | Black Tap |
| New Orleans-inspired food | Jazz Kitchen |
| A big group with different tastes | Splitsville or Parkside Market |
| Fast chicken sandwich | GG’s Chicken Shop |
| Korean-inspired quick food | Seoul Sister |
| Easy sandwich | Earl of Sandwich |
| Ice cream | Salt & Straw |
| Beignets | Beignets Expressed |
| Over-the-top dessert | CrazyShake Window |
Can You Eat at Downtown Disney Without a Park Ticket?
Yes. Downtown Disney is outside Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, so you do not need theme park admission simply to visit the district and eat at its restaurants.
If you’re planning a visit specifically because you don’t have a park ticket that day, my guide to whether Downtown Disney is free explains the admission and parking distinction.
What About Breakfast at Downtown Disney?
Breakfast is a smaller part of the dining lineup, and I wouldn’t make this restaurant directory compete with a dedicated breakfast guide.
If you’re trying to eat before heading into Disneyland or California Adventure, use my Downtown Disney breakfast guide for the current morning options and timing.
A Few Logistics Before You Eat
Downtown Disney uses the Simba Lot for guest parking, and restaurant validation can affect how much you pay. I keep the current rates and validation rules in my Downtown Disney parking guide rather than duplicating numbers here that can change.
If you’re planning a late dinner, also check Downtown Disney’s current closing hours. The district and individual restaurants do not necessarily close at the same time.
My Downtown Disney Restaurant Shortlist
For a first visit, I would start with Din Tai Fung if I wanted the strongest overall meal, Paseo for a nicer dinner, Splitsville for a group with mixed tastes, or Napolini when I simply wanted good pizza without losing an hour.
For dessert, I still have a hard time walking past Salt & Straw.
The important part is that Downtown Disney now has enough variety that I don’t think there’s one restaurant everyone should choose. Decide whether you want the meal to be the destination or whether you just need good food between other plans, and the list gets much easier to narrow down.
