Casual Steakhouse or Fancy Greasy Spoon?
Steakhouse 71 is located on the ground floor at the Contemporary Resort (the same floor the lobby is on) and Disney describes it as being "a family friendly steakhouse that harkens back to the design style of 70s, re-imagined in a contemporary way, with some Florida flair, such as the Orange Bird and citrus groves mixed in with the decor."It's one of a handful of dining locations that still offers three distinct dining periods — the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are all different. This is a review of the lunch period, which is served from 11:30am until 2:00pm (at the time I'm writing this anyway).
The Environment
Way back when, around the time that the Contemporary first opened, the location that Steakhouse 71 is in — was an arcade, mini-movie theater, and shooting gallery. It's heyday was in the early to mid-80s, and all of those things sloooooowly faded away until around the mid 2000's — when the space was turned into a restaurant.I'm mentioning all of this — to try and explain the long, downward sloping hallway that leads into the actual dining and lounge space. The only part of the restaurant you can see from the lobby is a 20x20 (6m x 6m) facade that is more reminiscent of a strip mall cantina. Rest assured, there's all kinds of space once you get down the hallway.
The main entrance to Steakhouse 71 is located on the ground "lobby" floor at the Contemporary Resort.
Contrary to Disney's own description of Steakhouse 71 — I actually quite like the hallway. It doesn't remind me of the 70s or Florida citrus groves at all. It does remind me that this is a contemporary steakhouse. There's bold dark brown, faux wooden beams on one side, that fold over into the ceiling and some really great production photos from Disney's archives hanging on the opposite wall.
The dark wood tone accents on the left really draw attention to the photos on the right. The black and white prints are production photos from Disney's archives that were taken in and around 1970, as cast members get ready for the Magic Kingdom's first day of operation in 1971.
It's a great, art gallery kind of setup, to feature the photos and to encourage guests to take a second and look at them as they move down the hallway. The lighting is a little harsh for taking photos of the photos — there's a glossy cover on most of them that reflects the bright white spotlight style lights — but that was probably done on purpose. The bright light makes the black and white photos really stand out — and the glare keeps people like me from taking photos, of the photos, and posting them online… like this.
The hallway leading into Steakhouse 71 has a much different feel than the rest of the dining areas. It contains large brown beams set against eggshell walls with black and white archival photos hanging on one side. Be sure to take a look at the photos on your way in, or way out of Steakhouse 71.
The archival photos are all taken in and around the early 70s, and show different stages of the development and opening of the Magic Kingdom in 1971. If you've seen a couple of documentaries about the Magic Kingdom, you've probably seen most of these shots, but it's still very cool to see them hanging on the wall and maybe be able to pick up a few details that you might not notice in a movie clip.
The area is really nice — and it's wide enough to allow guests to stop and look at the photos, while still allowing enough space behind the "photo side" to allow other guests to get into and out of the restaurant. If you have a chance, it's worth a couple of extra minutes to stop and look at the photos.
The black and white photography that's hanging on the entrance hallway walls is from the Disney Archives, and it's mostly all production photos taken in and around opening day at the Magic Kingdom.
Also contrary to Disney's own description of Steakhouse 71 — I wish the whole restaurant looked more like the hallway, because sadly — once you get past that hallway — the concept kind of falls apart.
There's a reservation check-in stand and the ubiquitous "wait here while we get your table ready" area — along with a lounge, which is located behind and to the right of the check-in stand.
The official "wait here while we get your table ready" area is a sofa nook — that looks more like it belongs on the Axiom from Wall•e — than it does "being from the 70's or from Florida citrus groves" (or a steakhouse for that matter). I'm not saying it's a bad space, I'm just not sure it fits in with the stated concept.
Ahhhh... this nice sofa can be found in the check-in and waiting area at Steakhouse 71.
Honestly, the only thing I want to do when seeing this space is take a nap. As a one-room apartment in the middle of Tokyo, this would be a great space. Hanging on the sparsely decorated walls are a few Giclee style prints of concept art for Tomorrowland. Very cool… but this look back, at the future, of Tomorrowland, from the past — can only be found in this one "wait here for your table" area.
There's quite a number of really cool concept art pieces that show various ideas for the Tomorrowland area at the Magic Kingdom.
The Steakhouse 71 Lounge — is whole different review. The lounge area does not accept reservations (it's walk-up only) and it's open from 12:00pm (noon) until 11:00pm. I guess, if it was going to take a loooong time to be seated at your table — you could grab a drink from the main bar in the lounge area. At lunch though, there's not usually a wait to get into the restaurant… and the Lounge had already been open for nearly three hours when I took this photo. Looks crowded.
Here's a photo of the main lounge area at Steakhouse 71. I suppose... you could grab a drink here before dinner... but the catch 22 is — if there's more than a five minute wait to get into the restaurant — the lounge is probably going to be quite busy as well.
The Main Dining Area
Once you get inside Steakhouse 71, the vibe is very different from the hallway — but I'm not sure I'd describe it as a reimagined 70s style or a Florida citrus groves style (whatever that is).
The main dining area at Steakhouse 71 has a nice, clean, and moderately colorful aesthetic — and pretty much looks the same no matter what time of day you go. Steakhouse 71 has no outside facing windows, so all of the lighting is artificial.
It's more like a nondescript airport restaurant from the Pan-Am III era. The space is large and colorful. The wood beams from the hallway are kind of picked up in the ceiling treatment — but in here, it looks more nautical than anything.
The main dining area at Steakhouse 71 is mostly table and chair type seating. Along three of the four perimeter walls there's some booth and half booth seating as well.
There's a couple large wall art installations that are reminiscent of the "Grand Canyon Concourse" hanging around on the back walls. What's missing... is the high ceiling, open feeling of the actual Grand Canyon Concourse. Steakhouse 71 is (probably) partially underground, so there's no windows in the restaurant — and if those beige, drywall covered, giant columns that you just wish weren't right in the middle of the dining room remind you of a parking garage — you're not far off.
What's here — is nice. I don't dislike any of it. I'm just not sure it's "steakhouse", "reimagined 70s", or "Florida citrus". I'm not sure how I would describe the design style or what story the space is trying to tell — if someone were to ask me.
An art instillation on one of the back walls at Steakhouse 71. The art style here does remind me of the old Grand Canyon Concourse at the Contemporary ... and I seem to remember a paper bag style that was very similar to this in Disney's past.
And that's what the "environment" score boils down to for me — with soooooo many other great, unique spaces in the Disney table-service portfolio — the space doesn't really measure up. As for my actual lunch — it was very quiet in there. Even though it took weeks of repeated visits to the mobile booking system to get a lunch reservation — Steakhouse 71 was never more than half full. That — is another topic of discussion — for another day.
The Service
Sigh and Meh. Here again, not having a well-executed concept for the restaurant in general — spills over into me not knowing how to talk about the service. I mean, there's an expectational difference between "five-star suit and tie" waitstaff, the kind of server you'd find at the Outback, and the server at your local BBQ place.On the face of it, our server said and did all the right things… asked about allergies, talked a bit about drinks, recommended items, offered up some info about Mary Blair style artwork on the walls, etc. Which is all fine — until you hear him doing the exact same lines, with the exact same vocal inflections — at the table next to you. It's like having a "start over" feature on your TV — except it's real life… which kind of diminished the value of the experience. Instead of getting some personal touches, you were just getting the company line. With lunch being in the $30-$50 per person range, without adult beverages — I expected more.
Arguably, one of the more important traits of waitstaff, is the ability to actively listen and be flexible in their approach with each table. Even though the only actual thing he kept getting wrong was who was drinking what on the soda refills — I felt like lunch with this particular waiter was more about him getting through his required lines, and not so much if we were taken care of.
The Food
If I had to sum lunch up in a few words, it would be… "it's kind of like eating at a glorified greasy spoon". The pretense — that the food is great, was continually instilled by the waiter — but after a while, it started to feel like a Shakespeare-esque line… "The waiter doth extol too much."First things first though… the Steakhouse 71 Onion Rings were great. They weren't "just" the best item that we sampled for this lunch… but they're right up there with some of the best Onion Rings of all time.
The Onion Rings at Steakhouse 71 are said to be hand-breaded and served with a plant-based spicy ranch dipping sauce.
These aren't rough, flaky beer battered style onion rings… they're not supposed to be. They're fancy restaurant onion rings, and hand-breading really pays off. This particular order was perfectly cooked, the breading crunched, the flavor of the onion and breading pair together well… and at no time did the onion pull out of the breading. Every bite came out as a whole onion ring unit. Job well done onion ring team!
There were five onion rings on the "Steakhouse 71 Onion Rings" appetizer item, along with a dipping sauce.
The Spicy Ranch Dipping Sauce wasn't spicy or Ranch-like, so that was a total miss — but the onion rings didn't need anything more. The dipping sauce more or less tasted like someone dumped a mild paprika powder into mayo, mixed it up, and called it a day. Calling it a "sauce" is being generous.
The Steakhouse 71 Onion Rings are on the lunch, dinner, and lounge menus. They are hand-breaded and served with what is said to be a spicy ranch dipping sauce.
There are only five onion rings on the appetizer plate (I peeked as other plates when by, and that number seems pretty consistent). At $10 per plate (spring 2024 pricing), I think there should be a couple more on there … but that's Disney pricing for you.
The Loaded Mac & Cheese was offered as an extra special purchase from the Lounge Menu. Technically we were ordering from the lunch menu in the main dining room — but the waiter said... "The Mac & Cheese is really good if you want to try it, I can add one to the order for you".
This "Loaded Macaroni & Cheese" is actually on the lounge menu, but our server made a point to tell us we could order one, if we wanted to.
There's a lot that I can tolerate with Mac & Cheese. I generally give it a wide margin of error because… it's cheese, it's macaroni… what's not to love, right? One of the few things I can't give a pass on — is getting a large pea-sized ball of flour in my mouth while eating the Mac & Cheese — and that's what happened here.
Before we even get into flavor — in a commercial setting, there's a couple ways to go with Mac & Cheese. You can make it from scratch, you could use a powder as a base and add your own extra cheesy and pasta touches, or you could go with a pre-made product that you just reheat.
I don't think this was a pre-made product and I don't think it started out as a powdered mix either. The powdered mix bases are actually quite good and emulsify very quickly… add in a little dairy, some more cheese, a little asiago maybe, melt a little Gruyère over the top — make it your own, super quick, and consistently. That's probably what I would do.
The Loaded Mac & Cheese is about a metric cup in size, and served in a plastic ramekin, that's sort of supposed to look like a cast iron dish.
My gut feeling is that the Steakhouse 71 Mac & Cheese started out as a house-made French style béchamel (or other white sauce) which combines butter, flour, and milk — to be used as a base — and then various cheeses are added in. That's the only way I can explain getting a mouthful of raw flour. It was a poorly executed béchamel base to be sure — and at $12 per 3/4 cup portion (spring 2024 pricing) — I would expect better.
Flavor-wise, the dish wasn't much better. The waiter seemed to say something about a 21 cheese blend (or something to that effect). Honestly, I'd rather have a great "One Cheese Mac & Cheese" than a 21 cheese blend where you can't really tell which cheese, the main cheese flavor is supposed to be. It didn't really matter though, all you could taste in each bite was those overpowering bits of jalapeño that were in the mix.
Here's a closer look at the Loaded Macaroni & Cheese.
It's not that those small jalapeños were hot — they really weren't that (capsaicin) hot at all — it's just that cheese blend, seemed to bring out that off-putting "rubber ballon" taste you can get with peppers sometimes. The applewood-smoked bacon was in there too — I could see bits of it — but somehow, the bacon added no flavor. There was never one of those "oh, did you get a piece of bacon with it, that was good" kind of moments. I'm not sure how you get bacon to taste like nothing — but it has happened with a couple other meals at Disney.
Moving on to some of the entree items that are on the entrée portion of the lunch menu… or rather, not on the lunch menu anymore… it's the Salisbury Steak.
This Salisbury Steak had been on the lunch menu since Steakhouse 71 opened. It's no longer on the lunch menu. So there you go.
The Salisbury Steak was described as being on garlic-mashed potatoes, covered in mushroom gravy, and topped with fried onions. The description is pretty much right on the money with what you get... visually. What you can't see, is this undercurrent of greasy fat that seems to be part of almost every entree.
Not to be too disparaging, but all of the meat products at Steakhouse 71 ... no matter if it's a burger, ground beef patty (like in the Salisbury Steak) or even the hanger steak — all sort of taste like they were grilled on the same flat skillet — all day long. Kind of like a Steak 'n Shake burger at 3am ... made long after anyone that actually cared about cleaning the grill off properly, went home — and you get this mixed-meat drippings flavor from the last several hours cooked into anything and everything you toss on the skillet.
I've heard others mention that the food at Steakhouse 71 is "rich". That's not "richness" — it's grease. It's truck-stop diner in the middle of a one traffic light town kind of grease. It's "don't order a steak at the Waffle House at 4am" kind of grease. There's no reason for a $22 Salisbury Steak to have this much fat or grease in it.
The Salisbury Steak is stated as being served with garlic-mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and fried onions.
Disney usually does a great job with mashed potatoes. The best ones I've had on property mix in a little chicken stock... which is a great trick for great tasting mashed potatoes (but maybe they've had to stop doing that because it does keep the mashed potatoes from being vegetarian). The mashed potatoes under the Salisbury Steak were a nice consistency for supporting a Salisbury Steak, but they were also luke warm, and tasted like plain mashed potatoes. No hint of "garlic" was emanating from them at all.
It's no matter — because the Salisbury Steak has been removed from the menu. It's been replaced with a chicken sandwich… aka Disney's move to make sure there's "one of everything" on every menu, no matter the restaurant's theme… one steak, one chicken, one fish, one vegetarian, one turkey sandwich, etc.
Next up, the Stack Burger $23 (spring 2024 pricing). It's described as being a signature blend of beef, topped with pork belly, American cheese, lemon aioli, red onion and house-made pickles all served on a brioche bun. You can get one of three side items served with that… the waffle fries, a small side salad, or a pasta salad.
This is the Stack Burger at Steakhouse 71 it is stated that the patty is made from a signature blend of beef and also contains pork belly, American cheese, lemon aioli, red onion, and house-made pickles – all served on a brioche bun.
Yes... that fat, greasy flavor and mouthfeel were a problem here too, but so was the overall blandness of the burger. Every bite was just a mouthful of "sameness". The bun, the pork belly, the cheese, the beef — somehow… once in your mouth, just all turned into a big bite of meat-bomb, without any distinct flavor profiles.
This is the item that our server kept going on and on about — like it was the best burger anywhere. For my two cents, I'd rather have one of the "premium" burger offering at any of the three major fast-food burger chains — than to ever order the Steakhouse 71 burger again. Now, I'm not saying that the burgers at any of the three major fast-food burger chains are great burgers — I'm just saying I'd rather eat one of those, than this burger.
Naturally, that's just my preference — but for me, in addition to having a great beef flavor and decent thickness — a great burger is also about the condiments, toppings and the toasted bun. Those things add important textures, temperature differences and flavor contrasts to every bite.
The Stack Burger at Steakhouse 71 is served with a side of choice, which can be waffle fries, a small salad, or a chilled pasta dish.
The simple act of putting crispy bacon on this burger, instead of pork belly, would have brought in a little crunch. That pork belly, (much like the bacon in the Mac and Cheese), seemed to have no flavor profile on it's own, and it didn't feel any different in your mouth then the rest of the beef patty. It was a little fatty and a little salty, but didn't taste like much of anything.
I do believe the bun was toasted, but beyond that thin layer of crunch, once in your mouth the bun got very "dough ball bready" very quickly. It's not a great burger bun. Lemon aioli, is a great idea — it would add some acid brightness to the mix — but I couldn't taste that at all. It shouldn't be on the menu description if I can't taste it. The house-made pickles on the burger, were pretty great. Yay pickle team!!! Hands down, the best part about the burger, were the house-made pickles.
The waffle fries that were served with the burger were also good. There's a light herbal dusting of something on top of the fries, but it's more for color than taste. I'm glad there was a little cup of ketchup on the plate.
Finally (the meal wasn't going well enough for me to consider dessert), I ordered the Steak Frites $26 (spring 2024 pricing). This is described as being a hanger steak, served with garlic-parmesan waffle fries, chimichurri sauce, and truffle aioli.
The Steak Frites is only on the lunch menu at Steakhouse 71. It's a hanger steak, served with waffle fries, chimichurri and truffle aioli.
Traditionally, this dish originated in France or Belgium and is a staple item in any decent European brasserie. The Steak Frites at Steakhouse 71 is not a traditional Steak Frites — not by a long shot — so I'm not even going to compare it to that. I'm just going to review it as a steak entree.
As a hanger steak with chimichurri … this was actually pretty good. This is one of the better presentations of hanger steak I've seen. The steak wasn't as juicy as I was expecting, but the color and plating cuts were pretty great. In fact… the cooking temperature and color was so good, it made me start to wonder about what happened to all the beef juice.
The chimichurri provided a nice contrast. Personally, I would have preferred a little more texture and herbal forward chimichurri because there's already a fair amount of oiliness to the meats here — but it wasn't too off.
The original Steak Frites (pronounced "freet", the "s" is silent ) is a classic European bBrasserie (brewery) item – aka, fancy pub grub. It's origins can be traced back to France or Belgium.
What was really off was the truffle aioli. I hope they didn't actually waste a truffle in this because all you got was a vulgar amount of garlic. Beat some egg yokes with even more oil and add in some diced, raw garlic cloves and pulverize the whole thing until it turns creamy — that's what it tasted like. Based on the lack of lemon flavor in the aioli that was on the burger — I'd say there was no lemon in the hanger steak truffle aioli either (but there should be… there should always be a little lemon in aioli).
Traditional or not, I see the word "aioli" as being an opportunity to create a great simple sauce — and judging by the number of dipping sauces there are on American grocery store shelves — I'd say the western palate would probably favor a great signature sauce over a traditional aioli. The days of getting away with just beating an egg with olive oil and adding in a pinch of salt, are over.
The waffle fries served with the Steak Frites were more like house-made potato chips than fries. There was nothing potato pillowy about these — which is a little odd because the waffle fries that were served with the burger did act more like fries.
Here's a closer look at one of the three "sides" that many of the entrees on the lunch menu at Steakhouse 71 are served wtih — it's the garlic-parmesan waffle fries.
I suspect (and this is just a guess on my part), the whole dish was plated and left under a keep warm light, where the waffle fries continued to cook, until they were crunchy like potato chips. The dusting of garlic-parmesan topping was nice touch, but that "overcook potato crunch" is really all I could taste. Here again, I'm glad there was a little cup of ketchup on the plate, even though it's a little weird dipping crunchy potato chips into ketchup.
Value and Conclusion
I know I harp on pricing a lot, but it's the pricing that sets expectations — and I've always compared the food you can get in the parks and in the resorts — with food that you can get at any restaurant that's not tied to a theme park.For the prices that Steakhouse 71 are charging for the appetizer and entree items (we didn't order dessert) — I was expecting more and better — all around… from the food, to the environment, and the service.
Environment-wise, there's some pretty cool stuff here. The hallway is probably my favorite part, but you don't need a reservation to walk down the hallway and look at the photos. The main dining area itself is fine… it's clean and colorful… like a modern day trendy bank lobby.
This is a concept print of Tomorrowland and specifically, the People Mover attraction. It's (I'm assuming), a giclee print of an original... but still, very cool. I love seeing how the quintessential guests were dressed in the 70s.
I guess though, when I think about all the table service dining location in Disney's portfolio here in Central Florida — it's not one of those locations you'll go home an tell your friends about. "You guys have to come with us next time and see how cool Steakhouse 71 looks." — has probably never been said.
Food-wise… honest to goodness — I'd rather have the burger over at Epcot's Connections Eatery than I would eat one again here at Steakhouse 71. I'm not saying the burger at Connections Eatery was the best burger ever — but it cost less than this one and had a more interesting flavor profile… plus the fries were really great.
Service can be a little hit and miss at Disney. Sometimes, I think the waitstaff has been waitstaff for too long. You'll occasionally get a cast member that says proudly "I've been working here for 20 years now" … but instead of actually being a great server, you get something more akin to one-off lines on the Jungle Cruise.
Just so you don't think I'm simply a bad-tempered person — the most recent amazing waitstaff I encountered was over at Epcot's Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. I know the dining format and food is very different, and the servers are from Norway — but they seemed like they were interested in you, your day, how your meal was going, had answers to any questions, always kept up with everything from drinks to check-out, and generally seemed happy to be working and taking care of guests.
As I mentioned at the top of this review, Steakhouse 71 is one of a few locations that has three dining periods — and when I find a location like that, I really look forward to trying all three periods — to see how the menu and the character of the restaurant changes at different times of the day. Maybe not so much here. I'll really have to look at the other period's menus — and think about it, before I come back. There's too many other cool sounding menus and cool looking locations to try.
