Disneyland Tiana’s Palace Review

Tiana’s Palace is Disneyland’s newest quick service restaurant. This Princess and the Frog themed eatery is located in the New Orleans Square section of Disneyland, and it replaces the former French Market restaurant. In this post we’ll review the menu and see if it lives up to the hype and popularity. Before we get into the food lets take a look at the restaurant itself. The riverboat smokestacks from the Princess and the Frog movie version of Tiana’s Palace were added to the top of the building the restaurant is located in. Some nice string lighting was added, as well as colors matching the look of Tiana’s outfits in the movie. It’s worth mentioning that Tiana’s Palace does not take up the entire building its housed in and there is no indoor seating. Most of the building is occupied by Club 33 and shops. Jazz posters adorn the walls in the seating area. French Market’s bandstand remains and occasionally you can catch a performance by the long running Jambalaya Jazz Band. If you’re going to eat here I recommend planning your lunch around the time they will be performing. Listening to some jazz while eating is an absolute delight. Sometimes Tiana will show up to sing along. The inside of Tiana’s Palace is structurally unchanged for the most part, but new colors and those pretty flower lighting fixtures have been added. The blue lighting is an interesting choice since it gives the food a slightly unappetizing shade of color, but this is a minor nit-pick Here’s another look at the iron and lighting details. Since the restaurant doesn’t match what’s in the movie I was curious if Princess and the Frog fans would be disappointed, but it seems that this is close enough and gives them the feeling of Tiana’s Palace. This is similar to how Star Wars fans feel about Galaxy’s Edge. Batuu is not in any of the movies, but it gives you a feeling like it could be. Personally, I’m disappointed they didn’t go bigger with this concept. A full service restaurant, or at the very least a bigger quick service location that accurately recreates the restaurant from the movie would have been a huge hit.

Some nice props and thematic elements were added.

The menu board and recipe cards look nice.

A picture of Tiana and her dad near the restaurant’s entrance. There’s no indoor seating available but there is a large outdoor patio. Seating was hard to come by during the French Market days and it’s only gotten worse now that this is a new must try restaurant.

Tiana’s Palace signage facing the main walkway near the entrance.

New to Tiana’s Palace is a dedicated mobile order pick up window. This is much more convenient than the previous location in the seating area.

On to the food, but before I get started I need to say something. Anaheim, California is not New Orleans, Louisiana, and theme park fast food is not the same as in restaurants by locals that have been open for decades. Way too many people have been arguing over whether Tiana’s Palace food is authentic or not. That’s not for us to decide but we’ll say this. We review food on this website in a theme park bubble. When we talk about a $13 quick service Disneyland hamburger, we know you can go across the street to McDonalds and get something similar for a cheaper price. The majority of Disneyland visitors are not going to leave the park to do that. With all that said, we will review the food at Tiana’s only based on if it’s good or not.

First up is the Gulf Shrimp and Grits for $17.49. I’ve had this dish twice now and both times the shrimp was perfectly cooked with an excellent level of spice. I do know many people who enjoy this dish but I did not. These are cheesy grits, and to me the cheese tasted like Kraft American cheese slices. Not the same texture as that, obviously, but in terms of taste. Also at $17.49 you’re paying more than the gumbo, which is by far the best thing on the menu.Speaking of the gumbo, here it is. You may be asking why this picture is of this entree served in a plastic container. The reason is because when you place a mobile order your entire order will come in to-go packaging. Plastic containers, plastic bag, and plastic utensils. When you wait in the stand-by line and order in person your order will be served on regular plates with regular utensils.

Anyway, the gumbo is heavenly. I already said it’s the best thing on the menu, but it may also be the best quick service entree in Disneyland. It’s served in three varieties, House Gumbo with Braised Chicken, Andouille Sausage and Heirloom Rice, 7 Greens Gumbo with Chicken & Andouille Sausage with White Beans, Okra, Yams, Sweet Potatoes and Heirloom Rice, and the vegetarian 7 Greens Gumbo. The two meat options are $16.99 and both are phenomenal. Tiana’s gumbo is hearty, filling, and packed full of flavor.

I noticed the gumbo is prepared assembly line style, where the base is added, then the rice, meats, and so on. All the ingredients are not simmered together, but instead cooked separately. This is because of the different varieties and the vegetarian options. In my opinion this doesn’t effect the final outcome and it’s still a fantastic dish.

Next up is the Beef Po’boy Sandwich which contains Slow-cooked Beef in Gravy dressed with Shredded Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle and Mayonnaise on a Toasted New Orleans French Bread, served with Red Beans & Rice and House-made Pickles. This is another item that I’ve heard good things about but I have had zero luck with getting bread that wasn’t stale and flavorless. Seriously one of the times I had this sandwich the bread was rock hard. Other than that the slow-cooked beef is tender and quite good. The red beans & rice is a fantastic side dish and I can’t get enough of this stuff. I really hope they don’t dumb it down and just include a bag of chips like they did near the end of French Market’s run.

Here’s the Muffuletta Sandwich with Mortadella, Salami, Rosemary Ham, Cheddar, Provolone and House-made Olive Relish on Toasted New Orleans Sesame Seed Bread, served with Red Beans & Rice and House-made Pickles. I’m happy to report the bread is much better with this dish. The real standout ingredient here is the olive relish. I dream of of this stuff, it’s fantastic. Overall this is a good sandwich, but at $14.99 the price is a bit high for this small of a serving. Available as a side are individual pieces of cornbread for $3.99. These are good and dense pieces of cornbread that are cooked individually in the tins. Very tasty.

The Joffrey’s Chicory Cold Brew is available for $5.49. I’m not a coffee drinker so I don’t have much to say about this. Going by what my friends have said and what others have said in their reviews, this is not the best cold brew you can get in Disneyland. If you’re familiar with Joffrey’s coffee flavor you’ll know what to expect here.
Tiana’s one and only signature dessert is the House-filled Beignet for $4.49. I was not a fan at all of this dessert. It’s heavy on the glaze, extremely sugary, and not fulfilling. I’m a huge fan of desserts and there are much better options in Disneyland. Including the beignets at the neighboring Mint Julep Bar. This is also different from normal beignets which are served warm and are usually soft. The House-filled Beignet is cold, stiff and dry. Save your money and stomach space for those or one of the seasonal treats over at Jolly Holiday Bakery. It’s also disappointing they would take away one of the strong points of French Market. They always had a large variety of desserts that rotated in and out seasonally. Hopefully that returns sooner or later.

Overall Tiana’s Palace has some fantastic items that are a bit on the pricier side, but the taste and quality of ingredients make them worth it compared to other similarly priced quick service restaurants in Disneyland. Hopefully Disney keeps the quality consistent for years to come now that this location has a fresh start and a new theme. Not so long ago, French Market was one of Disneyland’s best restaurants but it slowly descended into mediocrity in the last few years.

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Do you plan to try out Tiana’s Palace? What’s your favorite item here if you’ve already been? Let us know in the comments.