The Best Way to Spend $50 at the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

Our parks team spent over 9 hours sampling everything at the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. You might not have that much time, and you definitely might not want to shell out for the bill they ran up. So if you’ve got $50 and an afternoon at Disney World to spend at the Festival, here’s a great way to sample some of the best dishes without breaking your wallet. Not everything we recommend below is a budget pick, but taken together they’ll run you only $48.75 — and they’ll leave you feeling like you’ve walked away with some “mmm mmm good”.

Garlic-Parmesan Wings | Brew-Wing Lab – $7.75

The scrumptious sauce would be a hit even in the scorching sun. But inside with A/C and real tables and chairs, not to mention easy access to two restrooms? They’re knocking it out of the park. These are perfect for sharing but they’re so good that you don’t need to.

Steakhouse Blended Burger | Flavors with Fire – $6.25

How do we petition to get this slider made full-size and available at every Disney World pool bar? The first bite is all about the truffle brie cheese fondue, which is a-mazing. The second bite gives you the full complexity of the thick burger, the fondue and the crunch of the chips. The nice sesame seed bun? Chef’s kiss.

Red Wine-braised Beef Short Rib | Earth Eats – $8.50

They must have someone’s Nona in the back kitchen making this dish. It’s love in a bowl, the best puttanesca sauce ever made at a food festival – we’re sure of it. The goat cheese polenta was absolutely gorgeous and silky, and provided a soft grain contrast to the beef that just wilted and melted in a puddle of that most outrageous sauce. And not one olive or caper was skimped on or skipped.

The price tag on this is a bit on the high side, but honestly it’s hard to believe that a dish of this quality, with so many lovely details, is being produced on such a large scale. Our team rarely eats more than two bites of anything (because they have to eat everything), but there were no regrets for finishing this down to the last drop of sauce.

Eel Temaki Sushi | Japan – $9.50

Japan does not often make it to our Best $50 because sushi is expensive. And it’s true that this dish is on the high side for price, but it was stellar, so good that we feel it’s worth your money. Every single element was perfection. The grilled eel was sweet and salty. The rice was exactly right. Yes, it’s a hand-held sushi roll, but grab a spoon to make sure you get every last scrap of pickled Daikon radish, egg, and eel sauce.

Cheesesteak Macaroni and Cheese | Macatizers – $6.50

The serving was very generous, the beef was perfect, and the exhausted peppers and onions made a nice, sweet touch. The only bad thing is you’ll be full for a while. But since this is located inside the new CommuniCore Hall, take an A/C break and let your stomach (and feet) reset. Or share! That’s an option too.

Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Sweet Potato Mousse | Swirled Showcase – $5.25

Festival food should be fun (because festival comes from festive, right?), and making food with liquid nitrogen certainly fits the bill. But not all fun foods are delectable. This mousse is worthy! The pecans, maple, and caramel could be too sweet, but the sweet potato shines through into a bite that’s both sweet and savory. It tastes like the best of Thanksgiving, only prepared to still be lovely in the Florida heat.

Guava Cake | Shimmering Sips – $5.00

We can’t believe this made the list; we don’t even really like guava that much! It’s floofy and sweet, but not too sweet; light and perfectly perfect. We understand that Disney probably doesn’t want to put “Floofy and sweet, but not too sweet” on a menu board, but we were shocked that this was so good.

Are you heading to the Festival this year? What’s on your list to try? Let us know in the comments!