Riverside Mill Food Court Review
Riverside Mill Food Court is the quick service restaurant at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside at Walt Disney World. This review features food photos, our experiences dining here, and thoughts on the ambiance, among other things. In terms of some background, money-saving info, it participates in the Disney Dining Plan as a 1-credit counter service restaurant, but does not accept the Tables in Wonderland card for a 20% discount.
Like most food courts at Walt Disney World, Riverside Mill has multiple ordering bays, so its menu has some variety. Even with that variety, though, this is still only a food court, and isn’t going to make any “best of” Walt Disney World lists or have Cabana Bay guests–who don’t even have Walt Disney World park tickets–making pilgrimages to it.
Rather, this review is aimed at those who are going to be staying at Port Orleans Riverside–and those who are staying at French Quarter but want to try something else (or maybe avoid the nightmare fuel of that food court)–or find themselves at the resort for some other reason, and want to know whether they should skip this food court or give it a try.
All that is to say that I don’t want to oversell Riverside Mill, but I don’t want to undersell it, either. We’ve dined here a number of times over the years, including 4 times on our last 3 trips. I’m sort of surprised we have yet to review it. For us, there is a draw to Port Orleans Riverside, and a lot of times the resort’s draw brings us to Riverside Mill.
A big part of Riverside Mill’s appeal is that the ambiance of the setting area is an extension of the resort itself. This is accomplished via a working mill wheel, which slowly turns and powers a working cotton press.
There’s a reason mill towns are often described as ‘sleepy’ rather than ‘bustling’ and that’s on display here. The slow, methodical turning of the mechanisms inside is another reminder of a bygone time and place, much like the rest of Port Orleans Riverside.
It doesn’t hurt that outside of the prime breakfast and dinner hours, Riverside Mill is often a quiet place to kick back and enjoy a peaceful meal. Even during busy hours, it’s not nearly as chaotic as other food courts. I’m not sure whether this is a result of it being less popular, the carpet dampening some of the sound, or the ambiance of the resort rubbing off on guests.
Maybe it’s a combination of those factors, but whatever the case, Riverside Mill seems to move at a slower, more pleasant pace than other food courts at Walt Disney World.
As with the other counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World that can be classified as food courts, there are multiple ordering bays at Riverside Mill: bakery, grill, pizza & pasta, specialties, salads, and a carving station.
I had a Muffuletta a few years back and was less than impressed. Despite the tall stack of meat, the sandwich did not do a whole lot for more due to the olive spread and eclectic mix of flavors.
That was, to my recollection, my first exposure to such a sandwich. I’ve had other Muffuletta sandwiches since then, and it seems about par for the course. I’m guessing it’s more a matter of not appealing to my tastes than being downright bad. Your mileage may vary.
For our Marathon Weekend visits, we hit up the “Create Your Own Pasta” station a couple of times.
People seem to like this option, and it has spread to a variety of the food courts, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan. Sure, it’s customizable and I can see the appeal in that, but it strikes me as a pretty average option (at best) everywhere it’s offered. For carb-loading, it got the job done, but that’s about it.
I thought the Shrimp Salad Po’ Boy was excellent. This one differs from the fried shrimp Po’ Boy at French Quarter, but I think it was equally as good. The sandwich was overflowing with shrimp, and although there was a good amount of dressing, it wasn’t too much. With a mini-toppings bar in the food court, you can pile the sandwich high with veggies, too. This ranks as my favorite thing I’ve tried at Riverside Mill.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Angus Bacon Pimento Burger was pathetic. Two strips of rubber bacon so thin you could see through them, haphazardly tossed on the plate (not even on the burger) with maybe a thimble of pimento. Known as “caviar of the south,” you’d think this was about as precious as caviar given how little was doled out.
After a trip to the toppings bar and some assembly, I made the burger look more respectable, but it was still lacking. I think there’s a reason Disney is trending towards gourmet burgers with lavish toppings, and that’s to mask the taste of the underwhelming beef patties. A thimble of pimento is an unsatisfactory masking agent.
The Southern Fire Fried Chicken Sandwich was considerably better, but it’s not going to change any lives. You’ll find something like this at many food courts, potentially with different names and dressing. It’s a slightly above average entree.
One option I really like ordering at Riverside Mill is a side of french fries with cajun seasoning on them. These are not on menu (or at least, weren’t the last time we visited), but they have no issue making them. These hold a nostalgic place in my heart, as these fries used to be on the menu when the resort was Dixie Landings, and I remember getting them near-nightly on one family trip when I was a kid.
Overall, the menu at Riverside Mill is nothing special. I know that will likely be met with some consternation, as Port Orleans Riverside is the darling among Disney fans–us included. However, in perusing the online menu now, I think you’d be hard-pressed to point to more than 3 menu items that are standouts. (The Kids’ Meals with freshly-sliced meats might be its real stars.) As is the case with the rest of the resort, Riverside Mill has exceptional ambiance, but we think its menu is lacking even as compared to the food courts at the Value Resorts, all of which have improved tremendously in recent years. (Example: End Zone Food Court at All Star Sports.) The next time we find ourselves enjoying the ambiance of Port Orleans, we’ll take the romantic stroll to French Quarter. Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory is considerably better.
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Your Thoughts…
Do you agree that Riverside Mill is one of the weaker food courts at Walt Disney World, or do you like it? If you enjoy dining here, what are your menu recommendations? If you don’t like Riverside Mill, why not? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Paid $400.00 per night. Restaurant ran out of eggs twice during our stay. Wow.
Just asked for Cajun seasoning, and was told it’s not available â€â™‚ï¸
We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in February! We only ate in the food court twice, but enjoyed both meals! One surprisingly good meal we had was the mini corndogs, they were absolutely delicious!!!! We really enjoyed Port Orleans Riverside, and the food court was a lot less hectic than Caribbean Beach’s food court!
Agree about the ambiance, but I still prefer the menu at Caribbean Beach–particularly for dinner.
I love the create your own pasta. We go over for it at least once every trip. Shrimp, spinach, tomatoes. Yum!
I think FQ stays cleaner in seating area than Riverside. Wish they all would put some flavor in the burger. Not bigger, nit fancy. Just “diner” good.
We’re off to POR for our very first Disney vacation in just over a month. We’re pretty excited! I’m glad to know your input (I’ve mentioned before, you’ve become my Disney guru as I prepare for our first trip). In this regard though, a lackluster menu may work well for us and our children (7,5,4) who are… less than adventurous eaters. They could survive on pasta, so large portions that I can split between them appeals to their stomachs and my pocket book. I’ll satisfy my wanting pallet at the parks. Thanks again for the review.
Quick service breakfast is usually miserable, but Riverside has biscuits and gravy that were pretty good.
Being from Canada, this isn’t a breakfast I’ve ever had. Are the biscuits and gravy good enough for my first impression? (I ask because Canada is home of the poutine. There are lots of imitators out there that put people off because they aren’t the “real deal”… and I’m pretty serious about my poutine 😉 ) Are these the “real deal”?
I’m from the US, and have lived in Canada for 12 years now. Biscuits and gravy is NOT similar to poutine. It’s a completely different dish, usually made with feesh buttermilk buscuits and covered with a sausage gravy. I’ve made this for my Canadian friends and they have all LOVED it. Not sure how good it is at P.O., but I’d definitely give it a try!
When we stayed at Riverside there in January, we ate there twice (first dinner and last lunch). The first time I had the bacon turkey club which I really liked, and the second I had the muffaletta, which I also enjoyed. My wife had the vegetarian muffaletta and she liked it too.
On our last day, we walked over to French Quarter, but the lunch menu there was so limited (and the decor was so scary) that we took the golf cart back to Riverside for lunch. The decor was one of the main reasons we chose Riverside over French Quarter. I really liked the ambiance of the dining area there. It was really relaxing and big enough that you didn’t have to sit on top of other people (unlike Pop which was always crowded when we were there in September).
Did you guys move back to Florida? I’ve noticed more of a focus on WDW lately
We’ve never lived in Florida. There’s a lot of focus on Walt Disney World since that has the most potential topics, and the destination about which readers care the most (by far).
My preference is covering Tokyo Disney Resort (and I still have a lot of articles in the pipeline about it), but most readers just don’t care about it.
I LOVED your reviews of Disney Sea! I haven’t been there in over a decade, but I agree that it may be the best Disney Park. I worked at EPCOT for a while, so that’s a lot for me to admit! Thanks for your reviews.
Lol. God forbid kids eat something that wasn’t specifically for them. Maybe they should just be happy that they are in Disney . It’s bad enough when the sense of entitlement reigns with a majority of the visitors at the parks, but to have the author support this idea is insane. Thanks god this bs behavior barely exists in California.
My wife and Ilove POR and will continue to stay there. Disney was smart for offering a limited menu- less kids is a great idea for me
Huh? I indicated that the kids’ menu here looks strong, so I’m not sure what you’re getting at?
If that’s not it, maybe you’re advocating Disney make its menus weaker so there are fewer kids?
I’ve reread this twice trying to understand it. I’ve… I’ve got nothing.
I completely agree with you. I stayed there for my first time last December and I thought the food court at Pop Century was better than this one. The whole group I was in was unimpressed with the food and options. Thought by upgrading to a moderate you might get better food. Can’t beat the atmosphere though!
At one point, it was better than the Value food courts. Once Art of Animation opened with an exceptional food court, the other values started redoing theirs, and are now all superior. This has been over the course of 3+ years, so I’m not really sure why Riverside Mill hasn’t likewise upgraded.
I was a CPer at PORS Riverside Mill back in 2008. At the time, PORS’s kitchen had been renovated only a few years before and was one of the first to be upgraded (and as such became one of the best). I’m guessing that PORS hasn’t been upgraded its kitchen is not as old as the ones being renovated now and the ones set to be renovated next.
To each his own, but I felt that our experience at the Riverside Mill food court was only acceptable at best. Our breakfast at the beginning of May was insanely busy and I really don’t think I would recommend it. I’d pick the offerings at Art of Animation or Wilderness Lodge over what they served here, and it was definitely more organized and stress-free at these other resorts I’ve stayed at.
I’d say many/most of the food courts are insane during the breakfast hours. If you had a better experience with Art of Animation for breakfast, it was probably due to the time of year you visited.
We avoid the prime breakfast hours at these food courts and just eat groceries in our room while getting ready no matter where we are; breakfast at the food courts just isn’t worth it to us.
I failed to mention that in recent years of visiting, we, like you, generally skip breakfast altogether and just head into the park of the day for some ice cream – namely, CITRUS SWIRLS! There’s like, orange juice and Vitamin C in there that makes up for it, am I right? 😉 Only occasionally have we visited the food courts, but mostly just for essentials – milk or juice to go along with our granola/banana bread from home.
Haha, seems like a reasonable theory to me!
We stayed at the resort when it was Dixie Landings when I was a kid, too, but instead of having hardcore nostalgia for cajun fries, it’s the cinnamon rolls. I wonder if they’d live up to my expectations if I tried them again! (Probably not.) I think I had one for breakfast every single day that vacation….
I don’t remember cinnamon rolls at all. Funny what sticks with you as a kid…
We love POR, and the food court is a nice option for breakfast before hitting the parks. They do have a nice selection of omletes and such that you pick your ingredients and so on. I’m sure you can get this at other locations, but I LOVE their yogurt parfait in the morning. You pick what berries you want in it and so on. It is large(I think) and it is just great.
Agreed
You missed the part where every morning during the breakfast rush they play this “Down by the Riverside” resort theme song of sorts and the cast members sing along to it. The song isn’t bad, but it will be in your head for the next several years once you’ve heard it!
I didn’t even know they did this. Thanks for the info!
Most annoying jingle in the world. Was two years since I was there and can still remember it like it was yesterday.
For once Tom, I disagree with you. Riverside is our favorite resort and we love the food court, especially the pasta station. One serving feeds my girls and me–a good use of dining credit in my mind. French Quarter, while fun, impressed me less with their food court, I am interested to see what this summer’s refurbishment brings. But that’s the beauty of Disney, so many options that everyone is bound to find something they like.