Steakhouse 55 Breakfast Review
Steakhouse 55 is a fine dining restaurant in Disneyland Hotel at Disneyland Resort. This review features food photos of breakfast served at this dining spot, along with some tips, and thoughts on the ambiance. Steakhouse 55 is open for breakfast and dinner, and is one of the more expensive dining options at Disneyland Resort for the latter, but seemed fairly priced (to us) for breakfast–certainly cheaper and less chaotic than the nearby Goofy’s Kitchen. The restaurant offers discounts for Annual Passholders, too.
It’s technically a “Signature Restaurant” at Disneyland, and is definitely one of the more refined dining options at the resort. If you question this classification, there are a slew of awards on the wall, including one slightly comical one from Zagat that’s similar to the one they have posted online: “Walt Disney would still be proud” of this “special-occasion” chophouse in the Disneyland Hotel offering “cooked-to-perfection” cuts and “great wines” in a “beautiful” setting where “the children are usually well behaved”; service is “terrific” too, so “make a reservation as this place fills up.”
Okay, first of all, what’s with all the random quotations? Is Zagat actually quoting someone, or is Zagat mocking someone with air quotes? Second, the line about children differs from the restaurant version, which almost reads as a tongue-in-cheek knock of Steakhouse 55 (I wish I would’ve taken a photo of it). Regardless, the restaurant has been praised by real critics, not just random bloggers like me who don’t really have “refined palates.”
Let’s take a look at the ambiance and food…
When you first walk up to Steakhouse 55, you’re greeted by a check-in podium and a bar and lounge area. Right away, this sets the tone. It feels like the kind of dimly-lit mahogany-wooded, swanky place from a bygone era where Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable would soak up copious amounts of whiskey while arguing about communism or the issues of the day.
With his suave demeanor and deeply melodic voice, I think we can all agree that, were he alive today, Cary Grant would most definitely be a Disney Blogger. Mr. Grant, you left us too soon.
Kidding aside, Steakhouse 55 really does feel like a restaurant straight out of 1955 (it’s named for the year Disneyland opened) and feels like a place where Walt and his cronies might have done business. Unlike a lot of the Disney restaurants that are meant to have a Walt-era motif or theme, Steakhouse 55 actually feels like a place these people would have gone, rather than a tribute to them (well, save for the oversized photos on the wall).
This could be a bad or a good thing, depending upon how you look at it. Due to this difference in aim, Steakhouse 55 is elegant, crisp, and refined, but doesn’t have the same character or depth that you’d find at a place like Walt’s – An American Restaurant or Club 33 (well, before the refurbishment). It’s more like Carthay Circle Restaurant, except not quite as detailed.
Breakfast is an interesting meal in any of the Disney parks & resorts. With few exceptions, I’m not a fan of breakfast at counter service restaurants at most Disney restaurants. Most meals seem to focus on powdered eggs and rubbery paper-bacon, and still charge about $8-9 for that. Then on the other end of the spectrum you have buffets, almost all of which are $25 per person or more.
Then you have the a la carte table service restaurants, where you can get a good meal, and spend maybe $12-15 (or more or less, depending upon what you get). Realistically, all of these options are pretty expensive for breakfast for most people, which makes eating 3 meals in the parks a costly–and unlikely–proposition. However, if you’re going to do it, I think table service breakfast or a less-expensive buffet is the way to go. That $8-9 meal of powdered egg and rubber bacon might be cheaper, but it’s garbage.
All of this is probably just my way of justifying the menu prices of Steakhouse 55’s breakfast to myself. Really, though, it needs no justification.
Since Steakhouse 55 is a…steakhouse…I opted to order the steak. At around $20, this is a pretty expensive breakfast, but the 7 oz Angus Certified New York Steak was perfectly cooked, juicy, and tender. That, plus the eggs, potatoes, and toast made me feel like it offered a pretty good value for what it was. I wouldn’t have minded a slightly larger steak, but that’s pointing out the obvious. “Gee, I’d like a smaller steak” is not a phrase I have ever uttered.
Sarah went for the Build-Your-Own-Omelette, going for a healthy, mostly veggies option with no oil to keep it healthy. She really liked it, saying it had good flavor and tasted light. I tried it and thought it was fine, but I think that’s more a result of her changes to the omelette rather than the food itself. Who wants an oil-free omelette?!
This is the toast that came with all of our meals. I really don’t know what to say about this…it tasted like toasted bread?
We dined with Amateur Nike Enthusiast Guy Selga, who had the French Toast with Bananas Foster. Guy really liked this, and described it as follows: “Thick and rich. Somehow still qualifies as a breakfast even though it’s covered in bananas foster sauce.”
Overall, we were all really satisfied with our breakfast at Steakhouse 55. The restaurant was uncrowded and relaxed, and the food was very high quality and tasted excellent. It offers a great adult option for a refined sit-down breakfast at Disneyland Resort (every other guest when we were there seemed to be a business-person) and it’s a great way to dine at Steakhouse 55 without doing a costly dinner. It is pricey, even by Disney standards, for breakfast, but I feel the quality of the experience and food is in line with the price for the most part. It’s not a place I would dine for breakfast on a regular basis due to that cost, but for a one-time meal or a morning splurge, you really can’t go wrong.
As for figuring out the rest of your Disneyland trip, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, whether you should stay off-site or on-site in a Disney hotel, where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland trip planning guide!
Overall Score: 8.5/10
To read other Disney restaurant reviews from Disneyland Resort, organized by location, check out our Disneyland Dining Reviews Index.
Your Thoughts…
Have you been to Steakhouse 55? Is it a restaurant you’d consider for breakfast? Are you a fan of steak for breakfast? Like anything else here? If you aren’t a fan, why not? If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please post them in the comments. We love hearing from readers!
I can’t remember when in recent memory I stumbled upon this post, but I’m glad I did. You’re on point with this review, Tom. A good quality breakfast that isn’t going to break the bank in a laid-back atmosphere. The steak was delicious and my eggs were the over-easiest I’ve had (that’s a legit superlative, right?). I love Carnation Cafe for breakfast, but this might top it for me. It’s only moderately more expensive, but I think I prefer the relaxed atmosphere of Steakhouse 55 better. It might be easier to get a table, too.
Thanks for this post. I only wish I had found it sooner.
I neglected to mention that I wrote this while still sipping my coffee at the table. I just couldn’t wait to thank you for the tip!
Glad you enjoyed it–now you have me wanting to head back there!
Thank you so much for this (and all of your reviews); I thoroughly appreciate and respect your opinions and have enjoyed many fun new Disney experiences based on your suggestions (food, hotel, attractions, etc). Have you experienced the new “Afternoon Tea” that is now being served at Steakhouse 55? Thinking about taking my 4 year old daughter for a special treat, but curious about your opinion!
Thanks for the review! My husband and I realized that our annual passes aren’t blocked on Thanksgiving day but are blocked on Friday and Saturday, so since we’re still the “kids” in the family and no one trusts us with actual Thanksgiving meal prep, we’re going to do a quick morning trip to Disneyland and then have our “Thanksgiving Breakfast” (that’s a thing, right?) at Steakhouse 55! 🙂
Have eaten breakfast here several times and have always enjoyed it. I love “old Hollywood,” so I really enjoy all of the pictures of the actors and actresses from the golden age of Hollywood. Hopefully I’ll make it here for dinner some day!
I can’t read zagat review, they make my head hurt with all the quotes. Apparently they take them from the reviews, but it’s hard to read.
I have not yet tried SH55 for brekkers, but many times for dinner. It’s fantastic.
We often split a steak and eat get a side.
We stopped in today for breakfast, and while the eggs, pancakes and French toast were all fresh tasting, the bacon was as rubberized as I’d expect from a character buffet…I sent two of four to the dumpster.
We don’t eat many breakfasts at the parks so I was wondering where you find powered eggs?
If a counter service restaurant serves eggs, they are of the powder variety.
So that’s why it looks like everyone wants yellow scrambled eggs!!
Those aggressive quotation marks in the Zagat review are cracking me up. It makes it seem so passive aggressive and sarcastic!
It’s that way in every Zagats review I’ve seen. It defies explanation. It’s almost like *they* are the restaurant cherry-picking choice lines out of critical reviews…but they are, in fact, the critics.
We also stopped here on our last day at Disney, if only for convenience since we were staying at Paradise Pier and the only breakfast place there is the character meal at PCH Grill. Also, they offer the 10% Disney Visa discount on breakfast. We have a 4 and 6 year old who behave as such, especially at restaurants, and I know my husband was annoyed by this given the more upscale feel of the restaurant. However, no one else seemed to notice, and we weren’t the only family in the place. I thought the food was delicious and filling–we even took home leftovers. It was a really nice, relaxing way to end our vacation before the six hour drive home.
Thanks for the feedback on your experience!
I had breakfast at Steakhouse 55 on my last morning in Disneyland in November. I had the buttermilk pancakes with bananas foster sauce (though I should have ordered the steak, I regret that now), which was good. The pancakes were pretty thin, and the bananas foster sauce was good as well. Although as beautiful (and quiet) the restaurant was, I’d be lying if I said I thought those pancakes were better than the French toast with banana caramel sauce at Tangaroa Terrace.
That french toast at Tangaroa Terrace is one of the few bright spots in the dining landscape, and another must try. Good call on the mention–can’t believe I forgot to bring it up here!