- Mar 13, 2024
- 8,688
- 36
It’s a question that may come up often when you start planning your Disney World trip: should you stay at a Disney-owned hotel or at one of the many non-Disney owned Disney World Resort hotels? Considering you get much of the same amenities — and perks — at both, you might start looking at your options.
Let’s eat!
If you’re considering a Disney World Resort hotel in Disney Springs, though, one hotel you might consider is the Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa. Now, this hotel is a good option, and it even has its own table service restaurant, American Kitchen Bar & Grill, which we’ve really loved in the past. Well, we recently revisited American Kitchen Bar & Grill, so let’s see if it still lives up to the hype.
American Kitchen Bar & Grill is a casual restaurant with a menu that offers American-inspired food and drinks, as well as elevated versions of comfort food like clothesline bacon, chicken wings, salads, sandwiches, salmon, pork chops, and desserts. We started with the AK Frita Meatballs, which are Pork and Beef Blend Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce and Potato Crisps for $17. As this was a media event, our appetizers were served family style so we could split them among our table.
AK Frita Meatballs
The meatballs have a slight sweetness, thanks to the sauce they’re cooked in. They’re also very tender with a slightly fried exterior and a juicy interior. We honestly could have eaten another bowl of these. Seriously.
That’s one tasty meatball
We also ordered the Grouper Ceviche appetizer with passion fruit, Florida orange segments, tomato, red onion, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chip for $18. This was our favorite of the two appetizers we tried. The ceviche is light and fresh with a lovely citrus flavor coming through. The fish is tender and flaky.
Grouper Ceviche
Then you’ve got the crunchy tortilla chips and the smooth and creamy avocado slices. The flavors and textures are so well-balanced.
Delicious with wonderful, crunchy chips
For the entree, we got the Crispy Chicken Gnocchi Mac + Cheese. It’s made with crispy chicken, gnocchi, smoked gouda sauce, and sun-dried tomato parmesan foam for $22. It’s comfort food, but elevated. You get some nice, crispy chicken that’s also tender. However, we thought the gnocchi was a little undercooked. Now, we had this before, and it was cooked perfectly, so it may just be an issue of how the dishes were all being prepared at the same time for the media event.
Crispy Chicken Gnocchi Mac + Cheese
The cheese, though, made up for any slights. It was gooey and melty and cheesy in the best way possible.
Beautifully prepared chicken
For dessert, we had Key Lime Pie ($10). The crust was thick and crunchy, while the filling was both sweet and tart, as well as creamy. We also liked the strawberries served on the side because they were fresh. There was also strawberry sauce that added more tartness and sweetness on top of the lime, but we thought it was distracting from the pie itself. We’re purists when it comes to key lime pie!
Key Lime Pie
Overall, though, American Kitchen Bar & Grill is a restaurant that we usually really appreciate, and if you’re staying at the hotel, it’s a no-brainer to have a meal here. We’ll be back with even more food and restaurant reviews, so stay tuned to Magical Guides for more.
Have you ever dined at American Kitchen Bar & Grill? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa to attend a media event that included American Kitchen and Bar. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on Magical Guides to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
Let’s eat!
If you’re considering a Disney World Resort hotel in Disney Springs, though, one hotel you might consider is the Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa. Now, this hotel is a good option, and it even has its own table service restaurant, American Kitchen Bar & Grill, which we’ve really loved in the past. Well, we recently revisited American Kitchen Bar & Grill, so let’s see if it still lives up to the hype.
American Kitchen Bar & Grill is a casual restaurant with a menu that offers American-inspired food and drinks, as well as elevated versions of comfort food like clothesline bacon, chicken wings, salads, sandwiches, salmon, pork chops, and desserts. We started with the AK Frita Meatballs, which are Pork and Beef Blend Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce and Potato Crisps for $17. As this was a media event, our appetizers were served family style so we could split them among our table.
AK Frita Meatballs
The meatballs have a slight sweetness, thanks to the sauce they’re cooked in. They’re also very tender with a slightly fried exterior and a juicy interior. We honestly could have eaten another bowl of these. Seriously.
That’s one tasty meatball
We also ordered the Grouper Ceviche appetizer with passion fruit, Florida orange segments, tomato, red onion, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chip for $18. This was our favorite of the two appetizers we tried. The ceviche is light and fresh with a lovely citrus flavor coming through. The fish is tender and flaky.
Grouper Ceviche
Then you’ve got the crunchy tortilla chips and the smooth and creamy avocado slices. The flavors and textures are so well-balanced.
Delicious with wonderful, crunchy chips
For the entree, we got the Crispy Chicken Gnocchi Mac + Cheese. It’s made with crispy chicken, gnocchi, smoked gouda sauce, and sun-dried tomato parmesan foam for $22. It’s comfort food, but elevated. You get some nice, crispy chicken that’s also tender. However, we thought the gnocchi was a little undercooked. Now, we had this before, and it was cooked perfectly, so it may just be an issue of how the dishes were all being prepared at the same time for the media event.
Crispy Chicken Gnocchi Mac + Cheese
The cheese, though, made up for any slights. It was gooey and melty and cheesy in the best way possible.
Beautifully prepared chicken
For dessert, we had Key Lime Pie ($10). The crust was thick and crunchy, while the filling was both sweet and tart, as well as creamy. We also liked the strawberries served on the side because they were fresh. There was also strawberry sauce that added more tartness and sweetness on top of the lime, but we thought it was distracting from the pie itself. We’re purists when it comes to key lime pie!
Key Lime Pie
Overall, though, American Kitchen Bar & Grill is a restaurant that we usually really appreciate, and if you’re staying at the hotel, it’s a no-brainer to have a meal here. We’ll be back with even more food and restaurant reviews, so stay tuned to Magical Guides for more.
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Have you ever dined at American Kitchen Bar & Grill? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Renaissance Orlando Resort and Spa to attend a media event that included American Kitchen and Bar. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on Magical Guides to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
