Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe

Location: Pecos Bill is located in Frontierland.  Country Bear Jamboree is to the left and if you continued walking, you’d see Big Thunder and Splash Mountains on your right and Adventureland down to your left.

Food Type: Burgers, Salads, and Sandwiches.

Dining Plan: One quick service credit and some items are snack credits.

Menu:

The August menu update did not see many changes other than price increases.

You may also run into what I call the Pork Glop Platter after 4pm.

Unique Items: The Grilled Chicken Wrap is unique and the Deluxe 1/3lb. Angus Cheeseburger is a relatively unique take on the Disney burger.  Onion rings are rare.  When it’s offered, the  Steak &Pork Platter is also unique.

Advantages:

• Varied menu with several hot and cold items.
• Restaurant is dark, kept at a nice cool temperature, and themed well.
• The toppings bar is among the best in Disney World, offering sauteed onions and mushrooms, hot cheese sauce, salsa, lemons, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.   Ranch and Caesar salad dressings are also provided along with packets of croutons.
• Service is usually on the fast side.
• The Taco Salad is a nice customizable choice.

Disadvantages:

• During peak meal times and/or heavy crowds, there usually aren’t enough tables inside.  Disney may try to keep people without food from holding tables, but that only causes the ordering area to be more cramped.
• Nothing on the menu is particularly inspired.  Items are generally Disney staples, including the Caesar Salad, Pork Sandwich, and Hamburgers.
• Burgers are generally dry, overcooked, and flavorless.

Value: Average.  This is mostly standard Disney entrees at standard Disney prices.  The Chili-Cheese Fries are an excellent use of a snack credit.

Reputation: Despite an arguably mundane menu, Pecos Bill remains one of Disney’s most popular quick services.  It helps that it’s located in a busy corridor that connects Adventureland and Frontierland.  The toppings bar carries Pecos, but the food is the definition of average Disney.

Food Choices:

Barbecued Pork Sandwich:

Pictured is the Barbecued Pork Sandwich from Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe, but they’re all the same.  Similar items are also available at Fairfax Fare (Hollywood Studios) and Flame Tree Barbecue (Animal Kingdom).  It’s really nothing to write home about.  If you’re familiar with the Jack Daniels brand of pulled pork, you’ll have a pretty good idea about what to expect inside this thing.  It’s better than Lloyd’s or Curly’s though.  I am a bit of a meat tub connoisseur, so you can trust me on this.  There’s a reasonable dollop in between the basic bun, but I didn’t find it to be a particularly filling or satisfying meal.

Taco Salad:

The Taco Salad is the same one served at Tortuga Tavern around the corner in Adventureland.  What you get is just the meat, shell, and small packet of sour cream.  You then take the shell over to the condiment bar to “dress it up” with lettuce, cheese, salsa, and whatever else.  This throws a lot of people off because they’re expecting to see something resembling an actual salad when it’s served.  I like to order the Taco Salad at off-peak times because it can be a hassle to get to the lettuce and cheese during peak meal times.  There isn’t a ton of beef in the bottom and most of the meal comes from the condiment bar.  It would also be helped along by some more interesting ingredients.  That said, it is a nice light option and the shell is a lot of  “fun” to eat as you go to town on the salad.  Crispy and flaky.

Chilled Chicken Wrap:

As you can see, it’s huge, unlike that sad Flatbread Sandwich from Golden Oak Outpost reviewed here: http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/the-tale-of-two-sandwiches-magic-kingdom-on-june-18-and-animal-kingdom-on-june-19/.  As far as flavor, this was only “okay.”  It could have used more sauce or another pick-me-up of some kind.  As it stands, it’s basically a salad rolled up in a tortilla without much salad dressing.  However, it was cold, fresh, and gigantic and a nice alternative to the hamburgers and other sandwiches.  I’m not sure I would recommend it though as there just wasn’t a lot of flavor.

Steak and Pork Platter:

This was hilariously terrible. When Disney Food Blog says something is bad, you know it’s bad. Like bad bad. The cornbread is undercooked. Imagine eating sweet-ish batter. The corn is wayyyyyyyy overcooked. Soft and mushy. Almost inedible, though for 15 bucks I forced it down. Corn on the cob isn’t really something that you can cook in the morning and have sitting around the entire day. The $1.99 corn at Liberty Square Market is much better. The flavor from the cornbread was okay, but someone needs to double check the cooking time/temperature. The pork is simply a small pile of what you’d get on the Pork BBQ Sandwich. Not bad, but not exactly something that stands alone well. Putting it on a bun is the whole point. The steak is a steak in the same way an omelet is a chicken sandwich.

Let’s crop it. Way overcooked. I felt like a cow chewing grass. I’m not sure I’ve chewed anything more in my life. I might still be chewing. My mouth went numb some time ago. They would be better off plopping down a hamburger and calling it a ham steak. The “chimichurri” sauce might as well have been pesto. This thing is terrible on so many levels I almost wish I could feed it to you just to show you how bad things can get. But I would never do that! We’re friends!

Seating:

Pecos Bill seemingly has a lot of tables, but it’s almost always jam packed full of people at regular meal times.  The indoor seating area is dark and the seats aren’t particularly comfortable – many also have no backs.  Outdoor patio seating is also available.  If it’s after 3pm, you can also head down to Tortuga Tavern after it’s finished serving, where you should have no trouble finding a table.

Condiments:

Pecos Bill has one of the most elaborate toppings bars of any Disney World quick service.  You’ll find sauteed onions and mushrooms, hot cheese sauce, salsa, lemons, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise.   Ranch and Caesar salad dressings are also provided along with packets of croutons.