Disney Springs Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar Happy Hour Review and New Menu

You’ll have to excuse me here as I am jumping somewhat out of order as most of our coverage recently has been focused on Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and Epcot World Showcase. But there is one review that has been buggin’ me about not getting around to writing and it’s this Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar Happy Hour/new menu review. We will get to the rest of Disney Springs one of these days.

The website did offer some preliminary thoughts via Twitter and if you’re not looking to read any more words today, the conclusion at the end of this post is going to be the same.

Jock Lindsey’s Happy Hour expands the menu and offers some decent selections, but don’t expect to visit and really extract an overwhelming amount of value from the Walt Disney Company by visiting sometime between 3pm and 6:30pm Monday-Friday.

Here’s the menu, which is easier to read on Disney’s website:

The three food items are nowhere to be found on the regular menu and pitchers of beer are not usually offered.

In an effort to spice things up further, Jock is also offering seasonal food and beverage options:

Those have since switched over to holiday offerings:

The Junior’s Fedora Flatbread for November/December is exactly the same as the Thanksgiving Flatbread, which is probably okay and the fall Reuben sounds pretty similar to the Holiday Sliders.

As someone that adores Earl of Sandwich’s Holiday Sandwich but no longer orders it because it doesn’t feel” special now that it’s offered all year, I was expecting to enjoy the $14 Seasonal Flatbread – A hit at the Jones’ holiday gatherings! Toasted Flatbread layered with Slow-roasted Turkey, Cranberry-Onion Jam, Butternut Squash, crisped Greens, Chèvre, and Candied Pecans finished with a splash of Sage Oil.

But this was not working.

First of all, the turkey is at best Land O’Frost quality – you know the stuff next to the Lunchables that is $2.50 for a pound and is 90% salt. It’s served cold and wet bunched up on each of the slices. That cold and wet vibe continues with what they’re calling a “cranberry-onion jam,” which seemed to be just a lot of sweet pickled red onions underneath, the astringency of which overpowered any of the other flavors. I think the “candied pecans” are supposed to help, but I feel like there’s a reason that nuts aren’t commonly offered as a pizza topping. With no melted layer of cheese or anything, there is nothing to really keep the ingredients from sliding off for those of us that are not well centered.

But on the other hand, this did survive the fall and is on the holiday menu exactly as served before. You might have better luck.

But we will get to other holiday offerings another time.

This is the $7 Belloq’s Bacon Fries – BACON!! These Thick-cut Fries tossed with Hardwood-smoked Bacon, a House-made Chimichurri Sauce, and Premium Cheeses are the envy of hungry archaeologists.

From this angle, I suppose you can see a couple shreds of “premium cheeses.”

And somebody did find a pinch of bacon bits somewhere though I am not so sure about the chimichurri.

Seven bucks (yes, seven) for some frozen food service fries topped with some paltry toppings does not seem like a fantastic value for a happy hour special. But they are pleasant enough to nosh on along with a cocktail and they had a surprisingly sharp, vinegary taste to them that contrasted nicely with what is largely a menu filled with sweet cocktails. But during happy hour, any of the local Ale House’s will serve up “a full pound of seasoned fries with melted Monterey Jack & cheddar cheese, green onions, applewood smoked bacon and ranch dressing for dipping” for five dollars.

The second item on the Happy Hour menu is the $7 Jock’s Loaded Nachos – Another Jock Lindsey original! Key Lime Tortilla Chips topped with seasoned Ground Beef, Black Beans, Guacamole, Sour Cream, fresh Salsa, and a blend of Shredded Cheese.

Hopefully you won’t have the same problem we did in that the nachos were served nearly ice cold.

Not that I have a problem with room temperature tortilla chips, but when beef, beans, and melted cheese are involved, you might like a little heat to the dish. The flavors were otherwise what you would expect, but the portion is again perhaps on the small side for “happy hour” at this price point. But the toppings were plentiful enough that there was some stuff with each chip and the beef was mildly spicy and the salsa was flavorful and fresh. It’s certainly an easy item to share while enjoying drinks.

The last of the food offerings is the Classified X 3 Chicken Wings – Just like the Cirrus X 3 Rocket Pack, the recipe for these Chili-Garlic glazed Chicken Wings is top secret…though you may detect hints of Citrus, Jalapeño, and Cilantro.

Four relatively meaty wings arrive with each $7 order – two of the “drumstick” variety and two of the “try to pawn off on someone else” variety. These have an acute, lime-y acidity to them from the nose through the end of each bite that is only multiplied by the cilantro that lingers long after the wings are gone. You have to be ready for that flavor profile to enjoy them. With that said, we are again talking about four wings for seven bucks, which is not much of a happy hour value. Over at Nomad Lounge, they are up to five wings for nine dollars ($1.80 per wing) versus the $1.75 per wing price here, so maybe we really are saving money.

Overall, the Happy Hour food additions are decent options if you are already heading to Jock Lindsey on a weekday between 3pm and 6:30pm when the menu is offered. But I wouldn’t go out of your way to get here specifically for any of the three options.

Exactly two drinks comprise your $7 Happy Hour offerings.

This is the Cubra-Libre [sic] with Don Q Rum and Coca-Cola with a squeeze of Lime Juice. I will first mention that these cups always throw me off. I am already a bit unbalanced as you might be able to assess and the curvature generally has me leaning further and further over to the right as the night progresses. I have no idea why this is.

I thought they did a decent job with what is actually called a Cuba Libre or “Rum and Coke” for short. The only real question is on ratios and as someone that has a pretty strong grasp of how they work, thought this was nicely balanced and fairly priced.

And the $7 Screwdriver with SKYY Vodka and Orange Juice.

I will admit that I am not a screwdriver person – I have never thought that the viscosity of orange juice lent itself well to cocktails and the juice just kind of stretches out the taste of the vodka rather than cover it up. But this is literally a screwdriver – orange juice and vodka – and it was another solid pour.

I inquired as to whether another well liquor/mixer could be substituted for the two options on the menu. It seems like you should be able to order a “vodka cran” or “whiskey and Coke” if they are already pouring decent brands into the happy hour cocktails that are offered. We were initially told “no,” but the server came back a couple of minutes later and asked what I had in mind. After telling him that I had Canadian Club and Diet Coke on the brain, he obliged the substitution. I’m not sure if that is going to be an all-the-time, every-server thing. But there doesn’t seem to be any practical reason why you can’t sub out the orange juice for another mixer.

My favorite Disney happy hour remains House of Blues on the West Side:

But Jock might be a good choice from 5pm to 6:30pm to continue the party.

Overall, the food may not be much to write home about, but the website will not stick its nose up at discounted drinks. I would like to see an asterisk along with “or substitute any well liquor with up to two mixers.” As Jock’;s happy hour matures, we may see something like that. Particularly if business remains as slow as it is on a Tuesday afternoon.

Jock Lindsey switched up its menu back in July. The Snack of Ra and Good Dates are off the menu completely. The Tanis Tacos, which used to be falafel, have a similar name but completely different ingredients. And much like the changes we saw at Skipper Canteen, the Rolling Boulder Sliders have the same name with a different composition/presentation.

You’ll have to excuse the picture quality on these…we visited around 10pm and Jock Lindsey is a dark bar that makes photography difficult when you are shooting in the corner.

This is the $17 Temple Tenderloin – Sliced Beef Tenderloin stacked high on a Toasted Baguette with Swiss, Tomato, Arugula, and Radish Slaw served with side of Jugo de Carne and Fries tossed with Bacon and Chimichurri Sauce. This is served in three pieces for easy sharing and while I’m not sure this is the definition of “piled high,” the beef was of appropriate quality and had a nice meaty flavor to it. They might have been better off serving this as two pieces with the meat and other toppings from the third piece added to the two halves as the thick, albeit nicely toasted, bread overwhelmed the other flavors.

But there is some value here with a pile of fries that are basically the same size as the happy hour portion. And I appreciated the chimichurri a lot – the coating had a nice, peppery garlic flavor that enhanced the salty bacon on top of the thick cut fries.

Overall, this is nicely shareable or would make for a meal that may be too big- there’s some value here.

The $15 Tanis Tuna Tacos – A Lost City Specialty! Seared Ahi Tuna with Ancient Spices in a Tortilla Shell with Lettuce, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Pico de Gallo, Cilantro, Jalapeño Pepper, and a Toasted Lime. Here, I feel like “ancient” is a synonym for “no” in that these somehow lacked flavor almost entirely, despite including quite the list of ingredients, in addition to the lime squeeze. I’m not sure if anybody has had better luck as it’s theoretically not a terrible value for the money if they were only more flavorful.

But never fear falafel fans as we do have a new dish in the $10 Sallah’s Falafel – A Sweet Potato Falafel guaranteed to satisfy a well of souls. Served with Romesco Sauce, Pickled Vegetable, Swiss Chard, Herbed Yogurt-Cheese, and Grilled Naan Bread. This one is a bit challenging to share as you’ve got just the one large piece of naan underneath along with the lengthy single piece of leafy greens over the top and the tzatziki/herbed togurt-cheese, and then the five falafel pucks, in addition to the pickles. The romesco sauce is what brought it all together. Made primarily of roasted red peppers and toasted almonds and originating in the Catalonia area of Spain, the sauce is as robust as it is rich and creamy with an almost-pimento-cheese quality to it. At ten bucks, it’s a steal for vegetarians – a big portion of flavorful food. It impressed.

The $11.50 Rolling Boulders Sliders – Three-Runaway Brisket Meatballs with Tomato-Bacon Jam, House-made Pickles, Shredded Lettuce, and Tomato are an easier share. The sliders are no longer spicy with the ketchup-y tomato-bacon jam replacing the previous yogurt sauce and the beef itself arriving without the minced garlic and onion of its predecessor. But we’re still left with three sliders cooked to a nice medium well in between soft brioche buns and fresh, crunchy vegetables along with the mildly sweet, salty jam that elevates the overall flavor profile. It’s probably not the best burger you’ve ever tried, but this is a safe choice that should meet high expectations.

A reminder of what the previous version looked like.

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The $8.50 Brody’s Brats – Grilled Bratwurst served with Mustard and Pickled Cabbage, worthy of a museum are quite the value, arriving with four attractive, meaty sausages along with the seemingly homemade and definitely delicious spicy mustard. It’s quite a bit of food for under nine bucks and hasn’t changed since the debut last year.

You’ll see a lot of the $10.50 Air Pirate’s Pretzels – A flight of Everything Pretzels with spicy German Mustard and Beer Cheese Fondue delivered to the various tables. The pretzels are soft and chewy and the beer cheese fondue in particular is a decadent, creamy dip. At about $2 per pretzel there is perhaps a bit less value here than with some of the other options, but I wouldn’t necessarily let that stop you.

A Hovito Mojito – Barson Quebranta Pisco, fresh Lime Juice, Mint, and Simple Syrup topped with Soda Water.

And a Bedtime Story with Absolut Mandrin Vodka, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, Hibiscus Syrup, fresh Lemon Juice, and Iced Tea.

The cocktails here are typically on the fruity, less boozy side I think. I’ll order one if I’m in the mood for something refreshing, otherwise it’s draft beer or liquor in a cup.

The rest of the drink menu:

It may be worth noting that the majority of the drinks no longer come with their stirrers.

This is the original

Reggie’s Revenge with the snake stirrer and the croc picture on the menu.

Now garnished with an orange and a picture of an airplane.

Overall, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar is one of the more interesting stops at Disney Springs, serving up some reasonably priced bar food along with cocktails that are about 40% cheaper than their third-party alternatives at the likes of Morimoto Asia and STK. I don’t think the happy hour food impresses on value. Our server even confided in us that the chef was pushing for a “regular size” portion of the wings to be added to the regular menu, in addition to the “happy hour” portion. So there is little doubt that this is smaller portions for less money, rather than Disney trying to lure people in with exceptional values earlier in the afternoon. But with prices that are in the vicinity of fair and a couple of $7 drinks, it’s hard to hate on an expanded menu. I’m just not sure the happy hour is worth specifically seeking out.