ESPN Club

When on vacation, I usually take pictures of pretty much any food that my party orders.  It is rare that I slip, but for whatever reason, when we had lunch at the ESPN Club, I only took three pictures, all of the same subject.  What's sad is that it would have been nice to have the pictures to help refresh my memory.  Our meal at the ESPN Club was great, and it was actually reasonably priced.  I'm already wondering if we'll be returning there on our next stay.

We had been at the Studios in the morning and decided to head to Epcot.  We missed the boat that was at the dock when we left the park.  We waited about fifteen minutes or so before another boat arrived.  It was pretty nice out so we sat outside for our journey to food.  We had decided to visit the Boardwalk, probably for food, definitely to look around.  

The boat's first stop was the Swan & Dolphin.*  Since it was pleasant out, we decided to hop off there and walk the rest of the way to our destination.  We were able to walk from there and the entire length of the boardwalk in less than fifteen minutes.  As we strolled, we checked the menu at the Big River Grille and Brewing Works, as well as the ESPN Club.  After a small amount of debate, we ended up at the ESPN Club.

Now, I have always wanted to try the ESPN Club.  I had discovered food porn and thought their stars looked tasty.  Additionally, a few years ago, I discovered a love of nachos, and the nachos at ESPN Club are supposed to be amazing.  For whatever reason, I didn't get nachos.

We were seated in a round room at a high top.**  The first thing we noticed was how cold it was.  We cozied up to the windows to try and get a bit warmer.  The second thing we noticed were all the TVs.  The place was covered in them.  We're not sports fans, but it was still pretty  neat.  They had signed footballs and jerseys scattered around too.

The menu, which you can see at Allears.net, is full of game day type food.  There are wings, nachos, sandwiches, and such.  Of course, they had a large assortment of alcohol.  We didn't have any of that, but my mother did get some fancy drink all virgin style.

That's the Zone.  (I think.)  It's so fruity

that I am sure my husband would

have gotten one.

Our server, whose name I can't remember, was amazing.  A great server can read his table.  He knows who he can joke with and who needs serious (aka boring) service.  We were definitely a table that was up for a little ridicule.  When my dad ordered a coffee, the server informed him that he had to walk all the way to the other end of the restaurant to get it.  He kept bringing it up.  He also picked on him for not deciding what to order.  He often has my mother pick if nothing jumps out at him.  When he told the server that my mother would be choosing, he got picked on for that too!  It was all in good fun though, and it made for a memorable interaction.

Both of my parents ordered the Philly cheesesteak.  Because she hates mushrooms, Diane ordered hers without them.  I believe they both had fries as their side.  I was in the mood for wings, so I ordered the wing appetizer, boneless and medium.  I requested ranch, cucumber salad, and fries.

When the food arrived, it was quite good.  My parents loved the sandwiches.  They were huge.  You get used to paying a lot of money for minimum food at Disney.***  ESPN Club was the exception.  They almost provided more food than any one man could eat.

As is often the case with boneless wings, they were a bit hard.  I couldn't even cut into one of them.  It skittered across the table when I tried.  They did taste pretty good though.  I can't tell you how my fries were, as they never came.  It was no big deal, as I just helped myself to my parents' fries.  My cucumber salad was very tasty.

ESPN Club was one of our favorite meals this trip.  You got a lot of food for a decent price, and our server was amazing.  He was very friendly, poking fun at us without being mean.  Even though my fries never materialized  his overall attitude and attentiveness over-rode any negativity I could have had for missing part of my meal.  If you are looking for a simple place to eat, it's worth trying the ESPN Club.  At 2:10 on a Wednesday, we had no wait, an amazing server, and good food.

*For those not in the know, it stops at all the resorts between Epcot and the Studios.

**That's one of those tall tables.

***There are places where that isn't the case, but it is rare that  you feel like you got a good deal.