My three favorite bites at Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival – DePaoli on DeParks

The Grilled Top Sirloin with roasted garlic-gruyere smashed potatoes and garlic chimichurri can be found at the Garlic Kissed festival booth for $9.00. The dish comes with a nice helping of garlic mashed potatoes topped with nicely seasoned bites of top sirloin. The garlic chimichurri and peppers give the whole dish a bit of a spicy kick. If you don’t like heat, you might want to stay away from this one. But if you’re a garlic lover, you’ll surely love this plateful of deliciousness. The potatoes are creamy, the sirloin is nicely grilled, and the chimichurri has a strong garlic-induced kick to it.

Chicken Lollipop: Beer-brined chicken with poblano mashed potatoes, caramelized fennel, and fried carrots is located at Studio Catering Co. for $7.99 and is new to the festival this year. I don’t typically enjoy chicken on a bone, but the brine on this chicken made me overlook that fact. It is seasoned extremely well and there is a healthy portion of meat on the bone. The additional sides make this a filling plateful of comfort foods worthy of a taste.

S’mores Caramel Tart: Graham cracker tart shell filled with caramel and chocolate ganache topped with toasted marshmallow is another new addition to the festival. This can be found at the California Craft Brews festival cart for $7.00. This was my favorite bite of the day. It has an unfair advantage due to my sweet tooth, but this was a truly delicious dessert. In addition to it tasting good, it also held together quite well while eating, avoiding any crumbling. Plus, it’s highly photogenic if you’re into taking pictures of your food. The chocolate is very fudge-like, and the graham cracker crust is soft but solid. It’s delicious, it’s easy to eat on the go, and it’s photogenic. A winning combination.

All of these top three picks can be purchased individually and are also options on the Sip and Savor Pass. The pass comes with an option of four or eight items at the cost of $31.00 and $61.00 respectively.

Here’s a look at me tasting these foods and others for the first time.

To avoid waiting in line all day ordering food, I suggest doing a bit of research in advance and ordering multiple items at once. You can order any food available at the temporary festival booths at any of those booths. You do not need to go to the corresponding food booth to order.

Once ordered, you will be handed a receipt with all your items listed. But that doesn’t mean you need to eat everything at the same time. You can pick up your food and drinks at different times throughout the day. Just don’t lose your receipt.

You will see on the receipt next to your purchased items phrases like “MP1” or “MP2”. These stand for Marketplace 1 or 2. This tells you which corresponding festival booth to visit to pick up your chosen food. Admittedly, it can get a little confusing as the festival booths are labeled with names, not numbers. But if you pick up one of the free festival booklets, it lists the festival booth name with the numbers inside. One thing I would like to see changed at the food festivals is Disney adding numbers onto the booths so it’s easier to navigate.

Overall, I had some delicious bites of food at the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. Which one would you like to try most? If you’ve been to the festival yourself, do you have any favorites? Leave a comment and let me know.

Jeff DePaoli is an event producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast” podcast, where he and his special guests share honest opinions on all things Disney. Get your FREE gifts of “America’s Hidden Mickeys,” “On the Rohde Again,” “Theme Park Comfort Kit” and more at DizneyCoastToCoast.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.