The Whispering Canyon Cafe

Recently I had the opportunity to enjoy dinner with some friends at the Whispering Canyon Café , located at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge.

First, a word of warning for those who may be looking for a nice, peaceful, quiet and romantic place for dinner with your loved one: This is NOT the place! Contrary to the name of the restaurant, there was anything but whispering going on. To be fair, the restaurant’s website does warn you that it’s a “rowdy, family-style restaurant right out of the Old West…” Below is a brief synopsis of my experience at this restaurant.

Several gimmicks kept it fun for the patrons, and kids, in particular. The restaurant does not leave ketchup on the tables, so you have to ask for it. Be prepared. If you ask for ketchup, the waiter or waitress will bellow for the attention of all of the patrons, and then you have to join them in asking for the ketchup, pretty much at the top of your lungs, “WE NEED SOME KETCHUP!” Kids LOVED this. An excuse to shout at the dinner table and not get slapped? Sa-weet!

Upon hearing the shout for ketchup, whomever has the ketchup at their table brings it to your table. Now, be aware: you don’t get just one bottle. You get about 25-30 of them, and you have to leave it ALL on your table until someone else bellows for the ketchup, at which time YOU get to carry it all to their table.

One super fun thing they did for the kids was to have a pony stick race around the restaurant. A waiter rolled out a huge barrel full of pony sticks and asked who wanted to race. The kids swarmed him and selected their “steeds.” Then, the music started and they raced around the inside perimeter of the restaurant a couple of times. There was much whooping and hollering from parents and kids alike, and it was pretty fun to watch, too!

The atmosphere is very friendly and “familiar”, meaning that the wait staff may engage you in friendly bantering, such as you may find in a small town local diner where there are regular patrons and the wait staff knows them all.

Food-wise, I can highly recommend the Chicken & Pasta, served with sun-dried tomatoes, and garden fresh vegetables tossed in olive oil, toasted garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano. :-)

My friends ordered one large Canyon Skillet for their teenaged kids and a smaller version for themselves. Please be warned that the larger version is A LOT of food. It could probably feed at least 3 people, depending on the size of their appetite. The Canyon Skillet comes with smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, and beef brisket, in addition to herb-crushed potatoes, cowboy beans, corn on the cob, mixed greens salad with apple vinaigrette, and fresh-baked cornbread.

My friends said they did enjoy the skillet very much, but the beef brisket wasn’t quite up to par on that particular evening. Only one of us (not me) had any room left for dessert. I don’t recall what he ate (I think it was the apple-caramel pie), but I am told that it was good.

They do like you to clean your plate at this restaurant, and heaven help you if you don’t eat your vegetables! There were two or three separate instances where someone at a table did not eat their vegetables. The waitperson hollered for everyone’s attention, and then announced that that person did not eat their veggies. Someone else held up a “BOO!” sign, and then the entire restaurant booed those people, so if you go there, please, EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

Overall we had a very good dining experience at the Whispering Canyon Café. The experience is probably not one I will repeat any time soon, but only because it’s not my preferred kind of dining experience. If you have kids, or even if you don’t and you happen to like a rowdy and boisterous atmosphere, then by all means, check them out the next time you are in Orlando. I think you will have a great time!

I was in no way compensated for this review.