If you like ice cream, then Beaches and Cream should probably be on your list of Disney restaurants to try! They take reservations and it’s a small space, so make sure you book a reservation in advance if you’d like to eat here.
Beaches and Cream is located at Disney’s Beach Club resort, and it’s themed like an old fashioned 50’s soda shop. They have a full food menu with burgers, sandwiches, etc, but the real draw here is the ice cream. Many people will make a reservation and come in just for that.
Since it is a soda shop, I also like the soda here! You can get soda with a “flavor shot” added in, so I get co*ke with vanilla. It’s so much better than the canned vanilla co*ke. You can also get cherry, raspberry, or chocolate. I’ve had the cherry as well as it’s also excellent. Honestly I’d be good going here for just soda and ice cream!
We did do both lunch and ice cream on this trip. The food isn’t much to write home about, but it’s certainly not bad either. There isn’t a ton of variety though. As a result a number of people in our group ended up ordering the same thing – theGrilled Cheese and Tomato Bisque:
The grilled cheese was fine – nothing really special, just a typical grilled cheese. I actually quite liked the tomato bisque, it had a robust flavor and was very good. And of course you can’t go wrong with the grilled cheese and tomato soup combo!
One friend got the bowl of chili:
And it was chili. Not amazing chili, but certainly not bad chili. Just pretty good chili (this is going to be a recurring theme for pretty much all of the food we got here!)
Jason got the Turkey Club Sandwich (with Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Mayonnaise on Toasted White Bread):
Again, this was fine but nothing special. Jason said it was about “as boring and traditional as you can get. If you want a turkey club, this is a turkey club.” So there you go. The french fries here are pretty good though. Nice thicker fries.
And finally one person got the cheddar bacon ranch chicken burger (Grilled Chicken Breast, Smoked Bacon, Sautéed Onion, and Cheese on a Multigrain Bun):
Again, a very average dish. It was all good, but nothing remarkable and given that it’s Disney, pretty severely overpriced for what you’re getting. The entrees here definitely feel more on par with a quick service meal than a counter service one.
If we go back I think we would certainly eat somewhere else first and then come for the ice cream. So speaking of, let’s move on to the ice cream! They have a number of delicious sundaes here, and good milkshakes, but because we had a group of 8 we came for what Beaches and Cream is really known for: The Kitchen Sink.
The Kitchen Sink consists of “Scoops of Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, and Mint Chocolate Chips smothered in every topping we have. Also available Chocolate Lovers or Neapolitan.” It says that it serves 4, but honestly it’s huge and serves more than that unless you have 4 very hungry people. We barely got through it with 7 of us working on it. I think if you had 4 people you wouldn’t want a meal right beforehand!
And it’s basically exactly what you’d expect it to be. A bit of a mess of ice creamy goodness. Lots of flavors and toppings, and I think you’ll either love it or hate it. If the flavors combining and not knowing what toppings you’re going to get in a spoonful turns you off, stick with a sundae. But if you like the surprise and variety this is a lot of fun.
Plus it’s served in a dish that actually looks like a kitchen sink. And it’s a big deal when you order it and they bring it out to you. They flash the lights and do a whole little spiel telling you what’s in the kitchen sink – including “a whole can of whipped cream!”
So all in all I’d say come here for sodas and ice cream, but I wouldn’t eat here specifically for the food. If you need lunch anyway and you’re not picky, looking for something simple, it’s not bad. But if you’re a foodie you’d probably want to save your money and calories for an entree somewhere else!
Have you been to Beaches and Cream? Have you tried the Kitchen Sink?
