The Best Quick-Service Restaurant at Hollywood Studios: Backlot Express
Hollywood Studios has 17 restaurants that offer guests a quick bite to eat. Some are heavily themed, found in Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land. Others are found on Sunset Blvd., where guests choose from a few different counters and then must share a small area to eat at. Our least favourite quick-service restaurant is ABC Commissary, for details on that click here. One of our two current quick-service favourites at Hollywood Studios is the Backlot Express.
Backlot Express is found in Echo Lake between Star Tours and Indiana Jones: Epic Stunt Spectacular! The design of the restaurant puts guests in the cafeteria of actors, extras and stunt men on a movie set. You’ll see props strewn about, pictures of old films, and detailed lists belonging to stage managers. Here are the six reasons we love to eat at Backlot Express:
Seating
Backlot Express has ample seating. There’s seating found outside, and there are four different seating areas found inside. Each of these areas also have unbolted tables and chairs, allowing you to make your table bigger or smaller depending on the size of your party. This also means that no matter the time of day you’ll be able to find a place to sit, even if you’re eating at prime dining time.
Food
Galaxy’s Edge is certainly the next exciting area of Hollywood Studios and there are plenty of dining options found there, but the food offered is made to reflect the area. So it is other worldly. Making it obscure to the eye and to the taste. Great for many people, but for a group with young kids we like having choices that we know our kids will eat. And Backlot Express has just that, along with some options that have more flavour than the average burger. On our last trip I had the Southwest Salad but I wish I’d had the Chicken-Ranch Club, I saw someone else enjoying it and it looks delicious. The kids had the chicken strips, which they happily consumed. I also love that the menu is small, when I’m ordering a quick meal, I don’t want to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out what I want. I want a clear on concise menu that makes it easy to choose.
Service
You’d think at a quick-service restaurant that this wouldn’t matter but it does. How long it takes for your food to come out, how pleasant the cast member is taking your order, and the cleanliness of the restaurant. Backlot Express is stellar in this regard. It’s always very clean, despite the fact that there are so many small areas to dine in, the cast members do a great job of staying on top of cleaning each section. The cast members working here seem to truly enjoy their part in the Walt Disney World machine. They’re interactive and always open to giving you suggestions on what you should order. The food is also always prompt and surprisingly fresh.
Location
Echo Lake is a prime location for stopping and grabbing a bite to eat. It gets you out of the congestion of the busiest areas of the park. You’re out of Toy Story Land, Galaxy’s Edge and Sunset Blvd. So you can strategically place a meal here after leaving one area of the park before going to another.
Mobile Ordering
Mobile Ordering is a must! You can spend time picking out your meal ahead of time and then it will be ready for you when you arrive at the restaurant. We had great success using this during our Disney trip. Not all restaurants have this service but Backlot Express is one of them. Giving it another reason in our book to visit.
Drinks
Quick-service restaurant don’t always offer a large variety of alcoholic beverages. Many times you’ll find beer and wine but that will be it. Backlot Express on the other hand has four frozen drinks which are just what you need on a hot Florida day.
Backlot Express is one of the few restaurants that we’ve visited more than once. We like to try all the different restaurants found at Walt Disney World. There are so many to try and you don’t know if you have a new favourite out there if you don’t try it. But when you are visiting with young kids, you want a place you can rely on for quick-service and delicious food and friends, this is it.
For more tips on where to eat during your Disney Vacation check out these previous posts:
Quick-Service Dining Plan vs Disney Dining Plan
Disney Dining Plan vs Deluxe Dining Plan
