The BEST Eats and Drinks at the 2024 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival | the disney food blog (2024)

The is open now through April 22nd, serving up tastes of the Golden State!

TheDisney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival celebrates the bounty of California with food, beverages, and special events. This year’s fest runs from March 1st through April 22nd, which means you’ve got over a month to check out the best this festival has to offer. Speaking of which, we’re bringing you our BEST of the 2024 DCA Food & Wine Festival!

It wouldn’t be a true Disney festival unless we were there to try allllllll the NEW eats and some returning favorites, too! Since we’ve tried everything, we feel pretty confident about bringing you our BEST of the 2024 Disney California Adventure — so get ready, ’cause it’s time to dig in!

BEST New Items for 2024

Impossible Beef Stroganoff at Earth Eats

The IMPOSSIBLE Beef Stroganofffor$9comes with egg noodles tossed in a mushroom cream sauce with IMPOSSIBLE beef and sour cream. Now, how does it hold up?

This was EXCELLENT. We thought it could use more of the creamy sauce, but that’s a minor detail we can overlook.The mushrooms are the star, though, and the flavors aren’t too bold for a stroganoff. It’s like an upgraded beef stroganoff, and it’s nice to see Disney really making some vegetarian options that are SO good.

Check out our full review of Earth Eats here!

Watermelon Cucumber Mojito at Earth Eats

The Watermelon Cucumber Mojitofor$17is made withwhite rum, watermelon liqueur, mojito and cucumber syrups, watermelon purée, and lime juice, topped with Topo Chico and garnished with a watermelon spear with Tajín twist. This sounds like a Cancun beach vacation converted into a drink — so obviously, we had HIGH expectations for it!

We’re happy to report that this drink EXCEEDED our expectations.It is SO refreshing, even with the tajin kick.The watermelon flavor is what you mostly taste, meaning this is the perfect summer drink. There’s just a hint of cucumber, so it only adds a little bit of flavor. However, you do need to be okay with a bit of spice to enjoy it.

Check out our full review of Earth Eats here!

Shrimp Papas Locas at Peppers Cali-Ente

The Shrimp Papas Locas are made with cheddar-bacon potatoes, jalapeño cheese sauce, and chipotle shrimp. You can snag it for $8.75.

We’re SO glad that this new item earned a spot on the menu! It had such GREAT flavors! The shrimp was cooked to perfectionand thesalsa on top added the perfect freshnessto balance out the potatoes with cheese sauce.Speaking of cheese, there was a lot of it, and we certainly weren’t mad about it. We would gladly order this dish again: it packs a TON of flavor!

Read our full review of Peppers Cali-Ente here!

Peach Cobbler co*cktail at Golden Dreams

The new Peach Cobbler co*cktailfor$17is made withmoonshine, peach and amaretto liqueur, peach nectar, condensed milk, vanilla and cinnamon syrups, and lemon juice garnished with frozen peaches. Honestly, if Southern hospitality and charm could be concentrated into a co*cktail, this might be it!

It basically tastes like a boozy peach cobbler. That sweet peach flavor is the most prominent, and the cinnamon gives it that rich dessert taste. The moonshine in this drink makes it pretty strong, but all the sweet, fruity flavors make the drink go down smoothly. This was a WINNER — we loved this one.

See our full Golden Dreams review here!

Kiwi-Apple Lemonade at Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo

The non-alcoholic Kiwi-Apple Lemonade,which is $7, is made withMinute Maid Lemonade and apple juicetogether with kiwi and Granny Smith apple syrups. It’s all garnished with a lovelypurple orchid!

Um, YUM! This was absolutely delicious! It looks as good as it tastes — our drink was super refreshing, and the flavors work so well together.

Read our full Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo review here!

Raspberry Almond Cake at Uncork California

This is a new item this year and is simple, classic, and elegant — just what you’d expect from a wine booth. It’s an almond cake with raspberry mousse and fresh raspberries.We thought it tasted almost like a muffin top with delicious raspberry flavor sprinkled throughout! The cake was dense but very moist, and the mousse on top was fresh and tart. The raspberry flavor really shines through.

You can pick this treat up for$7.50.

Read our full review of Uncork California here!

Cheeseburger Bao at California Craft Brews

The Cheeseburger Baofor$8.50comes withThousand Island dressing, grilled onions, pickle, and tomato relish.We were super excited to see this menu item because we LOVE theCheeseburger PodsatSatu’li Canteen in Disney World, and this is giving us some strong Cheeseburger Pod vibes…so does it measure up?

This cheeseburger pod is essentially a Big Mac in a bao bun, and that’s what we love about it! We really enjoyed the grilled onions inside which added great flavor. The bun is thick, but light in taste. If you love a good Big Mac, you’ll really enjoy this cheeseburger bao.

Check out our full review of California Craft Brews here!

Frozen Mangonada Beer Slush at California Craft Brews

The Frozen Mangonada Beer Slush for $18is made withBrewery X Baja Boi, mango purée, rock melon syrup, grapefruit juice, and mango-chamoy glaze.

This bad boy is BIG. It might be your best bang for your buck at this booth and maybe at the festival in general. It is a refreshing play on a true mangonada. The beer flavor is hidden by the mango and chamoy, and overall the flavors are well-balanced. It would be a great pick for a hot day!

Check out our full review of California Craft Brews here!

Big Bad BBQ Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese at Nuts About Cheese

The Big Bad BBQ Pulled Pork Mac and Cheesefor$9sports BBQ pulled pork and macaroni and cheese, and it’s topped with crispy dill pickle onions. We found it to be VERY tasty. The pork is cooked nicely and tastes great on its own. It’s seasoned well and the tangy barbecue adds a very pleasant sweetness.

The macaroni and cheese is creamy, delicious, and everything that good mac should be. Just make sure to get EVERYTHING in one bite to get a true explosion of flavor. (That might sound CHEESY but it’s true. 😉 ) $9 for mac and cheese is wild, but dare we say that this is worth it?

Read our full review of Nuts About Cheese here!

Olive Oil Cake at D-Lish

The Olive Oil Cakefor$7isglazed with lemon curd, topped with vanilla bean Chantilly, and finished with fresh candied lemons, strawberry crunch, and lemon-lime gelée.

This cake has so much wonderful flavor with a mix of tart and sweetness.It’s refreshing and really tastes like spring. The cake is dense but moist. The vanilla bean Chantilly cream is light and airy and adds just an extra hint of sweetness. Confession time: we couldn’t stop eating this cake. Yes, D-Lish, we WILL be back.

Check out our full review of D-Lish here.

Huckleberry Citrus Cooler at D-Lish

The Huckleberry-Citrus Coolerfor$7 is non-alcoholic but still gives us those “treat yo’self” vibes. It is made with Gold Peak Black Tea, huckleberry and agave syrups, grapefruit soda, and lemon and orange juices garnished with an orange wedge. Perhaps the perfect drink to sip on while you are in a rocking chair on your front porch watching the sunset.

It really is delicious and so refreshing. You get a nice tart lemonade flavor, but it’s still on the sweeter side. Both flavors balance each other out, though. We’re thinking this drink might be SUPER popular.

Check out our full review of D-Lish here.

BEST Returning Items for 2024

There weren’t a ton of returning bests this year, mostly just because there were so many new dishes at the 2024 festival! But there were definitely a couple of stand-outs that we have to mention.

Carbonara-Garlic Mac & Cheese at D-Lish

This dish moved to D-Lish from Garlic Kissed this year! The Carbonara Mac and Cheese is cheesy, crunchy, rich, and has tons of flavor thanks to the garlic and the bacon. You can grab it for$9.

If you’re amac and cheese aficionadoor just can’t get enoughgarlic, give this one a try.

Check out our full review of D-Lish here.

BBQ Beef Brisket Slider at Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo

We loved the BBQ Beef Brisket Slider at Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo. This slider featuresFiscalini Farmstead Smoked Cheddarwithdill picklesonsalt & pepperonbrioche. This slider is$9.

This is a GREAT sandwich. We got a generous portion of brisket, andwe loved the smoked cheddar flavorthat accompanied the meat. Thepickles on the sandwich gave a nice crunch. Thesalt and pepper brioche bun was soft and fresh and complimented the brisket perfectly.

Check out our full review of Cluck-a-Doodle Moo here.

The 2024 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival runs through April 22nd, so you have plenty of time to check out these items and more.

Have you been to this festival? Let us know in the comments!