Hunger cruise: The 10 best sandwiches to enjoy this summer at the Disneyland Resort
When you’re at the Disneyland Resort, what you eat is as integral to your experience as what you ride. Mouth-watering temptations exist around every corner, heralded by the smells. There are, of course, the standards everyone knows: the warm aroma of cinnamon and sugar wafting from the churro carts, the fried chicken at Plaza Inn, Dole Whips at Tiki Juice Bar.
But when it comes to the sandwiches that populate most menus at the resort, there are as many choices as there are dancing dolls in “It’s a Small World.” And since a typical theme park guest is more likely to have a sandwich as their meal than any other item, it can be hard to sort out which ones are worth skipping the corn dogs for.
This alphabetical list narrows it down to 10 of the best sandwiches you can eat at the Disneyland Resort and where to find them.
Battered and fried Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans
Disneyland may not have invented the Monte Cristo sandwich (it already existed in some form since the 1910s as a variation of the croque monsieur), but what Blue Bayou Restaurant did with its version in the 1960s has arguably become the golden-fried standard.
After stacking the turkey, ham and Swiss between slices of white bread, its chefs covered it in batter and then plunged it into hot oil until a crispy cocoon formed around the sandwich. Served with a side of jam and a dusting of powdered sugar, it was a hit. Its legendary status established, from that point on anyone who encountered a Monte Cristo that wasn’t deep fried had to ask, “Is it really a Monte Cristo?”
To this day you can indulge in this iconic meal at Blue Bayou, but also at Cafe Orleans, which sells it for $7 less and with a side of pomme frites. It’s the same sandwich either way. Fried but not greasy, crispy but soft, meaty but fruity, cheesy but sweet, it answers the eternal question: “What would happen if a jelly doughnut married a ham-and-cheese croissant?”
Cafe Orleans at Disneyland Park, $22
Beef birria toasted cheese at Jolly Holiday
Have you noticed birria, a Mexican stewed beef dish from Jalisco, is in everything these days? Taco vendors who used to just offer birria tacos have started making ramen with birria. Even El Pollo Loco got into the birria game recently.
Birria is hot, both literally and figuratively. The Disneyland Resort isn’t immune to the craze. Cocina Cucamonga’s quesabirria tacos at Disney’s California Adventure are still so popular that they limit guests to only two per order, lest the kitchen run out prematurely.
There are no tacos like it at Disneyland Park, but there exists a sandwich that takes birria and the French dip leanings of the quesabirria-with-consommé concept to the next logical step in evolution: a grilled cheese because, well, it was already halfway there anyway.
To eat Jolly Holiday’s “Beef Birria Toasted Cheese” — melting of Pepperjack, stuffed with the simmered meat — you dip the sandwich into a cup of spicy broth before each bite. It’s decadent, delicious and proof that, like Disneyland itself, birria innovation will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world.
Jolly Holiday at Disneyland Park, $14.49
Italian sausage sandwich at Award Wieners
Sauteed peppers, onions and Italian sausage is a classic Italian American combo — a beloved sandwich filling at East Coast boardwalks, festivals and delis. But the cooks working inside Award Wieners, the Hollywood Land landmark, have made it even better.
Along with sauteing red bell peppers and onions to sweetness, the cooks add mozzarella, crispy pepperoni pieces and pepperoncini to a topping pile-up that they also zigzag with a red pepper aioli.
It is flavor layered upon flavor, stacked on top of more flavor. It starts with the sausage, which the cooks split lengthwise and sear cut-face down to maximize browning. But even the mozzarella is griddled so that it caramelizes and clings to the bun.
Served with swoops of fried potatoes shaped like strips of movie film, this gloriously messy sandwich is the A-lister in a menu full of supporting sausage rolls. But a warning: It’s impossible to look glamorous eating it.
Award Wieners at Disney’s California Adventure, $15.49
Lobster roll at Harbour Galley
Is it your imagination? Is this riverside shack actually selling an honest-to-goodness lobster roll with a bag of chips for only $15.99? Or is it a Disney illusion like those at Haunted Mansion across the way?
You believe it when you hold the split-top buttered roll that overflows with real lobster chopped up just enough that you can still tell the claw meat apart from the tail meat. Since it’s just lightly dressed in mayo with a touch of celery, onions and citrus, you experience the lobster not as the usual melted butter delivery device but the delicacy it’s meant to be. It’s sweet, perky and as fresh as if it flew in from Maine that morning.
It’s about then you realize: This sandwich isn’t just a Disneyland bargain but a deal that beats prices in the real world where lobster rolls this size would retail for “market price,” a term that engenders an aura of foreboding on all foolish mortals.
Harbour Galley at Disneyland Park, $15.99
Mushroom Philly sandwich at Galactic Grill
Now here’s a sandwich that renders moot all efforts to develop meat substitutes. It proves that you could sub out the beef in a Philly cheesesteak for sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, red bell peppers and crispy fried onions and still end up with a satisfying, craveable and wholly delicious sandwich using something we had in abundance all along: vegetables.
Tucked inside this hearty roll is nothing but these produce aisle staples, carefully prepared to bring out their natural umami, texture and sweetness. The result is a sandwich that surpasses the sum of its parts. Heck, you might even prefer it over an actual cheesesteak.
Perhaps it’s appropriate, and maybe not coincidental, that it’s served in Tomorrowland, because, let’s face it, our future might be better off if we all preferred this sandwich over an actual cheesesteak.
Galactic Grill at Disneyland Park, $14.69
Not so Little Chicken Sandwich at Pym Test Kitchen
At the Disneyland Resort, there are attractions and there are eateries. Pym Test Kitchen is both. It begins outside, where the Wasp’s giant-sized cellphone is repurposed as a menu board. As you peruse the list, a text notification pops up. It’s Star-Lord asking to be rescued. And to bring food.
Inside the restaurant, normal-sized pretzels that dangle overhead on a conveyor enter a glass chamber, get zapped and then exit either as a snack-sized mini or a Bavarian-style behemoth.
There are oil-barrel-sized cans of soda that feed into the soft drink dispensers. And then there’s the thing you came here to order: the “Not so Little Chicken Sandwich,” a breaded chicken breast cutlet as big as your face, topped with a comically shrunken brioche bun. Never mind that you need a knife and fork to eat the thing — it’s a genius stroke of storytelling and a great post for your Insta feed.
Along with the heaping helping of humor, a load of crispy tater tots is included. But the chicken isn’t just a gimmick. It’s a legitimate and thoughtfully made Japanese-style katsu embellished with slaw, teriyaki sauce and chili mayo — it’s definitely what Star-Lord would order.
Pym Test Kitchen at Disney’s California Adventure, $15.49
Parmesan toasted patty melt at Carnation Cafe
If you’re going to have a burger at Disneyland, you might as well have the beefy, cheesy indulgence of a patty melt. And the greatest of all patty melts is found at Carnation Cafe where the cheese isn’t just on the inside, it’s on the outside too. Parmesan is fused onto the sourdough slices, transforming them into actual cheese toast.
Sink your teeth into the crispy amalgamation and discover strata of tangy house sauce, sugary grilled onions, oozy Monterey Jack, a thick hunk of burger meat and perhaps the sobering realization that the best things in life also have a tendency to shorten it.
And oh, it comes with a plate of fries.
Carnation Cafe at Disneyland Park, $19
Ronto-less Garden Wrap at Ronto Roasters
What is a “ronto”? It’s the pack animal used by Jawas on Tatooine. Its butchered meat rotates on a spit tended to by a droid pit master who toils all day at Ronto Roasters inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. If you’ve not had ronto, it tastes suspiciously similar to pork.
But those foreign to the concept of eating the flesh of an alien creature, or even the Earth-based one called a “pig,” should know that it isn’t the best sandwich at Ronto Roasters. The one you want is the one that expressly does not have ronto in it.
In fact, ask any rogue trader or smuggler visiting this remote outpost planet and they’ll swear by the “Ronto-less Garden Wrap.” It’s not because they don’t know how to handle a Blaster either. The vegetarian alternative just tastes better. The wrap swaddles a plant-based sausage that recollects bulgogi, a slaw spicy of kimchi and an assertive gochujang spread — flavors transported here to Batuu from a land far, far away called “Korea.”
Ronto Roasters at Disneyland Park, $13.99
Salmon PLT at Lamplight Lounge
Lamplight Lounge, the wildly popular gastropub with an expansive waterfront view of Pixar Pier, is the hardest reservation to snag at the Disneyland Resort right now. So if you’re lucky enough to get in, spring for the most luxurious item on this list: the Salmon PLT.
This riff on the BLT is constructed by Lamplight Lounge’s chefs to deliberately transcend the definition of the word “sandwich.” Take the filet of salmon: it’s so precisely grilled to a crisp exterior and silken interior that it should otherwise belong on a plate surrounded with gourmet sauces and artful garnishes.
But its role as sandwich filling is not in vain. Everything that joins it between the bun is prepped with just as much thought as the salmon, including the bun itself. The chefs here employ an airy toasted focaccia so as not to distract from the fillings, yet one with enough structural integrity to stand up against the stack of gourmet ingredients.
And this is a sandwich with gastropub bonafides. There’s roasted tomato seasoned with balsamic and thyme. There’s a swipe of the house-made aioli flavored with just a hint of bacon, lemon and dill. And, finally, the shatteringly crisp pancetta that makes up the “P” in “PLT,” patiently rendered to the thinness of parchment.
If all of that doesn’t already justify its $24 price tag, an order also entitles you to possibly the best French fries at the Disneyland Resort — fries that you can only have here, at Lamplight Lounge. That is, if you can get a reservation.
Lamplight Lounge at Disney’s California Adventure, $24
Smoked salmon bagel sandwich at GCH Craftsman Grill
GCH Craftsman Grill — the hidden eatery which serves as a convenient poolside commissary for Grand Californian Hotel guests during the day — offers egg-based dishes in the morning. And though you could opt for the estimable egg sandwich with ham, cheese and potato, what you want is the smoked salmon. There’s nothing quite like a good bagel, lox and schmear to start your day. Just ask a New Yorker.
But because GCH Craftsman Grill is inside a California-themed hotel, there’s arugula in it and some roasted tomatoes — things you never knew it needed. The peppery greens balance the satin saltiness of the salmon while the acidity of the tomato tames the dairy richness of the caper cream cheese “schmear.” Eaten in concert with the side of fresh fruit, it’s a hearty but light fuel for a day navigating the Manhattan subway system or chasing children around theme park queues, both now made less daunting by a good breakfast.
GCH Craftsman Grill at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, no admission to theme park required, $18
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