Anyone been to 50's prime time lately ?

[bigdisneydaddy 9]

Has anyone been to the studio's and enjoyed the 50's prime time lately? We are thinking about going again with a larger group.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

We haven't been in a couple of years, but here's a review I found on the Disney Food Blog from February...

Review: 50s Prime Time Cafe

Feb 20th, 2011 by AJ.

Let’s go back in time to the 1950s when TV was the latest technology and food was simple and delicious. Meatloaf, fried chicken, pot roast — you can’t go wrong!

Over at 50s Prime Time Cafe in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, get ready for a fun, interactive meal in Mom’s kitchen. That’s right — the whole place is decorated like a kitchen straight out of the 1950s, including accessories, decorations, calendars, and even those old black-and-white TVs!

But make sure you eat all your veggies and keep your elbows off the table… you never know when Mom’s watching!

Atmosphere

When you walk into 50s Prime Time Cafe, you’ll find yourself right in between Dad’s Living Room and Mom’s Kitchen. Dad’s Living Room is the waiting area for the restaurant, while Mom’s Kitchen is the main dining room. Here’s a tip: When you check in, ask for a TV table. While they can’t guarantee it, cross your fingers — you’ll see why later!

Hopefully you’ll have a bit of time to explore Dad’s Living Room while you wait for your table. Everything in the room(s), from the wallpaper to the knick knacks to the furniture, is vintage and fabulous.

One of Dad's Living Rooms To your right, and directly ahead of you, is the Tune-In Lounge. This is where Dad’s liquor cabinet can be found, and the bar also serves meals should you not be able to get a reservation at the restaurant.

Full Bar at Tune In Lounge Pretty soon, your name will be called for seating. This is one of my favorite parts of the meal as the servers call out your last name along with the word “kids” after it as though they’re calling you to come in from dinner after a long afternoon of playing outside: “Mom’s got dinner ready for the Wolfe kids! Wolfe kids — time for dinner!” I’m easily amused.

Anyway, as you pass by the refrigerator and head into the main dining room, see if any other “kids” have left mom a message!

Refrigerator Message Keep your eyes wide open in the dining room as there’s so much to take in! 50s Prime Time Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in Disney World for this reason — the themeing is absolutely outstanding. I can only imagine how many thrift shops and garage sales were turned upside-down in the hunt for many of these classic items. How many of these do you remember from your kitchen when you were a kid?

One of the 50s Prime Time Cafe Dining Rooms

50s Prime Time Cafe Decor And remember when I said to ask for a TV table? Here’s why! What better way to eat your lunch or dinner than while watching some of the best TV ever made?!?

TV Table Dick van Dyke, Donna Reed, Topper, Car 54 Where Are You?, Dennis the Menace, The Mickey Mouse Club, I Married Joan…sigh. There are even little “public service announcements” for the teenagers giving them great tips on 1950’s dating! Where else in Disney World are you going to get that?!

But don’t spend too much time staring! It’s time to meet your server, who just happens to be your cousin, Aunt, or Uncle! Because you’re eating in Mom’s kitchen, it made sense to Disney to have a family member serve you. Of course, the server isn’t your real family member, but it’s fun to play along. If you ask, they might even have a family album to show you!

Now, if you’re headed to 50s Prime Time Cafe for the first time, here’s a an important bit of information to understand: the servers are instructed to banter with the guests and treat them as though they’re kids eating at Mom’s kitchen table. That means no elbows on the table, no chewing with your mouth open, and no skimping on those veggies! If your caught, several things could potentially happen:

• You could find yourself standing in the corner
• You could be made to sing “I’m a Little Teapot” in front of the whole restaurant
• You could find your server making airplane noises, armed with a fork full of green beans headed for your mouth

Here’s an example of what you might expect:

I’m sure they’ve thought up a few other punishments, but just be wary! (By the way, if you’re not interested in the antics, just let your server know at the beginning that you’d rather just watch the fun rather than be a part of it.)

Eats

The menu here is short and simple. Mom and Dad’s favorites are here — meatloaf, fried chicken, pot roast, and chicken pot pie are the staples — along with a few extras to spice it up.

Click for Larger Image My favorite appetizer, sadly, was dropped off of the menu a couple of years ago (a fried boursin cheese — delicious), so these days I stick with the onion rings. These are thick and greasy — just they way they should be. Also, the chicken noodle soup is some of the best in Disney World here; definitely worth a try if you’ve got a soup fan at the table.

Onion Rings On this recent trip, I added a margarita to the appetizer mix along with a PB&J milkshake, a guest favorite at 50s Prime Time Cafe. The margarita was pretty plain. If you’re going to order from Dad’s Liquor Cabinet, consider trying one of the mixed drinks on the menu.

Margarita The PB&J shake was great, but there wasn’t much J to it. I tasted a lot of vanilla and a lot of PB, though, so if you’re a peanut butter lover, this shake is for you! I’m pretty addicted to the chocolate malt shakes at 50s Prime Time Cafe, though, so I think I’ll stick with that next time.

PB and J Milkshake

Milkshake Close Up Now, didja catch that viewfinder sitting next to the shake? That’s the dessert menu at 50s Prime Time Cafe! Just another great addition to the fun themeing at the restaurant, and another reason why I love this place so much.

After the apps, we launched into our favorite entrees here: Aunt Liz’s Fried Chicken and Mom’s Old-Fashioned Pot Roast. The fried chicken is wonderful here. While it probably won’t be a great substitute for your Mom’s or grandma’s recipe, it’s still quite good, and I’ve never heard anyone say differently. The mashed potatoes here are “so-so.” They won’t be winning any DFB Choice Awards anytime soon, but they’re edible The generous portion is served with southern greens, but I always ask for green beans instead for fear I’ll end up in the corner if I don’t finish my greens!

Aunt Liz's Fried chicken The pot roast here doesn’t quite match up to the version at Liberty Tree Tavern, but it still garners a thumbs up and is well worth the order.

Mom's Pot Roast Moving on to dessert, I was very excited to try a new Boston Cream Pie cupcake I’d been hearing about. But, alas, it had been taken off the menu just a few weeks prior to our visit. It had been replaced with a 50s Boston Cream Parfait — layers of vanilla cream (really more of a custard), chocolate fudge, and pound cake. Let’s just say this wasn’t an appealing substitute for the cupcake from what I’d heard. While I took a few bites of the parfait, I didn’t get much further than that. Instead, I battled my husband for his dessert, which was much better.

Boston Cream Parfait

Close Up of Boston Cream Parfait The seasonal cobbler was apple, and whenever there’s an apple cobbler out there we order it! This one didn’t pass my numero uno apple cobbler test (the apples were canned and not fresh), but the cobbler/granola was good, and the ice cream was plentiful and delicious.

Apple Cobbler All in all the desserts were pretty much a dud this time around (definitely should have gone for that chocolate malt shake and Dad’s Brownie Sundae or the S’mores). We’ll know better next time. From previous trips, I can highly recommend Dad’s Brownie Sundae.

Overall

I’m a sucker for 50s Prime Time Cafe. I think the themeing is phenomenal, the service is great, and I love the fun interaction between servers and guests. The food isn’t 5-star, but I just love that fried chicken, and as long as it’s there, I’ll be one happy guest.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Here's a good version of the menu...

[vacamper 6]

We enjoyed our meal here, love the fried ckn and greens.

[disney4dan 68]

We were just there on the 11th, and the food was great. Our server was not as into the whole theme as much as we have had for servers years ago, but he was quick with refills. Nobody was sent to the corner and only one person (our oldest, Justin) was forced to eat his vegetables.

This was our first trip where we tried the whole notifying WDW Dining in advance of Justin's Celiac disease and not being able to eat wheat, oats or barley. The chef came out and they went through the menu and what was available, etc. - but the thing I did not realize is that these chefs will prepare the food separate from the other food prep area to avoid cross contamination. That was pretty cool, but I think a 19yo would rather not have to deal with it.

I had the Mom's Favorites Sampler and it was great - some food pictures of kitties shots (so I'm a little slow but just realized that "pictures of kitties" replaces the "prawn" part of "food prawn" ) in my sad attempt to a live TR on the trip reports board. Everyone liked their meals, including my BIL who ordered salmon despite not being a big fan of salmon. He wanted to see if he had just not had it prepared right before and he thought it was great.

Nancy got the PB&J milkshake and thought you could not really taste the jelly, but the peanut butter flavor was great. I had a root beer float and was really hoping it would be served in a class A&W Root Beer mug, but got a normal glass.

At desert time, we got the desert menu handed to us on typical menu cards, not with the viewer. We had ten at the table, so maybe they were running out of the other?

Some of the food we were served:

Mom's Favorite Sampler

The salmon dish

Matt got the chicken noodle soup, was just starting to come down with the flu he picked up on the flight and we did not know yet!

One of the kids meals with pasta

'Smores

Fruit (apple) cobbler

Justin's gluten free brownie sundae made fresh for him

His brother Matt ate most of it :dance:

Edited August 21, 2011 by disney4dan

[bigdisneydaddy 9]

Thanks for the trip report... LOL We may have someone on this next trip that has the same Gluten issues so thats good info for us. I think Disney does a great job with special requests.

[We4mickey 6]

We were there in March and everything our group had was good. We had a so, so waitress to start with and then someone else took over, Uncle Gary, as he liked to call himself. He was fantastic! I do have to say though, they were running behind in the ressies and we ended up waiting almost an hour and a half for our table. It did blow a lot of park time. Food was really good and Uncle Gary made up for it!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

We really enjoy 50's Prime Time!! I LOVE the Pot Roast!! Hubby declares the Fried Chicken wonderful!!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

It just so happens FortFiends.net has a page in the Restaurants & Menus section for 50s Prime Time Cafe. Check it out HERE!

This public service announcement brought to you by Snarky...:purpleflam:

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We were there in May. Our server wasn't great, but the food was really good.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Love that place. I could make a meal of the PB&J milkshake.