Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch Review

One of the aspects of Disney World dining that often frustrates me is the inconsistency of the food. What is my favorite restaurant one trip will often be mediocre the next trip and terrible the next. This is one of the reasons I always think of Liberty Tree Tavern as one of my all-time favorite Disney World restaurants. I have never not enjoyed my meal there.

On our most recent trip we were seated in the George Washington room. One of the many things I love about Liberty Tree Tavern is the theme. As a youngster watching "Johnny Tremain" I was always a sucker for colonial tales and revolutionary war stories. Maybe I'm a serious patriot who can't help but be inspired by the story of our nation's founding...maybe I love fun hats. Either way Liberty Tree Tavern is right up my alley.

George Washington Room

I now must share a shocking revelation: Despite eating here as our first meal nearly every trip, we always order just about the same things. I suppose the logic is: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We always start off with the fried cheese, which is one of many highlights of the meal. The appetizer comes with two varieties of cheese, both engineered to be particularly unhealthy. The first version is probably the normal mozzarella cheese stick you're accustomed to, and they're quite good. The breading is crispy and the cheese is a great consistency. I'd rate them up there with some of my favorite cheese sticks, however it's the other cheese, which we call the "cheese curds," which are the show-stopper. As good as the sticks are, I'd trade them all for a couple of extra curds.

Tavern Fried Cheese

Because I'm a glutton and usually hungry, I also throw in the clam chowder. It's a pretty standard clam chowder, but that's good in my book. The clam taste is pretty subtle and it's thick and hearty.

Clam Chowder

Now that we've finished with the appetizers (and I'm stuffed, but I push through it!), we come to the tumultuous decision that always defines my trip to Liberty Tree Tavern: The pot roast, or the burger?

It's something of an overstatement to describe this as a decision, because I always pick the same thing, but I'm always torn. When I first started coming to this fine establishment, the pot roast was a revelation. It had a rich and flavorful gravy and the mashed potatoes were excellent. All of this was topped off with magnificent crispy fried onion strips that pulled the whole thing together. Well, these days everything I described is the same, except in a blatant attempt to hurt me they've removed the onion strips. It's still delicious but not quite the same.

Pot Roast

The burger on the other hand is the same excellent burger that they've always had. We order it with cheddar and bacon because...well...why wouldn't you order it with cheddar and bacon? I personally think that it's the bun that really makes this burger. The bun's taste is very complimentary to a fairly straightforward but well-prepared burger. The fries are also excellent. Crispy on the outside with quite a lot of potato on the inside.

Burger with Cheddar and Bacon

Of course in a nod to nostalgia I always order the pot roast, even though it's a shadow of its former self. I then set to lobbying my wife to order the burger so that I can steal most of it, which is the best of both worlds (at least for me). Unfortunately sometimes she goes off the script and orders the pasta, which is not bad but not worth stealing. This time I got lucky though.

Another under-appreciated component of Liberty Tree Tavern is the consistent service. Our servers have ranged from "super-star" to "not bad," which is much better than the range at most Disney restaurants. Plus we've had more superstars than not, so service is another box ticked for this restaurant.

Finally we come to the decadent close to the meal. The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is an absolute must-have. There is nothing subtle about this dessert -- Cake with chocolate chips, with ice cream on top, covered in caramel and toffee bits. They throw some sprinkles on there too, but I find they get in the way. In fact my tip for the day is to order the cake without them. They just distract from the intense sweetness. Ditch them...you'll thank me.

Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake

This trip to Liberty Tree Tavern was just as good as prior ones. We were on a tight time schedule and the server was accommodating. The food was up to its usual standards and I left in physical pain from eating too much. When it comes to Disney Dining a consistently good experience is something to write home about.