Roundup Rodeo BBQ – Restaurant Review

Hollywood Studios has needed more table service dining options for a long time.  We were very excited when Disney announced that Toy Story Land was getting its own Western themed table service restaurant, Roundup Rodeo BBQ.  Roundup Rodeo BBQ opened in April fully booked, and it remains a popular table service option.  This is likely to be a hard to get table service reservation for months, if not years, to come.

Most of the preliminary reviews I read for Roundup Rodeo BBQ were positive if not glowing. We went into this meal primed to love it.  We were excited to have a new option for lunch or dinner, and I was thrilled to have secured a dinner reservation for our first planned Hollywood Studio visit of the trip.

The Good

Roundup Rodeo BBQ is themed perfectly to Toy Story Land.  It fits right in, and the decor feels very similar to Toy Story Mania or Slinky Dog Dash.  The design and decor of the restaurant itself, as well as the exterior waiting area and entrance to the restaurant area, are really well done and very cute.  The colors are bright and cheerful, and there is a LOT to look at.

The final design looks a lot like the original concept art Disney gave us when they first announced Roundup Rodeo BBQ was coming.  You can check that out Here or Here.

We absolutely loved the theming.  If you aren’t aware, the premise of Roundup Rodeo BBQ is that Andy has assembled all his toys in the backyard for a Rodeo.  There are audio tracks playing throughout your meal that feature Toy Story characters announcing various Rodeo events or activities.  A fun element is that every so often the Green Army Men will announce that Andy is coming, and all cast members in Roundup Rodeo BBQ (and lots of participating restaurant guests) freeze.

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Another good thing we liked about Roundup Rodeo BBQ is the price point.  Adults are $45 per person plus tax for all you care to enjoy, and children 9 and under are $25 per person plus tax, again for all you care to enjoy.  The food is served family style, and guests are welcome to request more food if they desire.  Meals include biscuits with jam, three salads, four meats, dessert and a soft drink, tea, coffee, milk or juice.  Specialty beverages are available for an additional cost.

The Bad

You can review the full menu for Roundup Rodeo BBQ Here.

Unfortunately, as happy as we were with the theming and the price point, we were disappointed by the food.  Specifically, we really did not like the entree options for this meal.  Disney has elected to go with hickory smoked for the entree meats, and hickory smoked is a very strong flavor.  I have no doubt that the meats themselves are of high quality; however the hickory smoked flavor overrode the taste of the meats themselves.  If you are a fan of hickory smoked, I’m sure you will love these meats.

Here are the meats you get with your meal: (Note there’s a plant based option that you can order instead of the meats—we did not try that option.)

While I normally really enjoy barbecue, I have to admit that the overpowering hickory smoked flavor of these meats was NOT something I liked.  Rodeo Roundup BBQ provides three different BBQ sauces for guests to add to their meat selections, and I tried all three.  All three sauces were flavorful and tasty on their own, and offer BBQ flavors popular all over the United States.  One sauce was sweet (my favorite), one was tangy and the third had more kick.

I was hoping that adding the sauce would temper the overpowering hickory smoke flavor—this was most successful with the chicken, but it still didn’t make this a successful meal for us.

The ribs, in my opinion were inedible.  They were very hard, almost a beef jerky texture.  The beef brisket was cooked well, but again that hickory smoke flavor was so strong, the brisket was difficult to enjoy.  We had suggested to our waiter that he leave the fire grilled pork sausage out of our meat basket, since neither one of us are big fans.  Our waiter was insistent that we should try it—he said it was SO good, and that we really needed to try it.  So we did.  It was good, I’ll agree, but the andouille sausage I’d had the day before at Tucker House was better!

The Ugly

I’m sorry to say that we found the sides even more disappointing than the meats were.  We were told to choose four options from the various side options available.  Sides offered include:

The four choices we chose were Force Field Fried Pickles, Cowpoke Corn on the Cob, Campfire Roasted Vegetables, and Mean Old Potato Salad.  Of these, the best was the Mean Old Potato Salad, but it was kind of boring.

The biggest disappointment was the Cowpoke Corn on the Cob.  The description on the menu said “Grilled Street Corn”.  We weren’t expecting the corn to have so much “stuff” on it.  When we asked the waiter, he explained that it was “Mexican Street Corn”.  I have had Mexican Street Corn before, but it was nothing like this. I’m sure there are lots of different ways to make the dish, but I’m not sure this preparation is the best choice for such a large and varied audience that includes so many children.  I could see a lot of kids refusing to eat this corn.  The waiter told us that the corn can be ordered as just buttered grilled corn on the cob—that would likely be more appealing to a wider audience.

Final Thoughts on Roundup Rodeo BBQ

We will most likely not be returning to Roundup Rodeo BBQ for a table service meal in the future, unless we hear they make changes to the menu.  While we loved the theming, the atmosphere and most of the cast members we talked to, the food just was not enjoyable for us.

I loved the biscuit with the sweet pepper jam, and could have cheerfully eaten more of those—they were buttery soft, warm and scrumptious.  Another highlight for me was my adult beverage.  I tried the Rattler Rum Punch and loved it!

We both got Billy’s Chocolate Silk Pie for dessert—that was a perfect sized portion, and all the dessert options looked terrific.

I’m glad we tried it, and we really enjoyed the environment and the theming.  I’m also really happy  that there is an additional table service restaurant available in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and specifically in Toy Story Land.  While I’m sure Roundup Rodeo will appeal to many families—please keep in mind the strong hickory smoke flavor—if your family does not like that flavor, this meal will not be the success it could otherwise be.

You Might Love it!

As I said at the beginning, I really wanted to love Roundup Rodeo BBQ.  I’m sad that I didn’t love it—and I’m even more disappointed that I didn’t even like it enough to return. Please keep in mind that these are my opinions, and your mileage may vary.  Anecdotally, I did talk to a few other guests during our trip that had also tried Roundup Rodeo BBQ, and they shared similar thoughts and opinions—but that could absolutely have gone the other way, I’m sure.

So, here’s the big question: Have you tried Roundup Rodeo BBQ?  What did you think?  If you haven’t tried it yet, do you plan to?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Happy Dreaming,

Brooke