REVIEW: “Anything But Low Key” — This Disney’s Hollywood Studios Restaurant Dishes Out Comfort Food AND a Sideshow

There are SO many dining options at Disney World! That is both good and bad. The good news is that you can probably find just about anything that you are craving, but the bad news is that also means you have a lot of options to choose from.

If you are looking for a dining experience with a heavy emphasis on the experience, you might want to check out 50’s Prime Time Cafe in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We stopped by recently, and now we are bringing you our FULL review!

Background

Are you ready to take a step back in time and a step back into your mom’s kitchen? Well, if you said yes, then do we have the restaurant for you!

50’s Prime Time Cafe is serving up classic American comfort food in a 50’s themed restaurant that features Mom and the extended family serving you! Now, keep in mind, that they are going to be treating you like family, so mind your manners (keep those elbows off the table!) and make sure you eat all your vegetables.

Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.

Atmosphere

50’s Prime Time Cafe is a blast from the past and you better bring a sense of humor because Mom and the extended family are doling out punishments to the misbehaving boys and girls. This restaurant takes you right back to the 1950’s with vinyl chairs, Formica tables, lots of bold colors, retro decorations, and plenty of laughs.

When you are here, you are family, and your server is going to treat you like it! Be prepared for just about anything and make sure you mind your manners. You will probably want to make sure you wash your hands after using the bathroom (and pay attention to the details!) and cleaning your plate might just be rewarded here.

If classic American comfort food and servers that treat you like family isn’t enough, you also get to watch TV while eating dinner! From your table, you can watch a retro TV and enjoy some black and white clips from some of the popular shows of the 1950’s. Dinner and a show!

But enough about that, what are we eating?!

Food & Drinks

Starting off, we had to grab the Peanut Butter & Jelly Milk Shake for $9.25. This is one of our favorites here, so, of course, we needed to make sure it still tastes as good as we remembered! This really does taste like you’re drinking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from a cup, and while it was fairly thick, we could drink it from the straw no problem. It isn’t an overpowering PB&J flavor, but you can definitely taste it. We totally enjoyed it, and recommend trying it if you want something other than your classic vanilla or chocolate!

For an appetizer, we grabbed the Cornbread Skillet for $10, which is served with butter and honey.

This is a LOT, so we recommend sharing, but it was delicious! The cornbread was moist, fluffy, and sweet, and was served with some slabs of butter that were drizzled with honey. It is a great portion of cornbread, especially for the price. It’s not unique, per se, but it’s something you won’t regret grabbing!

For our meal, we got the A Sampling of Mom’s Favorite Recipes for $32. This dish comes with golden-fried chicken, fork tender pot roast, and traditional meatloaf with all the fixin’s.

Starting with the meatloaf, it was juicy and flavorful with some great seasoning and some ketchup flavor to it. It was a fairly small piece, but we understood why with how much food is on this plate. Next was the pot roast, which was probably our favorite on the sampler. It was very tender and juicy, had a decent amount of fat to it, and it was served with some veggies. The seasoning on the meat, which tasted like pepper, onion, and herbs to us, was wonderful, and we couldn’t get enough!

The fried chicken had a great crispy coating on the outside and the chicken was wonderfully moist on the inside. We do wish there was a sauce served with it, but you could dip it in the sauce from the green beans or mashed potatoes if you’d like. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but we did enjoy it!

Finally, for dessert we got the Neapolitan Bar for $8.50. This is two layers of mousse, vanilla and strawberry, layered over a chocolate cake brownie served with raspberry sauce and whipped cream.

This dessert almost tastes like a strawberry milk cheesecake on top of chocolate cake. It wasn’t our favorite dessert we’ve have ever had, but it was still pretty good, especially if you enjoy this flavor combination. It was much larger than we anticipated, which made it a great deal for the price, so we were happy to see that!

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• You are looking for a dinner and a show! Not only can you dine on some yummy food, but your servers will likely be keeping you very entertained with their shenanigans, plus you can watch some retro TV.
• Your group is craving classic American comfort food.
• You love all things 1950s.

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• You want a low-key meal where your servers aren’t going to punish you for things.
• You want a restaurant with a variety healthy options.
• You are in a rush or on a budget.

Our reporter admitted she’s avoided this restaurant for years because she was nervous about the teasing aspect, but she was pleasantly surprised that she really enjoyed the meal! The servers mess with you and other guests a bit, but it was always light hearted and it never made us feel uncomfortable. Some of their shenanigans were throwing straws, they gave out Clean Plate Club stickers, asked what color the soap was when you washed your hands, and our favorite was if you told them something on your plate was good, our server yelled, “Mom, they said they liked your food!” back to the kitchen!

Some of the waiters were a bit more up in your business, but it also seems they tend to go more towards larger groups, but they also seemed to be able to read each table very well — if someone wasn’t a fan of the teasing, they’d back off without needing to be told. Everyone we saw was laughing along and having a good time!

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disney World and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

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Have you eaten at this Disney World restaurant before? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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