We spent our first night of our Disney vacation at Disney Springs, where we had dinner reservations. T Rex Cafe gluten free options are plentiful and what I had was a winner!
If you’ve been following along on my blog, you know I just got home from a long vacation to Disney World. You can read all about that vacation in my post here. In that post, I listed all the places we ate and said I would eventually be doing gluten free reviews of each one. The first place we ate was T Rex Cafe, so here we are!!
We had never been to T Rex Cafe at Disney Springs before this trip, but we knew my two little nephews would love seeing the dinosaurs. So my sister chose to use her dinner pick for T Rex so the boys could enjoy it.
T Rex Cafe is owned by the same company who owns the Rainforest Cafe. If you’ve never been to a Rainforest Cafe, they aren’t known for their food but more for the effects. T Rex has effects that would make any dinosaur lover happy.
About every 20 minutes there’s a “meteor shower” with lots of loud sounds, and movement of the animatronic dinosaurs inside. If your kids are old enough, they’ll probably really enjoy it. But I could see how it might be a little scary for younger ones.
The Check-in Process at T Rex Cafe
When we arrived, we had to stand in a fairly long line to check in for our dining reservation. However, when we finally got to the check-in booth they said that they couldn’t accommodate our party of 12!! My sister is a Disney travel agent and she made the reservation six months in advance. But because T Rex isn’t owned by Disney they don’t give confirmation numbers.
They told us we’d have to wait longer to see if they sit us all down at the same time! They said they didn’t have a table big enough. Haha! Like ANYONE has a table big enough for 12 people! You just put several tables together. I mean, duh!!!!!
After having to wait even longer, we finally got the okay to wait in the line to get our menus. What???? Yep. After you wait in a long line outside, you get told to wait in another line to get your menus. It was the most ridiculous thing ever!
T Rex Cafe Gluten Free Menu Options
When we were seated, our waitress gave me a gluten free menu but asked if I wanted the chef to come to the table. I told her I didn’t need the chef because I already knew what I was getting and had no questions.
In the confusion of our check in and wanting to see everyone, I forgot to take pictures of the gluten free menu!! Go easy on me, though (please?). It was my first night and only my second review of a restaurant ever. At least they have the gluten free menu online so I could include it in this post.
My Gluten Free Entree
I wasn’t feeling like an appetizer, so I just chose an entree. The fire-roasted rotisserie chicken sounded good, but I ended up choosing the Cobb salad. Cobb salad is one of my favorite salads ever. My niece ordered the fire-roasted chicken and said it was really good. She isn’t gluten free.
For T Rex not being known for spectacular food, I have to say that this Cobb salad was delicious! I had Cobb salad once at the Brown Derby, where it originated, and I think T Rex’s was better than that!!
There were nice big chunks of bacon and the balsamic viniagrette was sweet and savory, perfect for this salad. But the star of the salad was the chicken.
Chicken is often grilled in salads, and most of the time it’s really dry. This chicken was more like rotisserie chicken off the bone. There were large chunks of it and it was moist and succulent. There was a perfect balance of every ingredient in the salad and I loved every bit of it. I almost ate the whole thing!!
I didn’t get dessert because we were going to stop by Sprinkles Cupcake Shop and get a gluten free cupcake. However, it was a Saturday night and the line was out the door. After waiting so long for dinner, I just didn’t feel like waiting in yet another long line. I knew we’d have our share of long lines over the next two weeks anyway.
I think you’ll really enjoy eating at T Rex Cafe if you can get past the initial check-in hassle. Your kids will love getting a chance to be immersed in a prehistoric scene! Will you put this restaurant on your next advanced dining reservation?
So glad the food was so yummy! But what a horrible start to the meal with all that waiting even after your sister had made the reservation so far in advance. I had a magnificent meal at Rainforest Cafe. They made me fish tacos off menu, I almost always talk to the chef, and they were some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever had. Bummer about the line at Sprinkles, those cupcakes are fabulous.
I always loved Rainforest Cafe, especially their Rasta Pasta. Fish tacos sound AMAZING!! I like to talk to the chef, too, unless I already know what I want from the allergy menu.
I’ve never had a Sprinkles cupcake before and really wanted one, but the rest of my family just wasn’t feeling it so we left. I’ll just make my own cupcakes if I want one, haha!