After a spending some time in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and getting one ride in on Alien Swirling Saucers, we headed over to the entrance for Roundup Rodeo BBQ early. This was opening weekend for the new restaurant, and after I looked at the menu while working on this post and noticing just how accommodating the menu was for guests with multiple food allergies, I wanted to get in there and see if it was really as awesome as it seemed. Spoiler Alert: It was!
Now, like I mentioned in my Trip Report for Hollywood Studios, this meal took a few hours out of our day, by far the longest time we spend in any of the table service restaurants we visited. There are a couple things I attribute the extra time to: like I said, this was opening weekend and the team seemed like they were trying to work out all the details and get into the groove. But also, allergy-safe prep takes extra time across property in general. The chef has to come out, things may need to get looked up before you can place your order, and instead of grabbing things that are already being prepped en masse, the chef generally has to make your food completely from scratch with separate cookware.
I left my rollator in stroller parking when we went inside. It was pretty crowded in there, our table was near the back, and I wasn’t comfortable trying to navigate the packed walkways with my mobility device. We were seated at a round table right behind the giant Bo Peep figure. It was a booth with a couple chairs, one of which we swapped to the highchair for the youngest. The chairs here are armless, so they shouldn’t be an issue for someone with wider hips.
When we were seated, we let our server know that we needed to speak with the chef before we could order. It took a few minutes, but Chef Michelle was wonderful! She confirmed that I was able to eat all of the meats, and we went over what options I had for sides. I asked if the rest of the table was going to be limited to the sides I was getting, because I didn’t want to restrict them to the mostly plain version of the handful of things I was able to eat. The restaurant has things like fried pickles and macaroni and cheese – not safe for my allergies, but some of my kids favorite sides. Even though the menu says you pick four for the table to share, I was allowed to pick four sides for myself, and the others shared the “table sides.”
We let Chef Michelle know that my wife and I were interested in trying the Partysaurus Tex specialty drink, and we learned that the chefs don’t have the allergen info for the drinks in their devices. She had to run to the back to investigate whether we were were safe to have the gummy worms (this added to the time it took for this meal, but in the end we were able to safely order the drink.)
Dessert was tricky. For my wife, the options were fantastic. She was able to choose between three desserts (Gruff’s Peach-Strawberry Pie, Bo’s Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake, and Goat’s Apple Pie). On the other hand, there were no desserts that were safe for me at the restaurant. I even asked if they had any of the ever-popular raspberry sorbet floating around anywhere, but no luck. I have heard from more recent guests that the sorbet has finally made it’s way into the Roundup Rodeo BBQ kitchen for guests who can’t do the other desserts.
When the food finally came out, we dug in. In place of the cheddar biscuits, my wife and I got Bloomfield Farms rolls, and the Sweet Pepper Jelly was safe for all my allergies. Let me tell you, that jelly was one of my favorite parts of this meal. It was SO good!!
Next up: the salads. Wheezy’s Watermelon Salad is just watermelon with ripped up mint leaves. As long as you like watermelon, you’ll like this. The Rootin’ Tootin’ Tomato Salad was my favorite of the three options. It had great flavor and texture. The Rex’s Romaine and Kale Salad usually comes with the Green Goddess dressing, but that isn’t safe for me. I’m also not a fan of the texture of kale. I did try the salad plain, and they offered to get me extra dressing from the tomato salad, but I really wasn’t a big fan of this dish.
The meats were good. I loved the presentation of the “There’s a Sausage in my Boot,” coiled up like a snake on a skewer. The brisket was a little bit too fatty for my taste. My favorite of the meats was the ribs. The ingredients of the sauces were all safe for my allergies, but I do worry about prior cross contact with other guests’ food.
For my sides, I chose the Buckin’ Baked Beans (which are safe for me as they normally come – but heads up if you have a latex allergy, because this is made with jackfruit which is known to cross-react with latex allergies), the Campfire Roasted Vegetables (also safe for me without modifications), and two modified sides. The Cowpoke Corn on the Cob and The Married Spuds are not safe for my allergies due to dairy (both) and egg (The Married Spuds specifically), but they were able to make them for me without the toppings. Note: the potato barrels are cooked in highly refined soybean oil, which I don’t react to, but guests who avoid soybean oil should skip this one.
The Baked Beans were not my thing. I think it was probably the jackfruit, but there was some kind of taste there that I was not expecting, and it wasn’t doing it for me. After a couple bites, I passed it off to my wife to try. The corn was plain grilled corn on the cob. Nothing special, but definitely good. I personally loved the potato barrels and the campfire roasted veggies. Those were my two favorite sides.
As for the drink, I don’t think I’ll pay $6.50 for a drink that uses Minute Maid lemonade as a base again. I didn’t even taste the strawberry puree, and the gummy worms were fun but it just didn’t do it for my taste buds. I’ve mostly been trying to avoid soda for the last several months (I sugar crash hard from it, and caffeine doesn’t make me feel great) so I was trying to find something else fun to drink here, but the fountain drink or even water would have been a better option for me personally. It wasn’t bad, just not what I was expecting. Like I said before I wasn’t able to get dessert here at all, but my family all enjoyed their choices. The youngest, who got the Forky cupcake, decided to play with his food instead of eating it, and we ended up with a very thoroughly soaked Forky cupcake and water with chocolate cake crumbs. The oldest kid also had a Forky Cupcake, but she took hers to go. The Chef brought a to-go cup over for her with hers in it. She was stuffed. The middle kid and my wife both went for the cheesecake, and were delighted.
Every 15-30 minutes, Sarge would come over the speaker in the restaurant with an alert. Sometimes, you’d have to freeze as Andy was coming, but I think my favorite announcement was the Partysaurus Tex one, where you had to dance like a dinosaur. My toddler absolutely loved that one. It was a pretty fun addition to the atmosphere of the restaurant. The kids were also given coloring pages to keep themselves entertained while we waited, which was NOT something we saw at the other Disney restaurants.
The other thing I wanted to note about this restaurant was the companion restroom. Not all Disney restaurants have accessible bathrooms (looking at you, Liberty Tree Tavern) and not all the restroom areas in the parks have companion restrooms separate from the chaos of the gendered communal restroom areas with a bunch of stalls. I much prefer using the companion restrooms that are set aside from the others, for ease of maneuvering my mobility device, extra room, and if I need help from my wife during a medical issue, it doesn’t leave my kids all hovering in the main walking area of the women’s room, crowding it up for everyone else. One thing I appreciated about this one in particular was that the changing table was slightly lower to the ground than many of the ones I’ve seen in public. This meant that when I needed to change the toddler, I was able to sit on my rollator seat instead of hurting myself by standing all hunched over trying to rush through a change. This restroom is through the archway to the left once you enter the restaurant.
And finally, the menu for anyone who wants to see it:
Access the Mouse 