This review reflects our experience in May of 2015.
Located along Echo Lake in Disney’s Hollywood Studios you will find a fun and funky restaurant. 50’s Prime Time Cafe takes you back in time to the, as you would guess, the 1950’s. Here you enjoy your meal in Mom’s kitchen fit with classic televisions and funky decor. We have enjoyed 50’s Prime Time in the past but not so much this time.
Previously there was an option on the menu here that featured vegan meatballs. When we arrived we were unaware they had been removed from the menu. Much to our disbelief we asked our waitress where “Sissy’s Vegetarian Meatballs” had gone, she informed us that they had just rolled out a new menu just days before because of the addition of the Allergy-Free menus.
She brought out an Allergy-Free menu for us and told us she would grab a chef for us to speak to. We noticed there was now vegetarian meatballs on the allergy menu but they didn’t say they included egg allergies. After minutes passed and she had walked by our table several times she informed us she would try to grab a chef again. After she left Chef Michael came out and informed that they did in fact use egg for the new meatless balls.
While speaking with Chef Michael I asked about vegan milkshakes as we have previously gotten them here. He told us they could no longer do them because of the allergy concerns and cross contamination. I asked about a coke float and he agreed to do that. We talked about our options for our meal and he mentioned some sort of layered vegetable Napoleon. He asked which vegetables we would like and went on his way to the kitchen.
A minute after he left us our waitress returned with a different chef. He didn’t seem too happy to be talking to us and was being very pushy. We had informed him that we had just spoken to Chef Michael and he kept asking us what we wanted to eat. He then told us the meatless meatballs contained egg then said they did not. This made us feel very uneasy because he just seemed like he wanted us to eat something on the menu and not have to make anything else. We finally convinced him that we were taken care of and he left.
Our food finally came out and we were incredibly disappointed. We had just spent $20 per person on something a toddler would eat. We had spaghetti with a little bit of tomato sauce with green beans and carrots on the side. Now we understand they can’t make a lavish dish with a ton of vegetables because they can only make food with what is in the kitchen, but again, this was a disappointment. The pasta was boring, the veggies weren’t seasoned.
I also received a coke float with Tofutti vanilla ice cream. Luckily I got this otherwise I would have left even more disappointed. Corey opted for a special allergy-friendly brownie sundae which he said was very good. The brownie was more like a cake slice and the dessert saved his meal for him too.
We spoke to Chef Michael about some potential items for vegans since the meatballs are no longer vegan friendly. We really hope they will come out with a new vegan item here but until we see a change on the menu we will not be back. No milkshakes and no vegan meatballs means no eating at 50’s Prime Time Cafe for us.
Would we go back?
Not until we see a vegan friendly change, this was not a great experience.
Price?
$$
Corey & Melissa
Visit August 2018: Oh how I wish I would have seen this BEFORE eating here. This is my friend’s fave place, so I opted for the “spaghetti primavera.” Even thought I asked for extra veggies, it was noodles with peas and green beans, with a red sauce that basically tasted like ketchup. N_E_V_E_R again. 🙁 . (The brownie was fantastic, however.)
Ugh I’m sorry to hear that it’s still THIS BAD when they have really stepped it up on the other Hollywood Studios locations. Glad dessert was good!
Wow, I was excited about them having vegan meatballs and they are off the menu. How terrible. If anything they should be expanding their vegan menu not getting rid of it. I hope they change this soon.
We ate here last week and they had very little, as you already know. One thing they did offer that isn’t on the menu was a delicious arugula and quinoa salad. It was a very small portion, but it was really good! It came off the dining substitutions menu for the Disney meal plan, which we didn’t have.
They explained that they no longer make milkshakes because the ice cream has to be fetched from somewhere else, and the desert line is stopped completely while they work on this one milkshake. Apparently it is very difficult and time consuming for them to make. They did make an exception because we had been promised one by one of the staff members, and my little boy was so looking forward to it!
I agree that the allergy menus are a net loss for vegans. They’re focused so much on individual ingredients that we’re getting lost in the shuffle.
This makes me nervous about the other allergy-friendly menus they’re rolling out – will they, too, do away with previous vegan options in the guise of being more accommodating?