21 Delicious Eats and Drinks at the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival 2018

Last week, I was invited to a media event for the opening day of the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival at Disneyland and it was such a great time! Every spring, Disneyland holds the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival for about a month at the California Adventure Park. This year, it runs from March 2nd to April 12th. It’s worth making a special trip because not only are there excellent wines and craft beers to sample at the festival marketplace, the food is amazing!

The festival menus focus on fresh, California grown ingredients as well as featuring wines from the state and locally brewed craft beers. It really is a unique experience, perfect for a day date or a girls trip!

Here are some of my favorite food and drink finds, and the kiosks where you can find them.

We started at the kiosks in Hollywood Land and worked our way down toward Mickey’s Fun Wheel. We had three, and sometimes four people in our group so we were able to try a good variety of the menu items. I love going with a group because it gives everyone a chance to share and sample!

Nuts About Cheese

1. Mimosa Flight

I recommend starting early when the kiosks open at 10:30 am, so a mimosa flight is the perfect opener.

LAstyle 

One of our favorite kiosks! Don’t miss this one! So many tasty finds.

2. Mexican Chocolate Custard

Thick and creamy with a touch of cinnamon.

3. Chicken Teriyaki Slider with Spicy DOLE® Pineapple Jam

This is one of the best menu items at the festival! Love the flavor combination on the soft Hawaiian roll!

4. Korean BBQ Beef Short Rib Tacos

Tender and tasty!

The Brewhouse

5. White Cheddar Lager Soup in a Mini Boudin’s Sourdough Boule – tiny sourdough bread bowls!

6. Beer Flight

Such a fun way to sample California craft beers! Perfect for sharing! The other ladies in our group really liked the sour!

7. Ace Hard Cider

One of my favorites! A hard cider is perfect for day drinking!

Peppers Cali-Ente

8. Jalapeño Popper Mac & Cheese with Bacon

Do not miss this Mac & Cheese! The crunchy jalapeño with the smoky bacon is Mac & Cheese perfection!

9. Verlasso™ Sustainable Salmon Peruvian Poke with a Cucumber-Lime Salad and Aju Verde Salsa

Another favorite, so bright and fresh and we loved the crunchy sprinkle of corn nuts!

10. Watermelon Lemonade (non-alcoholic), with optional Habanero Sugar & Chili-Lime Half-Rim

If you are looking for a unique non-alcoholic drink, this is perfect! Light and refreshing!

Uncork California

11. Wine Flight

Choose from white or red. The wine and mimosa flights come with three samples, while the beer flights have four.

12. Strawberry & Coconut Rice “Frushi” with Sweet Oikos® Greek Nonfat Yogurt Wasabi Sauce

I think this might actually look like real sushi in this picture, but it’s fruit sushi! Word on the street is that it’s been the best selling dessert so far! I loved it and it gets my vote as a must try!

13. Strawberry Frosé

Frozen strawberry rose! So pretty and refreshing!

Avocado Time

 

14. Avocado & Pepper Jack Petite Guacamole Burger

This little burger is just a tiny medium rare treasure!

Eat Your Greens

15. Beet Kombucha Sangria

Ok, this is the only thing I didn’t actually try and I’m so disappointed! I completely skipped the Eat Your Greens booth when we were out and about. We had already sampled the Asparagus Caesar Salad at the intro event, which is very tasty, so nothing else caught my eye. Now I’m seeing raves for this drink, even from non-kombucha drinkers. It looks like a break out star from the festival! Please let me know if you try it!

Citrus Grove

16. Citrus-Brined Pork Roast with Tangy Barbecue Sauce and Lemon Pepper Slaw

Tender pork roast with a sweet citrus finish!

17. Meyer Lemon Ginger Mule

This is a drink I sampled last year, and I was happy to see it back on the menu! Mules are so refreshing, especially with a lemon twist!

18. Meyer Lemon Macaron

Delicious!

Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo

19. Salt & Beer Vinegar Parmesan Chicken Wings

These little guys are the perfect flavor combination, and you gotta love that booth name!

Off the Cob

20. Sweet Corn Nuggets with Beef Chili

I love chili and cornbread, and this is a tasty kicked up version of the classic combination!

 

Garlic Kissed

21. Black Garlic Soy-Braised Pork Belly Banh Mi

This is a must try! The tender pork belly in a soft bun is just too delicious! Another return from last year, and it was on the Menu for Festival of Holidays as well!

 

This event is so fun and perfect for sharing with friends. If you are a Disneyland Annual Pass Holder, they offer a Food & Wine Festival Sip and Savor Pass for $45 which includes 8 coupons for menu items from the kiosks. The Sip and Savor Pass does not include alcoholic drinks. You can purchase a Sip and Savor Pass and share with a friend, or you can save the coupons for another day in the park before the festival ends.

There is even fun Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival Merchandise exclusive to the event. I’m wishing I had snagged one of these cute aprons for myself!

This year, there are even more family-friendly seminars and Jr. Chef experiences. One of our favorite things were these paper chefs hats that were being handed out. They had an area for kids to decorate the hats themselves and collect stickers for each kiosk.

There is no separate entry fee for the festival beyond your park ticket. The menus at the kiosks are so creative and  are my favorite part of the festival. You can see even more event offerings on the Disneyland California Adventure Food and Wine Festival site. 

 

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They have great vacation packages and discounted Disneyland tickets. My favorite part is that you can book your vacation on a layaway plan for just a $125 down payment. If you use the promo code PENCIL, you can get an extra $10 off your southern California vacation packages.