During our recent trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, what surprised me the most were the amount of great restaurants in Disney Springs.
One of the restaurants that we were most looking forward to dining at was Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ restaurant.
This restaurant has had great reviews ever since it opened and their southern style cooking was something that we couldn’t wait to experience in Florida.
This is our review of Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ restaurant at Disney Springs.
Chef Art Smith is a celebrity chef who was as also Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef for 10 years and opened this restaurant in Disney to share his farm fresh Florida dishes.
The restaurant is located in the ‘Landing’ area of Disney Springs, which is where many of the restaurants are located and it was only a short walk from the car parks at Disney Springs.
As we entered we had a warm welcome to the restaurant from the staff and were taken to our table. We wanted a real taste of America and this rustic themed restaurant really delivered, with its high vaulted ceilings with wooden beams and large open spaces the atmosphere in here was really special.
A highlight was the country music tracks playing in the background and lots of comfortable seating, it really had that real homely feel.
There was so much personal Memorabilia provided by Chef Art across the walls of the restaurant which really added that personal touch to the dining experience here. The restaurant also had a strong farm to table ethos in their menu and this is reflected in the pictures of farmers on the walls and the large mural above the bar.
Menu
The menu here is really impressive and unique, based on Southern style cooking using local Florida ingredients from farm to table so there are lots of chicken and barbecue meats on the menu.
Starting with drinks, there was an extensive range on offer from local craft beers to wines to craft cocktails. Homecomin’ however is famous for its moonshine and I highly recommend their Strawberry Lemonade.
To make room for dessert, we skipped starters and went straight to mains and I went for Art’s Famous Fried Chicken which came with buttermilk-brined fried chicken served with mashed potatoes, and a cheddar drop biscuit. This was incredible, I don’t typically choose chicken but this main was something else, it was so tasty and the mash was unbelievably good.
My husband went for another of their most popular and famous dishes, shredded BBQ pork, mac and cheese and cheddar biscuit. The staff here are great and its fine to ask for substitutions, he swapped out the mac and cheese for fries. This was so good, the pork was tender and delicious, if you like BBQ food this was cooked to perfection.
I had heard that the portion sizes are large here, but nothing can prepare you for the size of the meals that arrived on our table, just make sure you leave room for dessert.
The children’s menu offered a good range of dishes even for the fussiest of eaters and the girls selected the fresh chicken tenders and the cheeseburger along with a side of fries each.
For dessert, the girls chose the ice cream and doughnuts which are sourced from Everglazed doughnuts at Disney Springs – as you would expect they were incredible.
Based on a recommendation from our server, we went for the chocolate pecan pie and hand scooped vanilla bean ice cream, which is based on a 100 year old Smith family recipe. Words won’t do this dessert justice, you’ll need to experience it for yourself it was that good.
There are several other dessert options which looked amazing, including an adults only shine cake complete with moonshine syrup, and a Southern favourite Hummingbird Pie.
Overall
If you are looking for one of the best meals at Disney Springs, then we highly recommend Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin. This was some of the tastiest food we have had in America, portion sizes are huge and the levels of service were exceptional.
This is a really popular restaurant, often getting booked up weeks in advance so its well worth making a reservation via the Disneyworld website.