Restaurant: Soap Opera Bistro Location: Inside Disneyland's California Adventure Anaheim, CA Price Range: Lunch $8.99-$18.99, Dinner can be had for $20.99

Number of visits: 1
Last visit before review: August 19, 2001

Randy wasn't there

Jeff had: Beef short ribs with sauteed veggies and garlic mashed potatoes.

Rating 9 (of 12) Good

Jeff says: The beef ribs were tender and braised and very delicious. The vegetables were firm and buttery, not mushy and flavorless. The garlic mashed potatoes were way too garlicky and I left them. The meal was served with fresh baked sourdough bread which was yummy.

The Disney/ABC Soap Opera Bistro is inside Disney's California Adventure park, so it's not a place you would go to unless you happen to already be inside the park and hungry. It's located immediately inside the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. It's a unique environment for anyone familiar with ABC soaps as there are different dining rooms, each made to look like the sets of General Hospital, All My Children, and One Life to Live. I dined in the Chandler Mansion decorated for Christmas, but also walked through the General Hospital reception lobby.

The food I had (the one dinner) was very good in taste, texture, and quality, but it came out immediately after I ordered it so the food is obviously pre-made and kept hot waiting for someone to order it. The staff are costumed to fit into the set they're working in. My waiter was a butler, but I also saw orderlies and policemen. And more than taking orders and serving food, they play their roles.

Since the park has a captive audience, the prices are rather high. There are cheaper places to eat in the park (but those prices are also high for what you get). At least here, in addition to really good food you get the fun atmosphere of the sets and players. If I'm in Disney's California Adventure again, I'd pay another visit to the Soap Opera Bistro.