SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™ is a totally immersive land that truly transports you to the world of Mario, Luigi and their friends. One of those friends is Toad, who is serving as Chef at the Toadstool Café. The restaurant is a quick service option that features tasty creations, very much on theme. It's the only dining location within the area so be prepared for limited capacity and high demand. Reservations can only be made in person on the day of your visit by scanning a QR code posted outside the entrance to SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™ and the Toadstool Cafe. If reservations are fully booked, you may still be able to join the wait list but joining the wait list does not guarantee admission.
On our recent visit, we were lucky enough to grab a spot on the wait list and dine at the Toadstool Cafe! Our big tip for gaining a spot on the wait list or booking a reservation is to arrive early to SUPER NINTENDO WORLD™ and head straight for the QR code outside the entrance/restaurant. Keep scanning and refreshing your screen, even if it says they are fully booked for the day and you may just get a spot on the wait list! Accessing the wait list appeared to be location based so make sure you stay close to the restaurant while continuing to refresh your screen for the best chance at grabbing a spot.
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| Agents Aubrey, Yaritza, Ashley and Elizabeth |
The Toadstool Cafe is absolutely adorable! There's no better word to describe it. As you enter the restaurant, don't miss a chance to scan your Power-Up Band™ (if you purchased one, which I highly recommend!) to collect a prize. You'll order your food at the counter and then a Team Member will seat you at your table. Inside the restaurant you'll see playful scenery of the Mushroom Kingdom through the windows. It's really cute watching all the Toads run around. And keep an eye on the screens as other characters may make an appearance!
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| Entrance area queue with menu and screens |
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| Adorable icons behind the counter |
Chef Toad's menu offers a lot of non-traditional theme park food options, including some gluten-free and vegetarian options. We were pleasantly surprised by the items on the menu and decided to try a little bit of each menu section to get a good feel for the restaurant.
From the Starters and Salads section, we ordered the Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots, Yoshi's Favorite Fruit and Veggie Salad, and Piranha Plant Caprese.
The Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots were light and fluffy and enjoyable but they also weren't anything outstanding. Ashley found them to be something you could find at any generic Italian restaurant across the country. If you really like garlic knots, you most likely won't be disappointed by this dish but it's also nothing you can't get at home.
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| Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots (VG) Mini mushroom shaped knots brushed with garlic butter, parmesan cheese, parsley and a side of marinara sauce |
Elizabeth and Ashley thought the Yoshi's Favorite Fruit and Veggie Salad was delightful! It was a light, refreshing option for a hot day in the park. The fruit was really fresh and the raspberry vinaigrette was perfect. We would absolutely order this again.
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| Yoshi's Favorite Fruit and Veggie Salad (VG) Mixed greens, strawberries, star fruit, blueberries, pineapple, Yoshi egg croutons and raspberry vinaigrette |
We all agreed that the Piranha Plant Caprese was just meh. It was in desperate need of salt and according to Elizabeth, they are not storing their mozzarella correctly. It was super dried out. We would recommend skipping this menu item.
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| Piranha Plant Caprese (GF, VG) Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, asparagus, and basil pesto served with mixed greens, shaved radish, and apple vinaigrette |
For our Mains, we went with the Chef Toad Short Rib Special and Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs. The short ribs were better than expected. You could easily cut them with your plastic fork and didn't even need a knife. It was a really tasty dish and not just for a quick service meal. It was an overall good solid dish that everyone would gladly eat again.
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| Chef Toad Short Rib Special Braised short rib, creamy goat cheese polenta, and red wine reduction |
The spaghetti had really good flavor and didn't skimp on the spice. The meatballs were also really enjoyable and none of us are usually meatball fans. There were a lot of mushrooms in the mushroom marinara sauce (shouldn't be a huge surprise there) but they were easy enough to eat around if you aren't a fan of mushrooms. It also didn't have an overwhelming mushroom flavor to the sauce so don't let that deter you from ordering this dish. If you're looking for a less spicy option of this dish, there is a Power-Up Spaghetti Marinara on the kids menu that has a different sauce.
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| Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs Spaghetti with mushroom marinara sauce, meatballs, Fire Flower parmesan crisp, shaved parmesan, and chopped parsley |
We ended our meal with all three of the dessert options. (It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!) We ordered the ? Block Tiramisu, Mt. Beanpole Cake and Princess Peach Cupcake. The ? Block Tiramisu didn't taste like traditional tiramisu. It was really missing the coffee flavor. I found the best way to eat this dessert was to put the tiramisu on one of the lady fingers and then dip it in the sauce on the side. I think it was strawberry sauce but it could have been raspberry. This dessert was Ashley and Yartiza's favorite of the three desserts but Aubrey's least favorite. Elizabeth found them all to be equally okay.
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| ? Block Tiramisu (VG) Tiramisu layered with coffee soaked lady fingers topped with cocoa powder and chocolate power-up |
The Mt. Beanpole Cake was chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cake. We all agreed that it was a fine cake but it was nothing to write home about. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Elizabeth didn't taste any of the strawberry flavor in the cake. It was our clear second choice dessert option out of the three.
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Mt. Beanpole Cake (VG) Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry layered cake topped with a matcha mousse |
The Princess Peach Cupcake really missed the obvious choice to be peach flavored! I mean, it's right there in the name! It was a surprising choice to us that they went with raspberry flavoring instead of peach but I guess they have their reasons. This dessert was Aubrey's favorite of the three. She thought it wasn't as good as her homemade cupcakes but it was better than a run-of-the-mill grocery store cupcake. Elizabeth found the entire thing to taste like a sprinkle. To be clear, not a Sprinkles cupcake but an actual sprinkle. It was Ashley and Yaritza's least favorite of the three desserts.
Overall, we didn't find any of the desserts to be worth ordering again. If you are going for the first time or you are really craving something sweet, then by all means, order any one of these desserts. Otherwise, it's definitely okay to skip these desserts as they are nothing special.
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| Princess Peach Cupcake (VG) Raspberry filled Funfetti cupcake, buttercream frosting and Princess Peach chocolate crown |
Elizabeth ordered the Super Star Lemon Squash specialty drink and although it was super cute, it was overly carbonated. Elizabeth loves boba drinks and drinks them all the time so she was super excited to try this one but it didn't deliver. The mango stars were chunks in the drink and that plus the popping bobas made for a weird texture combination. Needless to say, Elizabeth wouldn't order this drink again.
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| Super Star Lemon Squash Honey lemon soda with mango stars and assorted tropical bobas |
Another fun option on the menu are some collectible drink bottles. Aubrey ordered one of the 1-Up Mushroom and one of the Super Mushroom Collectible Drink Bottles. They are so cute! They were $20 at the time of our visit, so they definitely aren't cheap, but they are really cute souvenirs and you get a soda to drink with your meal as well as same-day refills in the park. Refills were $1.60 at the time of our visit.
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| 1-Up Mushroom and Super Mushroom Collectible Drink Bottles |
What do you think? Would you like to dine at the Toadstool Cafe? Let us know in the comments!
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