"Family style" meals

[Loftus]

Okay, starting to think about food.
DS1 is a picky eater (Burger, fish fingers that sort of thing), hardly any vegetables but potatoes in any form are okay. DS2 is a carnivore - if it once moved he'll eat it.
We'll be eating most often at the ASSp food court, but would like to eat a couple of times in the park or in a restaurant of sorts.
Has anyone experienced these 'family-style' restaurants?
I like the idea of the food being brought to us rather than scrumming down at the buffet, but will DS1 eat anyhting.
Any recommendations? It'll be in the world somewhere as in our week we are not planning to stray much.

Ta

 

[BevS97]

I would probably go for a buffet - they have loads of choice and lots of kid-friendly food. We haven't found them to be a scrum at all, it's quite civilised in fact.

The only family style meal we had was at the liberty tree tavern - you got a large platter with turkey, beef etc, and side dishes of potatoes and veg. The server kept coming round and seeing if you needed anymore of anything.
It was quite nice, but I prefer the buffets because there is a wider variety of food and more likely to be something to suit everyone.

Bev

 

[BONZO]

hardly any vegetables

I think it's more difficult to find vegetables anywhere!

As Bev has said, the buffets are the best bet as the kids can pick and choose what they want to eat.

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Okay, here are a few suggestions from me: not sure if they are what you are looking for, but I am sure lots of others will post as well.

Take a look at http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm this page has menus for all (?) of the restaurants at WDW. This is useful because you can look at the menu and decide whether your sons (and the rest of the family) would enjoy the sort of food there BEFORE you go.

Reading your post, I wondered if your kids would like Ohana's (at the Poly). It might be a bit adventurous for your DS1 (you would have to check the menu - although not many vegs), but your carnivore would love it (lots of meat). http://wdwig.com/menu/menu_oh.htm

One place which my husband really like - and try to make a point of going to everytime we are in the US - if the "Outback Steakhouse": lots of steaks, ribs and BBQ meats, fish and seafood. Good relaxed, casual atmosphere - Australian theme. http://www.outback.com/ They have a childrens menu with the usual burgers, fish fingers, grilled cheese etc on it. The ribs are knock out here - big, tasty and served with extra BBQ sauce and cinnamon apple sauce - yum! Therre is at least one Outback in Orlando - close to WDW - we have eaten there.

The other place to try is the Poderosa Steakhouse (a chain). I have never been to one of these, but have heard lots of people on these boards mention how much they enjoy them. you can eat buffet + a la carte + children's menu. I believe that they offer some sort of all I am sure someone else will post some more details.

Hope this helps with a few ideas: good luck finding some different places to eat (my parents definitely had it easy with me - I ate just about anything when I was younger...)

Boo

The other

 

[SpottyDog]

Loftus, we found the 'family style' meals to be hard going. You have to do all the work- carving, dishing up and makin sure the little darlins get a fair(ish) share etc etc. You tend to get all you can eat in a 'would you like more?' way but found the kids preferred buffet's where they could go back and forth at their own pace rather than waitin for the feast to be replenished.

 

[Loftus]

Buffets it is then