Flatlands Bar & Grill Opens Near Disney World: What Dinner Costs

Flatlands Bar & Grill opens this week at Flamingo Crossings Town Center, on the western edge of Walt Disney World, and early menu prices put dinner for two with a starter, two mains, a dessert and a cocktail each at about $178 before tax and tip. WDW News Today’s preview gives the opening as Tuesday 22 September, while Disney Food Blog’s first review lists 21 September.

The restaurant is independent, not a Disney location, so the decision for a Disney World visitor is whether a meal about ten minutes outside the resort is worth the drive against eating on property. Our Walt Disney World dining guide covers the on property side of that comparison, including reservations and recent menu changes.

Who Is Behind Flatlands

Flatlands comes from Nick Valenti, the restaurateur and former chief executive of Patina Restaurant Group, which has operated restaurants at Walt Disney World. He also created Simply Capri, the Italian restaurant directly across the street in the same development, and is a partner in the US locations of Vivoli Il Gelato.

The executive chef is Dominique Filoni, whose previous kitchens include Cítricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Topolino’s Terrace at Disney’s Riviera Resort. For Disney regulars, that résumé is the clearest signal of the style to expect: polished, produce led cooking rather than a theme restaurant.

WDW News Today describes the concept as one that “combines modern American cuisine with a setting inspired by the people and citrus-growing history of Central Florida.” Inside, murals draw on citrus groves, and the bar is a long wooden counter with shelving reached by a library ladder. Outside, a large patio is set up like an upscale backyard.

Valenti has pitched it as an everyday place with some polish. In a July first look with Disney Food Blog, he described wanting “a Friday night destination” that also works for celebrations without prohibitive pricing.

What Dinner Costs

Full menus with every price were not published before opening, so the best guide is the set of prices in Disney Food Blog’s first review. Starters include mini lobster rolls at $27. Mains include a Cornish hen at $36 and a 22 ounce prime ribeye at $68. A chocolate chip cookie dessert is $17.

Cocktails run $14 to $18. The Sugar Cane Cooler, with rum, cachaça, mandarin and mint, is $14. The Cherry Sour, with bourbon, amaretto and Aperol, is $16. The Orange Blossom Collins, with gin, orange blossom and grapefruit, is $18.

Put together, a couple sharing the lobster rolls, ordering the hen and the ribeye, splitting the cookie and having one cocktail each would spend $178 before tax and tip. Choosing burgers or sandwiches instead of the steak would bring that down considerably, though those prices were not in the early review.

Brunch is the lower cost way in. WDW News Today highlights blueberry lemon pancakes, Florida citrus French toast and applewood smoked bacon on the brunch menu, and a late morning meal before an afternoon park visit or on an arrival day is likely to cost well under the dinner example above, although brunch prices were not published before opening.

That places Flatlands in the same range as a sit down dinner at a Disney Springs restaurant or a deluxe resort, not in the budget tier. The saving for a Disney visitor is less about the menu than about the setting: no park admission, a suburban setting with a car park, and a quieter evening away from resort crowds.

Getting There From Disney World

Flamingo Crossings sits on Western Way, west of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and was built on land Disney developed for hotels and shops. The town center is a cluster of hotels, restaurants and stores, and a pedestrian skywalk crosses the main road there.

Disney’s own buses do not run to Flamingo Crossings, so guests without a car will need a rideshare or taxi. Disney Food Blog puts the restaurant less than ten minutes from Walt Disney World. From resorts on the Animal Kingdom side of the property, such as Animal Kingdom Lodge, it is one of the shorter drives off property.

Several hotels in Flamingo Crossings serve Disney visitors on a budget, which gives Flatlands a built in audience. For those guests the calculation flips: the question is not whether to leave Disney for dinner but whether to pay for a sit down meal at all after a park day.

Timing matters as much as distance. A dinner here fits best on an arrival day, a pool day or an evening after a morning at Animal Kingdom, when leaving the resort does not cut into park time. On a full park day with late fireworks, the drive out and back makes it harder to justify.

Booking a Table

Disney Food Blog says reservations are strongly recommended, although walk ups may be possible. Bookings are through Resy, where the restaurant is listed under Winter Garden.

Because Flatlands is not a Disney restaurant, it does not appear in the My Disney Experience app, Disney’s dining plans do not apply, and Disney discounts such as annual passholder or Disney Vacation Club dining savings will not be honored there. Plan it as a separate booking in the same way as any off property meal.

The restaurant was first announced for Flamingo Crossings last November, when the West Orange Times & Observer reported the lot across from Simply Capri. The opening comes as dining on Disney property is shifting too, with Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill leaving Disney Springs this fall.

Still to Confirm

A few details were not public at opening. The confirmed first day differs between the two reports, so check Resy for the first bookable date. Daily hours, the full priced menu, a children’s menu and whether the patio has its own bar service were not stated. Early menus at a new restaurant also often change within the first weeks.