Tortuga Tavern at Magic Kingdom Review

In this post, we give a brief review of Tortuga Tavern, a quick service restaurant at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Our quick service reviews don’t cover every menu item, instead focusing on the essential information you need—location, seating, menu options, etc.—to decide if and how this restaurant might fit into your day at the park. Read on to learn all about Tortuga Tavern!

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If you’d like to read more about your Magic Kingdom options, we have a list of Best Quick Service Restaurants at Magic Kingdom. We also link to all our Magic Kingdom quick service reviews at the bottom of this post.

Basics of Tortuga Tavern

Tortuga Tavern is a quick service restaurant at Magic Kingdom specializing in…whatever happens to be on the menu. See, it’s a bit of an odd spot…

Tortuga Tavern is basically a seasonal restaurant at Magic Kingdom. It is closed most of the year, opening only during the busiest times (though lately it seems open more often). Its seasonality also means that it doesn’t have a consistent menu. You’ll want to check the Disney World app to see if it’s open.

When it’s in season, Tortuga Tavern is typically open from 11AM until late afternoon (4PM to 6PM). Tortuga Tavern does not take Disney World Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs). Guests on a Disney Dining Plan will spend one quick service credit for an entree and a drink from the restaurant.

Tortuga Tavern is located directly opposite Pirates of the Caribbean. It shares a building with Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn, though other than being in one gigantic building (and theoretically sharing seating areas) the restaurants are unrelated.

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Tortuga Tavern Menu 

Link to Full Menu

As noted above, Tortuga Tavern’s seasonality means its menu changes frequently. It will open with basics, like a burger and hot dogs, close, and then reopen months later with some ambitious item like the Jerk-smoked Brisket Sandwich or Orange Chicken Strips.

Because the restaurant is seasonal, it isn’t mobile order enabled. Instead, you’ll order from a register and pick up your food at the counter.

Seating at Tortuga Tavern

Most of the seating at Tortuga Tavern is covered but open-air. You can also easily access the seating at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn, which is mostly actually indoors. You can see some of the Tortuga seating on the left below:

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The combined occupancy for the two restaurants is 1107, which is plenty. The seating on the Tortuga side is more limited, but we’ve never had trouble finding a seat in Pecos Bill.

Theming

Tortuga Tavern is named after Tortuga Island, a Caribbean Island that is part of Haiti and was once a haven of Caribbean Piracy. The island also features in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

Because it has such limited space of its own, the restaurant isn’t overloaded with theming, but it does well with the space it has. The code of conduct has some Pirates of the Caribbean humor to it:

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There’s also some straight-out-of-Pirates content, with a crew roster for The Black Pearl listing Jack Sparrow as the new captain:

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Conclusions

Tortuga Tavern is a seasonal restaurant with limited hours design to capture some crowd overflow during peak times. It can sometimes have gems of menu items, which makes it worth keeping in mind. Pirates of the Caribbean fans will find a few easter eggs, which is a nice treat.

Other Magic Kingdom Quick Service Reviews

If you’re considering Tortuga Tavern, you may want to read some of our other Magic Kingdom quick service reviews:

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