Big Thunder Ranch BBQ

Today I'm going to do my first table service restaurant review. For those who aren't familiar, table service is the terminology Disney uses to describe a typical restaurant with a wait staff. Big Thunder Ranch BBQ (BTR BBQ) is located in the Frontierland section of Disneyland Park. I'm not quite sure what the technical name of the place is since I have seen it called the Roundup and BBQ, Celebration BBQ, and Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, but we will go with BTR BBQ. This is one of the table service restaurants that I would recommend you set an Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) for if you're going at dinnertime, sometimes they turn people without ADRs away. Also be aware that the dinner hours usually end fairly early (about 6:30 was the latest I could get) since it closes for Fantasmic! due to fireworks safety. The check-in desk looks like this:

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You will probably have to wait a little while for your buzzer to go off, but it's in a neat area of the park, so no big deal! All of the seating is outdoor and each party gets seated at their own covered table with bench seating:

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During your meal, there is usually some corny entertainment going on at the stage located near the back of the restaurant. The lunch and dinner menus are the same, except at dinner, you also receive sausage and corn cobs. You can view the menu here. This restaurant is all-you-can-eat, served family style in cute pails:

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 As you can probably tell from the photo, it's good! In case you're from a place with good BBQ and you're afraid it won't be good, don't be afraid! I am originally from Texas and I've had both better and worse BBQ there. The meat is cooked perfectly and very tasty. The beans taste like Bush's (and could be), which are pretty good beans in my book. I don't recall how the cornbread was, so I'm guessing it wasn't stellar, but it's rare to find good cornbread at any restaurant, really. I give the meal as a whole a 4.5/5 on the table service scale. I'll definitely be back, even though it is a tad expensive. Show up hungry!

For dessert, we ordered the family-size chocolate chip cookie bake:

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It's hard to fit more food in your stomach after an all-you-can-eat meal, but this is a dessert you definitely want to save room for. It comes to you with the cookies still hot, 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream on top, and a little jug of hot fudge to pour on top. After we let it cool for a minute, we didn't even serve it, just dug in with forks. It was super delicious! I give it a 5/5 on the table service scale. It's a must-do.

For the overall restaurant experience, I would give BTR BBQ a 4.5/5 on the table service scale. It's often a restaurant that is overlooked due to the more well-known table service restaurants in the New Orleans Square area, but this restaurant is definitely one worth visiting!