The Pepper Market at Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort

The Pepper Market is located in Orlando, Florida, at Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort. While this particular eatery has a "food court" connotation, the dining experience here is anything but your typical food court!

The Pepper Market is located adjacent to the main lobby, also known as El Centro, of the Coronado Springs Resort. The area is enclosed by an ornate wrought iron enclosure, and the tables and food stations are easily seen through the gates. When we entered the Pepper Market, we were greeted by a Disney Castmember, who took us to our table. We were given menus that listed the choices being served at each of the food stations, and we ordered drinks that were brought to us by another castmember. When she brought our drinks to us, she also gave us each a paper ticket that contained about 10 empty squares on it. She must have noticed the puzzled looks on our faces, because she quickly explained that at The Pepper Market, you take a ticket with you to each of the food stations. When you place your order, the castmember at the station will stamp your card. You continue until you are finished, and then pay at the end of your meal at cash registers located at the wrought iron gates. I should note that there is a 10% gratuity that is automatically added to your bill, but you can avoid this charge if you order your meal "to-go", and take it back to your room or one of the numerous outdoor eating areas at Coronado Springs.

The Pepper Market offers countless delicious items at each of the food stations. Each stations contains similarly grouped foods; for example, there is a Mexican station, Kids Station, American Grill Station, Pasta Station, Pizza Station, Deli Station, Soup Station, Stir-Fry Station, Bakery Section, and Beverage station, as listed here on The Dis website.

Lunch and dinner menus for all of these stations can be found here, courtesy of Deb Will's AllEars.net. Breakfast menus are listed here. Breakfast is served from 7:00 to 11:00 am, and is probably the busiest time that we witnessed on our trip as guests attending various conventions congregated at the Pepper Market. Lunch and dinner are served from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm, which is nice when you come home from a long day at the parks and want to eat a late dinner, but don't want to wait a long time for food.

Some of our favorite dishes at the Pepper Market were the bourbon chicken from the Wok Kitchen- it was delicious! My husband really loved the grilled chicken Caesar salad that he ordered from the Deli Station, and my son gives his overwhelming approval on both the pizza and the chicken fingers kid's meals. We found all of our food to be served quickly, and since the meals were prepared as we watched, everything was hot and fresh. Since we were on the Disney Dining Plan, dessert was included in our meals, but we never had room to eat our desserts because we got so much food included with the main course. We always took our desserts back to our room and ate them later in the day (or for breakfast the next morning- we were on vacation, after all!)

As I mentioned, my family was on the Disney Dining Plan; the Pepper Market is included in the dining plan as a quick-service meal. The only issue we had with the dining plan was that some of the desserts in the bakery case are not included in the dining plan, but you always have the option of paying out of pocket for these items. This was really never a problem for us, and the castmembers were great with explaining how to use the plan for our meals. If we were not on the dining plan, I doubt that we would have eaten here as much; while the food was always delicious, we found the prices to be pretty steep, even for Disney's standards.

Coronado Springs has 2 main restaurants in the resort, with 4 other areas to get limited menu items from. The Pepper Market is Disney World's version of a "food court," but of course Disney has to put their own spin on it. The tables are all set in a bright open aired area with high ceilings so that it never really feels crowded, even when the tables were full. It was convenient to order food from different stations- it was easy to mix and match your meals to suit each person in your group. While we found The Pepper Market to be slightly intimidating on our first visit, we quickly got the hang of it thanks to the friendly castmembers who were always able to answer any questions. I would definitely recommend giving the Pepper Market a try- once you taste their food, you will be glad you did!