California Adventure’s Food & Wine Festival is back, running until April 22nd. Along with Soarin’ Over California’s return and live entertainment, there are plenty of specialty foods to eat. And eat we did! In this post, I’ll rank all of the items I’ve tried and will continue to update the post throughout the month as I eat more and more, all in the name of research!

All of the items I’ve tried are eligible as part of the Sip & Savor Pass. Guests pay a flat rate ($61 or $56 with a Magic Key or Cast Member discount) for a pass that will have 8 dishes included. Those 8 can be used on Festival Marketplaces, restaurant specialty dishes as well as non-alcoholic beverages. We recommend using the Sip & Savor on savory food items, as the drinks and desserts are cheaper.

The price of the Sip & Savor went up by 2 dollars this year which isn’t bad considering most of the food items I’ve seen have gone up by a dollar or two each. There’s definitely some value to be had by purchasing a pass if you’re planning to sample the different items throughout the day or the length of the festival. These passes don’t all have to be used up in one day, just by April 25th, so if you’re local then we’d recommend buying one!

That leads me to the bigger question on if the food is worth trying. There are several good, or even great dishes, but the prices are fairly high if paying for each one individually. I think two items would be enough for a meal and usually those totals would be around $16. That may be a little high for a light lunch or dinner but the quality is there for some dishes. As for what dishes are worth it, let’s get to the rankings!

16. Impossible Chicken Parm Bites (Earth Eats)

This is a great case study of what happens when you put 4 sub-standard ingredients in a dish together. The conclusion is that it’s just not very good. I didn’t mind anything by itself but this really turned into below average chicken (Impossible chicken) nuggets covered in tomato and cheese sauces. It was a close race for last place but I found the wings to be more appalling.

15. Baja-Style Fish Taco (LA Style)

This plant based fish includes cabbage slaw, cilantro-lime crema and pico de gallo. Those toppings are just fine but the fish is bad. On first taste, there’s a distinct frozen chicken tender texture to it. Then a fish after taste comes in after a while. It’s really disappointing that a few of the meatless and plant based items are some of the worst festival dishes this year.

14. Cheese Pizza-flavored Wings (Cluck A Doodle Moo)

Have you ever eaten a counter-service theme park pizza slice and think, “Boy, I wish I had this flavor on chicken wings?” If so, then this dish is for you. If not, then you have working taste buds. The chicken itself is fine here but the seasoning on top is overdone and not good. It’s like a worse version of a pizza flavored potato chip but without the salt to balance it out. Thankfully, the ranch dip is pretty good.

13. Carnitas Style Pork Belly (LA Style)

There’s a big jump up from the bottom 3 to this dish. The Carnitas-style Pork Belly was tender and juicy, with a sweet finish. Unfortunately, there’s so much fat on this piece. It wasn’t amazing but pretty good and would definitely be higher on other people’s list. This was served with an esquites corn mac salad featuring Tajín Habanero that I could not make up my mind about. I love mac salad and this didn’t taste like one I’ve ever tried, it was quite spicy. It was surprising but it wasn’t bad. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it was good either.

12. Kiwi Apple Lemonade (Cuck-A-Doodle-Moo)

This drink consists of Minute Maid Lemonade, apple juice, kiwi and Granny Smith apple syrups garnished with a purple orchid. It’s pretty refreshing with just a little bit of tartness. Unfortunately, it’s too sweet and could use a stronger lemonade. Still, this is a decent drink if you’re looking for something refreshing.

11. Huckleberry Citrus Cooler (D-Lish)

This was a refreshing drink that wasn’t overly sweet. I tasted more citrus than huckleberry but the flavors balanced pretty well. One more ingredient would have been a nice touch, whether it’s a splash of Sprite or mixing it with tea. Even without, this was a nice drink for a hot day.

10. Shrimp Papas Locas (Peppers Cali-Ente)

We’re moving into dishes that I enjoyed quite a bit. This dish consisted of cheddar-bacon potatoes with jalapeño cheese sauce and chipotle shrimp. I thought the shrimp were good and a nice proportion relative to most festival dishes. The potatoes were also quite tasty. The big problem is that there was a little too much going on here and I’m not sure all of the flavors worked together. Nevertheless, I’d eat this again.

9. Chile Relleno Empanada (Peppers Cali-Ente)

I really enjoyed this cheese empanada. This is the spiciest dish I’ve tried at the festival but the salsa was delicious. I wish there was a meat mixed into the empanada as the cheese was extremely rich and overpowering at times. Still, this was very good.

8. Taco Gobernador (Paradise Garden Grill)

This dish, which originated during last year’s Festival of Holidays, consisted of Chipotle-marinated shrimp taco with pepper Jack cheese. There was a lot of flavor here and a decent amount of spice. The shrimp were the star of the taco, cooked perfectly and seasoned well. There’s also a few grilled veggies mixed in, similar to fajita veggies. The chipotle mayo on top added a nice spice. That had good flavor but it was a little overpowering if too much was globbed on. Otherwise, this was a nice dish!

7. S’mores Caramel Tart (California Craft Brews)

Apparently, this is a rehash from a Jolly Holiday Christmas dessert (hat tip to Trammin’ Podcast for that). I’m not sure why they’re recycling dishes but maybe it’s because they’re good? This consisted of graham cracker tart shell filled with caramel and chocolate ganache topped with a toasted marshmallow. The crust on this was great! I enjoyed the caramel inside of the chocolate and it all paired well with the pretty ‘mallow on top. It was a little too sweet for me but others will love this!

6. Carbonara-Garlic Mac & Cheese with peppered bacon (Garlic Kissed)

While perhaps a little simple, Carbonara Mac is delicious comfort food. The Garlic Mac and Cheese had a great flavor, heavier on the garlic than the cheese and the bacon and herbs added some nice texture to give the dish some variety. This might be the safest bet of a dish that everyone will like at the festival.

5. Snickers Macaron (Nuts About Cheese)

I don’t often end up with desserts this high in my rankings but this is absolutely delicious. There’s no real secret or surprising factor to it, this tastes like a Snickers was put into a macaron and the mix of flavors is delightful, as is the wonderfully baked texture. It’s not a surprise that this is one of the most popular dishes at the festival.

4. Olive Oil Cake (D-Lish)

Sometimes food festivals, especially DCA’s annual one, try to get too creative. Don’t get me wrong, I love a fusion dish and they’ve hit on some. But once in a while they should just go for something that tastes really good. That’s what the Olive Oil Cake is doing. This dense and moist cake is glazed with lemon curd, topped with vanilla bean Chantilly, and finished with fresh candied lemons, strawberry crunch, and lemon-lime gelée. That sounds like a lot but it’s pretty simple in taste. Simple and delicious.

3. Cheeseburger Bao (California Craft Brews)

The new hit of this year’s festival, this is a great take on a classic cheeseburger. Beef is inside the bao bun which is then topped with Thousand Island dressing, grilled onions, pickle, and tomato relish. The bao itself is delicious but mixed with the Thousand Island and it becomes fantastic. If they added this dish to Lucky Fortune Cookery, I’d get it once a month.

2. Chicken Lollipop (Hollywood Lounge)

This festival dish is at the food truck next to Hollywood Lounge and consists of beer-brined chicken with poblano mashed potatoes, caramelized fennel, and fried carrots. The chicken is delicious, with a somewhat crispy skin and plenty of juice. I really enjoyed the sides, as well. The poblano mashed potatoes had a touch of heat and tasted a little more earthy than typical potatoes. This was a cohesive dish that could be number one, depending how the Top Sirloin (our number 1 choice) is cooked.

1. Grilled Top Sirloin with roasted garlic-Gruyère smashed potatoes and black garlic chimichurri (Garlic Kissed)

This Festival returner narrowly edges out the chicken, bao and desserts. The steak was cooked pretty well, to about a medium, but it was paired perfectly with cheesy and butter potatoes and delicious chimichurri. There were some peppers on the top to add a little heat and flavor. All in all, there was a wealth of flavors that contributed to a very cohesive and delicious dish. Thinking about it has my mouth watering!

What do you think of California Adventure’s Food & Wine Festival? Let us know, along with any other questions you might have, in the comments below. Planning a trip to Disneyland? Check out our Planning Guide here. Looking for discount tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!