Summer House on the Lake is a table-service restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs. Located on the West Side of the shopping, dining and entertainment district, the restaurant serves California-style cuisine in a relaxed, airy setting. Currently, the restaurant offers a 10% annual pass discount but does not take part in the Disney Dining Plan. In this post, we’ll review Summer House on the Lake’s atmosphere, cuisine and value.

Disney Springs offers a wide variety of restaurants, most of which have their own unique theme. There’s a rainforest inside of a volcano, a Boathouse, Irish pub, bowling alley, dinosaur habitat and more! It’s almost like Stefon is reading off the hottest places to go at Walt Disney World. With all of the excitement, Disney Springs sometimes misses out on a relaxing place to have a meal. Summer House on the Lake helps to fill that void.

California casual is not generally an easy restaurant atmosphere to replicate. Some places lean into the surfer mentality a little too hard while other attempts feel half baked (no pun intended). Summer House on the Lake has nailed the Californian vibe while sitting on the water in Florida.

The restaurant has a clean look, with white walls and wood tones throughout. The pops of color come way of the plants hanging and lining the walls. I love the different lamps throughout the restaurant, each being slightly different than the other. While the industrial design with an exposed ceiling isn’t usually my favorite thing, it’s hidden enough here with everything painted white and the higher ceiling adding some openness to the restaurant.

That main dining room doesn’t feel overly crowded, which helps the casual setting. Large windows make up the walls of the restaurant, offering a glimpse out onto the water. That helps the restaurant feel even more open. The photo above shows off the main dining room’s bar, which is a little tighter but looks gorgeous. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the clean lines and off-white design?

The back patio at Summer House on the Lake has a nice view of the water. If the weather cooperates, this would be another nice spot to sit. I prefer the inside design more, as this area doesn’t feel as elaborate. But if you like to watch boats pass by as you dine then you could certainly do worse than this spot.

At the front of the restaurant is another bar area. This looks very similar to the main dining room but far more snug. This space should be more available to walk up diners and the bar top looks very nice.

Finally, there’s some outdoor seating on the front patio, as well. This is a good spot for people watching in Disney Springs and isn’t a bad spot to sit. That said, we’d take any of the other spaces before this.

Attached to the sit down restaurant is The Cookie Bar. As you’d expect when delicious cookies are offered, that place is usually bustling. But that has little effect on Summer House on the Lake.

In terms of restaurants that aren’t trying to be elaborately themed, I prefer Summer House on the Lake over most at Disney Springs. Admittedly, that could come down to just individual style preferences. I enjoy the Californian modern design and think it’s executed very well here. Even on a night where the restaurant was busy in our section, Summer House on the Lake felt like a relaxing experience. I don’t feel that often in Disney Springs.

Moving to the food, here’s a look at the menu. There’s a wide range offered here, with a number of dishes in the $20 range before moving up to some pricier options.

I had the Endless Summer Old Fashioned to drink here and really enjoyed it. Made of brother’s bond whiskey, lemon demerara, orange bitters, the drink was stronger than many at Disney World. The lemon brightened the taste up a little. Cocktails at Summer House on the Lake are around $15, which is cheaper than most on Disney property.

We started with A Nice House Salad which consists of tomato, cucumber, croutons, white cheddar, and a choice of house-made dressing. This was a really nice salad to start the meal. Everything tasted extremely fresh and the white cheddar on top was a great addition. I don’t think this is going to amaze anyone but it is an excellent way to add some green stuff to your lunch or dinner. At $13.95, the price seemed fair.

Many of the dishes at Summer House on the Lake seemed shareable, most notably the pizzas. We split the Shaved Mushroom Pizza, consisting of gruyère, caramelized onion, truffle, rosemary, scallions, parsley and parmesan cream. This was a rich pizza but delicious! The gruyère, caramelized onion and mushrooms all paired well together. For as rich as the taste was, this never felt overly filling. The pizzas are all around $20 and large enough to share between 2 or 3 people. This was fantastic and one I’d come back for!

For as good as the first 2 plates were, our favorite was the Famous Herbed Chicken Breast Paillard. Served with an arugula salad and topped with calabrian chili (not spicy at all), this chicken was flattened and had a wonderful, salty seasoning on it. The little bit of lemon gave the chicken some zest. The arugula salad made the dish feel even fresher. This is our new favorite dish at Walt Disney World if we want a lighter, less indulgent dinner. At $22.95, this was one the best chicken dishes I’ve ever had.

We topped off our meal with a Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie with ice cream. I mean, you can’t go wrong with something so classic. I’m not quite a cookie snob but am working my way up to it. These cookies pass my tests with flying colors – gooey, not overly thick and delicious. Even if you don’t dine at Summer House on the Lake, we recommend stopping in at The Cookie Bar for a sweet treat sometime.

Our experience at Summer House on the Lake was fantastic. The restaurant really took us by surprise! Between the relaxed atmosphere and fresh ingredients, this has become one of our favorite spots in Walt Disney World. The value here is pretty good and there’s an excellent happy hour for those interested. Overall, Summer House on the Lake’s experience fills a dining void at Walt Disney World and that makes it one of our favorite restaurants in Disney Springs.

Overall Rating – 9/10

Have you tried Summer House on the Lake? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our planning guide. This site has discount tickets to Walt Disney World. 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. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!