California Adventure’s 2026 Food & Wine Festival kicked off on March 6th and runs until April 27th. With it comes entertainment and loads of specialty food and drink items. 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!

After a disappointing 2024 and 2025 festival, we have both been impressed by the new items offered at this year’s iteration. Heck, even the returning dishes seem to be better! While I’d like to see more entertainment come back, the food here has been surprising. It’s not perfect, the dishes seem to rely on heavy, comfort food but the flavor is back and more interesting!

All of the items I’ve tried and listed below are eligible as part of the Sip & Savor Pass. Guests pay a flat rate ($64 or $59 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 and restaurant specialty dishes as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Guests can also buy a pass with 4 items on it. We recommend using the Sip & Savor on savory food items, as the drinks and desserts aren’t as good of a value.

The price has gone up a dollar this year, which isn’t bad all things considered. Food prices have gone up so there’s still plenty of value by getting a pass and then using it throughout the festival season. Even if you only use 1 or 2 digital tabs on the first day, you can use the rest up until April 21st when the festival ends.

That leads me to the bigger question on if the food is worth trying. There are quite a few good options, 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! I’ll be adding a few more items to the list in the coming days.

25. Pizza Slider (Smokejumpers Grill)

For finishing in last place, this isn’t terrible. The taste is similar to a meatball sub and I don’t mind a meatball sub! The biggest problem here is the Smokejumpers burger patties are pretty bad and that’s what is used here. The other toppings, including mozzarella cheese, fried pepperoni, bell peppers and onions, sautéed mushrooms, and marinara sauce served on a brioche bun, salvaged a little bit of the dish but I wouldn’t recommend it.

24. Chicharrón Nachos (California Craft Brews)

If this were a ranking of the most unappetizing items at DCA’s Food & Wine Festival, this dish would win going away. I almost feel bad for including my photo of them. It’s not as bad as it looks, the flavor actually was pretty good with the chorizo, cheese sauce and salsa verde pulling most of the weight. The problem is that the Chicharrón got soggy about halfway through eating this dish and then it all turned into a not very good mess.

23. Mini LA Street Dog (LA Style)

A good idea that just didn’t come together here. Most of the fault is in the wiener, as it tasted like a lil smokey that was not of the best quality. All of the toppings, which included  jalapeño mayo, pepper and onion relish, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, and crispy onions, were good but it felt like they were hiding the main ingredient rather than augmenting it.

22. Strawberry Guava Lemonade (Peppers Cali-Ente)

Made with Simply Lemonade, strawberry purée, and guava syrup topped with vanilla cream and freeze-dried strawberries, this drink came off way too sweet. Some sips reminded me of a strawberry smoothie and that was when I enjoyed this the most. But more often than not, the strawberry purée was overpowering and there wasn’t much else to the drink. Like most things in life, this drink needed more guava.

21. Ube Latte with Matcha Foam (Cappuccino Cart)

This latte ended up getting too sweet for me. We both liked the matcha foam on top and the first taste of ube was good. After a few sips, this just became too much of the same and wasn’t particularly interesting to me. If you love ube then this might be worth checking out.

20. Tajín Habanero Seasoned Wings (Peppers Cali-Ente)

These wings, topped with Tajín chile-lime sauce, had plenty of flavor but ended up being a little one note. For their part, the meat was juicy and cooked well and the lime flavor was prevalent. If you like Tajin and lime then these are probably up your alley. If not, then these are skippable.

19. Café de Olla Tres Leches Cake (Mercado de Antojos)

Look, I love Tres Leches! That means I loved this and ate every bit of it. But relative to all other Tres Leches I’ve tried, this was probably the worst. The cake was still moist and delicious but the topping was too reliant on a whipped cream that didn’t blow me away. If you’re looking for an introduction into the Mexican cake then this will be a decent start but just know you could find much better within a couple miles of Disneyland. By the way, this is very cute!

18. California Punch (California Craft Brews)

A solid but overly sweet, fruity drink. This punch includes Mango purée, guava nectar, cucumber syrup and lemon juice, garnished with a mango chile lollipop. The mango and guava were the main takeaways, as any trace of cucumber and spicy lollipop were a pleasant surprise. With more of those tastes, this would rank higher. Instead, this is just a nice juice to give you a good sugar rush.

17. Cuties Mandarin Orange & Blackberry Punch (Garlic Kissed)

This drink includes a house-made Cuties Mandarin orange purée, blackberry and strawberry purées, blackberry syrup, Simply Fruit Punch, and grapefruit juice garnished with a Cuties Mandarin orange. That’s a lot! The flavor most prevalent was mandarin orange purée but there was a little bit of depth from the blackberry flavor. I thought this was less sweet than other non-alcoholic drinks and had a little more nuance than others. I’d get this one again!

16. Ramen Mac & Cheese (Peppers Cali-Ente)

I’ll be honest, I was ready to hate this new iteration on mac & cheese. Disney keeps doubling down on these and they don’t work all that often. But, I was shocked that this one did! I don’t want to hype it too much, this isn’t as groundbreaking as it might sound. Essentially, this is mac & cheese topped with furikake crumble, fish cakes, green onions, and chile crunch. The ramen isn’t really existing. But I loved the chile crunch and all of the ingredients worked well together. There are much better dishes but this was a surprisingly good option.

15. Pandan Milk Tea (Lucky Fortune Cookery)

If you’re unfamiliar with Pandan, it is a plant most commonly found in southeast Asia. It is typically used to cook with and has a milky vanilla taste. That made this drink absolutely delicious, with the coconut shavings on top augmenting the flavor. This drink is made with oat milk and brown sugar tapioca. As an overall taste, this reminded us of a coconut milkshake.

14. Cherry Cobbler Pot de Creme (Golden Dreams)

I really enjoyed this dessert but thought it could be even better. Don’t be thrown off by just reading Cherry Cobbler and then thinking it would come out hot! The Pot de Creme is featured heavily here and is tasty, albeit a slightly strange mix with the cobbler crumble topping. The cherries were a little overpowering compared to everything else but cherries are delicious so is it really a bad thing?

13. Bulgogi Bowl (Lucky Fortune Cookery)

This dish tasted good but was a little boring compared to others on the list. Made with bulgogi beef and gochugaru-marinated cucumbers over rice garnished with spicy mayo, crispy shallots, and sesame seeds, this Bulgogi Bowl was among the spiciest things we tasted at the festival. It’s also just a pretty normal rice bowl with some nice, sweet meat on top. It won’t wow anyone but it does taste good! Ours wasn’t served in a bowl but I guess that ‘Bulgogi Disposable Food Tray’ wasn’t as good of a title.

12. Frozen Banoffee Banana (Clarabell’s Hand Scooped Ice Cream)

Melissa thinks I have this ranked way too low and she might be right. One one hand, this is just a dressed up chocolate dipped frozen banana. On the other, it’s absolutely delicious! The milk chocolate was really tasty, probably similar to what you’ll find on the ice cream bars there. Once the chocolate is on, the banana is topped with toffee pieces, caramel sauce, and white chocolate drizzle. If you like frozen, chocolate bananas you’ll love this. There’s always money in the banana stand!

11. Burrata Toast (Aunt Cass Cafe)

This dish includes toasted sourdough, onion jam, burrata, tomatoes, arugula, and balsamic glaze. It has a freshness that you likely won’t find anywhere else at the festival and is well worth getting. The burrata mixed with jam, tomatoes and balsamic glaze makes this very flavorful. The burrata itself was delicious but not overpowering. All of the components really worked together well.

10. Sirloin Gruyére Mac & Cheese (Garlic Kissed)

This festival staple wasn’t quite as strong this year as the sirloin wasn’t as juicy or flavorful. That may have just been a problem with our specific serving. This is still good and an easy addition to the top ten. The mac is topped with black garlic chimichurri and garlic butter crunch. Both of those elevate the mac & cheese and add some texture. If you get the timing right and the steak is tasty, then this is a contender for the best dish of the festival.

9. Chicken and Waffle Mole Taco (Hollywood Lounge & Studio Catering Co.)

This is among the most interesting items at the festival. The dish is made up of a waffle taco shell filled with chicken in spicy mole sauce, white rice, pepitas, and sesame seeds. I do think that Spanish rice here would have made more sense but the thin waffle shell was interesting and playful, covered in small Mickey heads. The chicken in mole sauce was the star here, not being overly spicy and having a nice sweet & savory taste.

8. Cherry Cola Cold Brew (LA Style)

I don’t understand why this is so good. By all means, it doesn’t make sense! As a Disney theme park blogger, it’s part of my job to try all of the cold brew flavors. I don’t get paid otherwise. I was resistant to this one, thinking that these flavors don’t go together. But thoroughness is next to Godliness (wait, that’s not how it goes) so I ordered it anyway. This is my favorite cold brew I’ve had at a Disney Park and it doesn’t even have breakfast cereal on top of it! I was worried that the cherry cola cold foam would be cough syrupy but it’s not, instead being more of a black cherry flavor. The drink is helped by the vanilla creme and oat milk. All in all, it’s sweet but with a more complete taste than the usual cold brews.

7. Asa’DOS (Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo)

The best value of the Sip & Savor options is this dish featuring grilled skirt steak and chipotle chicken with Spanish rice and salsa verde. This festival returner was significantly better this year than it was in 2025. The steak had a much stronger flavor and seasoning on it. Both the chicken and Spanish rice were also good, served with a delicious and slightly spicy salsa verde. This is one of the heartier portion sizes of any Sip & Savor items, if you’re looking for something more substantial.

6. Green Pozole (Cozy Cone Motel – Popcone)

I know it’s all the way down in 6th place but this was delicious enough to have a shot at the top! This traditional Mexican stew includes chicken and hominy and is served with chips. I loved the spice, including jalapenos and a salsa verde taste to the broth. This had more complexity than almost anything on the list and is particularly good on a cooler night.

5. Snickers Macaron (Uncork California)

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 and ends up in the top 5.

4. Musubi Fried Rice (Golden Dreams)

No dish had a bigger improvement from one year to the next than the Musubi Fried Rice. Maybe we got unlucky last year or lucky this year, who knows! But we thoroughly enjoyed this dish which included steamed rice with egg, glazed spiced ham, umami mayo, and furikake. The spiced ham was delicious, with a sweet glaze on top to pair with the savory mayo. This tasted like Hawaiian comfort food and was a good portion size.

3. Torta Ahogada (Mercado de Antojos)

One of several new dishes at the festival that really excelled, this torta includes braised pork carnitas, frijoles charros, pickled onion, and salsa. The braised pork carnitas were a highlight here, juicy and full of flavor. The torta sits on top of a red salsa that was heavy on tomatoes. All of the flavors worked really well together and I could see this becoming a festival favorite. It’s definitely one of our favorites!

2. Pork Chile Verde Chalupa (Paradise Garden Grill)

The 2026 festival has my 2 favorite festival dishes in a long time. The Pork Chile Verde Chalupa is filled with pork in salsa verde, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, and queso fresco. We liked the shell, being a little thicker than a taco shell and served warm. The salsa verde had a little bit of heat behind it but not enough to turn away Melissa, who doesn’t typically like spice. I thought it was a perfect amount of heat. The pork was fantastic, juicy and soaking up the salsa verde flavor. I’d love to see these permanently on a menu somewhere!

1. Carbonara Pizzetta (LA Style)

This Pizzetta may not look like much but it is absolutely fantastic. Topped with white sauce, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, and black pepper drizzle, the crust is thin but not overly crisp. The carbonara is flavorful, showing off that bacon and cheese. It’s a rich dish but doesn’t come off overly heavy. We immediately wanted another one after finishing this and think this will be a great crowd pleaser. It’s the dish of the festival!

What are your favorite items at the California Adventure Food & Wine Festival? Let us know, along with any questions you have, in the comments below! Planning a trip to Disneyland Resort? Check out our Disneyland Trip Planning Guide to help you out. This site will have you covered for discount tickets. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends and 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!