Boatwright’s Dining Hall is a table-service restaurant in Walt Disney World’s Port Orleans – Riverside Resort. The restaurant offers Cajun and American inspired dishes, taking inspiration from Bayou. Boatwright’s is a part of the Disney Dining Plan, costing 1 table-service credit. Annual Passholder and Disney Visa Cardholders also receive a discount. In this post, we’ll review Boatwright’s Dining Hall including our thoughts on the food, atmosphere and value.

About 7 years had passed since we went down the river to have a meal at Boatwright’s Dining Hall. We’d stayed at Port Orleans – Riverside several times since but had either been out late in the parks or gone with counter-service while at the resort. My (faint) memory of Boatwright’s was of a surprisingly good meal, and my review from then backs that up.

Riverside has become one of my favorite places to stop in while on a Disney World trip. If I know a night at Disney Springs with Melissa is coming, I’ll leave the park a little early and catch a bus to the resort before taking a boat to Disney Springs. The calm area and gorgeous walk between Riverside and French Quarter is a nice respite from the park, as is the boat ride.

Boatwright’s Dining Hall follows that lead, with a quieter setting than the majority of Walt Disney World restaurants. Maybe the jaunt to get there is enough to keep some guests away? The latest v.i.passholder promotion, offering 40% off to annual passholders, seems to have breathed a little life into the restaurant but when we dined there during that discount, Boatwright’s still felt quaint.

Part of that feeling might be a little glossy on my end. I think there’s a level of romanticism I have for these hyper-specific themed moderate resort. Boatwright’s sits down the hall from Riverside’s lobby, right next to the popular River Roost Lounge. The restaurant is adorned with hanging lanterns and there’s a large ship hull hanging overhead. How this place became a dining hall after clearly being a ship building warehouse is unclear to me but the Sassagoula River continuity is a theme I’m here for.

The restaurant is divided into a couple of different rooms. Boatwright’s entrance is where the ship hull hangs over, that stretches throughout the first room. That area is the largest but is cut in half by going up a few steps. All along the walls are saws, axes, C-blades and other ship building tools. Well, I assume they’re ship building tools. I can’t say I’ve ever built a ship! If Disney wanted to do their own Horror Nights, the wall decor would fit in with the Saw franchise. Let’s just stick with the ship building though.

The back of the restaurant features some brickwork along with more tools. While not a huge footprint, Boatwright’s does manage to fit in quite a few tables. I wouldn’t call this extremely crowded and I think the sound is kept to a minimum because of the amount of walls, levels and lower ceilings.

The atmosphere at Boatwright’s Dining Hall is solid but not super memorable. We like that the restaurant feels off the beaten path and generally offers a quieter meal. I also love the ship hull hanging overhead and some of the light fixtures throughout. This does feel like an older Disney World restaurant with all of the steps and rooms separated creatively, that’s another bonus. The atmosphere isn’t transportive or something that will make your jaw drop but it does fit in well with the resort.

Moving to the food, here’s a look at the menu. There’s a wide variety of prices in entrees, from as low as $25 all the way up to $44. There’s an all-you-care-to-enjoy platter ($38) featuring quite a few barbecue options. We didn’t opt for that but it seemed pretty popular. Boatwright’s offers a mix of Cajun and barbecue inspired dishes throughout the menu.

The meal starts with ciabatta bread served with a chimichurri butter. This has replaced the cornbread and honey butter that was the bread service offering up until a month or two ago. Frankly, this is a terrible change. I love ciabatta but Boatwright’s had the best cornbread on property, served warm and with the perfect amount of sweetness. The ciabatta, in this case, is fine. Ours didn’t taste extremely fresh and the bread doesn’t really fit in with the other offerings, but it’s not bad. The point about the cornbread has caused a lot of (rightful) grumbling across the Disney World blogosphere so I won’t belabor the point. We are definitely pro-cornbread though!

We ordered the Wedge Salad for an appetizer. The Wedge is served with Bacon, Tomato Confit, and Blue Cheese Dressing for $12. You can switch it up and go with Succotash, Tomato Confit, and Green Goddess Dressing for $11. This was a very tasty wedge salad, with fresh ingredients and not overdressed. If you like Wedge Salads, you’ll like this one!

Boatwright’s Jambalaya is an old classic that has made it through several menu changes. It’s a classic for a reason, this is delicious! The dish consists of slow-cooked Spicy Rice with Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, and Chicken. While it says Spicy Rice, I think the Jambalaya is approachable for most palates. All of the meats are cooked well and the rice stays away from being one note, mixing tomato, pepper and creole seasoning well. The portion size here is on the smaller side but the presentation is nicely done. At $29, this is a go-to at Boatwright’s and that’s not just because it comes with cornbread!

We also had the Panko Crispy Chicken ($27) served with Seasonal Risotto-style Farro and Greens. I was skeptical of this, thinking the chicken looked a little too thin and on the burnt side. It was not! The Panko added a crunchy texture and the chicken was seasoned well. It paired well with the Risotto-style Farro and Greens, which had a southern-style vegetable quality to it – creamy and delicious. Melissa liked this even more than I did and she would definitely get it again.

For dessert, we tried the Peanut Butter Pie that included Chocolate Cookie Crumbs and Chantilly Cream. This was fantastic, albeit extremely rich. There wasn’t a ton of nuance here but if you love peanut butter then you will love this! Thankfully, both of us do. If I wasn’t set on sharing at this point in the meal, I would have gone with the Bourbon Chocolate Cake but there’s always next time. The Peanut Butter Pie is only $9 and well worth getting.

Boatwright’s Dining Hall remains a surprisingly good restaurant. While I don’t think it’s in the top tier offerings at Walt Disney World, it’s a really nice option for those that want something off the beaten path or if you’re staying at Port Orleans. There are plenty of interesting options on the menu and the setting is enjoyable. Bringing back the cornbread might bump it up a spot or two in our table-service rankings, but it still ends up ranking favorably without it!

Overall Rating – 8/10

Have you been to Boatwright’s Dining Hall? Let us know, along with any questions you have, in the comments below! Want discounted tickets to Walt Disney World? Check out this site! Planning at trip to Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney, please subscribe to the blog on the right side of this page. That’s where you can find links to our social media accounts, as well. Thank you for reading!