New food at Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival, ranked worst to best

The 11 foods I ranked are the new offerings eligible for purchase with a Sip and Savor Pass at the Festival Marketplaces. Sip and Savor Passes are available with either four ($32) or eight ($63) digital coupons and can be used during multiple visits to the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. The items below can also be purchased individually. The following are my rankings from, least favorite to favorite:

#11.) Cherry Cobbler Pot de Crème: Vanilla custard, cherry filling, and oat crumble

• Located at Golden Dreams Marketplace.
• Scored 3 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

This plant-based item was my least favorite new item at this year’s California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. To be fair, it’s not an item I would typically order if it hadn’t been for the purpose of research. The cherry filling is a very thick syrup. It isn’t too sweet, and the oat crumble does add some nice texture.

#10.) Western BBQ Burger Bao with sweet barbecue sauce, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, and crispy onions

• Located at LA Style Marketplace.
• Scored 3 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

Although I typically enjoy bao buns, this one simply tastes like a McDonald’s burger. That’s not necessarily bad, but I expected more from it. Although it is visibly covered in barbecue sauce, the flavor does not come through.

#9.) Musubi Fried Rice: Aulani Resort-inspired steamed rice with egg, glazed spiced ham, umami mayo, and furikake

• Located at Golden Dreams Marketplace.
• Scored 4 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

The rice has a perfect, pillowy texture with a light flavor. The glazed spiced ham has a nice searing, giving it good texture. But it’s saltier than I would have preferred, causing it to overpower the dish.

#8.) Sloppy Joe Slider featuring IMPOSSIBLE Beef with cheese 

• Located at California Craft Brews Marketplace.
• Scored 4 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

This item is totally fine, but nothing about it made my tastebuds dance. It’s a bit bland, but it comes on a nice, toasted bun. I am always impressed by IMPOSSIBLE Beef, and this didn’t disappoint in that department.

#7.) Mini LA Street Dog with jalapeño mayo, pepper and onion relish, Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon, and crispy onions

• Located at LA Style Marketplace.
• Scored 5 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

This item brings heat with the jalapeño mayo. It’s served in a soft bun and the bacon has a nice crisp with a good amount of salt.

#6.) Asa’DOS: Grilled skirt steak and chipotle chicken with Spanish rice and salsa verde

• Located at Cluck-A-Doodle-MooMarketplace.
• Scored 5 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

The chicken is juicy and quite spicy. The steak is tough and dry. The Spanish rice is fairly traditional with a moist tomato base.

#5.) Café de Olla Tres Leches Cake: Café de olla-infused tres leches topped with piloncillo chantilly, cinnamon, and a Mickey-shaped cookie

• Located at Mercado de Antojos Marketplace (New this year!)
• Scored 5 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

This dessert satisfies the sweet tooth without being too sweet. It’s perhaps a bit dryer than expected. The Mickey-shaped cookie is my favorite part, but it’s also unfortunately the smallest portion of this new dessert.

#4.) Birria Mac & Cheese with onion-cilantro sauce and tortilla crunch

• Located at Mercado de Antojos Marketplace
• Scored 6 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

The sauce brings nice acid to the dish while the tortilla crunch does its job nicely, bringing some texture to the dish. It’s a fairly mild cheese for a mac & cheese dish.

#3.) Corn Chip Chili Pie featuring IMPOSSIBLE Beef: Seasoned IMPOSSIBLE Beef, spicy cheese sauce, tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, and cream

• Located at Mercado de Antojos Marketplace.
• Scored 6 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

All the food comes inside a corn chip (Fritos) individual snack bag, making it easy to stand and eat. It has a lot of spice to it, but calling it a “pie” is quite misleading. Most of the bag is full of corn chips with only the top layer filled with the other foods mentioned. It’s tasty, but I wanted more filling.

#2.) Lemon Pepper Wings with garlic ranch

• Located at California Craft Brews Marketplace.
• Scored 7 out of 10 for overall enjoyability.

These chicken wings have a lot of juicy meat on them with a strong lemon pepper flavor bringing sour and salt. The wings are tasty with and without the garlic ranch.

There are many more new and returning food and drink options at Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival outside of the Festival Marketplace.

A favorite item I tasted beyond the Marketplace can be found at Aunt Cass Café in San Fransokyo Square. It’s called Burrata Toast, which is a toasted sourdough, onion jam, burrata, tomatoes, arugula, and balsamic glaze. It’s fresh and delicious.

For a full list of food and drink options at the festival, check out the Disney Eats: Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival Foodie Guide 2025.

Jeff DePaoli is an event producer and voiceover artist living in Los Angeles. He can be heard as the voice of Disney Trivia on Alexa as well as the host of “Dizney Coast to Coast” podcast, where he and his special guests share honest opinions on all things Disney  at  DizneyCoastToCoast.com. DePaoli’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent Attractions Magazine.