The Best Food at the 2022 EPCOT Festival of the Arts
All photos courtesy of Disney
EPCOT’s annual International Festival of the Arts, which runs through Feb. 21, 2022, is a celebration of all manner of creativity. You’ll find performers and art vendors throughout the park, with daily shows from the Disney on Broadway Concert Series. Unique photo opportunities will let you step into some of the most important paintings of all time, including Mona Lisa and The Scream. You’ll also be able to try your own hand at creating something beautiful at a handful of interactive art experiences, including a paint-by-numbers mural of EPCOT’s mascot Figment.
This is an EPCOT festival, though, which means one thing, above all else: food. You’ll find a diverse spread of enticing delicacies throughout EPCOT during the Festival of the Arts, from the standard menus at EPCOT’s many great restaurants, to limited engagement offerings at kiosks throughout World Showcase. No disrespect to the visual and performance arts, but at EPCOT, the culinary arts reign supreme.
I recently trekked down to Orlando to try out this sumptuous feast for myself. (I’m not going to lie: I love my job.) The special festival food is served in small-ish portions—think tapas—and will generally set you back between $5 and $10 a plate. Expect to pay a little bit more than you would for most theme park treats, for a little bit less food, although that food is of a higher quality and with a more artful presentation than you’d typically get from a walk-up counter at a Disney park. And because this is traditionally the slowest time of the year for Disney’s theme parks, you probably won’t have to wait as long in line as you might at other EPCOT festivals. If you’re into the general concept of EPCOT’s food-centric special events, this is the one to go to.
Here’s what I discovered during my savory journey through the culinary world. These are the best foods at EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts.
Carne Asada
Found at: El Artista Hambriento at the Mexico pavilion
This is one of the heftier dishes you’ll find at the Festival. It’s a seared beef tenderloin served with refried beans, a square of grilled queso fresco, and salsa, and if you’re looking for something to serve as an ersatz main course for your ‘round-the-world feast, this is one of your best bets. My tenderloin was cooked just right, with no chewiness or gristle, and the mild salsa was just spicy enough to give it a little kick. This is the dish’s first year at Festival of the Arts, and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t make a return in 2023.
Char Siu Pork Bun
Found at: The Painted Panda at the China pavilion
I’m a firm believer that it’s hard to do bao wrong. When done right—which is, again, almost all of the time—these steamed buns are light and sweet, sticky and chewy, and an ideal snack even without anything in them. So when you put a solid serving of barbecued char siu pork in there, along with a sweet sauce that has just a hint of heat to it, the result will almost always be worth devouring. That’s true with the char siu pork bun at the Painted Panda, which might be my favorite food at the entire festival. It’s also served with a striking presentation, with a streak of sauce across the white plate that looks like a brush stroke. The Painted Panda lines can get long, but this bao is worth the wait.