Walt Disney World’s most tasteful seasonal event is currently in full swing, and we’ve got your Unofficial Guide to some of the best (and worst) brand-new dishes now being served at the 2025 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.
This year’s edition of the annual EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival officially kicked off back on August 28, 2025, featuring menus full of returning favorites at the Global Marketplaces arrayed all around the park. But there are also dozens of never-before-tasted items on offer this time around, including a couple of outdoor kiosks that opened on September 28th. We recently took a stroll around the eastern half of EPCOT—from World Discovery through Mexico and up to the American Adventure—to bring you our hits and misses among the all-new festival foods available now through November 22nd.
Coastal Eats (near Creations Shop)
Coastal Eats, which just opened at the end of September, was our first stop of the day, and it turned out to be among the best—so long as you like shellfish.
Seaside Pot Pie with shrimp, scallops, crawfish tails, and lobster bisque topped with puff pastry: For fish lovers, this is arguably one of the best values of the festival. Underneath the flaky crust, the crustaceans remain tender, swimming in a generous serving of buttery broth.
Peruvian Ceviche with mahi mahi, shrimp, sweet potato, chulpe, choclo, and leche de tigre: This ceviche comes in a very close second to the preceding pot pie for shellfish fans. Come for the flaky acid-cured fish, stay for the delightfully crunchy dried corn kernels.
Gyozas of the Galaxy (near Creations Shop)
Right next to Coastal Eats, the cleverly named Gyozas of the Galaxy recently made its festival debut with three unconventional varieties of Asian dumplings.
French Onion Soup-style Dumplings with pork and beef soup dumplings, caramelized onions, sherry-beef broth, onion and Gruyère soubise, Parmesan cracker, and micro chives: These European-style xiao long bao won’t divert purists from Din Tai Fung, but the savory filling—which, if you aren’t careful, will leak out as soon as you bite into the dumpling—tastes exactly like its Parisian namesake. And at $2 per dumpling, the pricing is outrageous compared to local dim sum restaurants.
Street Corn-style Dumplings with chicken dumplings, tomatillo salsa verde, street corn salad, cotija cheese, lime crema, and cilantro: These deceptively named dumplings should have had the meager helping of esquites that’s sprinkled on top stuffed inside, instead of the bland mushy chicken filling, making this a major missed opportunity.
Brew-Wing Lab at The Odyssey
Once again, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his hapless assistant, Beaker, have taken over the Odyssey with the Muppet’s Brew-Wing Lab. This time, in addition to the traditional Buffalo seasoning (on chicken or vegan protein), a new Asian-style contender has joined the chat.
Korean BBQ Wings with gochujang barbecue sauce and toasted sesame: If you don’t mind getting your fingers messy, these meaty wings coated in umami-rich spices have just the right amount of heat without being overwhelming. And at just over $1.50 per segment, they’re among the festival’s better bargains. To cool off, the Frozen Pomegranate & Raspberry Tea is refreshingly tart, with orange ice-cream molecules adding a touch of texture; ask for multiple straws because the paper won’t last very long.
China
Beijing Zhajiang Noodles with stir-fried minced beef, cucumber, chili, and carrots in a savory douban sauce: Unfortunately, this new noodle dish was a huge disappointment, especially after recently eating handmade noodles in Montreal’s Chinatown. The best thing about this dish is that it offers a substantial portion of starch, making it much more filling than the average festival menu item. However, you may not want to finish this gummy pile of under-seasoned pasta—at least not without piling on extra soy and spicy sauces—and even if you do, you’ll consume barely a spoonful of pulverized ground meat, making this a poor value despite its size.
Spain (between Italy & Germany)
Trio de Pintxos with Jamón croqueta, pan con tomate, and tortilla Española: Like a classic Spaghetti Western filmed in Spain, this trio of tapas represents the good, the bad, and the ugly. Best by far is the tomato-topped toast, followed by the sliver of egg-and-potato casserole. Sadly, the croquettes’ creamy filling has hardly any hint of ham, and the whole plate can be cleared in less than a half-dozen bites.
Flavors of America Menu at American Adventure
Gulf Coast-style Seafood Roll with warm-water lobster, rock shrimp, lobster bisque, and sherry-crème fraîche on a toasted brioche bun: We end our movable feast where we began—with shellfish bathing in bisque! The lobster roll previously served at this location was a long-running favorite, despite portion cuts and price increases over the years. For the 2025 festival, EPCOT added langostino-like rock shrimp to stretch out the meager morsel of warm-water lobster (which is typically not as sweet as its northern cousin) and drizzled it with lobster bisque, which swiftly soaked through my under-toasted bun. Although I appreciated the fresh flavor of the fish and the lack of vegetable filler, its portion size (especially compared to the aforementioned pot pie) makes it a poor pick for value hunters.
What’s your favorite new flavor at the 2025 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival? Let us know in the comments below!
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