 Today was the grand opening of the Polite Pig at Disney Springs. We've been looking forward to this opening since owners/Chefs James and Julie Petrakis also own/operate the very popular Orlando restaurants The Ravenous Pig and Swine & Sons. The Polite Pig is a quick-casual eatery. You order, pay, are given a pager and select your seat. Your food is brought out shortly and servers refill your drinks, clear your table and get you anything you may need, even that is to order a dessert you might have left room for. Our server Sara was very friendly, offered lots of fun information about the restaurant and answered any questions we had. She was great!  The outside of the restaurant  Outside patio seating   Outside bar area and additional patio seating  While they have wide variety of drinks and beers on tap what was most impressive was their 52 selections of bourbon!  Even their door handles made me happy. How can you go wrong with a pig in a top hat and monocle?    Line queue and order counter  If you look closely on the floor you will find some pig prints!  I loved how the inside was decorated and had room for about 200 guests.    
They had an impressive sauce bar. Our favorite was the Lil John's Black Pepper BBQ. I also really enjoyed the Alabama white sauce. It was a BBQ flavor I have never had before and the creamy, vinegar taste really appealed to my taste buds.  After ordering you are given a pager to place on your table. They bring your food right to your table.  Without further ado... the food!  Smoked Chicken wings. One of my dinning companions ordered these and enjoyed them. He let me have one of the carrots..how kind.  The Hop Salt Pretzel with IPA mustard and beer cheese fondue. This thing was bigger than my head and was very delicious. I loved the beer cheese fondue. The IPA mustard wasn't to my personal liking but I am not a fan of IPA but if you love mustard this was full of flavor.  Polite Wedge. I am a big fan of wedge salads and this one was no exception. Topped with bacon jam, pickled onions, tomatoes and smoked blue cheese dressing this is definitely something I would order again and again.  Salmon BLT with bacon jam, marinated tomato, romaine and aioli. I did not get a chance to try this but heard it had a great flavor.  I selected the tomato and watermelon salad for my side. It was topped with feta, basil and pickled onions. I enjoyed these flavor combinations and felt like something I would really enjoy on a summer day or any day.  The Brisket Melt with caramelized onions, pickled peppers and beer cheese fondue. I was expecting this to be a slab of brisket and was pleasantly surprised it was shredded. I love the portion size of the sandwiches. There was a lot of meat and packed a lot of flavor. This was yummy!  Pork Shoulder from the smoker served with texas toast, slaw and one side. Chris picked the baked beans for his side. The pork was really flavorful and tender. The beans we both agreed were not something we would choose as a side again. They were more a little more bland than we were expecting.  Last and certainly not least the dessert. We shared the Orange blossom honey cake. Oh my! This was dense cake was delicious. If I could put Florida into a dessert this would be it! Over all we loved the Polite Pig and welcome it to Disney Springs with open arms and satisfied tummies. We can not wait to bring our friends and family back to try even more off the menu! 
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 The Marketplace Co-op at Disney Springs welcomed a new shop this morning called the Dress Shop on Cherry Lane and we were on hand for the opening. The shop carries retro Disney themed dresses and accessories as well as a few dresses from Pinup Girl clothing (which has always been a favorite clothing store of mine for years). My understanding is Pinup Girl's pop-up shop is only available through Sunday April 2nd only. I was impressed they carried a wide range of sizes from XS up to XXXL in some styles. Dapper Day founder Justin J. as well as pinup model Doris Mayday were both on hand for the opening.  
  The Tiki Room inspired Dress   Terror of Terror dress   Snow White inspired dress   Haunted Mansion Dress    Minnie Mouse inspired dress   Pirates of the Caribbean dress  Mad Teacups dress
 It's a Small World inspired dress   I love how each dress comes with a nice garment bag.   We have eaten at Art Smith's Homecomin' (formally called Homecoming) a couple of times now and have had a enjoyable experience both times. We have always had excellent, friendly service and the food reminds me of going to grandma's house for a wonderful home cooked meal but turned up a notch. Nothing fancy or ingredients I have not heard of just delicious food. My only complaint, if there is one, is our 2nd time there the food took a little longer to come out. This is not a big deal to me at a sit down restaurant especially when the food is worth the wait (which it is) but it was something to keep in mind if you are on a time limit and have some place to be. 
The interior of the restaurant is open and bright with high vaulted ceilings. From the potato sack chandeliers, the sunny mural, and the antique bottles I love the southern comfort look.  I love that their chandeliers are made from potato bags!   The Bar. While you'll find plenty of familiar drink options here they specialize in moonshine offering a variety of signature moonshine craft cocktails. As I said above the food we have tried as been excellent. Homecomin' specialty is their fried chicken. I have a confession... I am not big on fried chicken so I did not order it but two of my dining companions ordered it and said while it was not the best fried chicken they have ever had it was definitely delicious and worth ordering.  With moonshine drinks being a specialty I decided to try one. I picked the Moonshine Mash: Watermelon-infused moonshine, fresh watermelon, lime juice and simple syrup. Oh my! This was so refreshing I could see myself drinking this all summer.  We started with the Church Lady Deviled Eggs. I loved how they did not add any fancy ingredients (except the bacon and no complaints about bacon here!) These were so good.  This is the Fried Chicken Sandwich: fried chicken, dressed with hot sauce, aioli, iceberg lettuce, tomato and house-made barbecue chips drizzled with icebox dressing. This sandwich was very tasty. I loved the flavor of the chips but the bbq powder on them fell on my white shorts and left little streaks when I wiped them away..just a warning to not be a messy eater like me!  Fried chicken and doughnuts. It took us awhile trying to figure out what the syrup was and turns out it was a molasses base. Very unique but tasty.  Art Smith's famous fried chicken. Both people in our dining group said they thought this tasted very good. It was moist on the inside, crispy on the outside and was delicious. The description on the menu says served with creamy mashed potatoes, cheddar drop biscuits, and love. Can we just stop and appreciate that it says "and love".  Chopped Pork Barbecue Plate. Dressed with HFK sweet and spicy barbecue sauce served with Momma's mac and cheese and cheddar drop biscuits. The person in our party who ordered this said it was delicious but noted that the sweet and spicy BBQ wasn't very spicy.  Kitchen Plate which was a trio of your choice of sides. Everyone in our party agreed the mac n' cheese was phenomenal. The garlic mashed potatoes and cucumber salad were yummy!  Save room for dessert!  The hummingbird cake. This is one of Art Smith's most requested desserts in his restaurants and it is easy to see why. This was very delicious!  How about that? Chef Art Smith himself came and greeted us at our table. It was an honor to meet him and he seemed like a genuinely nice and caring gentlemen!  I love how instead of after dinner mints they have after dinner taffy!  There is an old saying"there are only two kinds of people in this world, the Irish and those who wish they were". St. Patrick's Day lets us all celebrate like the Irish and Disney World is no exception. My first St. Patrick's Day at Disney World I celebrated at Rose & Crown in Epcot. There was plenty of green beer and a specifically drink called the Leaping Leprechaun (run, vodka, Irish whiskey, melon liqueur, sweet and sour, topped with Sprite) pair that with that with the corn beef and cabbage in the dining room and you'll have a great Irish celebration. This year in Magic Kingdom at Casey's Corner on Main Street they are getting in on the fun by adding a new Irish inspired hot dog topped with corn beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and whole grain mustard.  For Dessert you can find a variety of St. Patrick's Day cupcakes: Contempo Cafe at Contemporary Resort, Main Street Bakery at Magic Kingdom, Fountain View at Epoct and Sprinkles at Disney Springs all have a seasonal cupcake. If chocolate is what you are craving the Ganachery at Disney Springs has 3 special flavors available until March 18th: Irish stout ganache, Irish cream ganache, and Irish whiskey ganache.  St. Patrick's Day cupcake From Sprinkles at Disney Springs.
Goofy's Candy company had a variety of St. Patrick's Day treats. 
Even the Daily Poutine got in on the Irish fun with an Irish inspired poutine!  Our tradition the last few years has been to celebrate at one of our favorite Disney World restaurants, Raglan Road at Disney Springs. When you step inside this authentic Irish pub with the live Celtic music, Irish dancers, and very delicious pub fair food you'll see why this is such a popular spot.    For St. Patrick's week Raglan Road has a Mighty St. Patrick's Festival. This year it is being held March 16th-19th. The craic (gaelic for fun) has a full line up of fantastic live music with featured bands, the always wonderful Raglan Road Irish dancers, face painting and delectable Irish cuisine by Irish chef Kevin Dunbon. Please note that on the actual St. Patrick's Day they are not taking reservations, it is a first come first serve basis, and there is $10 cover charge per guest over the age of 18.
 Inside of Raglan Road is fun and festive.  
 Keen Eye for the Shepherd's Pie    We attended the opening day of Paddlefish, formally known as Fulton's Crab House, at Disney Springs. The restaurant has been closed for months as it underwent renovations both inside and out. It was worth the wait! The inside is stunning! With the neutral colors everything seems bright, fresh and relaxing. We were given a table next to one of the many windows with a peaceful view of the water. Every staff member we encountered was very friendly and our food was phenomenal. We had a great first impression and enjoyed the changes. 
 Check in desk. How cute that the fish is made from lobster crackers!
   Our view for lunch.  Chris was very happy they kept the lobster corn dogs on the menu. They were one of our favorite appetizers from Fulton's menu.
 Seafood Tower  After months of being closed for renovations Planet Hollywood at Disney Springs has finally reopened as what is now officially called Planet Hollywood Observatory . We decided to try it for lunch. The outside has been redone to fit in with the Disney Springs theme.  The three story interior has been updated as well. While movie memorabilia can still be found on the walls the restaurant now has a modernized, less cluttered feel. (I personally did not mind the cluttered look).  
The menu has not been left out of the updates either. You will still find old favorites like the L.A Lasagna (a delicious fried lasagna with Bolognese meat sauce, yum!) but there are plenty of new options as well. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri has added his culinary artistry to the menu with his Big Bite Burgers and Knuckle Sandwiches. We each decided to head to flavor town and pick items from Guy’s creations.  The Pimento Grilled Cheese. A triple stacked grilled cheese with six cheese mac-n-cheese and pimento cheese between three slices of garlic-buttered sourdough bread. We loved the flavor combination of this sandwich! The fries were really tasty also!  The Championship Pulled Pork Sandwich. Bourbon brown sugar barque sauce, slaw on a garlic-buttered brioche bun. I’ve looked forward to seeing the new dessert menu since coming soon ads have been showing outrageous looking shakes for months! We choose the Super Nova Shake in the Strawberry Big Bang. Oh My! Let me tell you not only was the wow factor of this dessert out of this world, but the flavor was amazing as well!  Strawberry Big Bang Super Nova Shake.  The menu of shakes and supernova shakes.  The gelato dessert challenge sounds really interesting and fun. |
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