Dining Review: Lunch at Space 220
One of the most difficult restaurants to get a dining reservation for at the Walt Disney World Resort is one of EPCOT’S newest restaurant’s Space 220. This table service location, which is located next to Mission: SPACE in World Discovery and always seems to be booked up at the 60+ day window. But, if you’re persistent, or lucky, you can get a reservation, like we did, day of.
On my most recent visit to the resort. I saw the lunchtime reservation available in the My Disney Experience app and knew I had to book it immediately. I had dined here previously twice – once on opening day and once shortly after opening, but my husband had never experienced this restaurant and I wanted to make sure he got to try it.
About the Restaurant
For those who don’t know, this restaurant is one that is HEAVILY themed! The story is that you travel 220 miles into space via the stellevator and you get to dine at this incredible restaurant with views that are literally out of this world.
The restaurant offers up prix-fixed menus, with lunch including an appetizer and an entree selection and dinner including an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Of course, the cheaper option is lunch, since it doesn’t include the dessert.
Guests can choose to visit the lounge, which allows you the option to purchase drinks and small bites, however it is only available on a walk-up basis and the wait for that is certainly astronomical on most days.
The restaurant itself is simply stunning though. It features these HUGE screens that allow you to “see into space”. You’ll marvel as you stare at Earth, as well as experience some other fun surprises along the way. If you’re coming here for the atmosphere, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
The Food
This is where you might be disappointed by the rest of my review. When I first dined here when the restaurant originally opened, the food was spectacular. I was able to try many things off the menu on opening day and pretty much loved every single one, whether it be appetizer, entree, or dessert.
A few years later, due to its popularity, it pains me to say that it seems that the food quality is no longer something that gets focused on. I’m going to be perfectly honest….the food quality this most recent time was just mediocre.
Let’s talk about where they do shine. The appetizers at Space 220 are actually quite delicious.
We got the Big Bang Burrata, which is basically just a ball of fancy mozzarella cheese. This has been on the menu since the beginning though it appears that the accompaniments change frequently. Ours seemed to be served with a tomato ragu. This was very good, as the cheese was nice and creamy.
We also got the Starry Calamari. Again, another appetizer that has been around since the beginning and is quite good. It is Fried Calamari served with Italian Cherry Peppers, Spicy Marinara, Roasted Pepper Citrus Aioli. The dish has a nice, crisp batter and the actual calamari was not chewy, which is often a problem with this dish at other places.
The appetizers, were definitely the highlights of the meal. The entree was a huge miss.
We both got the Steak & Frites. This was a New York Strip Steak, served with Roasted Garlic Butter, Haricot Vert (green beans), and French Fries. I had a better steak at Texas Roadhouse this past weekend than I did here. My steak at Space 220 was overcooked, chewy, and incredibly thin. The garlic butter was a nice touch to make it seem fancier, but even that couldn’t save the steak.
The haricot vert, I’m sorry, green beans were good. They were nice and crunchy, not mushy. And the French fries were basically the standard Disney fries. Now I like Disney fries, but I would prefer something a little fancier with my entree when paying this much money. If they wanted to keep up the space theme, they could have done something like mashed potatoes, but make them from the purple potatoes.
Both my husband and I found our entrees to be quite lacking.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I’m quite disappointed that it seems that the quality of food has dipped so much at Space 220 since its initial opening. I raved about this place after first trying it all those years ago. Now, I really would have a hard time suggesting dining here, unless you just really have to have the experience. The experience is certainly what you’re paying for at this point.
Until the menu changes for the better, I can honestly say, I won’t be going back. I love the appetizers, but that’s not enough to go back for.
Honestly, when writing this review, I thought I was being hard on this restaurant. That was until I went back to look at some of the photos of my previous visits and I definitely am not. Above is the steak I got just a month after the restaurant opened. As you can see, it was a much better cut of meat and the steak actually looked appetizing.
If you REALLY want to visit, I would say try to get a walk-up for the lounge. Otherwise I say skip Space 220.
But now I want to know what you think? Have you dined at Space 220 recently? What were your thoughts? You can share with me in the comments or on social! Find me on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.
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