Captain J's Ocean Deck in Cocoa Beach, FL

It is time for a correction on this blog. Back in 2011, I ate at and wrote about a restaurant that I thought was called Captain J's Ocean Deck in Cocoa Beach. I was wrong. I actually ate next door to Captain J's at a place called Sandbar Sports Grill. On my most recent trip to Cocoa Beach, I realized the error of my ways when I actually ate at the real Captain J's Ocean Deck.

When we were seated, I saw somebody eating their taco salad and I suddenly had a craving for one. I knew what I was ordering before looking at the menu. The taco salad was served in a tostada bowl, filled with lettuce, tomato, black olives, jalapeno slices, cheese, and ground beef. Sour cream was served on the side. The salad was alright for what it was. I've had better taco salads elsewhere, but this served it's purpose of satisfying my taco salad craving. The funny thing was that as I was eating, I heard a few people walk past and mumble about how my salad looked really good, just like I did upon entering the restaurant. Captain J's makes very attractive looking salads...

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe at Magic Kingdom

I used to think the food from Disney was pretty awesome compared to most other theme park food. On my latest visit to the Magic Kingdom, I realized that this has changed somewhat. It had been a few years since my last visit to the park and the fast food dining options have definitely shrunk. There were some places serving more interesting food (like the Asian noodle place in Tomorrowland or the Mexican in Adventureland), but they were all closed on the day I visited. Out of the open dining options, restaurants that I remember having having interesting menus (Cosmic Rays) seem to have expanded their burger selection and eliminated many of their other foods.

I decided to have dinner at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe in Frontierland. Again, mostly burgers but I decided to go with a salad. It wasn't quite what I was expecting...

I'm all for salad bars. Salad bars can be good, that is if you know you're getting a salad bar. When I ordered at Taco Salad at Pecos Bill's, I did not realize I was getting a pretty lousy salad bar. After ordering, they handed a fried tortilla bowl filled with some ground beef and a sour cream packet. The lack of vegetables in the salad left me somewhat confused, but then was directed to the restaurant's topping bar. With some lettuce, cheese, banana peppers, sauteed onions, and pickles, I filled my tostada bowl.

While I did make my salad tasty, it was definitely not what I was expecting. For $8.50, I was thought I'd be getting more than a tiny bit of meat in a tortilla. I really was expecting a ready made salad, with the main salad components already in place. I would not consider a hamburger topping bar to be a good salad bar either.

At least the food at Epcot is still awesome. Lets hope it stays that way...