The Cake Bake Shop Restaurant is a new table service dining experience and bakery at Walt Disney World, within walking distance of EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. This review covers our meal at this costly and controversial new eatery, whether it’s worth your time and money, guest types to whom it’ll appeal, and how to make the most of a meal at Cake Bake.
In terms of basics, the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant by Gwendolyn Rogers is located at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, replacing the space previously occupied by ESPN Club. As noted above, this resort slash ‘WDW district’ is located between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Directly across Crescent Lake from Cake Bake Shop is Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts; the Swan & Dolphin Resorts are also adjacent to it.
All of these hotels form the Crescent Lake Resort Area or EPCOT Resort Area. Perhaps more importantly, Cake Bake Shop is a short walk from EPCOT’s International Gateway entrance/exit in World Showcase between the United Kingdom and France. There’s also a Skyliner gondola station over there, making Cake Bake easily accessible from Pop Century, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, and Riviera Resorts. All of these locations are mentioned both for the sake of access, and because the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant is wholly unique and unlike anything at any of the aforementioned parks or resorts.
Also notable is that the addition of the Cake Bake Shop Restaurant by Gwendolyn Rogers is the final phase of a multi-year reimagining of Disney’s BoardWalk Inn. This also added BoardWalk Deli, Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs, and a few other minor changes. Most notable up until Cake Bake was the reimagined rooms at Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, which are a bit of a mixed bag.
It’s possible there’s more to come of this resort reimagining. Walt Disney World still hasn’t announced the plan for the former Big River Grille and both Jelly Rolls and Atlantic Dance Hall have been on life support for years, so there could be a phase two on that side of the promenade in the coming years. But as far as what’s been announced, this is the end of the resort refresh and enhancements.
For our first meal at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant, we opted to make a late lunch Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) for 4:15 pm. Upon arrival at the appointed time, we were seated at approximately 4:25 pm and our server proceeded to take our order at 4:35 pm.
I note these times because Cake Bake has two slightly menus for lunch and dinner. The former is offered until 4:30 pm per the restaurant, and the latter begins at 5 pm. We were ordering during a lost 30 minutes, apparently.
Our server advised us that the lunch menu was no longer available, as the system had already switched over. This was mildly annoying given our ADR and arrival time, as I had wanted to order from the ‘choose two’ menu that’s only offered at lunch.
It wasn’t a huge issue–it was simply for the sake of review diversity, not like there was some must-have only on that menu. We had plans to return to the restaurant with more family members later in the week, so I figured I’d just try it then.
Otherwise, service was satisfactory. Our server was knowledgeable about the menu, sufficiently friendly and attentive. It was more or less what you might experience at the adjacent Trattoria al Forno or another regular table service restaurant at Walt Disney World.
The biggest strength to the service was that, unlike some other Walt Disney World restaurants, the servers at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant were not stretched too thin. The ratio of guests per server was fairly low, roughly on par with a Signature Restaurant. This didn’t seem to be for lack of demand–we actually had a degree of difficulty making our ADRs.
With the table set, let’s dig into the cuisine at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant…
I ordered the Classic Burger with Pommes Frites: Ground beef chuck served on a toasted brioche buttered bun. Topped with shredded lettuce, pickles, beefsteak tomato, chopped white onion, mayonnaise, and melted Tillamook cheddar cheese.
This is a substantial, high quality burger. The brioche bun is soft and buttery, the vegetable toppings tasted fresh, and the meat was juicy and delicious.
I have zero complaints about this cheeseburger or the pomme frites (french fries). This dish is as advertised–a classic cheeseburger with fries executed at a high level.
Cake Bake’s burger is also nothing memorable or to write home about. Which is fine! Not every burger needs to be craveworthy or unique, and this doesn’t bill itself as that. As far as burgers go, it’s top 2 in the Crescent Lake Resort Area. But there isn’t exactly a lot of competition. Unless there’s a secret menu I don’t know about, this is the only burger anywhere at BoardWalk.
As with pretty much everything at Cake Bake, there is the issue of pricing. The Classic Burger and Pomme Frites costs $27. As someone who orders a lot of burgers at Walt Disney World, I long ago became numb to their pricing, so this didn’t give me sticker shock. Disney broke the $20 burger barrier back in 2012, and it was truly shocking back then. Burgers in the mid-$20s are now the norm, not the exception.
With all of that said, this is not the #1 burger in the Crescent Lake Resort Area. That crown goes to the Cheddar Burger over at Ale & Compass, which (for reference) is topped with Applewood-smoked Bacon, Tomato, Avocado, Pickles, Sunny Side Up Egg, on a Herbed Mayonnaise on a House-made Bun, and costs $25. For Cake Bake’s price, I would like to see something slightly more interesting–like that burger. Despite being quite good, the Cake Bake Burger is a one and done for me–and is difficult to recommend without that “something more.”
For her entree, Sarah ordered the Roasted Salmon Filet: Fresh wild salmon filet finished with a lemon dill crème fraîche served with smashed fingerling potatoes and roasted asparagus.
Salmon is one of those entrees that Walt Disney World does well (even at EPCOT festivals), so we were a little apprehensive about ordering the Roasted Salmon at Cake Bake given that it’s a third party. Thankfully, the Roasted Salmon Filet at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant is exquisite.
The fish is a sizable cut, and perfectly prepared–a crisp exterior that gives way to flaky pieces that are moist, juicy, and offer a wonderful flavor. The filet had the perfect amount of fattiness for flavor, especially for wild salmon. This fish would’ve been fantastic on its own, but the lemon dill crème fraîche put it over the top. It took the already rich and buttery flavor of the salmon and deepened it, offering an umami quality. I would order this again and again, and we highly recommend it.
The smashed fingerling potatoes are likewise excellent–crisp skins that are well-seasoned, with soft interiors. These are filling and satisfying, and this plus sizable salmon made for a surprisingly large meal. (As might be apparent, I ate a lot of this.) As for the roasted asparagus, it tastes like…roasted asparagus.
Of course, the issue of cost once again comes up. The Roasted Salmon Filet is $40 at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant. This is about middle of the pack for salmon at Walt Disney World. Again, it did not strike us as surprising or egregious.
The closest comparison to this dish is actually the Roasted Salmon served with Roasted Celery Root, Arugula, and Meyer Lemon Crème over at Flying Fish. That dish costs $49 and is very similar to this. It’s been a while since I’ve had that, so it might be a slightly larger or higher-quality filet, but I was very satisfied with Cake Bake’s. This is a near-Signature caliber dish, at minimum.
Now come the cakes. This is supposedly the main event, as you might expect for a restaurant named Cake Bake Shop.
My original intention was to publish this prior to Christmas and also return for another meal during which we’d order regular cakes, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. For this meal, we opted for two seasonal selections: Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Cake and Gingerbread Man Cake.
Each of these cakes cost $23. That’s by the slice.
Much has been made of the cake slice pricing at Cake Bake Shop. Some defend these prices by claiming that each slice of cake serves 2 to 3 people.
I don’t know who those people are, but they must not like cake. I could easily polish off a slice of this by myself. If you’re claiming this serves three, then the average Walt Disney World table service restaurant that costs $10 serves two.
To be sure, these are larger than normal, but I’d say they’re 1.5x size, rather than 2-3x. We did end up taking a lot of these cakes home, but only because the entrees were so filling (and we’d been grazing around the world at EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays prior to our meal).
If it were actually the case that everyone were sharing slices, Cake Bake could simply sell smaller portions at lower prices and make it up in volume. That would eliminate a lot of the biggest complaints, so win-win, right? They obviously don’t do that because it wouldn’t pencil out.
The bigger issue for us, though, is that these cakes are nothing special.
They’re not bad or mediocre, they’re just not $20+ slices of cake. On both, the buttercream and ganache is high-quality, and tastes great. The cake itself, though, is a bit on the dry side and not all that memorable.
Our go-to cakes are from the bakery at Whole Foods. (Sarah is a big fan because they use “clean” ingredients, and the Berry Chantilly Cake is fantastic.) For an entire cake, those cost about the same price as a single slice at Cake Bake Shop. Obviously, grocery store to table service restaurant (at Walt Disney World, of all places) is pretty far from an apples to apples comparison.
However, it’s not as if Whole Foods is known for its affordability. More to the point, a table service restaurant at Walt Disney World with “cake” in the name should probably serve cake superior to a grocery store if it wants to charge significantly higher prices. It does not, so this comparison is fair game. The cakes we just bought for Christmas and New Year’s at Whole Foods were both better than Cake Bake Shop.
So if it’s clearly not cake, then what, exactly, is the highlight of Cake Bake Shop Restaurant at Walt Disney World? Take a look at how it gets decked out for the holidays…
Photos don’t even begin to do justice to the Christmas decorations at Cake Bake Shop Restaurant. It truly is a glistening winter wonderland.
The central booth topped by a gorgeous snow-tipped Christmas tree actually rotates, revealing Santa Claus pulled by reindeer as it turns. These figures are all animated, with a limited range of motion, plus lavish costumes and coats of fur. It’s nothing short of resplendent.
Cake Bake Shop’s Christmas decorations reminds me of the displays you’d see at high end malls. This is absolutely not a backhanded compliment, as I’m not talking about the dying malls dotting the country. I mean those in parts of New York and California–or better yet, Paris and Tokyo. It’s all so sumptuous and stunning.
Cake Bake Shop is not a Signature Restaurant at Walt Disney World in the normal sense of the term.
For the most part, the menu is much more approachable and ordinary, even if it is expensive. Most of the dishes are American comfort food, with a clear New Orleans-inspiration. There are a couple of higher end options, such as Crab Cakes, New York Strip Steak, or the Salmon. That’s really about it, though. Otherwise, it’s a lot of sandwiches and soups.
Honestly, the menu feels a bit at odds with the atmosphere. I wouldn’t call Cake Bake sophisticated, but it is elegant.
To that point, we felt a bit out of place at Cake Bake Shop with a toddler.
It’s not that the servers made us uncomfortable or tried to move our meal along–they were perfectly pleasant. In part, it was the atmosphere. Cake Bake Shop Restaurant felt more on par with a Signature Restaurant than its menu suggested. Even though animated polar bears, reindeer, and Santa Claus figures scream “kid-friendly,” it was all imbued with such an opulence and elegance that we felt like we shouldn’t have been there. Just like we wouldn’t take a toddler to nearby Flying Fish or Yachtsman Steakhouse or Citricos.
This was further reinforced, at least in our minds, by patrons at all other nearby tables. There were older couples in our vicinity who were dressed up for date nights, ordered ‘fancy’ sparkling water, and appeared (at least to my side-eyeing) to be having lovely and romantic meals. I later saw one of them at Candlelight Processional and couldn’t help but think: now that is the perfect way to do Cake Bake Shop Restaurant!
Suffice to say, Cake Bake Shop Restaurant would be perfect for a date night.
It’s going to top our list of the best restaurants for Valentine’s Day at Walt Disney World. Our server was raving about the plans they have for decorations once Christmas wraps up, and it sounds fantastic. It’s refreshing to see a restaurant care so much about seasonal decorations, especially as Walt Disney World goes in the exact opposite direction with its own restaurants.
If you’re planning further in advance, Cake Bake Shop Restaurant would also be perfect for a pre-Candlelight Processional meal. (Fingers crossed they’re included in future dining packages, but I doubt it.) I can’t think of many better pairings for a memorable meal and show, even among the EPCOT World Showcase restaurants.
It’s not just that Cake Bake Shop Restaurant is a good option for couples.
I’d imagine that if our daughter were a few years older, Cake Bake would be perfect. But as it stands, she’s still a toddler who is just finding her feet, and isn’t ready for a longer and more elegant dining experience. (Hence this review not featuring that second meal–we cancelled and instead opted for a more toddler-friendly alternative.)
We have friends back in Indianapolis with daughters who are 5 to 15 years old. They absolutely adore Cake Bake Shop. Despite having one now, I don’t purport to be the authority on this sort of thing, but I’d hazard a guess that’s about the sweet spot: girls of that age who are well-mannered and want to experience the ‘finer things’ but aren’t quite ready for adult Signature Dining.
Among Sarah’s adult friends, it also seems like Cake Bake is popular for ladies nights out. Again, I’m not an expert on this, but it checks out. I don’t know what the exact opposite of ESPN Club is, but this has gotta be pretty close to it! Cake Bake is basically Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique: The Restaurant. All around, attention to detail is off the charts at Cake Bake Shop. It does the little things really well, more so than can by conveyed by photos or a review. As a guest, you feel like you’re part of something special.
Ultimately, we liked certain aspects of Cake Bake Shop Restaurant much more than expected, and other components much less than anticipated. Despite big plans to try every cake on the menu, I probably wouldn’t order another cake–or we’d split a cake, just for the sake of trying something new, seeing if it’s any better, and saying we had what the restaurant is known for.
Rather than focusing on dessert, we’d reallocate that portion of the budget to entrees, ordering the ‘fanciest’ ones that best approximate a Signature Restaurant. We’d both absolutely get that Roasted Salmon Filet again. I’d be inclined to try the Crab Cakes and New York Strip Steak, but I’m not sure what else. The gumbo and shrimp po’ boy sound good…but not really fitting the vibe of the place. Point being, we’d actually rather spend more money on entrees as opposed to the cake to have a full package experience that felt worth it.
Cake Bake Shop is undeniably expensive. Our out-the-door bill was $140 for the above, which is in the neighborhood of what we would’ve spent a few doors down at Flying Fish. It was a very different experience, of course, but our only real issue was the cost the cakes contributed to that total. I don’t care how you slice it: these cakes are wildly overpriced. Tweaking our order a bit to deemphasize desserts and go bigger on entrees would’ve improved our meal immensely and made it more reasonably priced.
The bottom line is that we will absolutely return to Cake Bake Shop Restaurant in a few years–probably again at Christmas–when our daughter is the right age to appreciate its atmosphere. To its credit, Cake Bake offers something you won’t find anywhere else at Walt Disney World in terms of the overarching experience, and the incredible attention to detail here is Distinctly Disney.
The restaurant really nails the subtle small things and adds nice little touches (right down to custom to-go boxes and bags) in a way that exceeds even what Walt Disney World is doing. It’s really in a category of its own–not quite a Signature Restaurant for cuisine-caliber, but much more than one in other ways.
It’s definitely not going to be for everyone, or even most people, but Cake Bake Shop is going to have tremendous appeal for its target demographics. Once the dust has settled on its pre-opening cost and construction controversies, it’s likely that Cake Bake Shop Restaurant will be a huge hit and fan-favorite at Walt Disney World with some guests.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your thoughts about the Cake Bake Shop by Gwendolyn Rogers? If you’ve already dined here, what was your experience with the cuisine, cakes, and atmosphere? Will you be making ADRs here or skipping Cake Bake? Surprised by just how expensive this is? Think the prices are worth it, even if they do require a second mortgage? Agree or disagree with our restaurant review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
