DISCLAIMER! We are NOT responsible for any of the actions you may take after reading this post, which may include but are not limited to, suddenly ordering delicious food at home, booking a trip immediately to EPCOT, or expanding that Disney World budget so you can eat even more food. 🤣

The 2023 EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is officially here and we’re sharing ALL the details with you. There are all kinds of food booths to check out, topiaries to take photos of, merchandise to buy, and concerts to watch. But for now, we’re focusing on one especially delicious thing — the FOOD. Specifically, we’ve made our way over to the returning Florida Fresh booth to share a FULL review with you. Is this spot worth a visit? Let’s find out.

Menu

At the Florida Fresh booth, you’ll find a variety of returning and new items. We actually haven’t seen the Florida Fresh booth at the Festival since 2020, so we have been excited to give this one a try!

For example, the grilled street corn is a returning dish (though it looks like there have potentially been some ingredient changes), while the blackened fish slider and strawberry shortcake are NEW.

Hey, Florida Fresh! 👋 The Grilled Street corn (a Garden Graze item!💐), the Blackened Fish Slider, the Watermelon Salad, and the NEW Florida Strawberry Shortcake can be found here! 🍓 pic.twitter.com/mDo7IzGd5S

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 1, 2023

So let’s take a deep dive into each menu item to see what’s worth it…and what’s now!

Eats

For starters, we have the Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread and Spicy Corn Chips. This is a plant-based item that is part of the Garden Graze food challenge and is priced at $5.75.

The dish has been at the Flower & Garden Festival for a looooooong time (though it has hopped from different booths), but Disney has marked it as “new” this year according to their menu information and it appears that the addition of the “spicy corn chips” might be the reason for this as that has not been listed on the menu previously.

When we’ve had this corn in the past (sans the spicy corn chips) it has been a bit of a hit-or-miss. In 2021, it made our BEST of the Fest list, but in 2022 the reporter who tried it was left disappointed. They felt that the corn was buttery and had lots of garlic flavoring, but the seasoning was oddly chunky and a bit difficult to eat. To them, it felt like biting into a dry seasoning mix because of those larger pieces.

So we of course had to give this a try this year to see whether it’s a hit or a miss in 2023.

This year it has redeemed itself! We got ours with the corn chips and they added an awesome crunchy texture. There was a little spice in this but it wasn’t overly hot. The corn cob itself is pretty small and probably wouldn’t work as a shareable item, so if more than one person in your group is interested in this we suggest everyone get their own!

Next up, we have the Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread and Plant-Based Cotija Cheese. This is basically a copy of the dish above except it has the addition of a plant-based cotija cheese instead of the spicy corn chips. It is also plant-based, is a Garden Graze item, and is priced at $5.75. So if you want the addition of cheese, consider giving this one a try.

That brings us to a NEW dish at this booth — the Blackened Fish Slider with Roasted Tomatoes, Watercress, and Citrus Remoulade on Brioche! This dish is $6.75.

This was another item that is the perfect portion for one person. We liked the blackened fish itself, and oddly one of the things we enjoyed most about this was the bread! It was soft and not too solid so as to take away from the interior ingredients.

Next up we have the Watermelon Salad with Blueberries, Pickled Red Onions, Balsamic, and Feta. We actually saw a version of this dish most recently in 2021 at Festival Favorites and we had seen it previously at EPCOT. It’s priced at $4.75. When we last had it, we were very impressed with how the sweetness from the watermelon mixed wonderfully with the acidic pickled onions and glaze.

This salad would be a good pick for adults; kids and picky eaters might not enjoy the flavor profile here. However, we thought each ingredient worked well together! The fresh watermelon was a welcome addition to the other dishes at this booth. We think this salad is what Flower and Garden Festival is all about: Fresh ingredients combined in interesting ways. The sharpness of the onions and balsamic was tempered by the lightness of the watermelon, and all of the ingredients really came together with the feta cheese.

And finally, we end the “eats” portion at Florida Fresh with the NEW Florida Strawberry Shortcake! This snack is $4.75.

This is one item at Florida Fresh that you could get away with splitting between two people. There was a generous amount of each component, and they all come together wonderfully to create a light and delicious dessert!

And that wraps up the eats here, but we can’t forget about the drinks!

Drinks

There are 2 drinks at the Florida Fresh booth and both are returning options. The drink is a Cucumber Watermelon Slushy. There’s a non-alcoholic version for $4.75, or you can opt for a version with Gin for $12.50.

We last saw this at the Florida Fresh booth in 2020, so we were really excited to see it return after having disappeared for a bit! When we last had this drink, we found it to be super refreshing and delicious (and the version with the gin gave it an extra kick).

So what did we think about it this year? Well…

This is a great pick for those days when you are feeling a little warm (especially after eating all those hot dishes!) and need something fresh to cool down with. You can truly taste the fresh watermelon; there’s none of that artificial flavoring taste in this drink at all. Even when melted under the Florida sun this beverage was wonderful, and the cucumber kept it from becoming too sweet.

And that’s it for the eats and drinks at this booth — let’s go through some overall thoughts.

Overall

Overall, the Florida Fresh booth brings a great balance of options — there are plant-based dishes that’ll satisfy eaters with that particular diet, while there are also other options (like the fish sliders) for those looking for something a bit different. There’s also a good mix of flavors here, from corn to fish to watermelon salad to a strawberry shortcake! Mix that all up with the refreshing Cucumber Watermelon Slushy and you’ve got quite the interesting mix.

That’s it for this booth, but there’s a LOT more where that came from!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2023 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Garden Rocks Concert Series and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2023 Flower and Garden Booth Menus
• See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!

And don’t forget to pick up our 2023 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

 Will you be stopping by Florida Fresh? Tell us in the comments!