Boatwright’s Dining Hall at Port Orleans Riverside
The moderate resorts at Disney World are vastly under appreciated and even we are guilty of not showing them the love they deserve. We decided to change that and check out Boatwright’s for dinner one night. This restaurant is located at Port Orleans Riverside, which is less than a 5 minute drive away from Disney Springs. If you are looking for something a little more laidback, this restaurant can be a great respite from the crowds and very easy to obtain a reservation for as well.
The Deluxe resorts on Bay and Echo Lake can be strict with parking in order to prevent people from walking to the theme parks without paying for parking, but parking here is a breeze. You can just come to the resort and walk around. There is plenty to see too. It feels like you are in the bayou with all sorts of willow trees and a waterway that spans the property. They have multiple types of architecture to reflect the New Orleans style throughout the resort. 
The entrance of Boatwrights from the outside is probably the largest barn door in existence. I don’t think it actually moves, but my HGTV loving self is obsessed with them. The interior of the restaurant is your typical high-end rustic look. The skeleton hull of a boat hanging from the ceiling is a nice touch.
The drink menu has a few unique options such as a Sazerac. There is also a beer flight from the New Orleans brewery Abita, if you want to try some beer that goes along with the cuisine. Your meal also comes with plenty of cornbread. This is a perfectly sweet cornbread and goes great with all the entree options.
The menu has a lot of seafood options, as well as beef and chicken options too. I think you will definitely find more crawfish on this menu than any other restaurant on property. I figured that I might as well go for a crawfish dish since they are known for that, but unfortunately they were out. Apparently it can be hard to get depending on the season. So instead the Jackson Square Etouffee that I ordered came with shrimp. This entree had shrimp simmered in a seafood sauce over rice. It was tasty, but I would not get it if they are out of crawfish. It was really just shrimp, rice and some veggies and there are much better options.
Andrew got the Jambalaya , another classic New Orleans dish. This had a nice mix of shrimp, sausage and chicken, all with tomatoe-y rice. It wasn’t as spicy as we prefer, but they have plenty of hot sauce for you to spice it up. This is a dish that has something for everyone and does represent the restaurant well.
We did get our crawfish fix with a side of crawfish mac and cheese. I am not sure if this means the mac and cheese is frozen since they were out of crawfish but the mac and cheese still came with it. If it was, it did not taste like it, and was a flavorful, savory mac and cheese. Maybe they keep a small amount of crawfish on hand for the mac and cheese? Our friend got the Cajun Bayou Catfish and that was honestly the winner in my book. It came with some big pieces of lightly fried catfish over rice with a buttery sauce. I was wishing I had got that but Andrew always talks me out catfish since it’s a bottom feeder. Next time I will try to not listen to him!
We were glad we ventured over to Port Orleans to try this themed dining experience. This restaurant really sticks to the New Orleans theme with its decor and it’s menu. If you are staying at this resort, this would be a great option for a relaxing meal after the parks. If not, you still might be inclined to take a little detour over here to appreciate the architecture and try some affordable Cajun food. 