DOWNTOWN DISNEY DINING
As if they didn't have enough ways to get your money, the good folks at Disney came up with Downtown Disney, an area of shopping and dining establishments conveniently located in the midst of the three Disney property hotels. To get from your Disney Resort hotel to the Disneyland front gate, one must pass through all or part of Downtown Disney. The one exception to this would be the special entrance from the Grand Californian to Disney's California Adventure. This one advantage may make the extra expense of staying at the Grand Californian worth while but always ahead of the game, Disney cuts California Adventure's operating hours shorter than Disneyland so sooner or later, you will be in Downtown Disney.
Most of the restaurants are moderately to moderately high priced. Alcoholic beverages can be very high priced. A couple of restaurants offer walk up windows for take out. This is something we frequently do. Here is a list of Downtown dining places.
The little man says....
= Great, the best 
=
Very enjoyable 
= OK
= Nothing special =
Stay away
Downtown Disney® District Dining
ESPN Zone® Restaurant Never actually at there but vacation packages usually come with a gift card to go up play the video games. Use It
House of Blues® Restaurant They actually have some pretty big acts come in from time to time
Jamba
Juice®
Personally I don't get the
dedication people have for this stuff. I'll take an orange julius any day
over a Jamba Juice.
Napolini This is walk up part of Naples Ristorante and the best pizza I have ever had outside of Toto's in San Francisco (though from the reviews I have read - many disagree).
Rainforest
Cafe This is a gimmicky chain to be sure
but ya gotta go. A lot of people don't care for the food but I've always
found it OK. The monkies put on quite a show. Get an upstairs
table to get the full effect.
Ralph
Brennan's Jazz Kitchen®
Nancy took me
here for my 50th birthday dinner. My dinner was wonderful. Ralph
Brennan's has a take out section that makes interesting sandwiches and
desserts. In the morning they serve New Orleans style beignets that are to
die for..... Yummm !
Uva Bar Pricey drinking - go to the Lost Bar at the Disneyland Hotel instead.
Wetzel's®
Pretzels
They make a hot dog wrapped up in
a pretzel. A good quick lunch.
Catal Restaurant I think Janeen and Robert ate here. I don't remember them raving about it though.
Tortilla Jo's This is relatively new and we haven't eaten here yet. They also have a walk up quick service section.