Review: Sci Fi Dine In Theater at Hollywood Studios

Today we are going to look at one of the most unique dining experiences at Walt Disney World. Located inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, The Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Restaurant allows diners to travel back in time to one of America’s forgotten pastimes, the drive in movie theater.

The restaurant is located over near the entrance to Grand Avenue. There is actually a door leading from the lobby area of Sci-Fi into the rear side of Baseline Tap House). Upon arriving, you will check in at the hostess desk which immediately makes you feel as if you have jumped back to the 1950’s or 60’s.

The hostess wear outfits fitting of the times and the walls are lined with old cheesy movie posters.

Diners are seated at tables designed to look like cars, facing a large movie screen which shows clips from various old corny sci-fi movies throughout the meal. The cars are made up of 3 rows, each sitting 2 people next to one another.

The restaurant is quite dark as you are meant to be sitting underneath the night sky. The atmosphere is one of the cooler ones you will find in any restaurant anywhere. Between the dimly lit cars, the faux night sky and the Hollywood Hills off in the distance, you really feel like you have been transported to a whole other place.

In terms of food, the menu actually offers quite a wide range of options. There are several appetizers, sandwiches, platters and desserts to choose from. It definitely has a bit of a diner menu feel to it. Pretty much everything we’ve tried here has either been good or very good. It’s not gourmet cuisine by any stretch but its solid everyday food done right.

Many of the items on the menu are priced not much higher than a typical quick service meal in the parks. This makes it one of the better values when paying out of pocket. During our most recent visit, we decided to split the “Sci-Fi BBQ Platter” along with a side of fries and a shake.

The platter offers more than enough food for the two of us. You get a few ribs, a couple pieces of chicken, some pulled pork and sausages. Its served with sides of baked beans, cole slaw, pickles and jalapeno cornbread. All of the meat was tender and flavorfull. The ribs and chicken fell right off the bone. The sausage was probably the weakest item on the plate but it was still fine. The jalapeno cornbread is straight up delicious but be warned, it is very spicy. This dish is a great option for groups of 2 to share. Its a ton of food and only costs $13.50 a person. That’s cheaper than many quick service options in WDW.

Here is the view from our table while we ate. As you can see, old cartoons play sometimes in addition to the more traditional sci-fi stuff.

Here are a few more photos from around the restaurant.

Overall, we really enjoy the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater. The menu offers good food at great prices and an even better atmosphere. It’s unique and super fun and we highly recommend it! In fact, it currently holds the #5 spot on our Top 11 Table Service Restaurants Inside the WDW Parks list!