Disney California Adventure · Buena Vista Street
The ground-floor bar under Carthay Circle Restaurant, with the same fried biscuits and no reservation required.
Last verified July 2026
The lounge occupies the ground floor and the shaded terrace of the Carthay Circle building. It runs on walk-ups, serves a condensed version of the upstairs menu, and pours the best cocktails inside either Disneyland Resort park.
This is the workaround for people who could not get a reservation upstairs, and in some ways it is the better experience. You get the same fried biscuits, a proper bar program with fresh citrus and house infusions, and a terrace looking down Buena Vista Street toward the park entrance.
Seating is first come, first served and the interior fills first because it is cold. The terrace is shaded from mid-afternoon and is where you want to be from about 4pm onward.
The best bar at the Disneyland Resort and the smartest way to eat Carthay Circle's food without a reservation. Go at 4pm before the evening rush.
The dishes this kitchen is actually known for. Menus change seasonally, so treat this as what to look for rather than a guaranteed list.
Prices we have checked ourselves, with the month we checked them. Mark anything here and it saves to your device.
Fried biscuit dough filled with white cheddar, bacon and jalapeño, served hot with a dipping sauce.
Our take: The best savory thing at either Disneyland Resort park. Order it in the downstairs lounge, where you do not need a reservation to get it.
A cocktail from the resort's best bar program, made with fresh citrus and house infusions on the ground floor of the Carthay Circle building.
Our take: The best drink inside either Disneyland Resort gate. Ask what they are infusing rather than ordering off the printed list — the off-menu answers are consistently better.
No. It runs entirely on walk-ups with a text-message waitlist. Expect 30 to 60 minutes on a busy evening, and almost no wait mid-afternoon.
Yes. They are on the lounge menu, which is the main reason the lounge exists in most people's planning.
Effectively yes — both draw on the same bar program. The lounge bartenders make more of the off-menu drinks and are worth asking.