Disney's Animal Kingdom · Discovery Island
Smoked ribs and pulled pork with the best outdoor seating at Walt Disney World - covered pavilions on the water, hidden behind the ordering windows.
Last verified July 2026
Flame Tree serves genuine smoked barbecue: pork ribs, pulled pork, half chicken, smoked turkey, and a few sandwiches, with sides that are better than the category demands. For a Disney quick service it is unusually honest food - the ribs have bark, the smoke is real, and the portions are large enough that two people can share the combo platter.
The seating is the actual attraction. Behind the ordering area, a series of covered pavilions steps down toward the Discovery River, each carved and painted in a predator-and-prey motif that repeats through the whole complex. The lowest pavilions have a direct view across the water to Expedition Everest, they catch the breeze, and almost nobody finds them because you have to walk past three closer options to get there.
There is no indoor air conditioning anywhere in this complex, which is the honest downside in July. Shade and a breeze are what you get.
The best quick-service value at Animal Kingdom and the best barbecue on Disney property that is not a specialty restaurant. Its only real flaw is that there is no indoor seating, which in a Florida August is not a small flaw.
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.
Half a smoked chicken and a portion of pork ribs with two sides, served on a tray from the barbecue windows on Discovery Island.
Our take: The best value meal in the park. It feeds two adults who are not starving, and the smoke on the ribs is real rather than a sauce trick. Carry it down to the lower waterfront pavilions.
Smoked pulled pork piled on a bun with a side, from the Discovery Island barbecue counters.
Our take: A properly good barbecue sandwich for under fifteen dollars, which at Walt Disney World is close to a miracle. The combo platter is better value if two of you are eating.
Yes. It is real smoked barbecue at quick-service prices with the best outdoor seating in the park, and the combo platter split between two people is the cheapest satisfying meal at Animal Kingdom.
No. All seating is outdoors under covered pavilions. They are well shaded and catch the breeze off the water, but on a 95-degree afternoon this is still an outdoor meal.
The lowest pavilions closest to the Discovery River, which look across at Expedition Everest. Most guests never walk that far and eat within thirty feet of the ordering window instead.
Yes, and you should. Between noon and 1:30 PM the walk-up line is long and the pickup area is chaotic. Order an hour ahead and choose your arrival window.