We recently visited the Yachtsman Steak, located at Walt Disney World’s Yacht and Beach Club, for a gluten free and no xanthan gum dining experience! Known for its aged in-house steaks and New England nautical atmosphere, we had conflicting opinions about our evening here.
How We Got To and Arriving at Yachtsman Steakhouse
The Yachtsman Steakhouse is conveniently located to Epcot at The Yacht & Beach Club. We spent the bulk of our day at Hollywood Studios, then took the Skyliner over to Epcot to check out the Festival of the Arts. We highly recommend reservations, ours was at 8:10, so we took a boat around 7:30 from the International Gateway at the back of Epcot to the Yacht & Beach Club.
How We Ordered Gluten Free at Yachtsman Steakhouse
When we were seated, on time for our reservation, our allergies were noted. Yachtsman has an allergy menu which we had reviewed online prior to our reservation. Our server, Kathy, asked if we would like to speak to a chef, which we took advantage of. We’ve had many great and safe (for us) dining with allergies experiences throughout Walt Disney World by communicating through servers, but if we have the chance to speak to a chef, we will take it every time.
Chef Alexis promptly visited us to discuss our allergies; gluten and xanthan gum. She was very knowledgeable about the menu and offered quite a few options for us – some not on the menu as gluten free! We greatly appreciate Chef Alexis’ knowledge, accommodations for our allergies, and table side manners!
There are many gluten free menu items at Yachtsman Steakhouse. You can review the Yachtsman Steakhouse Allergy Menu here → Yachtsman Menu
Scroll to bottom of menu for Allergy Offerings.
What We Ate and Drank Gluten Free*
First, we tried some house specialty cocktails: A rosemary lemonade gimlet that we ordered “less sugary” and St. Germaine & pinot grigio cocktail. Even after ordering less sugar, we found the drinks too sweet for our tastes. Then we ordered one of our favorite go-to drinks, a “deconstructed” Hendricks martini – dirty. We ordered this by asking for a Hendricks martini, up with olive juice (or brine) on the side. This is a great way to control that dirty factor!
For appetizers, we chose the Beef Carpaccio and the Steakhouse Wedge Salad. Neither appetizer required adjustments for our allergies or to be gluten free. We did double check on the salad as many dressings, because xanthan gum is a common additive to thicken. To our delight, all dressings and sauces are house made, and Chef Alexis double checked the ingredients as allergens can be in anything that comes prepackaged and verified they have a dedicated gluten free fryer. The Beef Carpaccio paired with marinated artichokes and fried capers was the BEST we’ve ever had! The Wedge Salad was good. We loved the dressing – just needed more of it. We also loved the candied bacon and soft poached egg.
Of course, we had to order steaks for our entrees! Here’s where things get a little shaky…We ordered two steaks and shared them. First, the ribeye came with a peppercorn sauce, was very tasty and cooked properly (rare), but one of us felt there was just too much fat and gristle. It was a lot of work to find “good” meat and difficult to eat, which was quite disappointing. However, the au gratin potatoes that accompanied it were mouth watering good! Cheesy, soft, gooey, and delicious! Next, we had the NY Strip with a bleu cheese sauce and truffle fries. The NY Strip was better than the ribeye, but it had a large tendon running all around and through it making it also difficult to eat. It was cooked properly too (rare), and was also on par for a NY Strip taste. We were so glad to have the truffle fries from the dedicated fryer. They were very good and savory. BUT…we still have to rate them #2 compared with the Truffle Fries at Enchanted Rose.
As of this writing, Yachtsman Steakhouse offers two gluten free desserts: Chocolate Cake and Brülee Cheesecake. Both desserts sound delectable. It was late by the time we had to decide about dessert, so we had to pass this time.
Why We Will Try Yachtsman Steakhouse Again for Gluten Free Dining
To be truthful, when we left the Yachtsman we were thinking – this is a one and done. After writing this review, we decided we will go back some day and give it another try. It was very disappointing that at their price point, the cuts of beef would not be impeccable. Next time, we will order a filet to compare it with other filets on Disney World property. Sometimes when eating out with allergies, it takes getting accustomed to ordering from different menus and we don’t blame that on the restaurant. Most of the restaurants we review, we’ve eaten there many times. This was our first experience at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, but it will not be our last! In summary, we can’t live life without ever having those au gratin potatoes again! Maybe we will save room for dessert too!
Let us know if you’ve tried Yachtsman Steakhouse and how you liked it. Would you go back?
Want to bring more Disney World food magic home?
Check out our copycat recipe version of The Hollywood Brown Derby’s Famous Cobb Salad! Copycat Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad – Gluten Free and other recipes!
For a full review of our gluten free experience at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Brown Derby, check it out here → The Hollywood Brown Derby
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*These products have not caused a reaction for us. Please consult a medical professional or dietician for your own food allergen restrictions.
