Ultimate Review: The Polite Pig at Disney Springs
Hungry? Why not try The Polite Pig during your next Disney vacation. Find out why!
When you’re visiting Walt Disney World Resort you’re going to do plenty of walking. It’s certainly tempting to run from attraction to attraction in an effort to fit everything in on your vacation, and in our attempts to do it all, it’s easy to forego important hydration and fuel stops.
I travel to the parks a good amount, and I like to pride myself on my parks know-how and my ability to leisurely explore the parks and resorts without over-doing it to the point of exhaustion. I fell into the exact trap I just outlined on my most recent stay and wound up at Disney Springs around dinnertime not having eaten a proper meal since the previous nights’ dinner and I was hungry.
Disney Springs is (overwhelmingly) new. The transformation from the old Downtown Disney/Paradise Island to Disney Springs is certainly more than complete, yet construction walls and new restaurant openings are still popping up everywhere.
I love that there’s a new restaurant, bar, or dessert stop to tantalize me each time I visit, but with more new places opening than even I can keep abreast of, settling on a dinner spot isn’t easy! When insatiable hunger strikes (like it struck me on that that warm spring day) and you find yourself without a reservation (like I did on that very same spring day), its best to go with your gut. Or, in this case, your nose.

Let Your Conscience (Nose) Be Your Guide
I parked my car in the garage and started the walk to Disney Springs when I literally stopped in my tracks. Wafting from somewhere nearby was the magnificent scent of authentic, homemade, and very enticing barbecue. My feet started to move before my brain could connect the dots, but as soon as I walked down the steps, I spotted the answer to my hunger-stricken dreams: The Polite Pig.
Luckily for me the Polite Pig is a walk-up quick service-style restaurant, so I didn’t need a reservation! I quickly hopped in the rapidly growing queue and waited for my turn to order. I smelled roasting chicken from the minute I hopped out of my car and I knew what I wanted before I even glanced at a menu but decided to include one here for those who arrive less starving than I. Here’s a look at the menu offerings:
I ordered the half chicken with citrus marinade and chose the waffle fries as my side. Another member of my party opted for The Southern Pig BBQ sandwich, also with waffle fries. Despite the seemingly long line, the wait wasn’t too bad- and that’s coming from someone who was about to eat her own shoe- and the ordering process was quick!
We ordered our food to-go and received a pager and were told to wait along the nearby countertop. I took a quick trip to the restroom, and by the time I had finished, my friend was smiling with big brown bag full of hot BBQ’d food. We found a nearby table and tore into our waiting parcels!
I opened my container and got both a great whiff of the chicken marinade and a free facial from how hot it was! The outside was a beautiful hue of orange-y brown; a clear mix of the spices and a long stay in the smoker. My friend said her sandwich was just as piping hot as my chicken, but it didn’t stop us from starting right in on the food!
The Meats!
Even though I was using plastic utensils, the meat cut as easily as if I were using a brand new steak knife. The tender, white meat was hot, juicy, tender, and flavor-packed from its time spent in the smoker. I order chicken often enough that the preparation has to be stellar for me to remember it, let alone want to write about it.
The Polite Pig’s ranked up there with some of the best smoked chicken I’ve ever had without being at all greasy- a balance that most BBQ places fail to achieve. After tasting the chicken, I couldn’t wait another second to start in on my waffle fries. Maybe it was because the chicken was so tasty, or maybe it was because the ketchup was not the Heinz we’re all used to, but the fries didn’t rank.
They needed salt, they were a little flimsy, and the faint onion ring flavor could only mean that the fry oil was in need of a change. I was hungry so I ate them without any hesitation; next time I’d try a different side.
I took a little break from devouring my meal to check in on my friend who, judging from the BBQ sauce on her nose and hands, was enjoying her sandwich. I, of course, had to take a bite for research purposes. And then another to make sure I had tasted it properly the first time. I didn’t order anything with BBQ sauce. Most restaurants go too heavy handed on the sweetness level for my taste.
The Polite Pig’s sauce was sweet, but not overly so, and even I would absolutely order the sandwich on my next visit to the restaurant! The shredded pork on the sandwich was tender and not at all fatty. The roll it was served on was dense enough to stand up to the saucy meat but airy enough to allow the flavors in that stellar sauce to be the predominant flavor.
My friend had just picked at her fries and hadn’t said anything about them, and it wasn’t until I asked her how hers were tasting that she said “they’re alright…I’ll see if I have room for them after my sandwich”. Clearly she and I felt the same way about that killer sandwich! And the fries.
The Verdict?
From my very short wait in a very busy queue to the quick delivery of the food all the way through to the last bite of chicken, I’d recommend The Polite Pig to anyone. The menu is really versatile with options ranging from cobb salad to brisket sandwiches. I’d be confident in bringing even my very picky cousin to the restaurant without hesitation.
The indoor/outdoor bar featuring plenty of taps and a well-displayed selection of bourbon is the perfect spot to sit for a drink and a great view of the Disney Springs shoppers, and the outdoor seating is the way to go for dine in orders! Like I said, there are so many new places to try at Disney Springs…yet I have the feeling I’ll be back at The Polite Pig sooner rather than later, will you? Let us know in the comments!

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Special thanks to Maria Salerno for writing this article: Hiya pal! I am a NYC-based writer/musician thrilled to be bringing you all things Disney! I’m a WDW Annual Passholder, so you can find me in the parks regularly throughout the year. In addition to being a Disney Parks loving girl, I’m also a Disney toy and merchandise collector, a runDisney enthusiast, and Disney music and movie aficionado. You can follow me on Instagram: NYCtoAP and find me on YouTube: NYCtoAP. Thanks for reading, hope to see ya real soon!