Our Experience at Paddlefish Restaurant in Disney Springs (October 2022)

Hi everyone!

We were invited out to Paddlefish restaurant in Disney Springs this past weekend. It is always an easy restaurant to find, it’s the big replica steamboat in the Marketplace. The restaurant was formerly Fulton’s Crab House, and my first experience with it was as the Empress Lilly back in the 1970s. Paddlefish is mostly known for seafood, but also has other items on the menu. We received a credit to use for our meal (we paid a little more and also the gratuity). Here is a look from Sunday!

I love the views at Paddlefish. There was no outdoor table for us when we asked, but we did walk around outside and also had a table window. If you want to dine outside, make sure to note it on the reservation.

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort is across the lake, and boats were passing us throughout the meal.

The tables in the dining room were pretty spread apart, which was nice (and it wasn’t yet too busy).

We each ordered one alcoholic drink. On this day, the beer taps weren’t working so Jeff went with a Blue Moon Belgian White (9). He was going to order the Paddlefish Lager, which he likes. Next time.  I ordered the Lili’s Steamboat Breeze (16) with Broadbent Rose, Cathead Honeysuckle, elderflower and fresh lemon. It was a very pleasant drink, not heavy in alcohol. 

There was a small brunch menu on Sunday, we didn’t order from it (there are three food items currently).

We split a full size Caesar Salad (12) with romaine hearts and sourdough croutons. This was a nice salad, bigger than we expected. We noticed a couple at a nearby table receiving two Wedge Salads – those were also big for full size, so I do recommend splitting if having a full meal.

I didn’t realize until now how hard it is to find a full-size lobster currently on Walt Disney World property (Space 220 at EPCOT has one baked and stuffed with jumbo crab) and even lobster tails aren’t everywhere. One of Jeff’s favorite meals is lobster, so I suggested he use a good deal of the credit we were given to enjoy that here (instead of going for the Lobster Roll). He received a bib and something to crack the lobster open with. I have read online where someone can also help with that at the restaurant.

Jeff grew up in Connecticut, and the presentation is similar to what he was familiar with there (and here at a couple of restaurants we’ve gone to). The Whole Main Lobster ($70) comes with a large ear of corn, and there were four new potatoes. He really enjoyed this meal a lot.

Here is a look at the dish from the side.

I ordered The Burger, which is a 9 ounce proprietary blend with house-made pickles, red onion, pimento cheese and brioche (20). It comes with house-made chips. This was not the first time I’ve ordered it here, it’s a decent burger and the chips are also very good.

I brought over half of it home, it’s a big hamburger.

We ordered the Chocolate Cookie Sundae to split (which is actually a chocolate chip cookie sundae). There were two chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream (10). It was a perfect ending to the meal, with delicious cookies and ice cream.

We took a walk outside after our lunch. It was the heat of the day, and not too busy outdoors.

Three boats were at the Disney Springs Marketplace dock.

There is a great patio out here, but it was not in use (it wouldn’t have been comfortable in the sun). We have been on this patio before for drinks.

It was really great to be back again at Paddlefish. They did cover most of our meal and we paid for a little of it plus our full gratuity. And honestly, now that I realize they have that whole lobster, I figure we’ll be back again pretty soon – maybe for Jeff’s birthday. We will probably order the same food since we liked everything we ordered. Or maybe I’ll go for a steak.

Thank you to Paddlefish for having us out! All views are our own.