EPCOT is widely considered the #1 food theme park at Walt Disney World, with World Showcase viewed as a culinary epicenter. From the table service restaurant roster to the snack spots, bakeries, and food booths that always seem to be around thanks to the near-omnipresent festivals, EPCOT has a rich and diverse dining scene. This is undeniable.
However, my unpopular opinion for a while has been that EPCOT has a weak counter service restaurant lineup. Don’t get us wrong–there are a handful of top picks, but I’d take the quick service restaurant slate at Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios over EPCOT. Normally, this is not an actual issue. Festival Season is nearly perpetual at this point, so I’m seldom doing traditional counter service meals at EPCOT.
The problem arises when you visit during Diet EPCOT, or the stretches between festivals (coming up again soon mid-month prior to EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays starting on November 28, 2025). After those special events expanded in length for a few years to the point that the gap between them was only a couple of weeks, there’s now a multi-month festival-free lull. During these stretches, your choices are mostly mediocre counter service or more expensive and time-consuming table service restaurants.
Even during festivals, you might not want to break the bank grazing around the world, and would prefer a more satisfying meal for a fair price. Beyond spending the money to do so, you may not want to spend the time on festivals. Food booth lines, especially on weekends, can be prohibitively long, and you could easily wait in line over 30 minutes at a few booths on the equivalent of a single meal.
When it comes to table service restaurants at EPCOT, there are a ton of great options. A couple that are overrated, sure, but the real problem is the cost. Both in time and dollars. Suffice to say, there’s a reason why Via Napoli and Space 220 are the culinary representatives of EPCOT on our list of the 25 Best Restaurants at Walt Disney World as opposed to Takumi-Tei, Monsieur Paul, Le Cellier, or even Chefs de France, Tutto Italia, Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya, Teppan Edo, and others.
When it comes to counter service, there’s an entirely different issue: most of the best options are decidedly unadventurous. There’s nothing quite like describing EPCOT as the culinary epicenter of Walt Disney World, and then recommending people order ordinary BBQ, pizza, fried fish, or mall food court cuisine. That’s a slight oversimplification, but the idea holds. People go to Walt Disney World, and EPCOT’s World Showcase in particular, for worldly cuisine.
Enter my favorite all-seasons restaurant in World Showcase for an expensive and efficient meal: Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in the France Pavilion.
Some of our favorite Walt Disney World restaurants are hidden gems; spots most guests overlook that are uncrowded and inexpensive as a result. At least on the uncrowded front, Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie is the exact opposite of a hidden gem.
It’s kind of tucked away deep in the France pavilion, but “everyone” knows about it. This bakery is extremely popular. In fact, that’s part of the problem and why it had been a while since I’d done a big meal here during a regular operating day at EPCOT.
Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie often has a long line from park opening until closing. There have been mornings when I’ve seen guests waiting to rope drop Les Halles towards the beginning of Early Entry, skipping Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After in favor of waiting for Les Halles to open. That is how beloved this bakery is!
The good news is that this currently is not an issue. Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie now opens at 8:30 am as part of Early Entry! I’m not sure when this changed, but I noticed it on a recent day while exiting the France pavilion. This is the biggest ‘news’ of this post, as I can’t recall Les Halles opening so early in the past.
Surely prioritizing a bakery was a bad use of my time, so I continued to Frozen Ever After after knocking out Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. I also planned on writing up the morning as a photo report, and figured the commando tourists who enjoy Early Entry would be disappointed if I used that time for breakfast.
As it turned out, it would have been strategically superior to do Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and then Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, saving Frozen Ever After for later in the day. I know this because I waited in line far longer at Les Halles around 11 am than I did Frozen Ever After in mid-afternoon. Les Halles is popular at all hours, and beating the crowd here during the tail end of Early Entry is actually a good use of time. Lesson learned.
Rope dropping Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie might be the #1 recommendation in this review. Not only will you encounter the shortest line, but you’ll actually be able to score seats indoors. Or better yet, you can take your food outside while the weather is still conducive to it.
If you do opt to eat at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie during the midday hours when the interior is crowded, the third best piece of advice here is taking your food over to the nearby Morocco pavilion and eating in the (covered) outdoor area of Tangierine Cafe. This is a short walk, is seldom crowded, and offers a more pleasant experience than the indoor area at Les Halles. It’s accessible without entering Tangierine Cafe; there’s an entrance facing the France side of the patio.
At the other end of the spectrum, my best piece of advice is going to Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie at the end of the night right around closing, as everyone else is settling into place for the fireworks. One option here is sending a “runner” to get baked goods while others in your party secure a spot. This is a good approach for the Walt Disney World first-timers reading this, for whom a prime view of Luminous is higher priority.
My alternative advice for everyone else would be grabbing food from Les Halles and either grabbing a spot in the pavilion with an unobstructed view in the direct of the lagoon. There are spots like this along the fountain, over by the walkway to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and elsewhere. Better yet, walk over to the Japan pavilion and eat your food on the stairs leading to the second level of the Mitsukoshi Department Store. These are all great, laid back ways to watch the fireworks without the friction or crowds.
My final recommendation, which can be paired with the previous one, is ordering more food than you can eat during the fireworks and taking it back to your resort with you. Les Halles has to-go boxes, and one of the best Walt Disney World “hacks” is doing EPCOT bakery food for breakfast the next morning.
If you want to the S-tier version of this hack, grab savory and bread-centric items from Les Halles and sweets from Karamell-Küche in Germany. Yes, this is a lot of walking, but your future self will thank you for putting in the steps when you’re enjoying that glorious breakfast the next day. (And a bit of extra walking probably isn’t the worst thing if you’re following my advice here; these bakeries aren’t exactly exemplars of good dietary decisions!)
That’s the most valuable portion (MVP) of this Les Halles restaurant review. That’s why we’re focused on that as opposed to, you know, actually reviewing the dishes. Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie has an incredibly strong menu from top to bottom, and personal preferences will dictate so much of what to buy. Everything served here is all varying degrees of good-to-great.
They’ve honed the menu here over the course of decades, and most of the standout items today are almost exactly the same (minus the prices!) that they were a decade ago. I’ll nevertheless offer some guidance here, but honestly, you should just order whatever looks and sounds good to you.
Speaking of which, here’s some of what you’ll see lining the display cases when you arrive at the ordering area at Les Halles:
These photos are from 2025, but they could just as easily be from 2015.
Even the old Boulangerie Patisserie that was open from 1982 until early 2013 has some overlap with what’s served at Les Halles. About the only thing I can think of that’s seen any major changes in the last decade or so has been the Napoleon (there have probably been other items, that’s just the one that stands out to me).
Otherwise, Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie mostly takes a “don’t fix what isn’t broken” approach, serving up classic French baked goods that stand the test of time, and don’t really deviate too much on quality, portion size, etc.
I’ll start with one of my favorite items at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, which is simply the Soupe du Jour.
This is the soup of the day (or season) served in a bread bowl. My favorite option, which I actually haven’t seen in a bit, is the lobster bisque (that’s not it above).
Regardless, this soup always delivers and I love dipping the bread in the bowl and making a meal of that. My goal is to eat this without spoon assistance. I believe that’s what the French call “bol à pain au naturale.”
Here’s what the bread bowl looks like when closed. I don’t know why you’d need to see that, but it’s sort of like a reverse-cross section shot.
Most Disney bloggers will tell you that the way to go for a cheap meal is the full baguette with butter. They’re right, that’s a fantastic pick. But this is better. For only a bit more money, you get bread plus soup!
I’m partial to the sandwiches at Les Halles. Any of them.
The star of the show with many of these sandwiches is the bread. A few of them have an only-okay combination of meat, cheese, and toppings. Honestly, I might prefer the substance of some sandwiches at Sunshine Seasons. But this bread is unbeatable.
I don’t think this assessment applies to the Dinde B.L.T. Close, but not quite.
This sandwich offers Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Garlic Aioli. That aioli really wraps this sandwich up nicely; it still wouldn’t earn my most empathic recommendation, though. The meat and toppings are just fine, and the bread here isn’t as good as the baguettes.
The Pain Lard Fromage (Bacon and Cheese Roll) actually has changed a few times over the years.
This is basically what you get if you take a soup bread bowl, remove the soup, and add bacon and cheese.
This used to be the Roule Lard et Fromage, which was the better iteration.
I felt the bacon and cheese were better integrated into the roll with the prior version, whereas this is more like toppings. This was my first time trying the new bacon and cheese roll, and while still tasty, it’ll probably also be my last time given the value proposition. One of the pricier items at this otherwise affordable EPCOT quick service restaurant.
The Croissant Jambon Fromage (Ham, Cheese and Béchamel in a Croissant) is a fan-favorite sandwich.
This is one is bursting with flavor. The ham is just ham; it’s fine. But the cheese and béchamel are creamy and savory, with the buttery croissant adding to the deliciousness and putting the Croissant Jambon Fromage over the top.
My recommendation with the Croissant Jambon Fromage would be sharing it.
This is a very rich sandwich, but it’s not particularly filling. Pair this with one of the denser items (or perhaps the bread bowl) and you’ll have a satisfying meal. In general, sharing is the way to go at Les Halles.
Turning to some of the Viennoiseries, we have a couple of fan favorites: Pain au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissant) and Viennoiserie Pomme (Apple Crumble Pastry).
The former is a flaky croissant with chocolate chunks inside, hence the name. Simple as it sounds, this is a must-try. It’s lighter and delicate, but fantastic. Hard to go wrong here.
I’m actually a pretty big fan of the Apple Crumble Pastry.
This is much denser, more flavorful and filling. You might look at these admittedly simple desserts and wonder what’s so special about them. Your local Publix probably has items like this in their bakery.
It all comes down to quality. We’re critical of a lot of the basic items at EPCOT festivals (every year, we point out that the Cookie Crawl is no better than Publix cookies!); these are head and shoulders above what you’d find at a grocery store.
It’s too bad you can’t taste photos, because the superficial appearances don’t tell the whole story here. Maybe instead of bigger cameras with each new iPhone, the Apple folks should focus on the world’s first lickable screens.
Many of the traditional desserts at Les Halles are fantastic, and look fancy…
This one is the Duo Au Chocolat (White and Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake).
Inside that striking glossy dome, the Duo Au Chocolat has layers of white and dark mousse with a cake foundation, which collectively provides a balanced dessert that hits the right notes without being overly rich. This ranks as one of my favorite desserts in Epcot.
The Duo Au Chocolat is also quite pricey at $7.95! So not really satisfying our parameters for a “cheap” meal at EPCOT, but this is about par for the course with high-quality desserts at Walt Disney World.
Obviously, not recommended if you’re trying to have a filling meal on a dime, but it is worth noting that you only need a couple bites to appreciate the rich flavor here and satisfy your sweet tooth. So on a per person basis, perhaps it’s not that bad? I don’t know–any excuse to buy more desserts.
That’s a wrap on the dishes I’ve tried this year at Les Halles as of Late 2025. Here are a few more existing menu entries from previous years that still hold up…
Here’s the Poulet au Pistou (Chicken Breast with Cheese, Tomato, Red Onion and Pesto) sandwich.
At over $10 with no side, this also doesn’t qualify for our ‘cheap meal’ purposes. (Hence not ordering it again to re-review.) I’ll nevertheless endorse this as another fantastic and filling sandwich at Les Halles.
The chicken, onions, and tomatoes are all held together by a generous coating of cheese. On the savory side of things, this is a good option. If you get a generous helping of pesto, this one is a real joy.
Then there’s Pissaladière, which is a super fancy way of saying “pizza.”
Now, I didn’t pay much attention in history class, but it’s my understanding that the French were not pizza pioneers. It shows with whatever this is. It’s still a fairly good option, particularly if you want a snack that will tide you over for a couple of hours before a meal, but this is not one that I find myself craving in between visits.
Here’s the Brie aux Pommes, which consists of brie (obviously), apples, and cranberries on multi-grain bread.
I’ve had this sandwich exactly twice, ever, several years apart. My biggest takeaway both times was that they were a bit stingy with the toppings and that apples must be a rare delicacy in France. That makes the cheese and apple to bread ratio unfavorable.
The flavor is excellent, and the fruit adds a refreshing taste to the sandwich…there just isn’t enough of it to justify revisiting this. The value proposition of this is much lower than the recommended sandwiches at Les Halles.
This is the Macaron Framboise et Citron vert (Macaron with raspberry and lime cream).
It’s also not cheap. But then again, macarons never are, no matter where you go. This delicate dessert is difficult to prepare (or so I’m told), increasing its costs. Many of the macarons at Disney-run bakeries and counter service restaurants have distinctly artificial flavors and colors–and dye your tongue and mouth.
I’ve never had that complaint about this macaron. It’s photogenic and delicious, perfect for a fancy French meal as opposed to a budget-friendly one. The downside, again, is the price. Certainly not “on-theme” with this review.
Ultimately, we’re big fans of Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie and view it as a can’t miss choice. This is true whether you’re trying to do Walt Disney World on a dime–as there are several dense dishes that are filling and delicious–or want to splurge on some of the pricier options.
Despite really enjoying Les Halles and viewing it as a great option, it hasn’t garnered nearly as much coverage on DTB as other standout Walt Disney World counter service restaurants over the years. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why. Categorizing it is one challenge, as it’s a bakery at heart but really so much more.
Les Halles has more than enough sandwiches and savory dishes to hold its own against regular restaurants. In fact, it’s arguably the best counter service spot in EPCOT, not just the cheapest meal option!
Even if you don’t want to do a full meal at Les Halles during your day in EPCOT, grabbing items at the end of the night for breakfast in your hotel room the next morning is the savviest of savvy strategies. Especially when paired with Karamell-Küche in Germany; there’s literally no better way to start your day at Walt Disney World than with that breakfast in bed combo! Trust me, I’ve done lots of taste-testing as part of my Very Important Research.
Seriously, I don’t know why we don’t have a dozen posts devoted to this specific topic. Clearly I’m failing both my civic duty and Sacred Disney Blogger Oath to keep you informed about the best food hacks. I will work to do better and commence further research on this very important topic ASAP. In the meantime, hopefully this has put Les Halles on your radar or, if it was already there, given you a fresh perspective on this longtime fan-favorite!
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Your Thoughts
Have you dined at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in the France pavilion at EPCOT? Do you manage to eat here cost-effectively, or do you find it’s hard to resist going all-out and ordering a ton of savory and sweet snacks or dishes? Do you agree or disagree with restaurant review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!