Our Experience at Great Maple Modern American Eatery in the Pixar Place Hotel

During the D23 Parks Panel event in 2022, Disney released a slew of details pertaining to the soon-to-be newly rechristened Pixar Place Hotel. Among them was a new location for Southern California favorite, Great Maple Modern American Eatery restaurant.

After waiting months and much to the delight of Disney fans, Great Maple opened its doors to guests on November 15, 2023, a few months prior to the official re-opening of the newly branded Pixar Place Hotel.

This is the fourth location for the brand, with its flagship in nearby Newport Beach and two others in Pasadena and San Diego, respectively. The menu is the same for the latter two and Anaheim locations, but differs slightly from the San Diego location.

Great Maple features a unique, all-day menu, meaning you can order from the brunch or cocktail menu no matter the time of day. Brunch favorites include French Toast Logs, Smoked Bacon Scramble, Cajun Shrimp Biscuit Benedict and the Fried Chicken and Maple Doughnuts dish.

If brunch isn’t your thing, you can order from their “mains” offerings, including Soda Pop Baby Back Ribs, Maple Pecan Crusted Salmon, Lemon Shrimp Pasta, in addition to a variety of sandwiches and burgers. And least we forget, they offer delicious, house-made doughnuts topped with maple and bacon, in addition to seasonal offerings.

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Restaurant Location, Entrances and Reservation Difficulty

As previously stated, Great Maple is located on the bottom level of Pixar Place Hotel, in the space previously occupied by the often loathed PCH Grill. There are two entrances to the restaurant, one from within the hotel and another from the sidewalk along Disneyland Drive. For those who are wondering, you do not need to be a guest of the hotel to dine here.

It doesn’t particularly matter which entrance you use, as the street-side entrance takes you through a small hallway before leaving you at the hotel’s interior entrance, anyway. I doubt the street-side entrance will be used often, as hotel guests are already inside anyway.

Furthermore, if you’re getting dropped off via an Uber or Lyft, your driver will likely drop you near the hotel lobby, as it’s a safer and less stressful option for them. Additionally, if you’re walking to the restaurant from the parks or Downtown Disney, you’ll likely use the backside entrance to the hotel before making your way to the restaurant’s interior entrance.

The only guests I can see who will utilize this entrance are those coming from the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa across the street, as the crosswalk places you just feet away from it, or off-property guests walking up from the southern end of Disneyland Drive or Katella.

It doesn’t seem that Great Maple has caught on fire in Anaheim just yet, as reservations are easy to come by right now. As I type this, reservations are available in one hour and continue throughout the day. Looking ten days out, they’re wide-open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (By the way, reservations are made via the Disneyland website or app).

They’ve only been open a few months, so as time progresses and word gets out to more locals and out-of-state visitors, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that easiness subside a bit, though I don’t predict it’ll reach the level of difficulty of the likes of Napa Rose and Lamplight Lounge.

Despite that, if you’re keen on dining at Great Maple, I would still recommend securing a reservation, just in case. You never truly know what crowd patterns will be like at the resort these days and as previously stated, word will eventually get out about Great Maple. There’s always the possibility of sitting at their 360-bar if they’re full, which you can order food from and usually doesn’t have much of a wait anywhere you go.

Great Maple Interior, Our Entree Selections and Service

Great Maple features a stylish, brightly-lit interior with a modern-contemporary flare. Touches of gold and white can be found throughout, with a variety of blue and cream hues making up the fabric of the benches in the booths.

On the walls throughout the restaurant are portraits of some of Pixar’s legacy characters, such as Buzz Lightyear and Jessie in the back patio, and Woody and Bo Peep near the restaurants main entrance. The portraits are original drawings of the characters, drawn to appear as if the characters themselves posed for them. They’re done in the noir art style, which I found to be a nice touch, personally.

There’s tons of seating in the interior, with many booths and standard tables capable of hosting a variety of party sizes. The restaurant’s capacity expands with the addition of the open-air patio, with additional booths and table-top seating. This is where we sat. We appreciated the fresh air, soft sunlight and low traffic noise from Disneyland Drive.

One negative I will get into now is the volume of the music. In the main area of the restaurant, it wasn’t too bad, but I feel like they cranked up the speakers in the back patio to drown out the traffic noise. Personally (and this could just be because I just turned 40), I found the music to be way too loud, as it was difficult hearing my wife or our waitress speak.

The menu is all-day, meaning you can order breakfast, lunch, dinner or craft cocktails at any time throughout the day. We were here right around brunch time and already had a good idea of what we wanted to order. It’s a good idea to research the menu before going (it’s actually a tip from my “10 Best Disneyland Dining Tips” post).

Since it was my birthday, I ordered the Fried Chicken and Doughnuts plate ($27). If you order this, you’ll receive a hearty portion of two pieces of fried chicken and likewise, two of their popular maple bacon doughnuts, both of which come with a lite drizzle of maple syrup and powdered sugar.

While I had no issue clearing my plate, this entree could easily be split between two children (or even two adults if you don’t have huge appetites). I would’ve preferred to have had only one doughnut with the two pieces of chicken myself, but I digress. The chicken was fried to perfection, with absolutely no overly crunchy or burnt parts anywhere. I have no idea what their seasoning mix is, but it’s delicious, regardless.

Kisha ordered the Cajun Shrimp Biscuit Benedict ($27), another featured entree from their brunch menu. The plate is made up of cajun buttered shrimp, cooked arugula and two poached eggs on a white cheddar biscuit, topped with a cajun hollandaise sauce. Served with it is a sour cream and onion scalloped potato square.

She reports that there was nothing about the dish she didn’t like. The shrimp was cooked to perfection, which is generally hard to come by in a restaurant setting. Additionally, she felt there was just enough sauce, the entire dish was seasoned well and the biscuits weren’t dry at all. We both agreed that the dish would also be a good split option for families.

We also ordered a couple of cocktails with our meal. It may not have been noon yet but hey, time doesn’t count when you’re on vacation, right? I ordered the Maple Bacon Old Fashioned ($18) and my better-half ordered the Expresso Martini ($22).

The former is made with bacon washed bourbon, maple syrup and Angostura bitters, served with a piece of torched bacon. I’m no connoisseur of whiskey, but I’ve had my fair share of old fashioned cocktails and can say that while it isn’t the best one I’ve ever had, it was definitely unique, tasty and easily drinkable.

The latter of the above cocktails on the other hand, the Expresso Martini, was easily one of the best cocktails to ever grace my tastebuds. When Kisha let me try it, I immediately regretted not ordering it. This drink is made up of vodka, Kahlua, Baileys and Cafe Moto Expresso, topped with cinnamon powder and coffee beans. It’s expensive for sure, but it’s so good that it would be criminal not to try it at least once.

Finally, to top off my birthday brunch, it was suggested that I try their seasonal doughnut, which has the same frosted base as their usual maple bacon option, but instead of bacon, it was topped with Lucky Charms, which hit me right in the millennial feels.

You can purchase these doughnuts in a plate of three for $9, or order a single (not advertised on the menu), which is what I did. I forgot to look at what the price was for one doughnut, but I imagine it was around the $3 mark. The doughnut was just ok. The Lucky Charms were more of a novelty than anything, as most of them fell off as I ate it. If you’re deciding between this or the maple bacon, the choice is obvious.

Finally, let’s discuss the service. To put it simply, it was fantastic. Our waitress was so kind, friendly and prompt. Even when we came back two days later to sit at the bar for a quick drink, she walked by, immediately recognized us and spoke with us for a moment. I wish I could remember her name because she was truly amazing.

It wasn’t a busy day when we dined, so we received our orders promptly. The gentleman who brought out the food and drinks was also friendly and kept checking on us throughout our meal. After we had paid the bill, he surprised me with a bowl of ice cream for my birthday, and treated me to a solo rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song. Was it awkward? A little bit, honestly, but it was an awesome gesture nonetheless.

All told, before tip and after my Magic Key holder discount, our final bill was $109.43 for the two of us. Even by Disney standards, that was hard to swallow. We didn’t exactly budget for this, though, as we splurged on a few side options and cocktails, so it wasn’t completely surprising.

If you’re a Magic Key holder, definitely take advantage of the discount. Since this is a third-party restaurant, key holders receive a flat 10% no matter the key tier. Another way to bring down the price, as mentioned above, is to split entrees between children. The two we ordered, plus many more, are totally splittable.

Due to the prices, we both agreed that we wouldn’t eat here every time (or even every other time) we visit, but we do feel that the quality of the food, portion sizes and great service make it a worthy destination and help ease the pain of the menu prices a bit. In my book, Great Maple Modern American Eatery is a welcomed and fantastic addition to the resort restaurant line-up.

Planning a vacation to Disneyland? For information and advice on tickets, read 10 Best Disneyland Tips: Park Tickets. To learn about Advanced Dining Reservations and other aspects of dining such as Mobile Order and Mobile Walk-Up, read my 2024 Disneyland Dining Guide. If you’re visiting during Pixar Fest, read Pixar Fest 2024: 10 Things to Know or for Halloween visits, read Disneyland Halloween 2024 Guide.

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Have you dined at Great Maple yet? What was your experience and which entree/cocktail did you try? If you haven’t dined here yet, are you planning to give it a try or does Great Maple not seem like it’s for you? Do you have another on or off-property restaurant to recommend? Sound off in the comment section below.