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STOP Walking Past This Hidden Gem in Disney Springs

March 24, 2023 ,

There are so many great food options to try in Disney Springs, it might be challenging to decide which one to choose!

Pepe by Chef José Andrés

Whether you’re looking for a comforting Southern brunch or an upscale pan-Asian dinner, you will not be starved for choice at Disney Springs. If you’re in the mood for some delicious Spanish cuisine, Jaleo by Chef José Andrés features a delightful menu of tapas in a table service restaurant. But did you know they also have a counter service location right next door? You can enjoy Pepe by José Andrés by dining in or taking it with you on the go. We were recently invited to a media event to try some of their new and favorite menu items, so come see what we thought!

If you’re walking along Disney Springs, you might overlook this spot — but it’s worth a stop! We were invited for lunch, so let’s take a look at what they offer.

Pepe outdoor seating

When you enter Pepe, you’ll find a bright, open room where you can order at the counter. There are also a few indoor tables.

Counter Service

There’s a beautiful mural inside, welcoming diners to enjoy some of Pepe’s signature offerings — sandwiches!

Mural

Once we arrived, we had the chance to learn about some of the history of the company — Pepe was actually started as a food truck in 2012 in Washington, D.C. Chef Andrés has a passion for Spanish sandwiches, so that is the feature at this spot.

But, you’ll also find some other tasty options here like the Croquetas de Pollo, which are traditional chicken fritters that you can get for $9.

Croquetas de Pollo

“Pica Pica” is a Spanish Street Snack with cured Iberian Pork Sausages and breadsticks that you can get for $7.

“Pica Pica”

Let’s take a look at some of the featured items we got to try. First, we sampled Pepe’s #1 seller, the Pepito Ternera! This has Flat-Iron Steak, Caramelized Onions, Cheese, Mayonnaise, and Roasted Green Peppers on Pan de Cristal.

We were so impressed with this sandwich! The steak was tender and flavorful, the caramelized onions added a nice sweetness, and the cheese was bold and melty and paired really well with the steak.

Pepito Ternera

But the star of this sandwich was the bread! The Pan de Cristal was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and it was a beautiful vessel for this simple but tasty sandwich. This is on the menu for $18, and we highly recommend it.

Pepito Ternera

We also sampled the Super Flauta which comes on an 18″ flauta with Paletilla Iberica de Bellota and Tomate Fresco for $18.

This sandwich also was simple but delicious! The Tomate Fresco added a bright and tangy touch, the meat was salty and delicate but super flavorful, and the bread was delicious — soft with a crispy exterior.

We noticed in this sandwich, as with the last, the ingredients were very simple but the quality was superb. Sometimes you really don’t need to complicate things to make them delicious.

Super Flauta

Next on our list was the Futbol Club. This sandwich is made with fried chicken breast, bacon, tomato, and lettuce with mustard and mayonnaise.

Futbol Club

This dish was also done well. The fried chicken was tender and crispy, and the lettuce and tomato were fresh and added a nice texture to the sandwich. Plus, the bacon provided a salty (and slightly sweet) element that we really enjoyed.

The bun was a fresh, tasty brioche that they get from a local bakery. Overall this sandwich is one that we think a decent number of people will really enjoy. But if you don’t like mayo, this does have quite a bit of it (as Chef Andre prefers!) so keep that in mind. You can get this sandwich for $15.

Futbol Club

We also got to try a newer sandwich on the menu — the Atún Bocata. This is made with a Spanish tuna salad with Cornichons, Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, and Red Onions, all in a Pan de Cristal Bun, and you can get it for $12.

This sandwich features the same Pan de Cristal bread that you’ll find on many of Pepe’s options — and boy is it delicious! It was soft on the inside and had a perfectly crunchy exterior that held up all of the ingredients well.

Atún Bocata

Our reporter who tried this is not a huge fan of tuna, but even they thought that this was delicious. The tuna in the Spanish tuna salad was fresh, and the mayonnaise was creamy and tangy, which went really well with the fresh vegetables on top.

Just be warned — if you’re not a fan of mayonnaise, pickles, or tuna — you might want to skip this one. Overall it was a really fresh-tasting sandwich that we think could be perfect for a hot Florida day.

Atún Bocata

Time for dessert! We tried their Churros, which are a traditional fried Spanish pastry served with chocolate sauce for $7.

These might be some of the best churros we’ve had in Disney World. They were soft on the inside with a deliciously fried crunchy exterior and they had a delicate coating of sugar that did not distract from the high-quality dough.

Churros

The chocolate sauce was thin, but very flavorful. Truthfully, we could have drank this sauce by itself!

Churro

We could definitely have eaten a whole bunch more of those churros, but there was one more dessert to try — the Helado de Vainilla y Fresa.

This NEW dish is made with fresh vanilla soft serve, fresh strawberries, dehydrated strawberries, freeze-dried strawberry powder, and strawberry gel.

Helado de Vainilla y Fresa

The strawberries used in this super refreshing dessert are sourced locally — from Southern Hill Farms. Overall this was a delicious way to end the meal. The vanilla soft serve had flavorful hints of vanilla bean, and it paired really nicely with the tart strawberry flavors.

All of the textures of this one went really well together — the strawberries were perfectly ripe, the soft serve was rich and creamy, and the dehydrated strawberries added a fun, tart crunch. It’s a great dessert to enjoy on a hot Florida day.

Helado de Vainilla y Fresa

Truly, Pepe is a hidden gem in Disney Springs! If you didn’t already know it existed, and you love fresh flavors with a Spanish flair — you should give it a shot. All of the ingredients were simple but incredibly fresh and flavorful.

For more Disney Springs news and thoughts, click here to see our ultimate guide to Disney Springs Restaurants. Or click here to see menu updates from The Edison.

Click here to see our last FULL Review of Pepe by Chef José Andrés

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Have you ever tried this hidden gem? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. We were invited by Disney World to attend their media event for Pepe by Jose Andres. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ

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