Connections Eatery and Connections Café opened in the past week at EPCOT, and we decided to try it out! Connections Eatery and Connections Café replaced the Electric Umbrella which of course closed down in Feb of 2020. Ironically the rest of the park would close down a month later due to the pandemic.
Connections Eatery is now your one stop shop for burgers, pizza, salads, and desserts. While Connections Café is Starbucks for the caffeine hunting guests. Connections Eatery and Café share the space, however it is a very large space, also they are labeled differently: Connections Eatery, and Connections Café, even though they share the roof and seating. Let’s take a look.
Connections Café
But wait coffee first! That is a saying we live by, so we are starting with Connections Café to grab our cold brew, and iced espresso drinks.
Upon entering Connections Café you will notice how big it is. This is the size of two Starbucks shops. On our visit, only one side was open with a healthy line. The other side is a mirror image meaning they could potentially staff Connections Café to handle an absurd amount of coffee seekers.
Our initial thoughts are this is too big, however with the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy could be a preemptive move to handle guests lurking around the area.
The décor in Connections Café is modern looking with a bit of coffee history mixed in. Coming through the main entrance you will have a cool looking EPCOT sign, and a full view of the whole café. There is also plenty of seating on just on this side of the building which is nice for those off and on rainy Central Florida days.
One of our favorite pieces of the décor is the coffee history. Looking through the multiple glass cabinets you will be treated to different coffee equipment. These range from brewing tools, as well as serving tools from all over the world, and even different time periods. To that point we spent probably too much time staring at these but different strokes I say!
Connections Eatery
Now if you swing around to the other side on the left, you will pass a very impressive mural. We did our best to take a picture of it, but you need to see this in person to appreciate it.
First thing we noticed about Connections Eatery is the subtle nod to Electric Umbrella above the registers. It comes in the form of crisscrossing neon hanging stick thingy’s. I should patent that phrase! I did my best to capture them in photos, but I digress and say you have to see them in person to really see them.
Connections Eatery is huge with plenty of seating. It is also very brightly lit and has an open view shot to the new Guardians of the Galaxy area, and to that point will definitely be a hit when that opens in late May.
Connections Eatery Food
Connections Eatery serves up a menu consisting of the same items as it’s predecessor. They are burgers, pizza, salads, and desserts. They are however updated to more diverse offerings.
I opted to try a burger, while Emma opted for the meatball pizza, so we will give our thoughts on them. As we try different offerings, we will update this post in the future, so stayed tuned!
First up, the American Burger, coupled with a Mediterranean side salad. Ok so your first question about the missing fries, as much as I love fries I am on a diet. You will have to wait a bit for our review of them, and to that point is the reason I opted for the American Burger, as it is easy to customize! I will be back for the Bahn Mi Burger for sure.
The American Burger comes with your standard toppings, beef, lettuce, pickle, tomato, cheddar, garlic spread, toasted bun. The one thing we noticed is the beef patty was a decent size, and I am comparing that to Cosmic Ray’s burger. This one at Connections Eatery is nice and thick, and we hope it stays that way.
Overall the burger was good, but nothing to write home about, keep in mind I didn’t get too adventurous by ordering the American Burger. Being able to grab a burger in the front of the park is nice to have again.
As for the pizza slice, we felt that it was tasty. The meatballs have good flavor, and mixed in the cheese they played well together. Therefore if you don’t want to trek all the way back to Italy, this will do.
Conclusion
Overall, Connections Eatery and Connections Café fills the void for the front of the park in offering a quick bite that isn’t horrible. The biggest draw to here for us is the Starbucks, in addition to grabbing our coffee fix for our stroll through EPCOT we can also grab a quick bite to eat before venturing into the World Showcase.
Special shoutout to the old Starbucks location. We leave you with a last impression of it, despite it’s awkward placement it served us well while Connections Café was under construction. Will you be trying out the new spot? Let us know in the comments.
My kind of food. Yummmmm