Review: Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' Kitchen in Disney Springs
Homecomin' Kitchen — Chef Art Smith's Florida shine, straight out of Disney Springs.
Once a week, my roommates and I do a "family" dinner night and check out a new-to-us Orlando restaurant. I just moved here, so every one of them is new. This week: Homecomin' Kitchen in Disney Springs. Spoiler — wow.
I should preface this: before I moved to Orlando, I ran the beverage program for a few different higher-end restaurants and a luxury hotel in Atlanta. So when I walk into a place, I notice everything — the service flow, the bar program, whether the kitchen has a point of view or is just phoning it in.
Homecomin' hit every detail on the nose. Service, food, drinks. All of it.
The FirstClass Fig — Hemingway Rye, Aperol, amaro, fig, lemon. Perfectly balanced.
The Service
Our server was amazing. Super friendly, always there when we needed her, but never hovering or overbearing. That's a harder balance to nail than people realize, and she made it look easy.
Case in point: we couldn't decide between two appetizers, so she casually offered to do a half order of both. Perfect. That's the kind of move that tells you someone actually cares about your night, not just your check.
The Drinks
We started with drinks, obviously.
I got the First Class Fig — Hemingway Rye, Aperol, amaro, fig puree, and fresh-squeezed lemon. Perfectly balanced. I'll be honest, the Aperol had me worried it would tip too bitter, but they used exactly the right amount — enough to cut the sweetness of the fig and blend nicely with the spiciness a rye can carry. This is a bar team that knows what it's doing.
The Apps
Church Lady Deviled Eggs. The filling was stacked three miles high. One bite and I was straight back to sitting in the basement of a church potluck. That's a compliment, by the way.
Church Lady Deviled Eggs — three miles high of filling. Church potluck energy, in the best way.
Bunch of Puppies. Crisp on the outside, soft in the middle — exactly what a hushpuppy should be. They come with homemade pimento cheese and a red pepper jelly on the side. The cheese was soft, creamy, with a great sharp flavor. The jelly was sweet with just a tiny hint of spice. Put the two together and you have magic.
The Entrees
For my entree I went with our server's suggestion: the Skillet-Fried Chicken Paillard. It's a Southern take on chicken piccata, and it came out perfectly crispy but not greasy at all, with a light lemony sauce and little pops of saltiness from the capers. It normally comes with roasted potatoes, and I'm not the biggest fan, so I subbed grits — best call of the night. These weren't your usual soupy, thin grits. Bigger kernels, super thick, great texture, with a real bite to them. I'll be thinking about those grits.
My roommate got the Southern Pot Roast, which comes with a demi-glace and a lemon buerre blanc. It needed both those sauces — the meat was super tender and just fell apart, but it was a little on the dry side. Good, but not amazing. Honest review.
The Dessert (To-Go Lesson Learned)
Skillet-Fried Chicken Paillard — crispy, not greasy, light lemony sauce, capers. And sub the grits. Always sub the grits.
We were way too full for dessert there, so we got them to go. I went with the Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Heads up: if you order it in-house it comes with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. To-go? Both get left off.
I ate it later that evening while watching a Disney movie — yes, I am that person — and realized it really needed both of those. The pudding itself had great flavor and was super moist, but it was missing that extra creaminess. Next time I'll suffer through being full and get dessert at the table.
The Verdict
Would I go back? Yes. Was it worth the price? Most definitely. This one's going on my list of repeats. Most definitely.
Rating: 4.5 / 5 — and the only reason it's not a 5 is because of that pot roast and a to-go bread pudding that needed its ice cream. Give me a reason to come back and re-check my math.
Want Homecomin' folded into your next Disney World trip?
That's literally my job. I handle the reservations, the dining plan math, and the timing so you just show up hungry. [Reach out for a quote] — let's plan something delicious.
Until the next restaurant…