Why do some types of food have so many different variations? I often feel like some chefs make up a recipe as they go. Even though I know that fails to be true, can you think of a time you ordered a certain item at one restaurant and then ordered the same entrée at a similar restaurant, but they tasted nothing alike? For example, when living in SE Asia, I got a chicken stir fry dish at one table service place which tasted okay. Then I ordered it at a nearby table service place with a similar menu description, but it arrived at my table with very different ingredients. During that experience, my friends started calling this the “stir fry effect.” When then we started looking at other food items that vary wildly in preparation style. Back then, we came up with gumbo, tiramisu, shrimp, and grits as good examples of this phenomenon.

Photo courtesy of main Street Magic Podcast

I know there exists more, but this is a review of the Shrimp and Grits at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, so I will stop the list there. However, especially being originally from the southern portion of the USA, I have seen grits prepared in countless ways. In addition, the seemingly standard idea of shrimp and grits looks and tastes very different depending on when and where you order it. Just glancing through restaurant menus in the Orlando area alone, I see about 10 variations of what they call shrimp and grits. Some use chorizo sausages with shrimp. Another used chicken with shrimp. The sauces used with these creations vary widely. Thus, this brings me to the southern USA comfort food recipe of Chef Art Smith.

At his restaurant, the menu description reads “pan-seared shrimp with tomato gravy and Tasso ham served over creamy Bradley’s grits. These will cost you $28. The basic presentation of these looks average. However, when dining one time with someone with a slight allergy to garlic, I got to see a version of this entrée “de-constructed.”

For the record, on that occasion, the manager came out to chat with my friend. The manager did an incredible job of explaining that almost everything in that dish had garlic. As the manager chatted with my friend, he also had a headset on talking with a chef, back in the kitchen, about options. The conclusion was to allow my friend to control the amount of sauce by bringing it on the side. The tomato sauce/gravy holds the largest percentage of garlic. Per usual, Walt Disney World restaurants handle allergy issues with great skill. This experience serves as no exception. Also, from chatting with the chef and our server, it appears a slightly less garlic-filled version of this tomato gravy got created for my friend.

Photo courtesy of MainStMagic.com

Having said all of that, this version of shrimp and grits provides an incredible depth of flavor. The creaminess you would expect from grits at Homecomin’ rings true with this. Even a toned-down version of tomato gravy brought rich flavor to the dish. The ability to control the amount of sauce serves as a bonus in my option. The ham and shrimp taste wonderful. On a side note, you get large pieces of shrimp here unlike some other excellent places in Disney Springs serving shrimp and grits. Yes, I am talking about you Boathouse. The shrimp, in this Chef Art Smith-inspired creation, brings additional flavor adding to all the other goodness contained within this entrée.

Photo Credit: Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’

I think you can tell that I would recommend this entrée. Yes, this is another time I recommended something besides chicken at Homecomin’. This place offers great service (yet, sometimes a bit slow) and a wide variety of quality food. I guess that explains why it remains tough to acquire advance dining reservations. As I have written before, I have used MouseDining several times recently to acquire and adjust reservations here. I have an alert set right now for Homecoming for an upcoming trip. In that case, I have selected a very specific time on a busy weekend. If you see several more reviews from Homecomin’, then you will know I had success. I wish you success with your advance dining reservation at Walt Disney World. As always, eat like you mean it!