Disney’s Hollywood Studios offers some incredible attractions. With the addition of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge, this theme park returns to being a standout in the industry. Even the counter service dining increased in terms of quality with the addition of those two new areas. As of time of writing, neither of those areas added a table service dining option to Hollywood Studios. We know one will arrive later this year though. For now, the crowds have increased but table service options stayed the same. Not only are park reservations often challenging to get here, but so are table service dining options.

On the evening I am typing this, I checked for advance dining reservation options in Hollywood Studios for 60 days from now. On this evening, Hollywood Brown Debry offered no timeslots. Even Hollywood and Vine showed limited dining timeslots. The other three table service dining option only had a few timeslots left even 60 days in advance. If you want to take a break from the crowds and warm weather for table service dining, options can be hard to find. If you want a calmer themed table service dining experience, then your options become smaller at Hollywood Studios. Now, if you want a sit-down dining level burger, you have only one choice here. With the demise of the burger at Hollywood Brown Derby, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre offers your only table service burger option at Hollywood Studios. Even their menu currently offers a limited number of burgers.

Despite that, Sci-Fi Dine-in Theatre provides guests with a well themed dining experience. Also, the Drive-in BBQ Burger there offers a solid burger. In a previous article, I ranked it as the best burger at Hollywood Studios. Still, the competition literally disappeared in that contest.

The Drive-in BBQ Burger costs $22 and comes with fries. The menu description reads “Our Signature Blend of Beef and House-made Seasoning served on a Brioche Bun topped with 9-hour Smoked Pork, Bourbon-Bacon Jam, Cheddar, Lettuce, and Barbecue Sauce.” That description alone should convey that this burger functions as more than a standard Disney below average frozen burger patty. Sometimes, you just want a good burger, right?

Besides the quality of the burger, your dining experience revolves around a trip to the old school drive-in theatre. Once you are checked in, your parking attendant takes you to your car. You will dine in a classic style car. The setting offers low light like a drive-in movie theatre. Guests will view classic movie trailers, concession ads, and cartoons from a bygone era on a movie theater type screen.  The carhop will take your order. I suggest you have a good plan of what you intend to order before you arrive at your seat. The low lighting of a drive-in theatre setting creates a problem looking at the menu. Theming within the restaurant shows off what old school Disney magic can do.

So how is the burger? The burger comes well prepared. Yet, this burger falls short of the top burgers on property. However, remember this was my table service burger suggestion for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Yet, the quality of beef could be higher here, but preparation generally ranks high. The burger patty itself offers a nice portion size. The BBQ sauce compliments the burger patty nicely without taking over the burger. I prefer a different style of BBQ sauce for a burger though. Still, the sauce works well with this combination of ingredients. The pork and bacon jam serves as supporting cast in this burger presentation. Of course, lettuce and cheese play their role well also. This burger is not messy as prepared which is a plus when eating with limited light. Of course, a brioche bun adds to the quality.

Before moving on to the potential negatives about the burger, I need to mention one additional variable. The fries provided with this burger get high marks. In fairness, these fries will not change your world. However, they exceed the quality of most fries on Disney property. Ful disclosure, when it comes to fries here, I lack proper luck. My experiences with the fries here have been disappointing. Yet, a vast majority of guests enjoy the fries here.

On the negative side for this burger, my largest disappointment revolves around the pork. The menu advertises it as 9 hour smoked pork. The pork presents a decent flavor. However, the flavor falls below the buildup. Additionally, this burger, as currently prepared, suffers a potential texture issue. The pork and lettuce are supposed to add crunchy texture. Yet, they taste good but go wrong in terms of crunch. Ideally, I would add a touch of slaw to this burger. Yes, I know that would probably make it cost $2 more. We could use crunchy bacon but that might cost $5 more.

The theme of this restaurant shines as the star of this dining experience. However, be careful not to stay too long because the video on the big screen starts repeating portions you have already seen while seated. Still, the cars themselves create a great atmosphere but seating can be awkward. If you are a group of 4 or less, you may be seated in a “car” with other people. With some people sitting so close to you, you may have a tendency not to talk. Now with the movie theatre theming, I get the being silent and watch the move thought process. However, if you are a small group, you may be seated in a “car” with people in front and behind you. Once again, expect very low lighting so it may even be hard to read the menu or even pay your bill at the end of a meal.

Despite that, the Drive-in BBQ burger here offers a nice experience at Sci-fi Drive-In. MouseDining could be a lifesaver if you want a reservation at Sci-Fi Drive-In Theatre. Remember, advance dining reservations go very quickly here. If you miss out, maybe MouseDining can help. As always, eat like you mean it!