We review the Cassoulet from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s 2025 Food & Wine Festival. Was it worth $10.99? Find out about taste, value, and menu confusion.
We are into the fourth weekend of the Food & Wine Festival 2025 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. This event runs through May 18, Fridays through Sundays each weekend. We have tried every festival food item, except for a few desserts, added three weeks into the event. Based on that, we created a best and worst list. The Cassoulet was not on either list.
Following our usual pattern, we keep trying festival food items to check on consistency. Last week, we checked on the Crab Cake. Also, last week, we checked on the Butter Chicken and Chickpea Marsala. We will let the reader know that consistency was an issue during this visit. We even spoke with other guests ,who spotted a food blogger with his laptop out, who felt the event was having a bad day.
Our first item of the day took us ot the France Cabin at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. We went with the Cassoulet. Our experience with Cassoulets has not been good so far this theme park festival season. We really disliked the one at Epcot for Festival of the Arts. Also, our first try with the Busch Gardens Cassoulet was meh, at best.
Cassoulet Food & Wine Festival Busch Gardens Tampa Bay – $10.99
Before we discuss the item itself, we need to mention the menu discrepancies. In this case, it did not hinder the festival food item. We want to point out that this happens occasionally at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
The Busch Gardens online menu stated that this was a White Bean Cassoulet with “Slow-cooked white beans, vegetables, cured bacon, duck confit, finished with fresh herbs and a toasted French baguette.” However, the printed in-person menu only says that guests receive “Slow-cooked white beans, vegetables, cured bacon, finished with fresh herbs.”
Despite the menu inconsistencies, we received a warm container of the White Bean Cassoulet with a baquette piece standing in the bowl. This baquette was challenging to keep in the bowl as we moved to our spot to film and write notes for this review.
Also, the baguette was hard, as you would expect. However, after soaking in the cassoulet, it became easy to chew. We suggest using the baquette like a big chip to dip the cassoulet mixture. In our most recent experience, that worked well.
Portion Size
The portion size is small for a $10.99 entrée. Sure, guests can purchase sampler lanyards to reduce the cost to six dollars or so. Still, that is a commitment to eat or drink 15-18 items during the festival, which might be tough for guests coming for one day. This is not a great theme park festival food item to try to share.
Based on the menu description, we would expect a more robust flavor with duck and bacon. You get touches of those flavors, but not as much as most guests will expect. The beans and the rest of the components were prepared well. The more we ate this cassoulet, the more we tasted the duck and bacon flavors. They still do not stand out enough. Based on this, we suggest stirring the cassoulet more than you think you need to do so before eating it.
Overall, this made a decent theme park festival food item. Though we would like more duck and bacon flavor, this would be something most guests will not make at home. Based on that, this makes a reasonable choice for those using a sampler lanyard to bring down the $10.99 price.
Next weekend, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay hosts a Precious Moment event. For more theme park-related reviews and information, please visit MSM News. As always, eat like you mean it!
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