The Contemporary Resort’s Steakhouse 71 Lounge, along with the Steakhouse 71 table service restaurant, opened its doors on October 1, 2021. We visited the lounge later that month, on October 23rd. This new restaurant and lounge is located just off the lobby of the Main Tower of the resort in the same location as what used to be The Wave restaurant and lounge.
First of all, I loved the decor changes but I’ll cover that more (along with photos) when I review the restaurant later in my trip report.
For now though, here is a photo of the lounge…
Basically the lounge consists of first come, first served seating around the bar.
The Lounge opens at noon each day, while the restaurant opens at 7:30 a.m. since it serves breakfast.
The Lounge has its own “Lounge Bites” menu…
They also had a Cocktail menu with several unique specialty cocktails…
Let’s begin with our cocktail choices…
The blue drink in the front was my cocktail. This a Magical Beacon Cocktail. The ingredients of the Magical Beacon included gin, blue curacao (orange) liqueur, lemonade, orgeat syrup (a sweet syrup made from almonds), lemon juice, and hibiscus grenadine. As you can see from the photo, it also had a souvenir glow cube. This was a 50th Anniversary Celebration cocktail that was available at many Disney table service restaurants, lounges and pool bars. It was a sweet (but not too sweet), fruity drink with a good amount of gin so it was right up my alley! I gave it a score of 4/5. I would probably get it again but unfortunately I don’t see it on the menu anymore. I guess it was truly a limited-time only cocktail.
As for Andrew, he chose a drink from the Non-Alcoholic Specialty Beverage section of the menu…
Andrew was undecided on his cocktail choice, so our friendly bartender suggested adding a shot of vodka (for an extra $11) to their Sherbet Punch, which normally has only orange sherbet, Sprite, and house-made grenadine (shown in the first pic as it was served and then in the second pic after being mixed). While he liked his drink and gave it a 3/5, it’s not something he would order again.
From the Lounge Bites menu we ordered the…
This was our first time having peanut butter and jelly flavored wings. How fun! I had seen photos of these and they were topped with a good amount of chopped peanuts. Though ours did not have these the predominant flavor of the wings still came from the peanut glaze with just a slight sweetness from the jelly powder. We enjoyed the wings but wished they were boneless, though we still gave them a 4 out of 5 score.
We also tried the…
Loaded Macaroni & Cheese with Applewood-smoked Bacon and Jalapeno – $12.00 (Price unchanged as of Jan. 2024)
Corkscrew noodles topped with a creamy cheese sauce that was loaded with lots of bacon. This was very flavorful and had just a bit of spice from the jalapeno. We both enjoyed this but Andrew was especially a fan of the mac & cheese. Consequently, while I gave this dish a 4, he gave it an even higher score of 4 1/2.
Though I would consider getting both the wings and mac & cheese if I have the opportunity to visit the lounge again, I would be tempted to instead try their Stack Burger. (FYI: The burger is also listed on the lunch menu of the restaurant) I’ve heard many good things about that burger!
Taste of Disney 