Jason M.
Yelp
I did not have many things on my itinerary for my most recent trip to Disney, it was kind of a last-minute trip so I was playing a lot of it by ear. One thing, however, that I definitely wanted to try was Gideon's Bakehouse. I had seen nothing but good things said about it both here on Yelp and on other social media sites. I'm a fan of baked goods, and was especially interested in how their cookies stacked up against other specialty shops I've been to, so I made plans to visit Disney Springs and check them out.
Gideon's is located right by Morimoto Asia, Raglan Road, and Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' (I'm not sure the name of the section - I literally walk around Disney Springs aimlessly until I find what I'm looking for). This is actually their second location - the original is located in Orlando proper. As I approached, the doors were closed with two employees standing outside letting people in and out. I noticed a queue area outside where people were waiting to get in, so I got in line.
I saw on social media that people can wait 2 to 5 hours in line, but I waited no longer than 10 minutes before reaching the front (they must have known I was coming). While I was waiting, an employee was giving out menus - the star was cookies and they had a good selection of flavors. They also had some giant cake slices available and different flavored cold brews. From what I could tell, the cookies were those giant cakey kinds - similar to Levain and Chip NYC, and the cake slices were similar to ones I've seen at City Cakes; I was really looking forward to seeing how Gideon's stacked up.
The interior is small and dark, in line with the gothic theme that the brand has. I decided to go with their classic chocolate chip cookie, a slice of cinnamon roll cake, and a classic white cold brew. The cookie was outrageous (in a good way) - loaded with chocolate chips, with just the right amount of chew. It can easily be shared with someone else (in theory ;-). The cold brew was tasty - it was sweet with an almost vanilla flavor. The cake slice was huge - too big for me to eat there or by myself so I saved it for later. When I eventually did try it. I thought it was good. It had just the right amount of cinnamon flavor, and even though there was a lot of frosting, it wasn't overly sweet (it being cream cheese-base helped curb the sweetness).
So, how does Gideon's stack up? I thought it was a really good cookie - high quality, lots of chocolate chips, and good consistency. I don't think it's as good as Levain, but it's definitely worth making a trip to Disney Springs to check them out - the cake and coffee only support my opinion that they put out good products. The customer service was icing on the cake (no pun intended), and I will definitely make a return trip here the next time I'm in the area.