Hi Alissa!
Happy Birthday to your Father-in-Law - 59 years young! My family (particularly my in-laws!) are wonderful cooks and Southern cuisine is their specialty. That being said, they know good food when they try it! We have a couple of "comfort food" favorites that we visit during our trips - nothing fancy, just good ole' fashioned vittles!
In the parks, we love the 50's Prime Time Cafe in Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is designed to look like a kitchen straight out of the 1950's - with "Mom" and "Uncle Tommy" serving up delicious home cooked meals. It is a great place to go if the birthday boy doesn't mind a little good hearted teasing. For example, he must eat all of his vegetables and keep his elbows off the table...or else! At Disney's Port Orleans Riverside, Boatwrights Dining Hall is a surprising favorite of ours. It is very low key, but has the BEST cornbread you will ever have the pleasure of eating! Finally, over at the Wilderness Lodge, we love the Whispering Canyon Cafe. You can expect lots of crazy antics and games from your servers, along with great meatloaf, steaks and chicken. The Wilderness Lodge is worth visiting, if only to see how absolutely gorgeous it is!
For great reviews, as well as the menus for nearly all of the WDW restaurants, I can't recommend
Allearsnet.com enough. Amen, dig in!
Much pixie dust,
Jackie S.