I wonder if that restaurant theme meal is part of the meal plan? Both times we went, we did a meal plan, one that was a full meal plan, and 2nd time a limited plan. still, I was able to schedule it so at each park we stayed at for the day, we had a sit down meal, oftentimes a theme meal to boot. Between the two visits, had breakfast at crystal palace (Winnie the pooh), princess lunch at French Epcot (2 times), Octoberfest beergarden with live music, Tusker house restaurant (Mickey and Minnie mouse, goofy), the Brown Derby, Ohana, and Yak and Yeti. Honestly they were such long days and as some of the kids were younger, it was really nice having a break at some point during the day to sit down and relax.
If it wasn't paid for with the meal plan, I don't think I would pay a premium for the more expensive restaurants. I enjoy the theming and not having to brown bag it/leave the park to eat, I never had bad food, but all the food in the park is inflated for the price. I don't think it would be a good value to pay even more outside the plan.