Universal problem.. no good food?

[Tinkerkelle]

We really enjoyed the citywalk offerings. Cowfish was delicious, red oven pizza too. Cold Stone Creamery-wow!! Other menus and reviews looked good too. Staying at HRH, we tried and enjoyed the kitchen and the pool bar, big portions too. In the parks we tended to snack - love the lard lad donuts (the big pink was great value as it satisfied both the sweet cravings and fed the 4 of us), frozen butterbeer and florean fortescue ice cream. We enjoyed our meal at the 3 broomsticks and you can't beat a krusty burger in moe's tavern!!!

 

[TubaGeek]

Dream combo: Mr. Otter's Fizzy Orange Drink from Diagon, and the fruit and Nutella waffle from Liberty Square...
Just food for thought.

 

[MichWolv]

I was thinking about returning to stay at Cabana Bay for a few days in March but I have a problem that maybe someone more familiar with Universal can help with. When stay at disney world theres always yummy food to be had at every turn.. but when I was at Universal it was a struggle to find anything good to eat.

Harry Potter just had fried everything.. felt like they just breaded and dumped the entire menu into a deep fryer.. and there are no snacks to go with the butter beer.. the best I could find was a biscuit on one of the carts. I tried to get a pastry at some counter outside potter on a dock and you can tell these things were days old.. tasteless. I even tried the mythos restaurant and even though I loved the ambiance, it felt like eating inside pirates of the caribbean, the food was really bland. And the carts were basically useless.. a few churros that tasted kinda stale

Am I missing the must have snacks of Universal? Are there any? Is there a counter service thats half decent or are cheeseburgers in Jurassic Park about the best I can hope for here.

I did find a half decent pizza at a counter service in city walk.. anyway.. I really want to stay at Cabana Bay again and any tips on yummy food and snacks anywhere inside universal would be a great help!

I could probably survive on Butterbeer and ice cream from Finnegan Fortescue's and be happy. Beyond that, however, I agree with you in part. I find food at Uni to be decidedly fine -- not bad, but not really good either. Better than most theme parks, but not approaching Disney. Bright spots for me in meals were Leaky Cauldron and Three Broomsticks (not much fried at either, in my recollection), and some of themed stuff in CityWalk. Mythos is fine, but nothing I'd go out of my way for.

Prices for table service at Uni are lower than prices at WDW, but I think quality is lower as well. Prices for counter-service at Uni are comparable, or more expensive than, Disney and I like Disney QS better. Not having to make advance reservations, though, is quite nice. For snacks, ButterBeer and Fortescues, plus a refillable popcorn bucket, and I'm good.

 

[DisneyDaver]

Outside of California Grill and Jiko, I prefer the dining options at Universal over WDW.

The burgers, sushi and shakes at Cowfish are all excellent. One of the best shakes I've ever had.

I like Mythos better than any in-park dining at WDW (though it took way too long to get our food after we ordered).

For a sweet snack, there is a snack shop at Suess Landing that has great cookies.

 

[Mukta]

Antojitos was a fantastic meal. I like Cowfish too. Inside the parks, I like Mythos and Finnegan's.

 

[EngineJoe]

Antojitos was a fantastic meal. I like Cowfish too. Inside the parks, I like Mythos and Finnegan's.

Isn't finnegans the same as the chain? Or do they have special food?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Isn't finnegans the same as the chain? Or do they have special food?

No. Finnegan's is a Universal created restaurant.

https://www.universalorlando.com/Restaurants/Universal-Studios-Florida/Finnegans-Bar-Grill.aspx

 

[BrianV]

Just bck. Some terrific meals:

Cow fish was great. As was emerils. Both in city walk.

Went to Mythos inside the park. My sandwich was great, my wife's salad mediocre.

Tchoup chop was outstanding. Ate there twice, once for dinner and once for drinks and appetizers at the bar.

Finally the kitchen and the island dining room were both very good for breakfast. We ordered off the menu as we always avoid buffets.

No reservations needed for any of them, though at 2 we did call ahead for Mythos for. 3:15 seating.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I personally love all 4 signature restaurants (Emeril's Orlando, Emeril's Tchoup Chop, Palm, and BiCE).

I really like Mythos and Finnigan's.

And in CityWalk, Cowfish, Vivo, Antojito's, NBCSports Grill/Brew are great.

Just like WDW some of the Counter Service restaurants are awful. Circus McGirkus is no worse than Cosmic Rays. But there is also some good Counter Service too. I would say Thunder Falls Terrace is comparable to Flame Tree BBQ. Springfield has some great options. And both Potter restaurants are good (not great).

 

[MinnieWaffles]

Circus McGurkis is worse then Cosmic Rays. It doesn't even have Sonny to entertain you, just awful food left under a heat lamp for too long.

 

[Jrn14]

I really like Uni... and I really think they have some AMAZING restaurants at City Walk.. Had Cowfish last time and it was amazing! Anjitos is also delicious! and there are a plethora of other options I want to try. I do agree however that the quick service restaurants in the park leave a LOT to be desired. especially in IOA.. Last time I was there it was like 4pm (the park didn't close until 7) and there was like NOWHERE to eat. All the half decent QS places were closed (Terrace Falls/Comic Strip Cafe/ Whatever the place in the front with Fajitas and Pizza is called)... The only options were like that Fantastic Four restaurant which is awful and Circus McGurkus which is also awful. The venues are fine... I quite like the atmosphere at Circus but the menus are so freaking lazy... it's like old/cold pizza, chicken fingers, bargain basement burger... I mean I'm not expecting the moon and stars but a few options would be nice. Springfield is amazing though! I also like Terrace Falls when it's open.

 

[lebeau]

Thanks for the recommendations. It was mostly counter service that I was looking at.

I'm a little disappointed too by how limited their dining plan is. They say it's good at over 100 locations but they are mostly counting snack carts. It's not even good at their resorts and at 2 quick service places at CityWalk.

Skip the dining plan. This isn't Disney. You don't need it.

 

[danpam1024]

I really like Uni... and I really think they have some AMAZING restaurants at City Walk.. Had Cowfish last time and it was amazing! Anjitos is also delicious! and there are a plethora of other options I want to try. I do agree however that the quick service restaurants in the park leave a LOT to be desired. especially in IOA.. Last time I was there it was like 4pm (the park didn't close until 7) and there was like NOWHERE to eat. All the half decent QS places were closed (Terrace Falls/Comic Strip Cafe/ Whatever the place in the front with Fajitas and Pizza is called)... The only options were like that Fantastic Four restaurant which is awful and Circus McGurkus which is also awful. The venues are fine... I quite like the atmosphere at Circus but the menus are so freaking lazy... it's like old/cold pizza, chicken fingers, bargain basement burger... I mean I'm not expecting the moon and stars but a few options would be nice. Springfield is amazing though! I also like Terrace Falls when it's open.

I was surprised at this as well- caught us off guard once. I think it's to get more people to sit down in City Walk on the way out of the parks. Weird. It's really unfortunate that the 2 QS places in Suess Landing stink. Circus McGurkus SHOULD be FULL- there is no excuse for that food. In all the times I've been to UOR, I cannot remember even seeing Green Eggs and Ham opened- they could even make it a sandwich shop- it would do VERY well , especially with all the seating by the lake. Another yuck food place is Monster's Cafe. I LOVE the Cafe itself, but the food is terrible!

 

[MinnieWaffles]

I was surprised at this as well- caught us off guard once. I think it's to get more people to sit down in City Walk on the way out of the parks. Weird. It's really unfortunate that the 2 QS places in Suess Landing stink. Circus McGurkus SHOULD be FULL- there is no excuse for that food. In all the times I've been to UOR, I cannot remember even seeing Green Eggs and Ham opened- they could even make it a sandwich shop- it would do VERY well , especially with all the seating by the lake. Another yuck food place is Monster's Cafe. I LOVE the Cafe itself, but the food is terrible!

We've eaten at Monsters before and it was alright. The hot dog was pretty good- better then the one I had at Caseys later on in the trip!

 

[Satans Hockey]

The giant pink donut from the Simpsons land is amazing and I actually thought for the price that the krusty burger with curly fries was pretty good. Plus I cracked up at the horrible burnt burgers that they have sitting in front of the serving booth. Plus duff beer is pretty tasty.

 

[Jrn14]

I was surprised at this as well- caught us off guard once. I think it's to get more people to sit down in City Walk on the way out of the parks. Weird. It's really unfortunate that the 2 QS places in Suess Landing stink. Circus McGurkus SHOULD be FULL- there is no excuse for that food. In all the times I've been to UOR, I cannot remember even seeing Green Eggs and Ham opened- they could even make it a sandwich shop- it would do VERY well , especially with all the seating by the lake. Another yuck food place is Monster's Cafe. I LOVE the Cafe itself, but the food is terrible!

Aghhhhhh! Well their sneaky plan worked because instead of getting quick service we ended up sitting down at City Walk and spending probably 3 times as much money... It was delicious though and we had fun... but we were ok with just eating QS... oh well

The giant pink donut from the Simpsons land is amazing and I actually thought for the price that the krusty burger with curly fries was pretty good. Plus I cracked up at the horrible burnt burgers that they have sitting in front of the serving booth. Plus duff beer is pretty tasty.

I can second all that... the donut is AMAZING!!! so delicious... I've had Krusty Burger the fries and Duff and they were also very good... would get again.

 

[BrianV]

Aghhhhhh! Well their sneaky plan worked because instead of getting quick service we ended up sitting down at City Walk and spending probably 3 times as much money... It was delicious though and we had fun... but we were ok with just eating QS... oh well



I can second all that... the donut is AMAZING!!! so delicious... I've had Krusty Burger the fries and Duff and they were also very good... would get again.

The donut is really really good.

I'd much rather relax at a nice restaurant in city walk than eat almost any fast food. Unless I'm in Harry potter world.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I think you mean Mythos. Mythos used to be one of the best places to eat in all of Orlando but sadly its nowhere near where it used to be. If you're going to eat at Universal, I would skip the theme parks offerings and just eat at Citywalk and the resort hotels. Just be prepared to break out the cash.

Sadly, the truth.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

Also, fyi on the donuts- no need to go into the parks and pay that kind of money for one. They're supplied by Donut King, which has 2 locations in the Central Florida area.

 

[danpam1024]

Also, fyi on the donuts- no need to go into the parks and pay that kind of money for one. They're supplied by Donut King, which has 2 locations in the Central Florida area.

That place looks seriously dangerous! Deliciously dangerous!