Can you help us pick some onsite restaurants?

[coastgirl]

So we have been to Universal twice, and haven't put a lot of emphasis on the food, as we've been staying in a villa with lots of outside opportunities to eat. But this time we have four nights on site at Cabana Bay, so it makes sense to eat more on-site.

Let me give you something to go on...

We will spend lots of time in the two Harry Potter lands. We have eaten in the Three Broomsticks, and while we probably will again for atmosphere, the food isn't the draw.

I recall also eating in the Jurassic Park quick service, and don't have any particular memories of the food.

Honestly don't remember eating anything else in park in our 4 weeks or so of time there in the past! Except snacks.

I remember in Disney we liked Columbia Harbour House and Ray's as they seemed to have decent quality and selection for the price, and we liked the Flame Tree in AK. Table service, mostly we did character meals because the kids were that age. Hated Chef Mickey's for the noise and mundaneness of the food; love Ohana, loved the Cinderella buffet at the GF. At home when we go out for dinner it's often a hole-in-the-wall ethnic place, or a good pub when dh and I get out on our own. We also thought the food court at Pop Century offered good selection and value, so maybe the Diner place at Cabana Bay will be ok for fuel as needed. We are onsite, though, so if there's something neat at one of the other hotels, we could try that too. We don't enjoy really loud places like Rainforest Cafe or that dinosaur place in DTD; a table-service meal is a break for us, not another stimulating activity.

We hope to have one adult evening out, maybe at Citywalk. We were thinking Emeril's or maybe Finnegan's (or maybe a bit of both if Finnegan's has a good pint.) We liked many of the Epcot World Showcase restaurants also, something a little different.

What would you suggest?

 

[macraven]

at rpr, i always hit Jake's and Bula Bar.
jakes has a variety of items from sandwiches, pizza to dinners and late hours.

bula bar is great when sitting around the pool or by the bar for a simple menu.


you can check out the menus for Island and the other two above online.


i prefer Tchop chop over emeril, just personal taste.

the other two hotels have decent choices also.
get more info on that on the UO website.
Kitchen at hrh is decent.
sandwiches, dinners, etc all reasonable in price.
pbh more of an italian flair.

www.citywalk.com has many menus listed you can check out.

i've been to quite a few of them and have no real complaints.
hrcafe is the same in city walk as their other city restaurants.

the places you listed for the motherland, i have been to.
some of them are on my do not return list
guessing our experiences have been different.

are there certain food types you prefer?
are you more interested in burgers, full dinners, etc?

check out damo's sticky on food/menus
you might find something in it that catches your eye

 

[coastgirl]

Really good start for us and good reference, Mac, thanks. I'll definitely look at those resort spots you mention. Tchoup Chop is in one of the hotels, yes?

We probably don't enjoy the average burger/pizza/pasta place unless there's something special in the mix. So while those may provide good quality and value, we probably wouldn't use a vacation meal on something we could get at home at any decent chain. We do like a lot of ethnic food--all kinds of Asian food, Latin, "American" BBQ or creole.

 

[schumigirl]

If you like Asian themed food then you will enjoy Tchoup Chop......it's in RPR and has a lovely atmosphere.

If you don't like noisy places then avoid the Hard Rock Cafe......it is very loud!!!

We love Margaritaville at night, it's kind of loud but not like HRC and the food is so good.......NBA has good food but we find it lacks atmosphere.

At hotels we love Jakes Bar and Orchids Sushi Bar both in RPR..........sushi is amazing there. And yep, Bula Bar by the pool is fantastic.

At PB we enjoy Sals for pizza, but it's not a special occasion place. Don't really eat Itain food so the other restaurants don't appeal and we didn't really enjoy then when we went.

At HRH The Palm is our favorite. Very, very nice for an occasion too. And the Kitchen is good too.......

If the park is closed the you won't be able to eat in Finnegans

For daytime park eating, Mythos, COnfisco Grill and Thunder Falls Terrace are all very good..........TF has an amazing barbeque chicken wrap.......so fresh!!

For The Studios Louie's is excellent for a quick pizza snack, then Ben and Jerrys for dessert. Lombards was good this year also.

We don't eat at either of the Potter restaurants but you have to go in at least as they are so well themed, we just don't fancy the food much but they are both lovely.

Definitely have a look at damo's thread......so much info in there.......

 

[macraven]

you'll find asian food at the Island Dining Room at rpr for the dinner hour.

they usually have a special where the chef has a cooking station set up and you pick your add on choices for the entree.

tchoup chop is at rpr but you enter from the outside, when you get off the boat, you will see it as you walk towards rpr.

there is a new mexican restaurant in city walk.
some love it some don't.
some of the items are made at your tableside.

i haven't found great bbq since they closed down Motown in city walk.
i still whine about that closure.......and it's been years.

Cowfish is new, it opened the day after i left.
i looked at the menu online for citywalk and see it is a sushi type of menu with burgers also available.

margaritaville is similar to the other restaurants it owns.
i've tried it and nothing there strikes me as excellent as food value.
i prefer burger king burgers over it.

bob marleys is decent and good.
live entertainment once it is 9 pm

if you go to finnegans during the park hours, you'll see it is more of a pub style menu.
i like the bangers and mash better there then the one at epcot's english restaurant.

i'm onsite at the darkside for 13 days.
usually do repeats on my favorite places and always hit the stand bys inside the parks.
louies for pizza/salad combo
steak sandwich at confisco grille
sandwich at boulangie and cheesecake factory dessert
gyros at fire eaters grill
blondies for fresh sandwiches
chicken waffle at moe's
and the pink donut, yea, the big one....


mythos does change their menu at times.
usually not a problem there finding something delicious.

 

[kingken]

always return to margeritaville, lombards, mythos and emerils, never had a bad experience at any of these
went tchoup when staying at RPR and was very dissapointed, food was average, tuna barely cooked despite asking for it to be, steak burnt when asked for medium, service was worst i had in my times in orlando, servers introduced themselves took order then barely saw them, i think they asked once if everything alright whilst dashing past, yet tables around us seemed to get much more attention, chatting away, getting refills etc, even manager went to every table but ours, walked right past, will not be going back
yet emerils in citywalk is fantastic in all respects nothing to much trouble
hard rock is great but very noisey, finigans nice food and pretty quiet, nice pint.

 

[RMulieri]

For Italian , we really love Mama Dellas at Portofino Bay resort

 

[wookiebeck]

We LOVE Mythos for lunch. So quiet and with awesome ambiance. It is also a great break from the heat in summer. The food is the highest quality and price is reasonable.

 

[2girlsmom]

Finnegans is a great pub atmosphere, we really enjoyed it. Mythos has some decent pad thai. Cowfish is interesting, they have burgers, sushi and what they term burgushi (combination of sushi and burger), its a fun place. We haven't tried Antojito's yet. We did try the pizza place in Citiwalk, thought it was only so/so. I hear REALLY good things about Vivo Italian, though. We found the food good at Hard Rock, but WAY too loud for me. As far as in the hotels, we very much liked Jakes and Islands at Royal Pacific, and enjoyed breakfast at the Kitchen at Hard Rock, the dinner was nothing special to us there.

 

[johnvree]

Haven't been to Universal in many years, so I'll hold my restaurant suggestions (other to say that Jake's at RPR was surprisingly good all three times we have eaten there).

Replying just to point out that there needs to be a Restaurant Review tab like there is on the Disney boards. There are enough restaurants on site to warrant having a central place to house restaurant reviews.

 

[SharonLowe]

We enjoy Tchoup Chop but must say it has gone downhill over the years - still good but not as great as it was. Liked Bob Marley's. Bice is a very nice Italian restaurant - expensive but very nice. Trying Mythos for lunch this upcoming trip (Jan 30 to Feb 2) since we keep hearing good things about it.

Agree it would be nice to have a restaurant review sticky.

 

[damo]

Haven't been to Universal in many years, so I'll hold my restaurant suggestions (other to say that Jake's at RPR was surprisingly good all three times we have eaten there).

Replying just to point out that there needs to be a Restaurant Review tab like there is on the Disney boards. There are enough restaurants on site to warrant having a central place to house restaurant reviews.

There is a food sticky at the top of this forum with lots of reviews and questions.

 

[MrsPMC00]

We ate at Antojito's and Vivo in Citywalk when we were there in October - and they were both fantastic! We plan to do both again in March. Margaritaville is always fun & reliable too. Finnegan's and Mythos are the favorites for in-park sit down restaurants.

 

[coastgirl]

Thanks MrsPMC. I must go look up Antojito's, haven't heard of that one!

 

[jjas]

We ate at both Antojitos and Cowfish in November and thought they were both very good. I had the bento box at Cowfish which included a slider and a sushi roll and would recommend it.

 

[WendyLou]

appreciating all this info, we are touring US/IOA for the first time this year and I am lost but sooo excited! I know Disney with my eyes closed but out of my element here.

 

[lazer]

We loved: Bula Bar at Royal Pacific as well as Islands at Royal Pacific (for the Asian inspired dinner menu), Margaritaville for the energy and my kids loved the noise, Mythos for lunch (drinks and risotto were some of our favorites all trip).

 

[BKMETV]

There were some new places (at least for us) that I would recommend...Red oven for pizza & bread box for sandwiches are both great for a quick bite. Cowfish is excellent food wise, service needs some work but definitely not to be missed.

 

[Planogirl]

We always eat lunch at Margaritaville and Confisco's Grille. Mythos is good too for any time. For quick serve we like Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park. I'm not sure if you were referring to the Burger Digs in JP but we find that one forgettable too.