Budgeting food money

[Kerrils]

We are going to Universal for the first time at end of August. We are a family of six, myself, DH, 19yr old, 15 yr old, 2-11 yr olds. We've gone to Disney one time so I am no expert. Since we flew into Disney, we ate out at every meal. We ate counter service that easity ran + $100 each time. (I never thought my kids would get tired of fasat food.) This time, since I heard the food on the meal deal is not that great and the lines are longer at participating restaurants, I was planning on going to a store for easy breakfasts and sandwiches for lunch and then plan on eating out for supper. Any tips or suggestions anyone can give me on how they planned their meals would be very helpful. I need to do a better job in this area than our last trip. Thanks in advance.

My questions are:
1-what is a good budget per person for a restaurant with prices one notch above counter service?
2-Any recommendations on certain restaurants without breaking the bank?

 

[francie57]

We love Margaritaville in City Walk. The price of the meals isn't bad and you get a large meal. We also like Finnegan's Pub in Universal Studios and Thunder Falls Terrace in Islands of Adventure. The meals at Margaritaville and Finnegans are probably around $15-20 and Tunder Falls would be less.

 

[mjohnson96]

If you are staying onsite at RPR they have a morning breakfast bar where you can buy items by the piece or get one of their specials. We did this several mornings and for 3 of us I was able to get breakfast for under $15.

Also, in Citywalk upstairs there is a food court type area with Moes, Whooper Bar, and Panda Express that offers lower cost options for dinner or lunch.

We also found that many of the resturants has such large portions that we could easily share a meal without a problem, so DD many times got to share instead of getting her own meal that she would only eat half of anyways.

 

[kangareaux]

There's also an Italian place (Name escapes me right now...sorry) in city walk that serves breakfast. It's on the left as you are headed to IOA. They ahve a *traditional* type breakfast (eggs, meat, hashbrowns platter type thing; croissants; other things) for a really decent price. DH and i were able to share a platter also since the portion sizes were pretty big.

(If you are lactose intolerant though, BEWARE.....their eggs are apparently made with milk. Let's just say that they almost ended my day before it really started! )

Also, there is a bakery right inside the gates of IOA that has HUGE breakfast croissant sandwiches. Definately enough to split!

 

[Purseval]

When you say you are going to a store does that mean you have a car? If that is the case you have every fast food joint, restaurant and store (mainly Walmart and Publix) you would find in a good-sized city within minutes of the hotel. I would run to the Burger King for their 99 cent double cheeseburger instead of the overpriced Whopper Bar at CityWalk. There is also a Golden Corral within 2 minutes ride if they want to gorge themselves. You won't be hurting for options.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

There's also an Italian place (Name escapes me right now...sorry) in city walk that serves breakfast. It's on the left as you are headed to IOA. They ahve a *traditional* type breakfast (eggs, meat, hashbrowns platter type thing; croissants; other things) for a really decent price. DH and i were able to share a platter also since the portion sizes were pretty big.

(If you are lactose intolerant though, BEWARE.....their eggs are apparently made with milk. Let's just say that they almost ended my day before it really started! )

Also, there is a bakery right inside the gates of IOA that has HUGE breakfast croissant sandwiches. Definately enough to split!

Pastamore is the place in Citywalk you're referring to.

In IOA, you're referring to the Croissant Moon Bakery. That is on par with the Boulangerie in USF; both are super yummy.

 

[drinkme]

I'm also trying to figure out how much to budget for food. There are 5 of us, 2 adults, a teen, 11 years, and 9 years. We will be having breakfast in the room, and some lunches in the room. I'm bringing snacks, too.

We want to do 2 nice restaurants, but the rest of the meals will be fast food or counter service type. I'm budgeting $1000 for 6 days. We leave next week, I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[kangareaux]

Pastamore is the place in Citywalk you're referring to.

In IOA, you're referring to the Croissant Moon Bakery. That is on par with the Boulangerie in USF; both are super yummy.

Thanks! I am awful with names (People, places, movies...doesn't matter) and didn't have DH next to me to tell me the name...LOL!

 

[Larrabe]

This site has a lot of dining coupons that might help:

http://www.orlandocoupons.com/1dir_list.php?cat_id=1&sortbyname=1


Have fun!