CITYWALK and IOA Dining Reviews: June 6 – 10th

[epicureangirl]

CITYWALK and IOA Dining Reviews June 6 – 10th

Myself, my DH and DD (6) stayed at the HRH for four nights and had a 5 day theme park pass. Most of our dining was done on site so here’s the run-down.

McDonald’s near Universal on 6875 Sand Lake Rd.

I’m sneaking this one in because I was so impressed and was really glad we ended up here after leaving the airport with our rental car. Okay, it is a bit disorienting and a zoo at this “World’s largest entertainment McDonalds & PlayPlace” but the food on their Gourmet Menu was so amazing! I can be such a food snob but wow… I had a wonderful “Grilled Chicken Burrito Meal $6.79 – Specially seasoned grilled chicken, refried beans, rice, pico de gallo and 3 cheeses. Stuffed in a large tortilla shell and grilled! Served with guacamole, sour cream, and jalapeno peppers”. It was very delicious and came with fries and a drink for $6.79 and was served on a proper ceramic plate. You can get it without fries and drink for $4.99 – a great deal. My husband had a “Philly Cheese Steak Meal $6.99 – Grilled steak chopped with roasted red peppers and sauteed onions, topped with melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on focaccia. He loved his too. We ate here again for a breakfast (on our way to the fabulous Discovery Cove) and I had a wonderful belgian waffle with strawberry topping and real maple syrup. You can also order from the ‘regular’ menu but their Gourmet menu was wonderful quality, well priced and served quickly. I highly recommend making the trip, especially if you have kids to feed! Check out http://www.mcfun.com/ for coupons, locations and menus. I did find that their menu section incomplete… they have terrific “Gourmet Sandwiches and Paninis” which I couldn’t find on their website.

Margaritaville

this is the first restaurant we ate at for lunch at Citywalk. Our daughter got a parrot-mask which she clowned around with when we were seated. Very friendly service. I shared fajitas and a plate of calamari with my DH and ordered a chocolate-banana milkshake. Everything was very good although I’ve never had calamari exactly like that. Very large pieces and a red sauce instead of the traditional tsatziki. The Buffet videos and the erupting volcano at the bar were entertaining. Not a bad thing to say about this place at all. And 10% off with your AAA card is graciously accepted.

Hard Rock Café

we ate lunch here on a day we were at Universal. This is right next door to Universal so very convenient to have a meal here instead of in the park. Use your Orlando Magiccard to get $5 off a $25 purchase (and you can use it again and again if you come back!). My DD had a chicken-nuggets kids meal with the nuggets shaped as guitars. She liked it. I had fajitas and shared a chicken and spinach dip with tortilla chips with my DH. Everything was very tasty and the service was good – no complaints at all. I can’t remember what my DH had but he had no complaints. The servers offer you 10% off merchandise if you buy it through them. We didn’t buy anything, but I mention it to anyone interested in buying souvenirs – it would make it worth your while to grab a meal here and enjoy the discount.

Pastamore

after looking at the dinner menu at Latin Quarter (which was a little on the expensive side for what we were looking for that night) we decided on Pastamore. We were given a pager and got our table in about 10 minutes. Not bad at all since it was later on in the evening and very bustling in Citywalk. I didn’t expect much from the food, but was hoping for some Tiramisu and a relaxing dinner. At first our service was a little uneven as we waited for along time for our server to come to our table, but when she did, she apologized for the wait which I appreciated. I’m not a big drinker, but one of their Sangria drinks looked so good we ordered a half-pitcher to share. It was so delicious we asked if we could upgrade to a full pitcher. She said it wasn’t a problem and scooted off with the remainders of a pitcher and brought back a full pitcher filled to the brim. They really gave us more than they should… probably a 1/3 more as our other ½ pitcher was almost finished. How nice!

The hot bread (sourdough slices and rolls) came quickly and were served with butter and a dish of olive oil on top of which she grated fresh parmesan cheese for us. There is an option to have 3 dipping sauces for a few dollars but we declined. The bread with butter was perfect in itself. Later she brought us another basked of bread, but only the rolls as that was what we preferred. My DD (6) had some fried cheese ravioli with a tomato sauce which she loved. I tried some too and it was quite delicious and a nice change from chicken-nuggets! The server gave my daughter the Shirley Temple (for the same price as a coke) which was a nice treat for her.

My pasta was a fettucine carbonara with an alfredo sauce. I’d say it’s good but not great and about what I expected. This is moderately priced casual dining – not high-end Italian. My DH had a personal sized pizza and he enjoyed it. If we had more time we definitely would have returned. About that Tiramisu… we were so full we didn’t have room for it. And a good thing too because they had just ran out.
Again, they accepted the AAA card for 10% discount and our bill was very reasonable. A nice experience.

Mythos at IOA

Had dinner on Friday night at Mythos. The interior is stunning and will keep you in awe during your meal. We sat in a booth by a waterfall which was a nice location. However, the booths were slightly uncomfortable (a firm raised edge like a boxspring) so I would suggest regular seating. The menu has very reasonably priced options as well as some more expensive choices and I selected a wonderful risotto for about $14. My husband had a roast-beef sandwich and I honestly can’t remember what my DD (6) had. The complimentary bread assortment was very nice and the service was very friendly. Although the restaurant is beautiful, you will still feel comfortable dressed casually and can definitely bring your kids here. My DD and I shared a gooey chocolate banana cake dessert. She devoured the bananas and I devoured the chocolate. Very tasty. Bottom line, we all enjoyed our meal and would love to go back. 10% AAA discount available.

Enchanted Oak at IOA

After rave reviews and descriptions of this ‘hobbit hole’ we had lunch one of the days at IOA. The line ups were long, it was crowded and loud. Not exactly a relaxing lunch. After having counter service at Pecos Bills at Disney and having a relaxing and attractive place to sit I was a bit disappointed. The large portions were great as my DH and I shared the ribs and ordered an extra piece of yummy corn bread. The sun was blazing and the doors were open everywhere so it wasn’t as cool as it could be. It was attractive, but so crowded people were hovering and it was getting quite dirty as the service couldn’t keep up with cleaning tables. I would have preferred paying more and eating at Mythos or heading to a restaurant at Citywalk. This probably would have been better if eating at an off-peak-time when there was more space and less waits. 10% AAA discount available.

Emeril’s Tchoup-chop at RPR

I reviewed it separately

Emack and Bolio’s at HRH

good fruit smoothies but although it’s a Starbucks counter too, there’s no frappucinnos in sight (boo-hoo).

Croissant Moon Bakery at IOA

good place to grab a muffin and OJ before the parks. Don't forget your 10% AAA discount!

 

[nicolep91]

Thanks again for the great report! I appreciate you mentioning the discounts available too.

I will definitely have to check out that McDonald's!

 

[nicolep91]

I forgot to ask if you ate anywhere at Universal Studios? I'm curious because from what I hear, they don't seem to have quite the same quality of counter service dining as IOA, but I've heard most of their full service restaurants are good.

Thanks!

 

[gschmerl]

I'm a BIG fan of that warm gooey chocolate banana cake at Mythos. YUMMMMMMM!!

 

[epicureangirl]

I skipped the restaurants at Universal because of the poor reviews I heard on the boards. I did however got to Schwabs for ice cream twice and it was a very nice place to escape the heat and have a treat. Hard Rock was just so convenient and reliable that I didn't bother risking the Universal restaurants.

 

[noseybuddy]

Did you need to make reservations for any of these restaurants? I am going July 2 - July 7 and want to eat in some of the same places. I did make a reservation for Tchop Tchop already.

 

[epicureangirl]

I did make reservations at Tchoup Chop (and Emeril's which I didn't end up going to). I also made a same-day reservation at Mythos for a Friday night. However, I don't think I really needed a reservation at Mythos -- It would have been easy to get seating.

If you like eating lunch between noon and 1:00 ish I think priority reservations at Hard Rock (if they take them) could be helpful as when I went to try for lunch one day there was a 30+ minute wait, even with being an on-site guest. On a day at the park that seems like too much time wasted waiting. If I'm going to spend 30 minutes in line, it's going to be to go on Shrek again!

We had no waits for lunch at Margaritaville -- I think it's very crowded for dinner though and reservations would help.

I hear that Pastamore is less crowded than Margaritaville or Hard Rock and I had a very good experience there. I would not hesitate to go there again -- their Sangria drinks are terrific!

It's really hard being tied to reservations during your trip and it's much more relaxing without them. For the better places, it's a necessary evil I guess.

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for sharing - Wondeful, detailed reviews!!!!

 

[cpl100]

Thanks for those reviews and the link to the coupons. I have no idea if we'll use them, but I did print them out to take with us.

Was disappointed to hear about the 30 minute wait for hotel guests. I wonder if that's normal. Any idea what the PS wait was during that same time?

 

[connab]

Other then the menu items, what is different with the play area? Is it really big or what? Do u know late they open? We are staying at hrh in sept and i am trying to find night time stuff to do with a 5yr old. Thanks

 

[PF3412]

The McDonalds is open 24 hours and the playplace is really big and there's an arcade ( i think it's like a chuck e cheese) where you get tickets for prizes.