Tasty, affordable meals?

[englishteacha]

If you were on a budget and wanted something tasty, where would you go?

Which restaurants give a AAA discount?

Do any of the restaurants allow adults to order off the kid's menu?

I ask because we're going on this trip in August for our anniversary, but we have to be careful with what we spend. Eating in theme parks can get very expensive. I also don't want to eat hot dogs for 7 days straight! Please share your favorite budget dining at UO/IOA!

 

[t-and-a]

At the Studios, for something a little out of the ordinary, but fairly inexpensive, we like Cafe La Bamba. They have Rotisserie Chicken, Baby Back Ribs, Burgers, Tortilla Salads, Wraps, and More. I know there are lots of other choices, but we have eaten at Cafe La Bamba three or four times and never had a bad meal there.

There are lots of really good choices at IOA too, we haven't tried Thunder Falls Terrace or The Enchanted Oak Tavern, but I have only heard good things about those two places, and they have similar menus to Cafe La Bamba. At IOA, we have eaten at burger and pizza restaurants (Captain America's Diner, Cafe 4, Burger Digs), which were all very good.

You can view menus with prices for the restaurants at http://www.allears.net/uni/menu/menus.htm

I'm not sure about the adults ordering off the kids menus, but many here have said thaty they were allowed to do so. I know that my 12 year old son and my 13 year old nephew were allowed to order from the kids menus at the table service restaurants.

As far as a AAA discount at the restaurants, I'm not sure, since I'm not a member, but there are lots here with that experience and also at least one of the mods on the board will probably know the answer to that question.

I think that the food turns out to be the biggest expense when you plan a trip like this, and it's easy to spend way more than you had planned, especially if you don't know in advance that a cheeseburger and fries are $7.49, a regular size soda is $2.39 and a large is $2.99 at most places in the parks!

 

[lindalinda]

I would definitely say Enchanted Oak Tavern. The meals are huge and you could share. As far as an adult ordering off the childrens menu, at the counter service places I'm sure you could. I dont think anyone would notice even if there werent any kids.

 

[bubba's mom]

you can get AAA discount at almost every restaurant/eatin' place there! if unsure, just present your card along w/ your bill. This is one thing I like better about universal than Disney....the food. We seemed to have a great selection of GOOD food everywhere and it didn't kill our pocketbook! We felt the food and their prices were definately better at UO than Disney....... I agree with t-and-a.....checking out the menus is your best bet! You can get some good food at reasonable prices (like when we went to LeCellier for dinner one night a couple months ago...it was delicious!...BUT, i could not go to Disney for a week and afford an $80+ dinner every night....just couldn't do it. We don't feel that way about UO...food is almost as good as their "fine dining" in WS, but not nearly as expensive (unless you're talking Mythos...that's a bit pricey, but worth every penny....IMHO)