Universal Restaurants: Advice for a Newbie

[bweagle]

Been to WDW several times, but the kids are getting older and we're looking for a change this year so we're switching things up and going to split our trip between Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove. I've never been to any of these but Sea World, so I feel like I'm starting from scratch in planning. I've been spending time looking over the posts on the board, but am overwhelmed since I know nothing about the park.

We are planning 4 days at Universal (2 in each park) plus 1/2 day arrival at City Walk. Looking for some suggestions for Family Friendly Restaurants at both parks and City Walk. We'll have a 10 & 12 year old, the 12 year old is an adventurous eater, the 10 year old, not so much. The kids have always enjoyed character meals at WDW, and I've seen Universal offers these too. Do you have to book so far in advance like you do at Disney?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[damo]

Most people don't bother to make reservations far ahead at all. Depending on when you go, you can probably wait until the week before for the more popular places.

There is a menu sticky that might help with some of your questions.

 

[Squirlz]

I'm looking forward to trying Cowfish next month. Everything from inventive sushi to burgers.

 

[kohlby]

We love Three Broomsticks. We get the chicken and ribs platter. On our last trip, we would just buy two of those for the 5 of us to share. (The 5 of us probably eat as much as most families of 3-4). The meal plan is $19.99 and includes an entree and drink and then an additional drink and snack. So, we get two adults meal plans there and then use the snack credits for two butterbeers to share.

We tried the Breadbox in City Walk and though I loved my sandwich(tomato and motzerella) , my younger two children were going to split a grilled cheese but neither of them liked it. So one ate half of my sandwich. The other feasted on fries. The fries are super good! The other two people in our family liked their sandwiches okay but they didn't pick a grilled sandwich, which I had suggested as I had read they were really good. (But the basic grilled cheese was so-so and added an extra piece of bread between the two. My picky eater also thought it was too crunchy).

The pizza at the Red Oven Pizza place in City Walk was pretty good too - everyone enjoyed it in our family. We got it to go since the youngest child really needed to go back to the room.

We always eat at Moe's in City Walk at some point too. It's typical Moe's food but easy to feed the pickiest eater - cheese quesidilla - or those who want more flavor.

I really enjoyed my kebob from Doc Sugrue's in IOA. The picky eater ate a little of my chicken but didn't like the rest. Luckily, there were chicken tenders close by at Fire Eater's.

As you can tell, we generally stick to Counter Service when in the parks. We were thinking of trying Mythos but didn't get a chance. (That's table service). If you decide to go off-site, our favorites are Sweet Tomatoes (salad buffet and more. It's nice and fresh and good to have so many veggies!) and Boston Market (Where we fed our family of 5 for only $23 including tax! Granted, we bought the meal for 3, but it worked).

Looking through the menus really helped - though not every menu had the child menu options listed. Even though most kids meal places say 9 and under, you can likely get away with getting one for an older child as long as it isn't a buffet place.

 

[bweagle]

Most people don't bother to make reservations far ahead at all. Depending on when you go, you can probably wait until the week before for the more popular places.

Good to know. Thank you. I'm used to hovering over my computer at 180 days out to make ADR's.

 

[bweagle]

We love Three Broomsticks. We get the chicken and ribs platter. On our last trip, we would just buy two of those for the 5 of us to share. (The 5 of us probably eat as much as most families of 3-4). The meal plan is $19.99 and includes an entree and drink and then an additional drink and snack. So, we get two adults meal plans there and then use the snack credits for two butterbeers to share.

We tried the Breadbox in City Walk and though I loved my sandwich(tomato and motzerella) , my younger two children were going to split a grilled cheese but neither of them liked it. So one ate half of my sandwich. The other feasted on fries. The fries are super good! The other two people in our family liked their sandwiches okay but they didn't pick a grilled sandwich, which I had suggested as I had read they were really good. (But the basic grilled cheese was so-so and added an extra piece of bread between the two. My picky eater also thought it was too crunchy).

The pizza at the Red Oven Pizza place in City Walk was pretty good too - everyone enjoyed it in our family. We got it to go since the youngest child really needed to go back to the room.

We always eat at Moe's in City Walk at some point too. It's typical Moe's food but easy to feed the pickiest eater - cheese quesidilla - or those who want more flavor.

I really enjoyed my kebob from Doc Sugrue's in IOA. The picky eater ate a little of my chicken but didn't like the rest. Luckily, there were chicken tenders close by at Fire Eater's.

As you can tell, we generally stick to Counter Service when in the parks. We were thinking of trying Mythos but didn't get a chance. (That's table service). If you decide to go off-site, our favorites are Sweet Tomatoes (salad buffet and more. It's nice and fresh and good to have so many veggies!) and Boston Market (Where we fed our family of 5 for only $23 including tax! Granted, we bought the meal for 3, but it worked).

Looking through the menus really helped - though not every menu had the child menu options listed. Even though most kids meal places say 9 and under, you can likely get away with getting one for an older child as long as it isn't a buffet place.

Thanks for the details. I've looked at the menus, but just got overwhelmed. I just like to hear what others have enjoyed.

 

[johde]

I would also second CowFish. That place can be as adventurous or as tame as you want it to be.

Mythos was good when I had it a few years ago. I had the Chicken and the Pizza at Simpsons Fast Food Blvd. Both were very good. The thing to watch with some of the newer Counter Service places (Leaky Cauldron and Simpsons), is that depending on what you order it might be cheaper to go to somewhere like Finnegan's. But, you're paying for the theming.

 

[elaine amj]

I fell in love with Cowfish. And I'm the type to have a hard time paying for pricey sushi (usually a cheap sushi buffet hits the spot and I have rarely found $$ sushi to be worth it). I went back twice because it was SO GOOD.

Mythos was very yummy - we enjoyed our meal there.

I wasn't a fan of Fast Food Blvd. We tried the burger (just OK), the chicken nuggets (tiny), and the tacos (quite blah tasting).

Louie's Italian Restaurant surprised me. We went for a cheap meal expecting basic pasta. Their pasta was GOOD.

We also like Three Broomsticks. If you get the ribs platter and share, the meal plan becomes a great value.

 

[mforce1]

If the line and/or wait for Mythos is too long, go to Confisco. It was a great alternative.

 

[FrankDIS72]

I second Confscio's. I ate there recently. The burger and the fajitas are excellent! They give you a lot of food for a good price. In fact, soup, the fajita entrée, a desert shot, and a soda came out to $25 before an annual pass discount. It was a lot of food for a relatively cheap price.

 

[RMulieri]

We love Cowfish, Mama Dellas at Portofino Bay , Mythos and Confiscos grille

 

[dancemonkey]

Love mama Della's. We enjoy bubba gumps, the restaurant at the hard rock hotel is very family friendly. We did not like emerials. They treated us like second class citizens and we our foodies and dineout a lot!

 

[schumigirl]

They're all family friendly. Think we have eaten in every restaurant there at some point and kids have always been present. You've nothing to worry about there.

Our favourites in the hotels are The Palm at HRH and Jakes at RPR. Sal's in PB gets special mention as pizza is wonderful. Tchoup Chop is worth a visit too.

Citywalk we adore Margaritaville......very fun filled atmosphere and kids love it in there. NBC gets amazing reviews and Cowfish we loved. Not a fan of Bubba Gumps at all.......Emerils is excellent too although a bit bored by the menu now.

In the parks.......in IOA we love Mythos and Confisco Grill.....both excellent value and good food. Thunder Falls Terrace is excellent for CS food......best chicken wrap I ever ate. Chicken and Ribs were good too and large portions.

In Studios Louie's for CS is exceptional......cheap as chips but pizza is so good. Lombards for TS too. Simpsons food area is a hit and miss......the pizza and turkey wrap are excellent and DS enjoyed the chicken and waffles.......Burger was awful. Don't like Finnegans at all.

Plenty of choice everywhere and prices are all reasonable we find. Portions in most places too are big enough to share if your kids will do that.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Inside the parks, we're big fans of Finnegan's and Confisco. We've had nothing but awesome food and great service at both, and prices are very reasonable for theme park dining. They are must-do's for us on each Universal trip.

Mythos was also good, but didn't measure up quite to the level of Finnegan's and Confisco in our opinions. Their menu is a little more unique and I'm a rather non-adventurous eater so that may have played a part in our experience there. The decor inside, though, is gorgeous.

We really liked Margaritaville in CityWalk. The food was excellent and the atmosphere is super fun.

For counter service in the parks, we would recommend Leaky Cauldron, Three Broomsticks, and Simpsons Fast Food Boulevard. The first two are so nicely themed, and Leaky Cauldron offers some really different choices (not your typical burgers-and-fries counter service place). Simpsons has some fun, Springfield-inspired foods like the Big Pink Donut and the Flaming Moe (you get to keep the cup as a souvenir, which helps make the $8.99 price a little easier to swallow). My DH had the infamous Klogger Burger and thought it was great for counter service. Their curly fries at Krusty Burger were delish.

 

[donnajherren]

We're heading down again in a little over a week. The kids have requested that we go back to Finnegan's, Confisco Grille, Three Broomsticks, and the Leaky Cauldron.

 

[schumigirl]

Forgot to mention the Character meals at the hotel......

You don`t need to make a reservation for these........but, they are fantastic.......character interaction is amazing!!!

We have seen Scooby and Shaggy, Woody Woodpecker, Simpsons, Shrek and Fiona and most recently Gru and Stuart......this is dinner character meals that are available, we saw them all either Jake`s or Islands Dining room. Menu is the regular menu but food is excellent. They are at the other hotels too on different nights.

RPR he minion breakfast with other characters on a Sunday morning.......if you do that one, make sure you choose a banana and leave it for the minion to see........

 

[georgina]

Don't forget you can get a AAA discount at many of the food places in the parks. Can't remember if it worked for Citywalk restaurants. I always ask at the register!

Or maybe not - just read this on the touring plans website - Effective 2015, you must purchase your park admission through AAA and show the "Discounts and Rewards" voucher included with your ticket in order to receive any AAA food or merchandise discounts inside Universal's parks.

Bummer! Though I was there in Jan 2015 and used the AAA discount successfully at restaurants, perhaps this change was new and not solidly in place yet.

 

[sk8jdgca]

There is a kiosk in the parks where you can make reservations. We just do this in the morning for any sit down places we want to go to.

 

[kbelle8995]

I would recommend:
Cowfish
Leaky Cauldron
Bread box

I've experienced these recently and all were very good

 

[disneylove69]

Cowfish, Mythos and Finnegans are great for sit down and very family friendly. Lombards was slow, very salty and expensive. Jusrassic park has a hamburger joint that has a fixin bar. The price was that of a sit-down. Did not like Marleys.