How is the dining at Universal Studios? I'm used to WDW dining

[Hull-onian]

I am not too sure about the restaurants at Universal. We are staying off property. Should we plan on International Drive dining? Plus inside the park dining? We haven't done this before, what do you do????

[tinksmom02]

We stayed onsite and didn't have transportation, so I'm not sure that my suggestions will help you. But, we did dinner at CityWalk twice--Bubba Gump's and Pastamore. Both were great meals. Our third dinner was in the hotel--we stayed at Loew's Royal Pacific--at the Islands Dining Room, only because it was a character meal. It was a sit-down, not buffet, slightly pricy, and there was only 1 character (Scooby-Doo). It was OK but not spectacular.

Other than that we grabbed counter-service at the parks when we were hungry. I don't know if it's the time we were there (just before Labor Day), but the restaurants weren't crowded at all, we didn't make reservations and never had to wait for a table. In that regard it was WAY different than Disney!

[Mammabruski]

We went to US/IoA last September... a year ago today to be exact, and we ate some good meals and some ok meals.

I really enjoyed the Three Broomsticks (counter service) and we ate there twice. My sisters were not too impressed with the shepherd's pie, but everything else we had was pretty darn good.

We also ate at Mythos which was way, way too over-hyped. Apparently they won some awards for theme park restaurants, and to be honest, I don't know how. They had a very limited menu (mostly sandwiches and some lackluster pasta) and I expected fancier food, but it seemed pretty boring and nothing special. We also had horrible service and waited far past our reservation time.

What was amazing was when we ate at Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Hotel, where we stayed. It had a very contemporary appearance, a great menu (expensive) and sushi that my sisters really enjoyed. Loved it!

Finally, we tried to eat at City Walk one night after taking evening naps (we had been up very late for the previous few nights) and pretty much all the restaurants were done serving dinner BEFORE 9pm! Granted it was a Monday, but come on! It was 8:30 and we finally settled on Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, and they offered us a very limited menu because it was "so late". Really?!

Well, there you go... I only have limited experience but perhaps it will help you out!

[Niecyboo]

For counter service inside the parks, I highly recommend Thunder Falls inside Jurassic Park. It has really good chicken, ribs and sides and the platters are large enough for sharing. It is also a very large restaurant with lots of seating and air conditioning. AND if you sit by the window, you can watch people go down the giant water slope at the end of the ride.

My only warning is breakfast! There are very few areas that have counter service breakfast and they are hard to find. We rushed in and went right back to Harry Potter, then about an hour later started getting really hungry. We had to walk all the way to the very front of the park for the 1 restaurant that was open. The nice thing is that when we got there, they let us order lunch items, which by that time sounded better even though it was 10 in the morning.

[Hull-onian]

Thank you everyone for your great tips. I did find the Ponderosa Buffet on International Drive. I heard that is pretty good and reasonable. Our hotel serves a hot breakfast everyday, included in the stay. We were thinking of Margartiville and the Hard Rock Cafe as two possible choices. I guess we won't go hungry. Thanks for the tip on Thunder Falls, it sounds great. My dtr and grdchildren are really excited about the trip. My :heart: belongs to Disney. I so love Walt.:mickey:

[joonyer]

in the theme parks (IOA & Studios) I'd say the restuarants are over-rated and over-priced. Oh wait, that describes most of the theme park restaurants restaurants at WDW also.

The restaurants at City walk are not quite so bad, but can be hit & miss. There's no place there as good as California Grill or Artist Point, but plenty of places serving "average-quality" "tourist- destination" food.

[DVC2004]

We don't usually eat inside the parks so can't help you there. However Citywalk has some great spots- Margaritaville, Emeril's, Latin Quarter, Hard Rock Cafe to name a few. We like to dine at Cirywalk and will usually take a lunch break there. Just note many of the restaurants there are open for dinner though.

[NJGIRL]

My fav's are:

Finnegans (Studio)
La Boulangerie (Studio) Must Do!!!!!

Pastamore (City Walk)
Margaritaville (City Walk)

Blondies (IOA)


To tell you the truth I enjoyed our meals at Universal more than the ones at Disney last week.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We've only dined at Three Broomsticks. We got a chicken and rib meal which was really good. My SIL and her family ate at Bubba Gump's and said it was really good.

[eandrsmom]

We've eaten at Nascar Cafe in the City Walk a few times. The food is typical bar/chain food. Nothing really was a stand-out. However my boys loved it!! Beware-it is noisy. I have to agree with the previous post about Mythos. I thought it was going to be really good since it has won several awards. We were very disappointed! Very expensive, bland food.

[Mousemates]

We were at IOA last week and thought the counter service food was comparable to WDW...they actually offer a "all you can eat" option for about $20...which allow you eat to eat as often as you want at several of the CS restaurants, only a good value though if you plan on being there the whole day and will be eating more than two meals in the parks.

[Melanie]

We've eaten at Three Broomsticks three times now, and I'm always impressed with how good it is (for theme park food).

At CityWalk, we've had both NBA City and Bubba Gump. We always enjoy eating at Bubba Gump, wherever we can eat at one. NBA City was a one and done kinda place.

[Mogie]

3 Broomsticks was probably one of the better counter service meals ive had in or out of disney.

Mythos keeps getting rated as "the best theme park restaurant" over and over. We took a peak inside at the decor and it is pretty cool. But i dont know how good the food can really be.

The City Walk places are all corporate commercial places and are probably pretty standard and safe.

[Bethanymouse]

We went to Universal Studios and IOA the summer of 2010.

The restaurants in the parks are just okay- some quick counter service/burger joints.

Outside the park- we LOVED Tchoup Tchop- Emeril's place in the Royal Pacific. It was our second time eating there and it did not disappoint!!!! Excellent food, service, and amazing atmosphere!

We also enjoyed Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. Fun, upbeat place and had some good grub!

[Hull-onian]

Three Broomsticks, Margaritaville, and Hard Rock Cafe....it is......thank you for the great tips.....