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Universal / Islands of Adventure

Restaurants In the Disney Parks Resorts Epcot Downtown Disney CityWalk

Universal / Islands of Adventure and Disney have an interesting rivalry. It is quite intense, with each park building and remodelling to keep ahead of the other. But it has become a tradition for visitors to spend a few days at one and then a few days at the other. This extended vacation attracts more visitors than would come just for either park by itself. The rivalry extends to restaurants. Universal / Islands of Adventure does not have nearly as many restaurants as Disney, but the ones they do have feature wildly imaginative theming and some very good food. They are also less expensive than Disney's and lack the meal plan. The parks close earlier than Disney's, so eating a late dinner is not an option. You'll be eating lunch or an early dinner. But they still offer interesting alternatives to the Disney restaurant lineup.

If you're only going to eat at one restaurant at Universal / I.O.A. it should be Mythos, the spectacular cave in The Lost Continent. You can spend your long wait time studying the surroundings while the understaffed kitchen gets around to your order. The food has a hard time making up for the wait and competing with the architecture, but it pulls it off, Mythos having been named America's top theme park restaurant by the site Themeparkinsider. The Tuscan Tomato and Cream of Mushroom Soups are outstanding. You should definitely order a cup for an appetizer. They offer several salads, all very good. The Caesar Salad in particular is fresh and crisp. They serve a very good Risotto and be sure to order the Mushroom Flatbread. The steak is good and the herb butter that comes with it is excellent. Their signature items are their Mahi Mahi, Cedar Planked Salmon, Blue Crab Cakes and Roman Pannini. Their Pad Thai gets a lot of compliments. It's not Pad Thai. It's an American version of what Pad Thai might be like. But it's still good. Leave room for dessert. The best is Peanut Butter Ice Cream. There are wines, beers and mixed drinks. Try to get a window seat; the views across the Lagoon of Time are great. The photo directly above shows the restaurant from the outside. You definitely need an advance reservation; call at least a week ahead. Prices are more reasonable than top Disney restaurants.

If you loved the movie American Graffitti, you have to eat lunch at Mel's Drive In. The menu is only 1950s fast food, but this is the best example of that food you're ever going to find : the Cheessburgers, Fries, Onion Rings, Apple Pie a la Mode, Sweet Tea, Milkshakes and Root Beer Floats are very good. Insist when giving your order that you want your cheese placed on the pattie before putting it on the griddle. They seem to have a preference here for grilling the burger, then placing the cheese on. It must be a California thing, but that's not how they did it back in the 50s. The cars from the movie, including John Milner's yellow deuce coupe, Falfa's black Chevy and the turqoise Edsel, are parked outside for photos. A rock band in the parking lot performs 30 minutes, then takes 30 minutes off. The booths inside are classic red and white vinyl with the jukebox controls on each table. Avoid Mel's between 11:30 and 1 pm and you'll be fine. Lines get long, service falls off and food quality suffers during that hectic lunch rush. But as a mid afternoon stop this is very pleasant. Unlike the 50s, this version of Mel's is air conditioned. Prices are a little high but not unreasonable, and once you taste the food and take a few photos you'll consider it a good value.

 

Three Broomsticks is the famous Harry Potter hangout. It's beautifully themed inside and out. There are no reservations, so assume 30-45 minutes in line. They serve the famous Butter Beer, a butterscotch cream soda popularized by the novels and movies. They also serve Cider, a surprisingly decent adult Ale, and Pumpkin Juice, a carbonated concoction that is quite tasty and not overly sweet. The Family Salad is very good, with fresh lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and other diced vegetables. The Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Split Pea Soup and Roast Potatoes are also good, but their best item is the Roast Turkey Leg, huge and delicious, a meal in itself. This is not a true sit down restaurant; you order at the counter and pick up your food at another counter. For a family of four or more, the best deal is the $49 Family Feast, a giant assortment of salad, veggies, chicken, ribs, ears of corn and roast potatoes. It's all good and you won't be able to finish it. Go early : 10:45-11:00 for lunch and 4-4:30 for dinner. Stop at the restroom to experience Moaning Myrtle.

For all the great theming at Mythos, Mel's and Broomsticks, the best true restaurant at Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure / CityWalk is Lombard's Seafood Grille. This would be a good restaurant anywhere, and their prices are surprisingly reasonable. Signature items are their Shrimp Cobb Salad, Lobster Bisque, Clam Chowder, Grilled Salmon, Crab Cakes and Key Lime Pie. The Crab Cakes are actually overstuffed, a rarity in the restaurant world since crabmeat is expensive. Whatever the Catch of the Day is, it's always good, but on days it's the Yellowfin Tuna, it's great. While this is a seafood restaurant, the Marinated Steak is outstanding. They also have a very good beer and wine selection at modest prices ($5 a glass). Try to get a window seat. The views out across the lake are beautiful. On good days, there's an outside deck, but it's often too hot and humid to enjoy it. This is a popular stop among Universal veterans, so reservations are critical.

The Circus McGurkus Cafe is pretty much what the name says : a circus. It is a huge, sprawling facility with long lines to get your food and people roaming around with their trays looking for a table. The decor is Dr. Seuss, and the colorful trolley train comes through every five minutes on its elevated track. Since the place has so many open doors and windows, birds peck at food scraps both on the floor and on empty tables, which kids find cute and adults find annoying. The menu is fast food. There are salads, but the rest is fried food and soft drinks.
The Comic Strip Cafe is a masterpiece of theming. You should step inside just to check out the cartoons on the walls and the general ambience. But we don't recommend it as a place to eat. You step to the counter, place your order from the menu on the wall, then get in another line to wait for your food. The menu is fast food fried. There are lots of fast food outlets out there that do a decent job at the griddle. This isn't one of them. We don't understand why a world class amusement park can fail to grasp the point that people will evaluate a park partially on the food. It would be a simple priority to make sure the people fixing this food are properly trained and supervised and held accountable. When you invest a million dollars into theming, putting $10,000 into food quality would seem a no brainer. But apparently not.

Louie's is a New York style 1950s Italian restaurant. The decor is great, as if they've created this to film Godfather movies here, an illusion which is heightened by the Godfather sound track playing softly in the background. The pressed tin ceiling, brick and wood trim, even the outside with its fire escape and authentic signing, is great for a few photos. But the food does not measure up unless you get there at the beginning of a cycle, 11 a.m. for lunch. The pizzas, pastas, and salads are actually pretty good when they first make them. But they set them out cafeteria style behind glass and under lights. Very quickly, they lose their taste. The sauces come straight from cans and when lukewarm have little appeal. The pastas become chewy and every item becomes bland.

Finnegan's is a classic Irish pub, with Irish beers, Cider, and a guitar player strumming in the corner. The food is authentic. Signature items are Bangers & Mash, the Corned Beef Sandwich, Potato & Leek, and Split Pea & Ham Soups, Carrots & Cabbage, Soda Bread, Shepherd's Pie and Guinness Beef Stew. Shepherds Pie, Beef Stew and Potato & Leek Soup are outstanding. Their most famous item is the artery clogging Scotch Eggs. The egg is wrapped in sausage, then deep fried. They're delicious. Leprechaun's Rainbow is the most unique salad you've ever seen or tasted; it's a mosaic of as many brightly colored fruit and vegetable slices as they can fit into a bowl. There's a Five Brew Beer Sampler. There's also an Irish Cobb Salad (corned beef, turkey, bacon, tomatoes, apples, beets, bleu cheese and a Scotch Egg). The Misty Isle is an assortment of sausage, chicken, bacon, garlic mashed potatoes and various vegetables. Save room for dessert. The Warm Bread Pudding is memorable.

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