Advice on Dining at Universal

[Letterhead]

Due to Universal generally doing their best to improve UOR, while Disney take an age to do anything at WDW, we thought we would do a week at UOR to see what it was like.

We have been to the parks and Citywalk plenty of times, but never any of the Hotels. However, other than a few quick service options in the parks and HRC we have never eaten anywhere in UOR.

I've been reading plenty of menus, but the amount of reviews for UOR eateries just don't compare with the 1000's of reviews for pretty much everywhere in WDW, and as such we are left unsure of where to eat.

We are staying in Cabana Bay, so we will probably try everywhere in the resort, although can anyone confirm if the pricey Galaxy Bowl food is worth the effort?

I would also like people's advice on the best places in Citywalk, and if any of the other resorts have "must visit" restaurants.

DW isn't overly keen on fish, but I will eat anything. Other than Krusty Burger, we haven't any previously visited restaurants we want to eat at, so suggest away (we're there for 7 days so don' hold back).

Thanks.

 

[luvsJack]

We liked: Bayliner Diner (lots of options and all were good), Mythos (not as expensive as I feared and really, really good), 3 Broomsticks and Leaky Cauldren, Mel's Diner and pizza places in both IOA and US. I am sure we ate other places but these are the only ones I can think of.

 

[Letterhead]

Mythos is one I have always fancied. It's good to know it's not ridiculous prices.

 

[tinydancer09]

My favorites though I haven't tried even half of everything!
City walk: cowfish! The burgers and fried pickles. Yum! My friend got the sushi and he said it was good. Also rarely skip HRC. Not a fan of bubba.

Hotels: my favorite hotel meal has been at Sal's on the PBH hotel site. So good! Right on the bay so if you take a boat over you won't have to go far. They also make them to go, but would be slightly awkward taking that all the way to CB.

In park: Leaky caldron. Didn't eat there for a long time because I'm a picky eater.. I've been missing out! Best wedge fries ever and I don't like wedge fries. Also love three broomsticks and or thunder falls. Mels would be comparable to the burger/chicken strip places. I like to eat there but I love chicken strips.

Just for comparison my favorites at the motherland are Be Our Guest, Via Napoli, flame tree, and Caseys.

 

[king kamehameha]

(In reference to tinydancer09 (Above). I laughed at your reference to Disney as the "Motherland". We are defecting the "Motherland" for the first time to try Universal. Taking my teen age daughter so thanks for your input. Guess we're just not happy with all the changes and price increases at WDW. We usually stay at the Polynesian so we are booked in Universal's Royal Pacific. We cherished the "Motherland" for decades but it seems that a lot of people are leaving for Universal now.

 

[RMulieri]

AT resorts, Portofino Bay - Sals for quick service. Mama Dellas for table service
Citywalk- Cowfish

 

[pcstang]

My favorites though I haven't tried even half of everything!
City walk: cowfish! The burgers and fried pickles. Yum! My friend got the sushi and he said it was good. Also rarely skip HRC. Not a fan of bubba.

Hotels: my favorite hotel meal has been at Sal's on the PBH hotel site. So good! Right on the bay so if you take a boat over you won't have to go far. They also make them to go, but would be slightly awkward taking that all the way to CB.

In park: Leaky caldron. Didn't eat there for a long time because I'm a picky eater.. I've been missing out! Best wedge fries ever and I don't like wedge fries. Also love three broomsticks and or thunder falls. Mels would be comparable to the burger/chicken strip places. I like to eat there but I love chicken strips.

Just for comparison my favorites at the motherland are Be Our Guest, Via Napoli, flame tree, and Caseys.

Oh, those fried pickles! Yum!

 

[tinydancer09]

(In reference to tinydancer09 (Above). I laughed at your reference to Disney as the "Motherland". We are defecting the "Motherland" for the first time to try Universal. Taking my teen age daughter so thanks for your input. Guess we're just not happy with all the changes and price increases at WDW. We usually stay at the Polynesian so we are booked in Universal's Royal Pacific. We cherished the "Motherland" for decades but it seems that a lot of people are leaving for Universal now.

Yeah that's what op said so I wanted to give a comparison to what my go tos are at the mouse trap. At RPR jakes bar downstairs is nice for a late night meal. We sat outside near the water feature. Very nice... Watch out for bugs in the warm months though. Even though I was there when it was warn we didn't get eaten by bugs because it was December.

The friend I was with ate the breakfast buffet every morning and loved it. $5 mimosas! I'm not a breakfast person so I skipped out and got ready while he ate. I did witness orchards loungue and they seemed to have plenty for a quick and cheaper breakfast.

Love RPR because it spits you out right next to margaritaville.

 

[Letterhead]

Looks like we will definitely be hitting Cowfish and possibly head out to Portofino.

 

[tinydancer09]

Looks like we will definitely be hitting Cowfish and possibly head out to Portofino.

You sound like you've been reading plenty, but did want to ask ask around when you will be traveling. I guess if you've been to UO before you know the express pass line vs regular line? If you're going during a peak season IMO it's really worth it to stay at one of the top three resorts and get the unlimited express pass. Beats the heck out of Disney's FP+ system.

 

[dixonsontour]

Just back Cowfish was our favourite, then Margaritaville (also did bubba gump and hardrock and cabana food court)

Also liked 3 broomsticks and leaky cauldron for breakfast.

If you look on trip reports section on here my 2015 and 2014 trip and dining reviews are on both trips staying at cabana bay. Will make a start on our 3rd trip report soon, stayed 7 nights at cabana again.

 

[Parker Clan]

For quick service we liked Burger Digs in IoA, Jurassic area & Bread box in city walk.
For table service we loved Mama Dellas at Portofino hotel and Hard rock!

 

[luvsJack]

Mythos is one I have always fancied. It's good to know it's not ridiculous prices.

We ate there at 5 pm on a Sunday. 3 in our party and our bill was 1/2 what we have paid for table service at "the motherland" lol. Dh had pork loin, dd had Pad Thai and I had the famous hamburger(thats how it was listed on the menu). All were delicious. The servings weren't huge like they can be at WDW but more than sufficient.

 

[Raeven]

For Cabana Bay we stayed there and never tried the Bayliner Diner, but the Galaxy Bowl had awesome nachos, and I would try more food from there.

Other Hotels: We went to Mama Dellas and loved it! We're staying at Portofino Bay this winter, and will be dining there again as well as trying Sal's.

Citywalk: Margaritaville was good too, we did the meal and mini golf deal and thought it was a good price. We really want to try Cowfish too as I've heard nothing but good things about it. We also had sandwiches at Breadbox, and they were pretty good too.

Parks: Mythos is the best! I've heard Leaky Cauldron/Three Broomsticks are good, but we aren't really a fan of the food choices there. For Qs I've heard Thunder Falls Terrace is good, and for TS we plan to try Lombardis in the winter (there is seafood, but a lot of other stuff too).

 

[Sarahbelle341]

We just got back and loved Finnegans, Margaritaville, and Mythos for table service. We didn't do a lot of quick service but Moe's was just like it was at home. We didn't really feel the price difference between quick service and table service was significant enough for us to not just sit down and enjoy a nice meal.

 

[luvsJack]

We just got back and loved Finnegans, Margaritaville, and Mythos for table service. We didn't do a lot of quick service but Moe's was just like it was at home. We didn't really feel the price difference between quick service and table service was significant enough for us to not just sit down and enjoy a nice meal.

We found that too and I was honestly shocked! Breakfast at the Leaky Cauldren and at Three Broomsticks was a little over $50 for 3 (comparable to what we have spent at Disney for CS), our early dinner at Mythos was $60 for 3!! Now we really like LC and TB so went there for that reason, but if all the TS meals are comparable to Mythos, I don't see why anyone would really stick to CS.

 

[agavegirl1]

We always like Margaritaville. The grouper sandwich with cilantro slaw was excellent. Burgers are good too. Last trip we enjoyed Sal's at Portofino twice. Casual, reasonable and meals were splittable. For my birthday in 2010, we ate at Emeril's Tchoup Chop (walk up later in the evening) and it was awesome, especially the banana cream pie with a candle in it. Jakes at Royal Pacific is also very good as is the Kitchen at Hard Rock. I really liked Mythos, Finnagins and Three Broomsticks in the parks. I often have breakfast at Croissant Moon.

 

[zebsterama]

Looking forward to our stay at Portofino in a few months - can't wait.

For a 7 night stay I would do Mythos at least once, probably twice. We loved the food (at a reasonable price) at The Kitchen at the Hard Rock ... and on City Walk we loved the atmosphere and food at Antojitos.

We thought Bubba Gumps was overrated ... but by no means was it bad.

 

[BobDes]

We LOVED Mama Della's as well as Sal's!
The LC and TB we tried for both lunch and breakfast. I liked them both.
Different that what we are used to, but that is what I enjoyed the most about them.
However, we did not really care for Lombard's.

I posted pics of food on TA.

 

[pcstang]

Maybe Antijitos has gotten better. We've been twice and gave it two thumbs down both times. Not a fan of Lombards either.