Restaurants in Islands of Adventure
If the park closes at 6pm (like it does outside the summer and holidays), many restaurants will only be open from 11am to 4pm. But remember that CityWalk is a 5-minute walk from the park, so you can easily consider those places, too.
In both its parks, Universal offers a simple meal plan. Dubbed the Universal Meal Deal, it entitles you to one main plate, one nonalcoholic beverage, and one snack, which can be used for ice cream, frozen beverages, and more. Adults pay $20 and kids $13; it only pays off if you were going to get that dessert anyway. Resort guests may avail themselves of a Dining Plan, good for one table-service meal, one quick-service meal, and a snack for $52 adults, $18 kids each day. The value is borderline, especially if you would ordinarily never have a table-service meal.
In addition to the random snack carts there’s no use in listing here, there are counter-service and sit-down restaurants (including carts selling goliath turkey legs for $11) in the park. None require reservations the way Disney’s do. Kids’ meals all come in under 300 calories. Tip: Menu items do not have to be served with sides. The potato chip bags served with the posted meals hold a mere 1 7/8 ounces. Subtract them, or fries, from your meal combos to save about $2.50.
Cups good for unlimited refills at touchscreen Coke Freestyle machines, which mix soda to order using 126 flavors, cost $11 and are good for the day.
No matter which Island you're on, each offers a selection of sit-down restaurants, eateries, and snack carts. To save money, look for the kiddie menus, offering a children's meal and a small beverage for $8. Also consider combo meals (good for sharing), which usually offer a slight price break. Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park, for instance, offers a rib-and-chicken combo as well as other options in the $11-to-$16 range.
There are also several restaurants and clubs that are just a short walk from the park in Universal's entertainment complex, CityWalk.
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17 Results
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“Doc” Sugrue’s Desert Kebab House
Outdoor-only counter service spot serving its namesake in beef, chicken, and vegetables, plus hummus with veggies ($5). The Lost Continent. Main courses $7 to $9.$The Lost Continent - Sandwiches
Blondie’s
If you know that Dagwood is another name for a hero, you’ll know who Blondie is, too. This indoor counter location does subs served with pickles and potato salad. It usually closes after lunch. Toon Lagoon. Mains $9.30.$$Toon Lagoon - Pizza
Cafe 4
Counter service with indoor seating for grabbing pasta as well as pizza by the individual pie. Marvel Super Hero Island. Pizza and pasta $7.50–$9.$$Marvel Super Hero Island - American
Captain America Diner
This indoor counter-service location serves the usual burgers and chicken. Outside you’ll find a fruit stand where pieces of whole fruit cost $1.30. Marvel Super Hero Island. Main courses $8 to $11 with fries.$$Marvel Super Hero Island - American
Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous
Looking like a circus tent coated in cake frosting, it serves the usual burgers and pizzas, leavened with spaghetti and meatballs; chicken Caesar salad; and a fried chicken platter with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob so there’s something for everyone. For dessert, the Moose…$$Seuss Landing - International
Comic Strip Cafe
Toon Lagoon’s largest counter-service location offers four schools of food: burgers and dogs, pizza and pasta, Chinese, and fish and chicken. There’s more indoor seating with AC here than anywhere else in this island. Toon Lagoon. Main courses $9 to $14.$$Toon Lagoon - International
Confisco Grille
One of only two table-service locations in the park, the menu has an identity crisis—wood-oven pizzas, pad Thai, penne puttanesca, Tex-Mex wraps, fajitas—but that also means there is probably something for everyone in your group. The attached Backwater Bar, overlooked by nearly…$$Port of Entry - Sandwiches
Croissant Moon Bakery
Lighter bites such as sandwiches and panini (with potato salad and fresh fruit), plus pastries such as cream horns and vanilla éclairs, can be snagged without much of a line. Nearby is the Last Chance Fruit Stand cart, which sells fruit cups ($3.80) and giant turkey legs ($10). Port…$Port of Entry - International
Fire-Eaters’ Grill
Outdoor-only counter service with the usual suspects: chicken fingers, chicken stingers (Buffalo chicken fingers), Italian sausage, and gyros. The Lost Continent. Meals with fries $8.30 to $9.$The Lost Continent - American
Green Eggs & Ham Café
You can’t miss it—it’s the house-size slab of ham with a giant fork stuck into it. It sells burgers and, of course, sandwiches made of green eggs and ham ($7–$8), but it’s rarely open unless it's super crowded, which is a shame. Seuss Landing. Main courses $8.$$Seuss Landing - International
Mythos Restaurant
Mythos’ cavelike interior, carved from that ubiquitous orange-hued fake rock that scientists should term Orlando Schist, commands a marvelous view of the lagoon (go around to the water, where few guests wander, to see the god holding the place up with his bare hands). You could sit…$$The Lost Continent - American
Pizza Predattoria
The menu is small but big on calories: pizzas, meatball subs, and chicken Caesar salad. It’s counter service with outdoor seating. Jurassic Park. Nearby is the Natural Selections fruit cart. Mains $8 to $10.$$Jurassic Park - American
The Burger Digs
The Discovery Center’s indoor counter-service spot is upstairs, across from the dinosaur-theme toy store. Guess what it makes? There’s a toppings bar, so you can load up, and to make it easier, it serves double cheeseburgers that you can convert into two meals with a second bun ($1).…$$Jurassic Park - Bar
The Watering Hole
Cocktails are served al fresco from this kiosk, which throws a happy hour from 3 to 5pm and 20 ounces of beer costs $4. Jurassic Park. Cocktails mostly $6 to $8.$$Jurassic Park - Barbecue/British
Three Broomsticks
The film tavern was gorgeously re-created, up to its wonky cathedral ceiling and down to the graffiti scratched in the timbers, as the only restaurant in this island, and the filmmakers reportedly liked the design so much they featured the set more prominently in later movies. The…$$Hogsmeade - Barbecue
Thunder Falls Terrace
Watch the Jurassic Park boats splash down in the comfort of AC while noshing on food that’s a cut above the rest: chargrilled ribs served with whole unhusked ears of corn, rotisserie chicken, and bacon cheeseburgers. Soups are just $3.50. Jurassic Park. Meals $10 to $16.$$Jurassic Park - American
Wimpy’s
It’s the stand that furnishes its namesake’s obsession (hamburgers), although the staff will not permit you to pay next Tuesday for a hamburger today, mostly because it opens only when the park is packed. Toon Lagoon. Main courses $8 to $11.$$Toon Lagoon
