Dining at Universal Resort

[Flying Mouse]

Hi all! We are planning an upcoming trip to WDW and Universal and I needed some Info. on dining at Universal. Can anyone recommend some places. We will be traveling with three kids 1, 4, and 9 (two boys and a girl). I have made reservations for the character breakfast at Confisco and also found out any additional reservations will have to wait until 30 days prior to our trip. We have been to Universal one other time but it has been awhile ago. We did go to Mythos and Lombards on our last trip and enjoyed them. Any recommendations for in the parks or Citywalk would be very appreciated.
I had one other question regarding parking at RPR (where we will be staying). We will be camping at Fort Wilderness prior to our Universal stay and will have our pop up camper in tow when we go to RPR. I didn't know if they would allow us to park and leave the camper still attached (as we don't plan to drive while at RPR). I know there is a $14 charge for nightly parking so we may have to pay more in addition due to the camper. Anyone ever had to park their camper etc. at the universal resorts? I will give Universal a call to check but just wondered how much of a hassle this might be. Thanks so much for any info./suggestions you can provide.

[DisneyDog]

There is a really fantastic restaurant at Portofino Bay called Mama Della's. Really great Italian food.

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is good too! Really great "cheeseburgers in paradise!"

[DVC2004]

We love Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific resort. They have a lunch menu and a good kids menu as well. It's pricey but an excellent meal. We also like Jimmy Buffets in Citywalk as recommended above.

[rjmurphy]

I would like to bump this up because I have the same concern on the popup camper. We will be staying at RPR first and then camping at Fort Wilderness. Still working out the details on our June 2009 trip. Thanks to all in advance.


I just called RPR and asked them about parking in their lot with the camper attached and the front desk told me"No Problem, we would just have you pull around back", so that part of the question is answered.

[NJGIRL]

We like Finnegans in the studio. The Hard Rock takes reservations online 30 days prior. We love going to Universal but their dinning reservation system stinks. It's unorganized and you get a different answer to your questions each time you call

[Mfarquar]

We love Finnegan's at the Studios too. The soda bread is fantastic (and I don't like soda bread!). The mini meat pie appetizer is fantastic too. We always eat at Finnegan's at September to take a break from Halloween Horror Nights. We have had trouble making reservations in Sept., because it's never crowded and the restaurant doesn't seem to want to take them. Usually, now we just show up and are accommodated instantly or with a minimum wait of 5 min.

The dining reservation system IS very unorganized at Universal, and the operators can be quite rude. I've called Finnegan's directly and gotten better results.

[NJGIRL]

The dining reservation system IS very unorganized at Universal, and the operators can be quite rude. I've called Finnegan's directly and gotten better results.

This is exactly how I feel! Love Universal but they need to get it together when it comes to dining reservations.

[Kenny1113]

Another for Margarita ville in Citywalk. The kids might enjoy the excitment when the "volcano blows" . ( if they still do that, it been awhile)

[thrillme]

I love the basic dining resturant at Royal Pacific in universal (it's not emerils T'chop) for breakfast. I'm normally not a big fan of breakfast buffets but this one is REALLY good. I think it's called the Islander or something like that. It's in the Royal Pacific.

On citywalk my DS and I love the Nascar Cafe. I love the Pitstop Pasta and DS loves the big basket of Popcorn shrimp.

I haven't eaten at Margaritaville but it smells very good.

Inside the parks the food is just pretty ordinary to me. Except my DS LOVES the lemon cakes.

[kmo84]

I love Bubba Gump's at CityWalk. Also, the Italian place (Pastamore?) is very good. Most times when I have been there I have been able to walk right up and get a table with minimum wait.

I agree with the other poster that said the park food is just okay. I even ate at the Mytho's restaurant that touts being voted the #1 theme park restaurant. It was all right, but it didn't knock my socks off.

Have fun!

[JerseyDad]

......let me add another.... ....for Margaritaville. We had a really great meal there...and loved the atmosphere. Best part of it all was that we didn't have reservations...and walked right in with NO wait!!

[brewcrew26]

Another vote for both Finnegan's and Margaritaville.

The coconut shrimp at Margaritaville and even the volcano spewing out margaritas are awesome! I really enjoyed the Shepherd's Pie at Finnegans, too.