Best Universal Studios Hollywood Food. We Visit Frequently!

There are a number of great Universal Studios Hollywood foods that the theme park is famous for available at restaurants in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the Simpsons area, and the new Super Nintendo World. Beyond those, there are a number of other good food options at Universal whether inside the theme park or the nearby CityWalk district.

I visit Universal Studios Hollywood multiple times a year along with most seasonal events and this has given me the advantage of knowing which food options are the best in the park. Unfortunately, Universal Studios Hollywood doesn't have the same lineup of great food that Disneyland offers so our guide will help you find the best themed food options along with quick eats and nearby restaurants that offer more quality.

Let's get into all the best Universal Studios Hollywood food options and our favorite Universal Studios Hollywood restaurants including themed favorites you can't miss. Here are the foods and restaurants you need to try during your next trip!

You can also check out our overall guide to the best Disney World restaurants ranked for more of our top dining recommendations.

Planning a Disneyland Vacation?

Get exclusive access to prices on hotel & tickets just for Mickey Visit subscribers. Don't miss our travel hacks newsletter!

How We Ranked Best Universal Studios Hollywood Food

Universal Studios Hollywood is my favorite add-on to a Disneyland trip since the theme park is within driving distance of Anaheim. I have been to Universal Studios Hollywood during every time of the year including the summer season, Halloween Horror Nights, and the holiday season.

During this discussion, we specifically wanted to call out how different the landscape of offerings at Universal Studios Hollywood is as compared to both the best restaurants at Disneyland and best restaurants at Universal Orlando in Florida. The food at Universal Studios Hollywood is not the highlight of the experience. They've done a lot to improve it and add new restaurants, but it's not why guests visit the theme park. There is just less space in the theme park to allow for them to focus on delivering great food at Universal Studios Hollywood. When they've added new lands they've made sure to build out iconic new restaurants and food options, but there just isn't as much focus here for expanded menus as there are at the other two resorts that include multiple theme parks and hotels, in addition to the CityWalk areas.

At Universal Studios Hollywood sometimes I deliberately seek out food that is highly themed, like what you can find in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and other times I seek out food for convenience like restaurants that are easy to access with lots of seating and air conditioning. Multiple members of our Mickey Visit team who frequent Universal Studios Hollywood all came together to discuss and debate the best food options at the park. We also had some help from our travel partner, Get Away Today, to gather some food photos.

In our guide of best Universal Studios Hollywood food, I have included the most notable restaurants in the theme park and CityWalk, along with some of the most iconic Universal Studios Hollywood snacks you should NOT miss out on!

Quick Tip For Ordering Universal Studios Hollywood Food

Before we begin highlighting specific food, I wanted to mention the ability to mobile order from a number of Universal Studios Hollywood restaurants via the official app. Just like mobile ordering at Disneyland, some popular restaurants may not be available at certain times based on demand. Unlike DIsneyland, you must be within Universal Studios Hollywood to order food.

Universal Studios Hollywood offers mobile ordering on the official app for these restaurants: Power Up Cafe, Cletus' Chicken Shack, Cocina Mexicana, Hollywood & Dine, Jurassic Cafe, Krusty Burger, Lard Lad Donuts, Luigi's Pizza, Mel's Diner, Minion Cafe, Mummy Eats, Panda Express, and Three Broomsticks.

Mobile ordering is a great way to skip lines for ordering food and instead just pick it up for the location! This is especially helpful for popular restaurants like the Three Broomsticks and Krusty Burger. Note that the Three Broomsticks is often impacted for mobile order so this early in the day.

Best Wizarding World of Harry Potter Best Food

The most consequential addition ever made to the Universal Studios theme parks was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The new land helped to redefine the park as a national destination. The main dining option in the land, themed to Hogsmeade from the Harry Potter books, is the Three Broomsticks which succeeds as being nearly identical in offered dishes and atmosphere as we saw in the Harry Potter movies and books. You can find Butterbeer here along with classic English dishes like fish & chips, shepard's pie, and dishes mentioned during the ‘Great Feast' in the Harry Potter books.

At the back of the Three Broomsticks, you can find Hogs Head for a drink of Butterbeer or some brews for the adult wizards. There are also plenty of Butterbeer carts available along with options to get treats like cupcakes, fudge, and ice cream! This is one of our favorite areas in Universal Studios Hollywood to eat and consistently offers more quality food that's a bit of a step above standard theme park fare.

These are all our favorite food items and restaurants in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Three Broomsticks

Three Broomsticks in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a favorite of mine for the theme and the filling menu. The British-style menu here is extremely filling with options like Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, and Shepard's Pie. There is also a breakfast option too which is extremely popular.

This is the only sit down restaurant in the land so if eating at a Harry Potter restaurant is at the top of your list, this should be the food option you prioritize. This is a favorite of mine especially during the holiday season as the filling food options match the holiday theme nicely.

Butterbeer

You can find Butterbeer and other snack/drink options at Magic Neep Cart on the way to Hogwarts castle. See our full guide to Universal Studios Butterbeer for details on all of the Butterbeer variations available and where to find them.

You cannot skip trying a Butterbeer while at Universal Studios Hollywood! There are so many different spots to enjoy Butterbeer in the land and you can decide between regular Butterbeer and frozen, plus the ice cream flavor mentioned below.

Butterbeer Ice Cream

Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream offers Butterbeer ice cream which is just another unique way to enjoy the best offering in the land… Butterbeer! This is my favorite place to get ice cream at Universal Studios Hollywood.

This was one of the best ice cream cones that I have ever had and I LOVE soft serve. The caramel flavor of the butterbeer was slight and a perfect combination with the vanilla. There are other flavors of ice cream available at the shop including Chocolate, Orange, Toffee Nut, Pistachio, Banana, Mint, Vanilla, Granny Smith Apple, and Toffee Apple, but the butter beer flavor makes this a best food item for the entire park.

Harry Potter Cupcakes and Candy

Honeydukes is the sweets shop in the land that offers cupcakes, fudge, and plenty of candy including items from the film like Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Witch Hat Cupcakes, fudge, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Fizzing Whizzbees, Exploding Bonbons, and more.

These offerings change but there's consistently a selection of cupcakes, fudge, and other sweet treats. There is a mix of both fresh and packaged sweets here.

Best Simpsons Land Universal Studios Hollywood Food

Springfield, U.S.A. is the Simpsons-themed area in Universal Studios Hollywood offers a large variety of food options with mostly classic American items like burgers, pizza, donuts, ice cream, chicken, hot dogs, and more. This is one of my favorite areas to get food because there's plenty of seating options in this land especially if you are looking for a quick bite to eat in the air conditioning.

This area is less about the creative food options and more about good sustenance from classic theme park food options. There are so many options in this land for quick food with lots of seating which is often why we have frequented these options so often.

Krusty Burger

Krusty Burger is the main eating location in the Simpsons area featuring a wide selection of burgers, fries, and more. The food here isn't exactly top-notch quality, think fast food level quality, but it usually has something most guests in your group will enjoy.

Decent Theme Park Food With Plenty of Seating

The best part about Krusty Burger is the huge seating options. Most guests don't realize the second floor offers a full second level of seating. This is one of our favorite places to take a breather from the park when we visit as we can always find a spot to sit upstairs.

The Krusty Burger also has TVs set up around the restaurant playing clips of episodes that center around the iconic location from the series.

Luigi's Pizza

Luigi's Pizza is a great place to grab a slice of pizza, pasta, and enjoy the Duff Beer Garden if you're with adults that want to try the Simpsons official beer.

The seating in this space isn't quite as spacious as Krusty Burger but you can take your tray over to Krusty Burger and sit down in there, we've seen a few people do that and it's a great idea! The pizza here isn't the best, reminds me of cafeteria style pizza, but it'll do in a pinch!

Simpsons Ice Cream

The Simpsons area features so many food options but also a great ice-cream option at Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor. The menu offers a wide range of ice cream cones, dishes, and large sundaes.

Lard Lad Donut

The Simpsons large donuts are another can't-miss item when visiting Universal Studios Hollywood. Sometimes we just like to grab this to take back to the hotel with us which can make for a great breakfast for the rest of your trip.

These donuts are large enough to share with a few people which makes it one of the most affordable snack options at only $9.99 each. I honestly think the Simpsons donut is the best item in the Simpsons land!

Multiple Donut Flavors

You can find these in multiple locations around the Simpsons area. The flavors I've seen lately have been the pink frosting with sprinkles and chocolate.

The officially listed flavors for the donuts listed on the Universal website are the Big Pink (the classic with pink frosting and sprinkles), Chocolate Glazed Donut, the Maple Bacon Donut, and the Oreo Donut.

Super Nintendo World Universal Studios Hollywood Best Food

Super Nintendo World has one main restaurant, Toadstool Cafe, although there are stands around the theme park that offer Nintendo-themed drinks and snacks.

But when you're in the land itself, your main option is going to be Toadstool Cafe which can be a bit tricky to get a seat at. Despite the hassle, this is one of my other favorite places to eat in Universal Studios Hollywood and offers slightly better quality than other offerings in the theme park. You'll want to plan for how to secure your Toadstool Cafe seat which we'll dive into more below.

Toadstool Cafe

Toadstool Cafe has been popular since Super Nintendo World opened so Universal Studios Hollywood requires guests to join a walk-up list at the restaurant. You simply walk up, scan the QR code by the entrance, and pick your time to return. These times can go quickly so do this as soon as you enter the land! Screenshot your confirmation as you will need to show this when you return to the team member outside the restaurant to get in.

This is my new favorite restaurant in Universal Studios Hollywood despite the hassle of getting a spot inside! The dining room includes scenery of the Mushroom Kingdom through the windows as you dine. There are so many small touches around this entire restaurant devoted to Super Mario fans and help immerse you in Super Nintendo World.

Toadstool Cafe Offers Best Meal Options

The menu includes a wide range of appetizers, salads, burgers, meatless options, and desserts. There are a wide variety of options to please everyone. My son usually gets the Mario Burger (Bacon, Mushroom & Cheese) and he loves the themed Mario bun and little cap.

Cute Themed Mario Menu

My favorite menu items are the Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots! The little garlic knots are shaped like mushrooms which is a cute touch. Everything about this restaurant is themed so perfectly! Highly recommend Toadstool Cafe as a place to eat at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Super Nintendo World Novelty Drinks

The Lower Lot Super Nintendo World Popcorn and Drink cart located just outside of the actual land features fruity, cream sodas that are always a favorite with my family. The drink I tried last visit is called Princess Peach's Peach Soda!

More Mario-Themed Snacks

You can also find a variety of Nintendo themed food options in the Upper Lot and the Lower Lot outside of Super Nintendo World. This location opened to provide another place for guests to enjoy the popular items themed around the land.

These locations offer popcorn, themed snacks, and novelty drinks. The Power Up Cafe is located in Production Plaza on the Upper Lot with the smaller drink stand selling fruit sodas is on the Lower Lot.

Best Minions Land Food

Minion Land at Universal Studios Hollywood is very popular with kids as it includes Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem and Super Silly Fun Land. This land also includes the Secret Life of Pets ride. There are two main food locations in this area the Minions Cafe and the Minion Snack Stand. The food options in this land appeal to families with smaller kids that will get a kick out of the fun Minions-themed options and menus tailored for picky eaters.

Minion Cafe

Minion Cafe is the main dining area in Minion Land and has a wide variety of menu items like grilled cheeses, nachos, salads, and more. One of the stand out items on this menu that tends to be popular with guests is the Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac n Cheese.

Minion Snack Stand

Minion Snack Stand is around the corner from the Minion Cafe is where you can find some fun treats like yellow and purple cinnamon churros, cotton candy, and Nutella Banana Pudding. This is also where you can pick up the collectible Minion popcorn buckets.

Production Plaza Dining

Production Plaza is the name for essentially the front entrance of the park as you enter Universal Studios Hollywood. You can find a variety of food options here like Starbucks, snack stands offering popcorn, deli sandwiches, and pretzels, along with a few casual restaurant options. This is probably the weakest area for dining in the park but also with so many options, it does provide a quick and easy way to get food if you don't want to wait in long lines and want ample seating.

French Street Bistro

The French Bistro is a quick service located on the Upper Lot in the Production Plaza. This cafeteria restaurant offers a variety of grab and go items.

French Bistro Grab and Go

This cafeteria style restaurant offers plenty of grab and go options like fruit cups, salads, sandwiches, and more. This is a good place to stop if you want less greasy theme park food options.

French Bistro Sandwich

While the grab and go section is reminiscent of an airport, the actual offerings were pretty good and not at terrible prices. In addition to the above grab and go there are a couple of warm sandwiches you can choose from.

There are options on both rolls and a croissant. The roll above has brie cheese on warm bread. It's a simple, yet pretty good option for a sandwich in a theme park. The croissant sandwich with turkey was really very good and substantive. We left full and ready to enjoy the rest of the day.

Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge is just worth mentioning due to its unique status as a restaurant only available to those going on the VIP Tour! Guests taking the VIP Tour get to enjoy a “gourmet meal” at the Moulin Rouge with a large buffet of salads, sides, mains, and desserts.

Menu items for this experience often include tuna poke, chicken tikka masala, shrimp scampi, and mushroom risotto. The high quality food this restaurant boasts is often used as part of the allure of the VIP Tour.

Everything Else

The themed offerings listed above make up the best food at Universal Studios Hollywood. There are a number of other restaurants that are worthwhile to mention, that definitely don't make the best of list. Below I'll call out why you might consider stopping at these other restaurants even though their food is not the best.

Hollywood and Dine is located near the entrance of Universal Studios Hollywood, features burgers, salads, wraps, flatbreads, desserts, and specialty drinks. This is often where you can find fun menu items that celebrate Universal's newest films.
Cocina Mexicana is a Mexican quick service restaurant offering tacos, sopes, nachos, and fresh taco salad.
Mel's Diner is an American dinner-style restaurant with burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches, milkshakes and more. There's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating options.
Lower Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood includes a variety of snack stands scattered between Transformers, Jurassic World, and The Mummy attractions. There is even a Panda Express located in the Lower Lot if you want to opt for a familiar chain restaurant.
Jurassic Cafe in the Lower Lot offers food of a bit more substance that is pretty basic theme park food. There is inside seating which is a nice way to escape the heat if you are visiting on a hot summer day. The above salad is from Jurassic Cafe.

These restaurants aren't our favorites but they do in a pinch especially since Universal Studios Hollywood isn't necessarily known for its food outside of the themed options in popular lands focusing on Harry Potter or Super Nintendo.

Universal CityWalk Best Food

Universal Studios Hollywood CityWalk also has an abundance of food options from sit down dining to quick fast food places. This is a convenient area to eat especially if you want to escape crowds or the heat as sometimes CityWalk can be virtually empty when the theme park is open.

If you are looking to save money, there are a lot of easy grab and go fast food places on CityWalk including options like Starbucks and Taco Bell. CityWalk is also easily accessible from the theme park which makes it an easy place to zip over to and eat.

In our list below, we highlight some of the more notorious food options on CityWalk that are well-known for their theming and viral food items. Often these are top choices for many guests wanting those options, we decided to focus on these rather than a comprehensive list of all the options since there's not too many mind blowing food options on CityWalk with many options you can easily find in other areas like Ben and Jerry's, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Starbucks, Taco Bell, etc.

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen is often referred to as the “Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory” restaurant. After it's huge popularity in Universal Orlando, a location was opened up in Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk. The restaurant features steampunk theming, an abundance of chocolate offerings, and huge menu similar to what you'd expect at the Cheesecake Factory. If you are looking for larger than life themed dining on CityWalk, The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory Feast Kitchen is a great choice! The menu here is a bit pricey than other options but it is the most highly themed restaurant on CityWalk.

Voodoo Donuts

This is a location of the now nationally famous Portland, Oregon chain. The Voodoo Doughnuts are iconic with a variety of fun decorations on the classic offerings. Both Universal locations have a Voodoo Doughnuts on their CityWalk, we discuss whether these iconic donuts are worth it in our review.

Outside of the restaurant you can see the classic voodoo doll doughnut modeled. This is a “Raised yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake” that can come with all different types of toppings. Voodoo Doughnuts also services coffee so this can be a great place to grab breakfast or take some doughnuts back to your hotel with you!

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is located towards the back end of Universal Studios Hollywood's CityWalk. This is a chain restaurant, there are many Margaritavilles scattered across the country, but I always love ending the day here because it's easy to get a table and the options are so filling!

CityWalk can get extremely crowded during peak seasons but sometimes the restaurants at the far end of CityWalk can get overlooked making this a great choice for a place to eat without a long wait.

Seasonal Universal Food Offerings

Universal Studios Hollywood celebrates a few seasonal events. The most popular are Halloween Horror Nights and the holiday Universal Christmas season including the Grinchmas celebration.

Both of these events include plenty of fun, themed, food options that are worth taking the time to investigate if you visit Universal during this time of the year.

Halloween Horror Nights Food

Halloween Horror Nights is the popular ticketed event that takes place in the Fall featuring unique scare zones, haunted houses, and access to the rides with shorter lines. One of the fun offerings of Halloween Horror Nights are the unique pop-up food stands and menus that are created for the event. My favorite over the years has been the Surfer Boy Pizza pop up which was a call back to Stranger Things.

The theme park will be filled with different themed food stands which often match the popular haunted houses displayed for that year.

Grinchmas Holiday Snacks

Grinchmas is part of the holiday celebration at Universal Studios Hollywood featuring a Grinch themed holiday tree, character interactions and themed snacks. During our list visit at Grinchmas, we found a large variety of themed Grinch cookies and donuts along with a mini donut stand.

But that's not all, you can find plenty of holiday themed treats scattered across the resort but these Grinch themed ones are often my favorite to enjoy.

Food Options Nearby Universal Studios Hollywood

As we mentioned at the top of the article, Universal Studios Hollywood's food options are slightly limited which is why it is worth mentioning two convenient food options near the theme park that you could easily enjoy after your day at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Both these options are nearby with a quick Uber/Lyft ride although The Garland Hotel offers a free shuttle to/from the theme park for hotel guests!

The Garland Hotel Restaurant

The Garland Hotel is one of our favorite hotels near Universal Studios Hollywood. The Garland Hotel is a family-owned 1970s-style LA Resort with a large pool, fitness center plus a free shuttle to Universal Studios Hollywood. We really love the vide of this hotel and actually before we even stayed here enjoyed a dinner at the restaurant.

Their on-site restaurant, The Front Yard, offers excellent food at just a short shuttle trip away from the theme park. The Front Yard is a great spot to grab dinner after a day Universal Studios Hollywood. This is California cuisine with fresh flavors and delicious entrees and desserts. Dinner here is a more upscale option with farm to table offerings that are deliciously fresh.

For dinner, we love the Golden Beet Salad, the Prime Flat Iron, Half Chicken, and the burger. You can't go wrong with the menu which is just a delicious addition. Definitely worth a stop for dinner before leaving the area.

We also love the breakfast at the hotel. There are a la carte options and a great buffet. You can see more details on that great food at the link above to The Garland hotel review.

Porto's Bakery & Cafe

Porto's Bakery and Cafe is an iconic Southern California bakery that is famous for its pastries, desserts along with its California-Cuban-inspired dishes. Porto's is ranked as #1 on “Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the US,” and was voted Best Bakery in Southland in 2021 according to the Los Angeles Times.

This is another nearby great place to enjoy a meal after a day Universal Studios Hollywood as its Burbank location is just a short Uber drive from the theme park. Porto's Bakery and Cafe is a popular destination and it's convenient to have access to it so close from Universal Studios Hollywood. We also cannot wait for this bakery to finally open in Downtown Disney at Disneyland.

Consider trying one of their salads and sandwiches for a meal or their delicious pastries. There are both sweet and savory pastry options. The churro croissant is particularly good as is the chicken empanada. There are so many options. The lines can be long here, but they move very quickly.