Universal Orlando's City Walk

If you are on your way to Universal, you might notice that you have to pass by a district of shops and restaurants known as City Walk on your way to the parks. For years, I passed City Walk without a second thought for really no other reason than I didn't want to do anything more after a day at the theme park. But in today's review we are

focusing only on some experiences at City Walk to see if they are worth it without visiting the theme parks.

Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food

I wanted to try this place after looking at the behemoth colorful building that lurked in the side streets of City Walk. Now, I have no idea how long it would take to get a table as a walk up since I made reservations, but this place is huge so I would assume the turnaround is at least favorable for a walk up. I booked a table for a Saturday night at 7pm. Upon approaching I had to wait in line to check in at the concierge, which was the same line for walk ups so that was a tad frustrating because the line was probably 15 people long. Granted, I waited probably ten minutes, but if you were trying to sit down and eat after a long day at the theme park that would feel like an eternity. Once I checked in at the concierge, I was told that they would text me when my table was ready. They then immediately texted me so I checked in at the second concierge, who took me to my table. I was sat literally right next to the stage, which I didn't mind, but could be an issue if you don't want to deal with the musical show every thirty minutes. As far as I could tell, there was no way to specify online where you want to sit and there is a lot of variety including a second floor, outside seating, and seats where you can't see the stage at all. Just something to keep in mind. Okay, so I'm sat down and ordering! Server was very nice, which is always a wonderful thing. He brought chips and salsa, which were complimentary. It's hard to take issue with free stuff, but the chips were pretty stale unfortunately and I felt the salsa was a little spicy for my taste (which doesn't handle any sort of spice well).

I ordered a long island, steak quesadillas, and a plain chicken taco (grilled chicken and lettuce on a tortilla). I wanted to see what a drink there would consist of since it seems City Walk is synonymous with drinking, a typical dish that I'm interested in, and a weird request to see how they would accommodate a dietary issue.

From the menu

"Quesadillas-Oaxaca cheese, poblano peppers, lettuce, tomato salsa, sour cream, guacamole choice of grilled chicken or steak"

The long island was off menu, but is a typical drink for a restaurant with a full bar. It was good and strong, but expensive for what it is. Considering the other watered-down sugary drinks around the park, this is probably a better deal if you are trying to have a drink at City Walk.

The quesadilla was really good! I really enjoyed that they didn't upcharge for steak, which is not the case for most places. The quesadilla was delicious, cheesy yet stable, with juicy steak. You get three large pieces with a side of guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. I didn't like the salsa because I'm not a fan of spice, but it's probably not spicy to most people (it was the same salsa that was used for the chips). My only complaint would be to add more of the sides so there was enough to dip each piece sufficiently.

I threw the server a curveball with this one in order to see how the kitchen would adapt to a weird request and they showed up! I ordered a plain chicken taco with only grilled chicken and lettuce on a tortilla, which is what I got. The chicken was really good, moist and flavorful, which really helped elevate the plain nature of the dish I ordered.

A note, there is a little show of Spanish dancers that lasts about five minutes. When I went, there was a show at the top of the hour and another show at the bottom of the hour with different choreography. I was right next to the stage so I got a pretty good view of the show. It was cute and added to the ambiance of the restaurant.

My overall opinion of Antojitos is very positive! I liked the restaurant and will definitely go again if I'm visiting City Walk for dinner.

The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

Honestly, I have always wanted to try this place. It sits in between the two parks with a massive smoke stack billowing out white smoke that is eye catching. Once you get closer, you see the steampunk themeing and dramatic lighting that further pulls you in. The steampunk aspects continue heavily on the inside, which is really cool! One fun thing I noticed over the milkshake bar was rotating beans that looked like they were being funneled into the coffee machines. Cute little detail to look up at as you wait in line! There are several aspects of this place, including a restaurant, a candy/merchandise shop, and a milkshake bar. I visited the latter two this trip so let's start with the milkshake bar.

The milkshake bar is on the right when you enter into the building. You can view the menu outside, but the screen is digital and shuffles through the menu of the restaurant as well as the milkshake bar. This 'feature' paired with the sunspots make it a challenge to read so just look online or grab a paper menu from the cashier when you walk up. It is a walk up, I have no idea if you can order ahead though. The sitting area to wait is small, so I would doubt it. I got a red velvet milkshake.

From the menu

"Red Velvet(V): vanilla ice cream, red velvet cupcake, raspberry sauce, rainbow sprinkles, whipped topping, maraschino cherry"

It took a few minutes to prepare, which is reasonable given the intricate details and numerous components involved. I visited around 10:30 pm, and the line wasn't too long, just a few people ahead. It's clear these milkshakes are designed to be photogenic due to their extravagant presentation. I was concerned they might not taste good because of this.

So I have to start with a negative since that is the way this milkshake started unfortunately. They jam the paper straw through the cupcake, thus making a seal in the straw and rendering it impossible to drink the milkshake unless you take out the straw to blow out the obstruction. Beware, if you do this then the cupcake is at a serious danger of falling off the jar because the mouth is too small for the cupcake to fit. So I opted for eating each piece of the shake instead of experiencing the whole thing at once and risk having this expensive milkshake fall to the ground. A serious negative if you are trying to grab this dessert and walk around, which I was.

So I started with the whipped cream with sprinkles around the rim because I was worried it would melt down my hand if I didn't get to it quick. The whipped cream was thicker than your average cupcake whipped cream so you do have more time to eat it than I originally thought. It was okay, pretty sugary with not much flavor and the sprinkles were 100% not needed. It's sugar on top of rainbow sugar so no real taste whatsoever if you are eating the frosting by itself.

Next I took a bite out of the side of the cupcake, no frosting just the cupcake. I enjoy a good red velvet cake or cupcake, but it is easy to mess up. Toothsome messed it up. The cupcake was dry and tasted too much of chocolate. The downfall of many a red velvet cupcake is that the makers rely on the cream cheese frosting to carry the vanilla flavoring for the whole cupcake, which is a lazy shortcut to not use vanilla in the cupcake for a true red velvet flavor. This I might be able to forgive, but the dryness of the cupcake is a unforgivable. The dryness and lack of proper flavoring in the main aspect of this shake, the cupcake, for the price is a sin and not in a good way. I ended up throwing the cupcake away as I was leaving City Walk in order to actually get to the shake.

Moving on, the cream cheese frosting on top of the cupcake was actually a pleasant surprise. It was thick and sweet as well as not overly sugary. Did the small dollop of cream cheese frosting on top of the awful cupcake make up for it? Nah, but it was good. Okay so the cupcake is in the trash and I can actually drink the milkshake from the destroyed paper straw a full 30 minutes after I bought it. The actual milkshake was very good, creamy and delicious. Did it remind me fully of red velvet? Eh, more like strawberry but it was still very good and made me less annoyed at the whole experience. A little funky note to end on, apparently Toothsome does not trust us with a glass mason jar, it is plastic. Honestly, it might be a cost thing, but it is my opinion that if you are a milkshake bar that is selling the jar as a take home extra with the milkshake then that thing better be glass.

When you take the right from the front door of the entrance, I ended up in the chocolate/candy/gift shop area which was a pleasant surprise because I didn't know this was here. I didn't end up getting any merchandise due to the cost being too much for me (plus it's a lot of gold and I'm more of a silver person stylistically), but I did get a five pack of macaroons. They advertised the box as "Buy 5 get 1 free" since individually the macaroons where $5 a piece. I'm going to tell you this right now, they were not worth $5 a piece. I got two different flavors, Tiramisu and Cotton Candy. I got Tiramisu to see if the macaroon would mimic another dessert well enough to justify it existing and I got Cotton Candy because it's my favorite flavor of anything so when I see it as an option it is an automatic have to get. The Tiramisu macaroon was just not good. Tiramisu is a complex, layered dessert with many flavors intertwined to make a yummy treat. Lazy dessert shops will flatten this into one thing, espresso, which is what Toothsome did. No other flavors besides espresso which is a huge disappointment. The Cotton Candy ones were...okay. Again, I hate to repeat myself but it bares repeating, the flavor just felt lazy. Sugar was the main forerunner and I know what you're thinking "Tori, cotton candy IS sugar so how do you expect it taste like anything else?" Well, cotton candy is sugar but take a spoon full of sugar right out of the bag then eat a bite of cotton candy. It isn't the same. But with these macaroons, the flavoring was just meh.

So my opinion of Toothsome overall was that of a lazy bakeshop that is overpriced and relays heavily on the theming and being at City Walk to attract customers. There are actually GOOD bakeries in Orlando and I would not consider Toothsome one. Save your money and go somewhere else for dessert.

Hollywood Drive-In Golf at Universal City Walk

There is more to do at City Walk then just eat and shop, there is entertainment as well! If you have ever gone into the theme parks at Universal, you have most likely seen the mini golf located around the entrance walkway. I was intrigued so I bought a round and I'll tell you how it was.

I choose to do the Haunted side of the mini golf, because I thought that side looked more interesting and the savings to do both sides was not enough to intrigue me to play for longer. The price was okay, probably more expensive than I would like but not prohibitory. They also have golf balls on a key chain, which I have never seen so I got one!

I went to the golf course around 8:30-9:00pm and all my adventures were on a Saturday night, which I would assume is one of the busiest nights to go on and it was apparent here. I didn't wait at all to buy a ticket, but there was a back up on the course where I had to wait at each hole for the party ahead of me to finish and there was a party right behind me that was waiting for me to finish. I didn't mind because both other parties were being polite and respectful of my space while I played, but I could easily see this going sideways if the other people waiting behind you or playing ahead of you are not polite people.

I love mini golf even though I'm not very good and have been to a lot of mini golf courses throughout Orlando. The Hollywood Drive-In Mini Golf course was cute, the haunted theming was present at every hole and the props/story elements were really neat! Were the holes complex or challenging? No, not at all. This course is probably good for kids or if you want to just have a relaxed time playing mini golf with friends. It is under the walkway to enter City Walk and right next to the drop off area so it's pretty loud and the area is HOT because there is zero air circulation. I went on a pretty low temperature night where it was in the 80's (low temp for Orlando) and I was sweating buckets by the halfway point. I can't imagine this course on a 100° plus summer day. Overall, if you are looking for something fun to do on a less busy night with friends or family I would recommend considering the Hollywood Drive-In Golf at Universal City Walk as a good way to spend an hour or two.

Pat O'Brien's Walk Up Bar

I wanted a few drinks after dinner but before dessert or golf so I stopped at Pat O'Brien's which is on the same side street as Antojitos. They had a walk up bar so that was convenient. It seemed like their main focus was hurricanes, which aren't my favorite but I was willing to give it a shot. I got a Fuzzy Leprechaun and a custom drink. I tried to amend one of their advertised drinks, but the bartender warned me that it would be gross and suggested a custom drink instead which I happily took her up on!

From the menu

"Fuzzy Leprechaun - Three Olives vodka, peach schnapps, blue curaçao, orange and pineapple juice"

The Fuzzy Leprechaun was good, a little too much ice and a lot of sugar. The custom drink was some sort of Green Apple drink, which was yummy but suffered the same issue as the Fuzzy Leprechaun. The price was pretty steep and I think overall the drink quality was not worth the cost. Bartenders were very nice and service was fast so maybe ordering an off menu drink might have more bang for your buck.

Universal City Walk Shopping

Along with entertainment, food, dessert, and drinking, City Walk has a lot of shops to peruse. Most of them have the standard Universal stuff which is pretty much merchandise from the parks. I like the idea that you can get stuff from the parks without actually paying for a ticket and having to go into the parks. Obviously the amount of merch is more limited, but it's something! The stores had different themed areas to buy specific merch, which leads to a nice flow rather than random stuff everywhere. Most of the stores wares didn't catch my eye, but the Epic Universe Preview Store had a Mooncalf plush that was really cool! I know the Mooncalf species from the game Hogwarts Legacy so for the store to have a niche item like that was impressive. It was a high quality plush, solid and fluffy, and the price was reasonable.

The Epic Preview Store also had a miniature model of the new Universal theme park, which was awesome! Spent probably half an hour just looking at this massive set. Something to keep in mind if you are around the area and need to waste some time or want to check out what Epic Universe looks like.

In conclusion...

Overall, I had a pretty good time at Universal Orlando's City Walk. But it was a pretty expensive outing and I think I could have spent that money having an equal amount of fun somewhere else. I would definitely recommend certain aspects if you are leaving the theme park and want the fun to keep going! I would also recommend just overall avoiding certain areas as they are money sinks (Toothsome really is the main one). What other City Walk or other places around Orlando do you recommend?