Islands of Adventure isn’t known for its top tier cuisine, because you are probably here to experience the thrills, not to eat at a five-star restaurant in Paris (well, maybe you can try this later on at Disney’s Epcot). Expect to find most restaurants offering bacon cheeseburgers, fish and chips, smoked chickens and french fries. There are also kiosks scattered all over the park where you can buy popcorn, drinks and turkey legs.
A regular soda will cost you around $5, while a popcorn bucket is $12.29, with the option of $2.19 per refill. The classic butterbeer will cost you $7.99, with the options for regular and frozen.
As for restaurants, here are some good options for a quick and good meal:
- The Thunder Falls Terrace
- The Burger Digs
- Three Broomsticks
- Captain America Diner
Islands of Adventure also has two fancy restaurants with prices above the average:
- Mythos
- Confisco grille
My favorite places to sit down and have lunch are the Thunder Falls Terrace and The Burger Digs, followed by the Three Broomsticks. Click the links to check what each restaurant has to offer and see what kind of cholesterol is your favorite. Just kidding. I’m happy to say that most restaurants also have healthy options including salads and chicken wraps. My only recommendation is that you shouldn't eat too much since Islands of Adventure has a lot of thrill rides, and we all know what can happen if you are feeling stuffed and decide to pay the Incredible Hulk a visit.
Most restaurants will be packed from 12pm to 2pm. You will have a way easier time to find a place to eat and sit down in peace if you decide to have lunch around 3pm. That’s also why I recommend you bring snacks and something to trick your stomach, so you can postpone your lunch for an hour or two.
It’s also a good idea to check some of the less intense rides after lunch, be it Skull Island: Reign of Kong or one of the water rides.
Let’s check a few of the main restaurants at Islands of Adventure.
Thunder Falls Terrace ($)
Food Type
American cuisine (chicken & ribs, chicken wings, fries, etc)
One of my favorite places to eat at Islands of Adventure, offering a wide variety of dishes specially for all the dinosaurs inside of us that love meat. The menu even received new additions as of May 2023! There are a lot of seats available, so you won’t need to walk around too long looking for a table.
Good food and lots of space to sit down. Some tables even give a good view of Jurassic Park: River Adventure so you can enjoy your meal as you watch guests screaming and getting soaked.
The Burger Digs ($)
Food Type
Burgers (bacon cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, etc)
I really enjoy this place for a quick meal. You finally get the true experience of eating at a theme park, which means you will find options for bacon cheeseburgers with cheddar cheese, grilled sandwiches, french fries, vanilla milkshakes and more. This is also a good restaurant for someone that doesn’t want to lose a lot of time eating, as the service is usually faster than what you find at Thunder Falls Terrace and Mythos. The Burger Digs is also located in a huge place where grabbing a table shouldn’t be a problem.
Another good perk of this restaurant is the atmosphere. It’s basically located inside the Jurassic Park Discovery center, with a bottom floor that is perfect for kids to play around and learn about the different species of dinos. Not enough? There is also a life size dinosaur skeleton on display, making it feel like you are part of the first Jurassic Park movie during that scene where the T-Rex is fighting the group of velociraptors.
Captain America Diner ($)
Food Type
American cuisine (all american burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers, etc)
The Captain America Diner is a quick-service restaurant located inside Marvel Island and right next to The Incredible Hulk Coaster. It’s got a very colorful indoor decor featuring artworks of Cap and a bunch of the Avengers, which might be just what the comic book fans want. The best thing about this place is that it features air conditioning to keep the temperature just right, so this might be a very good option to sit down and have lunch during summer.
The food is nothing to write home about. You have your typical fast food like cheeseburgers, chicken fingers and onion rings. One cool thing, however, is that the Arcade is located just a few steps away. You can always sit down to eat while your children have fun playing games and collecting tickets, which can be traded for special prizes.
The Three Broomsticks ($)
Food Type
British cuisine (fish and chips, flakey pastry pies, shepherd’s pie, etc)
Best thing about it: it’s located inside the Harry Potter area. Worst thing about it: it’s located inside the Harry Potter area. You know what this means, right? This place will be crowded most of the time, unless you arrive here around 3pm or later. Other than that, the food is good and a safe haven for corn enthusiasts – almost everything here comes with a corn cob!
The atmosphere is great, since the Three Broomsticks is very much a copy/paste version of the movie counterpart, seen in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. This is a cool tavern that makes you feel like you are inside a medieval tavern. Expect to see a lot of guests wearing their Hogwarts robes and waving their newly bought wands around.
Mythos Restaurant ($)
Food Type
Mediterranean, asian and american cuisine (spinach and garlic ravioli, roasted salmon, lamb burger, etc)
As you can see above, the Mythos is probably the closest thing to a top tier restaurant at Islands of Adventure. Don’t believe me? The Mythos always praises itself by being an “award-winning restaurant” with one of the best theme park food in the entire world. I kid you not, every time I walk past the Mythos there is a banner at the entrance praising the number of awards the restaurant got through the years.
So, is the food really that good? Uhhh… yeah. It’s pretty good. Not sure if I’d call it “best in the world” fine, but it’s definitely one of the best at Islands of Adventure. I don’t particularly like the Mythos for two reasons, and they are not related to the quality of the food.
The first one is that you usually need to make a reservation days or weeks in advance, or get ready for a 5-hour waiting time. The other reason is that you just waste too much time sitting down to eat “real” food in one of the busiest parks in Florida. Not only that, there is a good chance you will eat more than usual at Mythos and your tolerance for roller coasters and thrill rides will take a significant hit for a while.
Are you curious if the mythos does have the best theme park food in the world? Sure, go ahead and make a reservation. Just make sure you ride most roller coasters before lunch.
Confisco Grille ($)
Food Type
Mediterranean and asian cuisine (korean fried rice bowl, penne alla vodka, chicken curry, etc)
We already talked a little bit about the Mythos restaurant, now it’s time to show you the second fancy restaurant at Islands of Adventure. The Confisco grille is located right past the park entrance, and offers a big list of appetizers, salads and cocktails. It’s usually quieter and not as packed as the Mythos, so a reservation might not be needed depending on the season.
I always found it funny that almost nobody knows about the Confisco, since the Mythos gets all the love and good reputation. With that in mind, I went online to check reddit and forum posts to try and understand the lack of reviews surrounding this place. Well, most people seem to love it, but a few guests didn’t enjoy the service much, being led around to tables they weren’t a fan of, so keep that in mind. A few also complained that the food was cold. Still, the big majority of guests had a great time.
I can say that the indoor decor is very well done, resembling an old port town that could exist in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. There are a lot of easter eggs as well, with items from different attractions like the hat from The Cat in the Hat being displayed in different corners of the restaurant.
Even if you don’t like the Confisco Grille, you can always visit the Backwater Bar, located just outside. It’s a very good option to embrace the pirate lifestyle for a few minutes and drink cocktails with cachaça, tequila and rum.
