Planning a vacation to Universal Studios Hollywood and need to know how to eat gluten-free and dairy-free while you're there? My family recently spent a day at Universal on our recent California vacation, and I thought I'd share the gluten-free and dairy-free foods that we ate during our stay.
First off, let's be clear: Universal Studios Hollywood doesn't have a lot of options for those of us with alternate diets. That said, we did manage to eat a satisfying breakfast and dinner at the park.
The Three Broomsticks
We ate a late breakfast in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's
The Three Broomsticks. The restaurant has gluten-free, vegetarian, and peanut-free options.
As soon as I ordered my husband's American Breakfast with "no bread", the cashier asked, "Is it a gluten allergy?"
Why, yes. Yes, it is.
She was very knowledgeable about what to substitute in place of the bread - AND the sausage. Essentially, my husband got extra bacon.
He also got to drink the Pumpkin Juice, which I had a sip of, and it reminded me of fall!
The American Breakfast comes with scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, a sausage link, and a butter croissant. Normally when I try to avoid dairy (due to lactose-intolerance), I skip scrambled eggs in favor of a different egg style in case milk is whisked in with the scrambled eggs. (That's how I used to make mine.) But I didn't have that option here (or, at least, I didn't think to ask). And, obviously, the butter croissant was a no-no because butter is dairy.
(Minor issue, for some reason, my plate was missing the potatoes...)
I didn't experience any digestion issues after eating this breakfast, but if you need to eat dairy-free because of an allergy, I might skip this meal.
Mel's Diner
Because we ate a late breakfast, we skipped lunch and did an early dinner at
Mel's Diner. This restaurant has gluten-free and vegetarian options. This is where I had the Beyond BBQ Cheeseburger. It is labeled as being vegan on the menu.
This burger features a Beyond patty, lettuce, tomato (which I removed), pickle, and vegenaise on a whole wheat bun served with crinkle cut fries. It was pretty good!
And while
the menu doesn't say anything about gluten-free options, my husband was able to get a burger on a gluten-free bun.
Ben & Jerry's
On your way out of (or into) the park, you can check out the Universal Studios CityWalk, an outdoor shopping area with gift stores, restaurants, and more. As we were walking to the Universal Cinema to watch the movie Lightyear, we passed a Ben & Jerry's! And it had dairy-free flavors! So, of course, we stopped in for dessert after the movie was over.
The Secret Life of Pets Store
If you need to cool off inside the park but can't eat ice cream because of the dairy, The Secret Life of Pets Store has character-themed frozen fruit bars. You exit The Secret Life of Pets ride into this store, but the store is accessible from the park, too.
While my husband and daughter got ice cream as a snack on our park day, I headed back to this store for Norman's Strawberry Passion Fruit bar. It was really good!
BONUS: The Rides You MUST Do (According to a 6-Year-Old)
Jurassic World - This was a favorite across the board. It's a water ride, and we sat in the front row and did get pretty wet.
The Simpsons - Not at all what I expected! This was a fun ride/experience, and my daughter loved it when it looked like Baby Maggie was eating our car.
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem - This was another ride/experience where you get trained to become a minion!
Super Silly Fun Land - Bring a swimsuit and water shoes! This large splash pad was really all my kid wanted to do the whole day. (There are changing rooms so you can put on dry clothes to continue riding rides.)
And one ride to avoid with younger kids...
Transformers: The Ride 3-D - My daughter found this one to be too scary.
She also cried at the end of Flight of the Hippogriff because, while it was a fun rollercoaster, it was WAY too short. Like, seriously. You start and then it's over. Just keep that in mind before you wait an hour in line. We skipped the line with a Universal Express ticket, but we could only do that for the ride once, so trying to ride again - and waiting in a long line - was not an option.
One last tip!
I hope this eating and ride guide was helpful to you when planning your own Universal Studios Hollywood vacation! As always, though, if you have food allergies or food sensitivities and are concerned about finding safe places to eat, do your research ahead of time and bring your own snacks!
Universal does
allow you to bring in bottled water, small snacks, and any food required for special dietary needs.
Have you been to Universal Studios Hollywood before? Let me know about your dining and riding experience in the comments!
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