San Francisco
Lombard's Seafood Grille
$$$
The park's most substantial sit-down restaurant, on the lagoon in San Francisco, with the easiest same-day availability of anywhere here.
Universal Studios Florida
San Francisco
A thin waterfront district that functions mostly as the walk from New York to Diagon Alley, with one screen ride and the best lagoon-side bar.
San Francisco is a wharf set — pier pilings, a Fisherman's Wharf frontage, a Ghirardelli-style corner — wrapped around the back of the lagoon. It has always been the thinnest land in the park and it has got thinner. Its whole ride offering is Fast & Furious – Supercharged, which loads guests onto a party bus and drives them past screens for a few minutes.
Being honest about that ride is the useful thing a guide can do here: it is widely considered the weakest attraction at Universal Orlando, the queue is longer than the payoff, and its main virtue is that it is air conditioned with level boarding. It requires riders to be at least 40 inches tall. Ride it if the wait is under twenty minutes or you have Express. Otherwise it is the easiest thing in the park to skip without regret.
What San Francisco genuinely has is food and shade. Lombard's Seafood Grille is a proper sit-down room with a lagoon view and same-day availability when nothing else has it. Chez Alcatraz is a small covered bar on the water that is the best place in this park to lose thirty minutes, and Richter's Burger Co. is a large air-conditioned room that is usually half empty at lunch while Springfield is heaving.
It is also the natural viewing side for the nighttime lagoon show, which matters more than the ride does.
Do not miss
- Chez Alcatraz, a covered waterside bar with the best sit-down-and-do-nothing seat in the park
- Lombard's Seafood Grille, the easiest table-service booking here
- Richter's Burger Co., a big cool room that is empty while Springfield queues
- Lagoon-side viewing for the nighttime show
- Fast & Furious – Supercharged, with a 40-inch minimum and the weakest payoff at the resort
San Francisco tips
- Do not spend Express Pass capital planning around Fast & Furious. Walk in when the board says fifteen minutes or fewer and walk past otherwise.
- Chez Alcatraz is covered, on the water, and takes walk-ups all day. It is the single best rest stop in the park and almost nobody plans for it.
- Richter's Burger Co. is a five-minute walk from Springfield and consistently quieter at lunch. If Fast Food Boulevard is a wall of people, come here instead.
- Claim a spot along the San Francisco railing about twenty-five minutes before the lagoon show. The sightline is better than the Hollywood side and the exit path is shorter.
Eating in San Francisco
San Francisco
Richter's Burger Co.
$$
A large air-conditioned burger counter themed around the 1906 earthquake, and the reliable pressure valve when Springfield and Diagon Alley are full.
Mobile order
San Francisco
San Francisco Pastry Company
$
A small bakery counter on the San Francisco waterfront doing pastries, sandwiches and the best cinnamon roll in the park.
San Francisco
Chez Alcatraz
$$
A small covered bar on the lagoon edge in San Francisco, and the best place in this park to stop moving for half an hour.
San Francisco
Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe
$$
A large themed quick-service dressed as a laboratory of Universal's classic horror characters, with the most seating capacity in the middle of the park.
Mobile order
Snacks worth stopping for
Clam Chowder
A thick New England-style chowder served hot as a starter or a light meal in the lagoon-side dining room.
Our take: The best thing on the Lombard's menu and a legitimate light lunch on its own with bread. Order it as a starter and share a main if you are not especially hungry.
Richter's Cheeseburger
Richter's Burger Co.
A plain cheeseburger ordered at the counter and finished at a free toppings bar with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and sauces.
Our take: Ordinary burger, excellent room, free toppings bar. Order the plain one and build it yourself rather than paying more for a specialty version at the same counter.
Cinnamon Roll
San Francisco Pastry Company
A large iced cinnamon roll from the bakery case on the San Francisco waterfront, sold whole and warm in the morning.
Our take: The best breakfast pastry in the park and easily split between two people. It sits on the walking route to Diagon Alley, which makes it the right stop on a rope drop morning.
Frozen Specialty Cocktail
A frozen rum or tequila cocktail served at the covered waterside bar in San Francisco, with a non-alcoholic version available.
Our take: Expensive and worth it, because what you are buying is a covered seat on the water in the best rest spot in the park. The drink itself is competent rather than clever.
Nearby
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Every ride in Universal Studios Florida
Production Central
The entrance soundstage district, with Transformers and the former Rip Ride Rockit site.
Minion Land
A bright Illumination district built along the front-left of the park, with two screen attractions and the park's best-designed quick-service.