First look at new tastes for Universal Orlando's Mardi Gras

January 30, 2019, 5:45 PM · Mardi Gras kicks off this year on February 9 at Universal Studios Florida, and Universal Orlando is teasing some of the new "tasting sized" Cajun food it will be offering at this year's celebration.

The food will be available for sale in the "French Quarter Courtyard" in the middle of the park's New York area (hey, they had to put it somewhere...) each day starting at 4pm. Even as Universal shrinks the portion sizes to encourage trying more tastes, it is expanding the menu to make that possible. Here's a first look at this year's selections:

Crab Etouffee

Crab Etouffee
All photos courtesy Universal Orlando

Catfish Po Boy

Catfish Po Boy

A Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Po Boy and Chicken Po Boy also will be available (though no photos were provided).

Gumbo

Gumbo

Jambalaya (served with or without shrimp)

Jambalaya

and Red Beans and Rice (again, with or without shrimp)

Red Beans and Rice

Universal also is promising Twisted Taters with Cajun seasoning, though it did not mention the frog legs that it had promised in its original press release for this year's Mardi Gras.

For sweets, there's King Cake

King Cake

and Beignets

Beignets

The year's no-alcohol specialty drink will be Bayou Bog Water, a lemonade and ginger ale mix with blueberry boba beads plus gummy worms and fish. For drinkers, Universal will roll out a Mimosa Bar, with multiple flavors of sparkling wine concoctions. The alcohol specialty drinks this year are a Carnival Cocktail and Ragin' Rumbalaya, which can be ordered together as Vicious Voodoo.

Drinks

Craft beer selections also will be available.

Universal Orlando's Mardi Gras runs daily from February 9 through April 4, 2019. Weekends will feature live concerts on the main stage next to Rip, Ride, Rockit. Follow the link below for that schedule.

Replies (1)

January 31, 2019 at 6:20 AM

The only thing missing here is the sampler lanyard. They aren't doing this to provide more value. Expect the prices to work out to far more $$$ per ounce of food than the full-sized portions previously were. Plus, the limited space for pop-op food tents at Universal is going to equate to long lines. Wait in line, take a few bites, wait in line again, take a few more bites, etc. I think this looks good on paper but will be a logistics disaster.

This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

Park tickets

Weekly newsletter

New attraction reviews

News archive