Our reporters tried every item available at Universal Studios Florida for Universal Mardi Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval 2025. With almost 50 items to choose from in our full food review, we decided to compile a list of the seven best items to try and the seven worst items to avoid.
7 Best Snacks and Drinks at Universal Mardi Gras 2025
Baked Cajun Mac & Cheese – Bites of the Bayou – $10.99
Creamy spicy cavatappi pasta with andouille sausage, holy trinity, and a cajun cream sauce, garnished with scallions
The mac & cheese is easily in our five best food items from Mardi Gras this year. There is plenty of gooey cheese, and the pasta was cooked perfectly.
Limber – Puerto Rico – $9
A Puerto Rican frozen iced treat with choice of coconut or guanabana
The menu says guests have a choice of two flavors, but we were handed the coconut version. It would be wrong to call this a drink of a slush, as the texture of the ice cream is much harder. Ignoring the name, this frozen coconut ice cream was perfect.
Jaljeera Soda – India – $9
Jaljeera Spice mix, lemon juice and Sprite
Jaljeera is a mix of spices including peppermint, black pepper, ginger, rock salt, and a few more. The drink tricks you into thinking it is a basic lemonade, but then you get the spices coming through on the aftertaste. Not only is it good, but it is definitely unique.
Currywurst & Pommes – Germany – $9.99
crispy bratwurst topped with spicy curry ketchup, served with fries and mayo
When we tried this dish, we literally had nothing negative to say about it. The meat is warm, tender, and flavorful. The fries were easily the best of the day.
Duck a l’orange Crepe – France – $15.99
freshly made crepes filled with shredded duck, onions, Boursin cheese, orange segments, and an orange slice
The crepe is expensive at first glance, but it is actually a great value for the size of the dish and the amount of duck meat wrapped inside. The duck is tender and the orange sauce has a tiny kick of spice. We would definitely order this again, and it is perfect for sharing.
Doberge Cake Cocktail – Coca-Cola Market Square -$16.50 for 20 oz. souvenir cup, $13.50 for refill, $13.50 for single serving
360 Sorrento Lemon vodka, 360 Double Chocolate vodka, vanilla cream syrup, cupcake cold foam, and Sprite
This drink is probably the most unique and on-brand for Mardi Gras out of all the beverages available. The cupcake foam makes the drink taste like liquid King Cake mixed into a Sprite. If you want something memorable and photogenic, this drink is wonderful.
Beignets – Taste of the Quarter – $7.49
sweet fried pastry with powdered sugar
Beignets are a Mardi Gras staple, and thankfully these at Taste of the Quarter do not disappoint. Unlike many other theme park beignets, these are nice and fluffy on the inside instead of being overly dense. They are dusted with plenty of powdered sugar and come in a bag for easy snacking while walking the park.
7 Snacks and Drinks to Skip at Universal Mardi Gras 2025
Pandebono – Colombia – $7.99
warm Colombian cassava bread
Despite how they appear, this dish is comprised of two plain bread rolls. They have no filling, glaze, or anything to really make them unique. One reporter said they reminded him of Pillsbury dinner rolls. For almost $8, we can make these at home.
Aguapanela – Colombia – $9
Panela sugar, water, and fresh-cut lemon
This drink has the amazing distinction of being our first rating of 0 out of 7 for an item at Universal Studios Florida. The drink is a non-alcoholic mix of brown sugar and water, and it tastes just like we spent $9 for brown sugar stirred in water. While our drink was missing the fresh-cut lemon on top, we’re pretty sure it would not have made a difference.
Trapizzini – Italy – $10.99
Warm ciabatta, meatball, marinara and spiced parmesan
In a running trend for Italy booths at theme park events, this trapizzini tasted like a cheap frozen meal. The bread is greasy and impossible to tear apart. One of our reporters called the filling “the lowest quality meatball and red sauce I’ve ever had in my life.”
Elote Old Fashioned – Mexico – $19
Desert Door sotol, Nixta Licor de Elote, Del Maguey Vida mezcal and agave syrup
While it may not contain the standard ingredients for an Old Fashioned, we’ve had experimental takes on the drink that still tasted excellent. The Elote Old Fashioned is not one of them. The drink tastes like liquified smoke and leaves a bitter chemical aftertaste in your mouth.
Orange Coconut Snowball Mocktail – Coca-Cola Market Square – $9
Pineapple juice, coconut milk, cream of coconut and Fanta orange
Prior to trying this drink, one of our reporters casually noted that pineapple and coconut milk are usually not a good combination, as the acid from the fruit can cause milk to curdle. We believe that is exactly what happened here, as the whole drink has this strange chewy texture. The taste is no better than the mouthfeel; it reminded us of fake fruit in old milk.
Butter Chicken – India – $10.99
Tender chicken in a spiced tomato butter sauce with Naan bread and cilantro
We aren’t sure why this dish is called butter chicken, because it had very few flavors of actual butter chicken. The Naan bread underneath also had a very strange texture. It was not light or flaky. Instead, the Naan was dense and felt like it had been sitting out for a while.
Cheese Dog – Puerto Rico – $9.99
All-beef hot dog with cheddar cheese wrapped in an empanada disc, served with mayo ketchup
To be fair, there was nothing flavor-wise that we actively hated in the Cheese Dog. It would be difficult to ruin what is basically a standard hot dog with a strip of yellow cheese wrapped in dough. However, the portion size of this dish is very small, and the $10 price is extremely expensive for what you receive. We recommend saving the money and wrapping a hot dog with an empanada at home.
We also have a full review of every food and beverage item at Universal Mardi Gras 2025. This year’s festival will run from February 1 to March 30, 2025.
Have you tried any of the dishes above? Let us know in the comments, and watch our video review below:
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