REVIEW: Celebrate the ‘Jaws’ 50th Anniversary with Amity Island-Inspired Dishes at Universal Studios Florida

Jaws 50th Anniversary Food Booths

Located in the San Francisco area of Universal Studios Florida, these booths are part of a temporary “Little Amity” area to celebrate the blockbuster’s milestone anniversary. In addition to the booths, there is patriotic decor, outdoor tables, and a “Jaws” photo op inspired by the defunct attraction.

Both of these booths harken back to the actual menus of The Midway Grill and Captain Quint’s Boardwalk Snacks that once operated in Amity at Universal Studios Florida, which offered hot dogs and funnel cake, respectively. The entire Amity section of the park was demolished to make way for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.

Captain Quint’s Boardwalk Snacks

Bucket of Bait – $14.99

Crispy pieces of clams, shrimp, and oysters, sitting on a bed of fries with lemon and sriracha ketchup

Despite the shrimp and clams being decent here, our fears were proven true; the oyster tasted horrible, with an aftertaste that made us feel sick. We’re not sure the seafood here was cleaned well or prepped correctly. Even the fries were uncooked.

We understand serving theme park seafood in the summer is a tall order, but this was not great. We were also disappointed that the container was just made of paper.

Rating out of 7: 3

Lobster Taiyaki – $14.99

Savory taiyaki filled with a lobster salad

This taiyaki is in the same shape as that from Universal Studios Japan! The lobster salad was cooked perfectly and had no unpleasant fishy smell. We think this is very refreshing since it’s nicely chilled. We’d love to try this again while sitting in the A/C next time.

Rating out of 7: 6

Amity Island Iced Tea –  $16.50 for 20 oz. souvenir / $13.50 for 20 oz. souvenir refill / $13.50 for 12 oz. single serve

New Amsterdam vodka, Bacardi Superior rum, Cuervo Tradicional Blanco tequila, Bols apricot brandy, lemon juice, cranberry juice, simple syrup, and Sprite

This is not a cheap cocktail. It’s definitely refreshing and easy to drink. One member of our review group could definitely taste the vodka, while the other couldn’t taste it at all and only noticed the raspberry flavor.

This is certainly nice for summertime, but the price and portion size are not so good.

Rating out of 7: 4

Amity Island Iced Tea Mocktail – $9

Cranberry juice, stone fruit syrup, and Sprite

We have just one question: why? This is literally just raspberry Sprite. It’s nothing special, but still is somehow $9. We can buy a Coke Freestyle refill for a little more and be able to drink that all day. This is not worth it, and we’d recommend you don’t even think about getting this.

Rating out of 7: 1

The Midway Grill

Nathan’s Hotdog – $9.49

100% beef dog with your choice of condiments

We were blown away by the price tag for this hot dog. We’d happily take our money and eat something else. It’s sad. It doesn’t come with any toppings, though you do get “your choice of condiments.” The bun was super dry. We’d rather spend our money on the banana popcorn from Pop-A-Nana or find some other snack.

Rating out of 7: 1

Funnel Cake – $7.99

Fresh funnel cake with your choice of powdered sugar or strawberry topping

Once again, we’ll give this extra points for the gummy shark. Without it, it’s definitely not worth the price. This portion is so small for $8, and it’s not even close to comparable to the size of a funnel cake you’d get at EPCOT. We don’t think it’s worth getting this.

Rating out of 7: 3

Frenzy Fizz –  $16.50 for a 20 oz. souvenir / $13.50 for a 20 oz. souvenir refill / $13.50 for a 12 oz. single serve

Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, raspberry puree, stone fruit syrup, and Coca-Cola Orange Cream

We didn’t taste much rum in this, despite seeing a manager pouring and mixing this drink. To that end, we didn’t really like the drink’s base to begin with; it tastes like Coca-Cola mixed with ginger ale.

The souvenir cup is nice, so we’ll give this cocktail points for that.

Rating out of 7: 4

Frenzy Fizz Mocktail – $9

Raspberry puree, stone fruit syrup, and Coca-Cola Orange Cream

For one member of our review group, this was just plain gross and tasted like a Coke from a broken Freestyle machine. However, another reporter said that it tasted mostly of raspberry with the stone fruit on the back end, and was overall fruity and refreshing. At the very least, the end product is inconsistent depending on when you go or who is mixing the beverage.

Since it comes with a gummy shark garnish, we’ll give it two points. Otherwise, this would get a 0.

Rating out of 7: 2