While most widely known for its thrilling attractions and exciting entertainment, the Universal Orlando foodie scene has experienced dramatic growth within the last few years. From the expansion of the Mardi Gras food festival to the addition of seasonal tasting booths to the installment of new food trucks and dining locations; Universal continues to increase its diverse and unique menu offerings. Today, we’re going to discuss a new-ish (2020) quick-service location at the Universal Studios theme park: Central Park Crêpes!
About Central Park Crêpes
Located appropriately in the Central Park portion of the Studios (between Hollywood Blvd and KidZone), Central Park Crêpes serves made-to-order pastries with a variety of sweet and savory fillings.
In an interview with the Discover Universal Blog, Chef Robert Martinez Jr. of the park culinary team shared, “We wanted the crêpes to have unique flavors. Our team researched many popular crêpe locations all around the country to come up with an amazing selection of crêpe flavors our guests of all ages will feel good about.”
Pro Tip: Crêpes are made to order, so feel free to request customizations to your meal (skipping a filling ingredient, light sauce, etc). There’s no guarantee your request will be able to be accommodated, but it’s worth asking!
Another Pro Tip: Because all the crêpes are made to order, you’re going to wait a little bit for your meal. The queue will probably move a little more slowly than other quick-service locations, and you’ll wait a little bit longer for it to be prepared. BUT you’ll also get a portable, filling meal for a fair price.
Central Park Crêpes Menu
If you’re anything like me, theme park meals often present a dilemma. You don’t really want the traditional burgers and fries, but the “lighter” options (like salads or a wrap) simply aren’t enough food to keep you satiated and energized. Well, these crêpes offer a pretty solid solution to that problem. Stuffed with quality ingredients, Central Park Crêpes are a filling snack or meal. And with prices hovering around $10-11, they won’t break your vacation budget!
The Central Park Crêpes menu features a variety of savory and sweet options. Depending on the time of year, Universal may add a limited-time option highlighting seasonal ingredients and flavors. In the previously mentioned Discover Universal Blog interview Chef Martinez said, “Seasonality has also played a huge factor. As with all of our food around the Resort, we want to take advantage of the freshness of ingredients at the peak of its season. That is how the Lemon Blueberry came to life on the menu when we first opened [in 2020]. Blueberry and lemon is a perfect pairing for warm summer days and we believed that our guests would agree that the fresh blueberry, lemon pound cake, and lemon curd filling gives the right balance of sweet and tart. We hoped then to continue to take advantage of seasons to come so guests could see some fun crêpes in the future.”
Read More Foodie Focus: Finnegan’s Bar & Grill at Universal Studios
Because of this emphasis on seasonal ingredients, Central Park Crêpes’ main menu may also change throughout the year. Available food items may differ during your visit.
My Experience
Looking for something savory (and already a vegan food enthusiast), I decided to try the Plant-Based Chick’n Crêpe with arugula, corn, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, crunchy onions, and a couple different sauces.
My final thoughts on this meal are, admittedly, a little mixed. The crêpe was filled to the brim with obviously high quality ingredients, and the pastry itself was fluffy and tasty. Finally, I have to say that the plant-based meat was absolutely DELICIOUS! The texture and taste were both spot on, and I hope to see this ingredient used in other areas of the park.
However, it was difficult to appreciate all of those fine, quality ingredients because my crêpe was absolutely DRENCHED in lemon vinaigrette and plant-based avocado cilantro aioli. While these sauces are tasty in moderation, their combined flavors were overpowering.
The good news is that, with the made to order cooking process, this is an easy fix! Next time I decide to eat at Central Park Crêpes, I will simply order my meal with light sauce. Other than the copious amounts of dressing, I really enjoyed my meal and I would love to try it again with that change.
Freaky Thoughts: Central Park Crêpes
While my overall reactions to my crêpe were mixed, I ultimately think this a great addition to the Universal dining line up. With one small change I’ll be able to better enjoy my meal and take advantage of both the filling portions and great price!
