Restaurant Reviews: Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure—Hogsmeade

Restaurants in Hogsmeade Are they Expensive & Overrated or Good Food Reasonably Priced?

Revised 4/2021

Dear Polite Traveler,

Ah to be young, free and playing my day away in the sun.  Well, that’s exactly what I did for my 60^th birthday, except that I shared it with thousands of others at Universal Orlando immersing myself in everything Harry Potter.  This included trying out as much of the various food options offered by those in the Wizarding world.  In this case, I’m eating my way through Hogsmeade.  Was it worth it?  Follow along to find out.

Note: Follow CDC guidelines when visiting.  Always wear your face mask when in public.   

Three Broomsticks

As my travel buddy/husband and I trekked our way from the Hogwarts Express into Hogsmeade I fought tears of joy.  It looked and felt so much like the books and movies.  One difference is the mass of muggles.  

Glancing to my left, I see a building adorned with three broomsticks.  I have arrived!  Walking in, I was astonished at how well the magic makers of Universal recreated the atmosphere I remember from the movies.  Antlers on tall wooden walls, stone floors, cozy hideaways, wine barrels, music from all the Harry Potter movies playing in the background just oozes ambiance.  Fold in the special effects, like owls flying and I’m in Harry Potter heaven.  

Note: The Three Broomsticks is the only restaurant in Hogsmeade.

Much like The Leaky Cauldron, patrons line up, once at the front of the line, we are directed to a register to order and pay.  We pick up our drinks and we are directed to our seats.  Our food is brought out to us.  Sitting inside to immerse yourself in the experience is—at least once—a must.  Nevertheless, sitting outside next to the water is wonderful.  It’s like an outdoor rock-walled courtyard overlooking the Hogwarts castle.

But how is the food?

(Family Feast feeds four)

The Three Broomsticks serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The breakfast menu mirrors the one of The Leaky Cauldron with a set price of $18 for adults and $13 for children.  They serve traditional English and American breakfast with eggs paired with the usual suspects—sausage, bacon, potatoes, and black pudding (depending on which breakfast you order). 

Other choices are Continental breakfast or oatmeal with fruit and a croissant, pancakes served with a croissant, sausage, and bacon.  There was also a Smoked salmon breakfast served with eggs and a croissant.  All appeared at a decent price for the food offered. 

For lunch and dinner, one could dine on a variety of interesting choices.  The Great Feast feeds four for $55.  It is substantial, as it generously includes salad, half of a roasted chicken, spareribs, corn on the cob, and roasted potatoes.  Since it was just the two of us—and I wanted to be able to move after our meal—we abstained.  However, of all, I asked who ordered the meal, loved it.  The only complaint was that while the chicken was moist, it was a bit flavorless.

Other choices were:

• Chicken & Ribs Platter (huge portion served with corn on the cob & roasted potatoes) $16
• Cornish Pasties (ground beef, veggies & potatoes) with a salad $10
• Fish & Chips $15
• Rotisserie Smoked Chicken Platter (large portion served with corn on the cob & roasted potatoes)n$15.99
• Shephard’s Pie (ground beef & veggies topped with mashed potatoes) with salad $16
• Smoked Turkey Leg & fries (served all over both parks) $15  
• Spareribs Platter (served with corn on the cob & roasted potatoes) $15.99

These prices are not current

Our choices?

Of course, we couldn’t try everything.  Nevertheless, what we did try, we enjoyed. 

Stopping in for lunch, my fish-loving husband chose fish & chips, while I chose ribs.  He was very happy with the moist, plump fish inside the crispy, flavorful coating.  As a bbq fanatic, I was in hog heaven with these fall-off-the-bone ribs, sweet corn on the cob, and crispy, well-seasoned, roasted potatoes.  All the servers were in character and attentive. 

Hog's Head Pub

The Hog’s Head Pub is directly in the back of The Three Broomsticks and has its own entry.  It’s a great way to enter The Three Broomsticks to get pictures too.   

The tavern has a real feel of the Harry Potter/Hogsmeade world with its solid wood bar and a large stuffed hog’s head-mounted prominently on the wall.  Watch out; he occasionally growls.   

Here, we bellied up to the bar to order our Butterbeer, while others ordered their pumpkin juice ($5.50), beers ($10) and mixed drinks.  The drink menu is limited.  In fact, one morning we only wanted coffee and found that the only place to get a cup—besides Starbucks outside of Hogsmeade—is in the Three Broomsticks.  Interesting.

Food Vendors

Food carts line the street of Hogsmeade selling croissants, fruit, various snack items, water, pumpkin juice and Butterbeer.  The most noticeable cart is anchored directly out front of Honeydukes and appears to be a huge barrel on top of a cart.  Witches and wizards line up to get their Butterbeer, which seems to flow directly out of the barrel.   

Honeydukes

As a die-hard Potter Head, I was compelled to visit Honeydukes.  I was happily surprised to find nearly all the candy mentioned in the books and films, like Chocolate Frogs with the collectible wizard cards, Fudge Flies, Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans and even the Exploding Bonbons.  Near the register, there is a large case containing fresh yummies, like Cauldron Cakes—absolute chocolate heaven. 

I purchased a package of Chocolate Frogs, roughly $15, and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of chocolate, which was solid chocolate—much like a Hershey’s candy bar.  The quality of the packaging and the collectible card is the real value here, especially for a true fan.  My card is a Rowena Ravenclaw.

Note: These have been in short supply, in fact, my research doesn’t come up with any in the park.  However, we are still experiencing a pandemic.  More than likely, the park will have these when you visit.  

In my opinion, dining options, albeit few, are a tad less expensive here in Hogsmeade.  The lunch/dinner menu offers some solid dining choices for a reasonable price.  Most meals, my husband and I could have shared and been quite pleased.  Of course, everyone is an individual and we don’t eat much since we are older; this is a consideration as well. 

Please Read

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