It's 19th-century Steampunk meets Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory, a chocoholic's wonderland called "The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen" at Universal Studios Orlando.
For the holiday weekend we decided to visit Universal Studios in Orlando, it seemed like the Summer thing to do. Aside from checking out the new Jimmy Fallon ride and spending a day at Volcano Bay, when you have a 7-year-old son there's just no way to avoid a magnificent chocolate factory looming tall over City Walk.
Part 1 : The Restaurant and Food
This place is cool to say the least. If you're into fully themed dining experiences, Steampunk gears and gizmos, and of course Chocolate, you have to make the The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium a MUST-DO on your vacation itinerary.
Before you even enter the doors, the exterior design and details are eye-catching. Moving gears, billowing smoke stacks, and huge brass pipes and duct-work that capture your imagination and have the kids smiling ear-to-ear. The aroma of sweets and chocolate flow out of the doors as you approach, half way up the steps and they've got you - hook, line and sinker!
The wait time for dinner was 50 minutes due to the higher volume of people during the holiday weekend. However, since they send you a text message when you table is ready instead of the usual restaurant buzzer things that keep you chained to the lobby area, we were able to go on the Jimmy Fallon ride in that time. It worked out perfectly, we got back to the restaurant just as we got the text.
If you haven't already read elsewhere about this place I don't want to spoil the experience for you, so I'll just give small insights as to what you'll find. While outside gives a nice view of City Walk, I do recommend eating inside, that's where all the atmosphere and fun happens. Upon entering you are greeted with period-themed staff dressed like they walked straight off of a movie set. There are also some surprise guests that make their rounds from table to table. The walls are lined with video displays of moving gears and valves that provide energy and motion with an ever-changing view.
Steampunk Robot Jacques stopped by to say, "hello".
The food is delicious and presented nicely. We went as part of a big family trip and in the confusion of it all I unfortunately forgot to take pictures before we all dove into our food. The menu covers a wide range of traditional American restaurant foods, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, chicken, steaks, pasta, fish, and of course the standard chicken tenders for the kids and picky eaters. The staff and waiters keep in character, with happy, energetic personalities that add to the fun.
The hardest part about choosing your dinner is trying not to get lost in the milkshake and dessert sections of the menu. There are just as many pages for desserts as there are for meals.
FYI: The milkshakes come in a souvenir logo jar you get to keep.
Yep, you had me at peanut butter!
After a great meal, just when you think you're done, the menus return with heavenly creations you simply can't resist. We ended up sharing the Strawberry Shortcake, May Contain Nuts, and Chocolate Brownie Bark desserts, although there wasn't much "sharing" going on with the chocolate brownie. My son staked his claim to that one pretty quick. Fair warning on the desserts, they are delicious and huge!
100% upvote for the Chocolate Brownie Bark!
Coming up in Part 2
the Candy Smith Emporium Store and Milkshake Bar.
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