A Review of the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium At Universal

If you are looking for a unique table service dining experience for the whole family on your next visit to Universal Orlando Resort, consider Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen. Here is our honest review of the dining experience, including thoughts on over a dozen menu items.

Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

It is hard not to notice Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen. Regardless of whether you are traveling by boat or entering CityWalk from the parking deck, you will spot it right by the water, between the Hard Rock Cafe and Universal's Islands of Adventure.

It looks like a big chocolate factory! And, in many ways it is.

Toothsome has a whimsical 19th-century Steam-Punk theme. It makes for a very cool atmosphere.

When you enter Toothsome, you will notice there is a confectionery and an ice cream counter that you can line up for if you are only there for dessert. Many visitors stop by for some delicious sweets and giant milkshakes. However, you can also enjoy the full-service restaurant and bar.

Reservations for Toothsome

Reservations are encouraged at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium. Head over HERE to see how easy it is to reserve dining at Universal Orlando Resort.

Of course, you can certainly try asking about walk-up availability. Sometimes you will be rewarded with a short wait. The staff will be happy to help.

Lastly, when staying at select hotels from Universal Orlando Resorts' Signature Collection, you can enjoy perks such as assistance with dining reservations from the concierge staff. The staff at Loews Royal Pacific Resort helped us secure same-day reservations for a party of 12 at Toothsome during one of the busiest weeks of the year!

Check-In

You are welcome to check in early for your reservation. If your table is not ready, the staff will get your number and text you when the time comes to dine.

While you wait, you can enjoy the confectionery and gift shop. Or if you are over 21 years old, you could enjoy the offerings at the bar. You might even check out nearby offerings at CityWalk.

A Character Meal

Many people do not realize that Toothsome has the potential to be a character dining experience. During dinner, you might just meet Penelope and Jaques.

They are two walk-around characters who entertain the diners! Professor Doctor Penelope Tibeaux-Tinker Toothsome is a steampunk ambassador and chocolate connoisseur! Jaques is a steampunch robot.

Penelope and Jaques roam the restauraunt greeting visitors.

The lore is a little vague, but the gist of the backstory is that Penelope and Jaque returned from one of their adventures, they found their home empty and a note from Penelope's family. It said they would look for her wherever chocolate could be found. The letter inspired her to build the emporium so that her family would know where to find her someday.

During our meal, Penelope and Jaques visited our table and spent a good deal of time visiting with the children in our party. They got to know them and posed for photos. They even returned to the table toward the end of the meal to interact with us agin.

The Service

Our server was pleasant, as most Universal Orlando employees are. And, we cannot really blame her for the only hiccup in our experience.

The meal was incredibly slow. I usually go in expecting to spend about 60-90 minutes at a table service restaurant. This meal stretched beyond the 2.5 hour mark. We attributed it to the fact that it was a very busy week. We were there the weekend before Thanksgiving, after all.

While we weren't thrilled to spend so long in the restaurant, the slow pace did not ruin the experience. After all, the company was good. Just know you might need more time than anticipated to dine, especially if it's a busy time of year.

Appetizers

Many people consider Toothsome's Warm Chocolate Almond Bread a quintessential part of a meal here. This unique creation is a loaf of fresh chocolate almond bread served with salted caramel butter.

It is on the sweet side, but to me it does not taste like chocolate. The butter, on the other hand does taste like salted caramel. I like it, but it is not something I must have every visit. If you love bread, you should certainly try it for yourself.

Our table had a round of Roasted Brussels Sprouts. There are prepared with cilantro sprouts, jalapeño mayo, cotija cheese, and ancho chili powder. They had too much a kick for me, but they were a hit with everyone else.

Salads

Toothsome has surprisingly great dinner-sized salads. They are very fresh and nice and green and among the best at Universal.

My default order at Toothsome is normally the Super Foods salad! It is spinach, arugula, avocado, quinoa, asparagus, sun dried roasted tomatoes, red onion, pine nuts, and feta cheese, topped with a yummy citrus vinaigrette. Sometimes after a tip full of theme park food, it is JUST the right thing to feel nourished.

However, for this trip, I tried something different and ordered the Toothsome Nicoise. This salad is citrus-crusted tuna, fingerling potatoes, olives, eggs, asparagus, tomatoes, and red onion with that same yummy citrus vinaigrette. Pivoting to this salad was NOT a mistake. It was absolutely delicious, fresh, and flavorful. I was surprised how nice the tuna was. I highly recommend it.

Flatbreads

One of the kids traveling with us is quite the pepperoni pizza connoisseur. So, he decided to have the Pepperoni Flat Bread.

This thing was HUGE. We had a laugh over fitting it onto the table. It was hot, cheesy, and crisp and better than the standard theme park pizza at many of the quick service locations.

Sandwiches and Burgers

One of the adults in the party ordered the Red Reuben. This was made with Boar's Head corned beef, Alpine Lace Swiss cheese, braised red cabbage, grilled artisan rye, and 1000 island dressing. It also came with a HEAP of fries.

The sandwich was piled high with meat. Toothsome definitely does not skimp on the sandwich filler. Overall, he was pleased with it.

We also had a The Croque Monsieur at our table. This is a sandwich on a French bread load loaded with country ham, Gruyère cheese, béchamel sauce, grated Parmesan and and Fontina cheese. The whole thing is toasted and melty.

This was also a tasty sandwich. But, then again, if you cover anything with this much melty cheese, it is bound to be good.

Entrees

One of the adults in the group tried the Brisket & Wild Mushroom Meatloaf. This dish is roasted corn, crispy fried onions, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, and Bordelaise sauce.

The verdict was that this was one delicious meatloaf. It was a winner, especially since it was a rare cold night in Orlando.

Another member of our party also had Duck Confit. It is crispy duck, French cassoulet and apple gastrique served over apple frisse salad.

He said it was very good. It was certainly not the best duck he'd ever had, but it was good nonetheless. He also mentioned that he was pleasantly surprised to be able to order a duck dish at a theme park.

We also had the Chicken Bourguignon. This dish is boneless breast, red wine, demi glaze, pearl onions, quartered mushrooms, and bacon, served with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and asparagus!

Flavorful and rich, this dish was another winner. I have heard other reviewers say the chicken can be dry, but that was not the case on this evening.

Brunch Menu Items

One thing about Toothsome is that you can order Brunch all day long. One of the kids in our travel party really wanted to try the brunch Patty Melt.

This is a French Toast-Burger fusion. It is Challah brioche with a half-pound house-made fresh hamburger patty, sunny-side up egg, grilled pork belly, and cheddar cheese. It is served with Lyonnaise potatoes.

He loved it. I was pleased that he gave me a bite, and I have to say this is a deliciously rich dish. It is certainly worth a try if you are looking for something heavy and filling, especially if you are having trouble deciding between a burger and brunch.

Kids' Meals

Our tiniest traveler selected something off the kids' menu. It had an array of offerings, but she landed on waffles with bacon. It came with 2 quarters of a Belgian waffle.

She enjoyed it. She let me have a nibble and it was a relatively standard waffle. But a waffle is a waffle, so it was still pretty good.

Desserts

Everyone was too full for dessert, but since we were at the Chocolate Emporium, we ordered a few sweets to share anyway. The sweets are the draw, after all!

Some of us split a Triple Chocolate Bread Pudding. It is made with three types of chocolate and chocolate cake and served with decadent white chocolate ice cream.

Exactly one bite in, I started wishing I had room to eat this dish all by myself. It is the sort of thing I will dream of. It was expensive, but for me it was worth it because there is nothing similar anywhere else.

Our table also had a Chocolate Cream Pie. This was a simple pie piled high with
chocolate cream filling, whipped topping, and chocolate curls.

It was also delicious, but I am not sure it was worth $11. You can get a similar chocolate silk pie at the Waffle House.

Milk Shakes

The milkshakes at Toothsome are probably what it is most famous for. You do not have to have a table to order one. Remember that the walk-up ice cream counter that offers them.

Our table ordered several. One was the Chocolate X5. This is made of chocolate ice cream, chocolate chunks, strawberries, chocolate sauce, whipped topping, and chocolate spirals. If you like chocolate, you will enjoy this shake.

Another one of the kids had the Heavenly Hazelnut. This is made with NUTELLA ice cream, hazelnuts, NUTELLA, cocoa powder, and whipped topping.

The milkshakes are a lot of fun, but they are very expensive at $16-18 each. While they can't help being delicious, I am not convinced that they are special enough to justify buying outside of a very special occasion. After all, the shakes at other locations around Universal Parks, CityWalk, and the hotels, while less aesthetic, are just as good in terms of flavor.

Is Toothsome Worth It

Toothsome sometimes gets negative reviews, but everything we ordered on the night we visited ranged from pretty good to excellent. I think that the food has improved since the first time I visited many years ago.

In terms of value, many of the entrees are reasonably priced, especially compared to other theme park table service restaurants. The drinks and shakes are less reasonably priced.

If you are looking for themed dining with filling entrees and lots of dessert options, Toothsome is a great option. This is not the place to dine before you go on Velocicoaster or Storm Force acceleration. It's heavy.

Go in with the mindset that the service might be slow, and enjoy a pleasant surprise if everything runs smoothly. For my part, I would not hesitate to book it again.

Have you dined at Toothsome recently? What did you have? Let us know. And be sure to pass the review a long to friends who are planning a visit so they know whether to consider a reservation.