Apparently, We Like Bubba Gump
When you’re spending the day at Universal Studios Hollywood, food becomes part of the adventure especially when you’re Mike and me.
Our first stop at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. happened after an early morning inside Universal. We’d been up for hours, I was starving, and Mike decided he wanted seafood. Bubba Gump had just opened for the day, so we headed over to CityWalk for lunch.
We were only the second couple inside, which sounded perfect to me. I was ready to order.
Mike, however, was ready to make a new friend.
If you know my hubby, you know he’ll talk to anybody. So while he’s happily chatting away with our waiter, I’m sitting there going on seven hours of being awake thinking, Can we please order some food?
REVIEW AT A GLANCE
Location: California
City: Universal Studios
Craving: Seafood, Chicken
We walked the City Walk looking for a place to eat. I used Universal Studios App and Itinerary all the places I wanted to go to. We checked out Pink Hot dog (that was a bust), Hard Rock (hubby didn’t see anything he wanted to eat), Margaritaville, Tony Ramos, no fast food, no Chinese food. We went full circle back to good old Bubba Gumbs at 10 pm.
Jen's Texas Chicken Sandwich
I finally got my food and ordered the Texas Chicken Sandwich with Cajun grilled chicken, guacamole, pepper jack cheese, bacon and chili ancho mayo.
This sandwich didn’t stand a chance.
I swear I ate the whole thing in about five minutes. Maybe some of that was because I was starving, but it really was that good.
Mike Found His Shrimp Heaven
Mike ordered Shrimper’s Heaven, which was basically made for him: hand-breaded coconut shrimp, bacon-wrapped shrimp, crispy golden shrimp and tempura shrimp. It came with three dipping sauces; Tangy Asian, Cajun Marmalade and Zesty Cocktail.
Several kinds of shrimp and three sauces? Yeah, Mike was happy.
And Then We Ended Up Back at Bubba Gump
Apparently one visit wasn’t enough.
Later during our Universal trip, we found ourselves walking around CityWalk looking for somewhere to eat dinner. We checked out several restaurants, but nothing sounded right to both of us.
After walking practically a full circle around CityWalk, guess where we ended up?
Right back at Bubba Gump.
At 10 p.m.
Sometimes you just go with what you know.
Mike Tries Another Kind of Shrimp
This time Mike tried Shrimper’s Net Catch for dinner, a peel-and-eat shrimp appetizer steamed in beer with a choice of Garlic Spice or Secret Cajun Spice.
And judging by the pile of empty shells in my photos, he didn’t have much trouble finishing them.
Clam Chowder for Me
After the huge sandwich I’d had on our first visit, I went much simpler this time and ordered clam chowder with a baguette.
The chowder was good and I’m always happy when clam chowder doesn’t come with a side of sand.
The baguette, however, was only slightly warm. Not terrible, but definitely not what I was hoping for with a bowl of chowder.
The Second Visit Wasn't Quite as Smooth
Our waiter was nice, but the service wasn’t as good as it had been during our first visit.
Mike ordered a beer, but apparently the bar had run out. The problem wasn’t that they were out it was that nobody told us.
His food arrived and he still didn’t have his beer. It wasn’t until Mike asked about it that we found out what had happened.
He eventually ordered a Blue Moon instead and got one of the souvenir glasses to take home.
For $13.
Because apparently Mike wasn’t leaving CityWalk without either shrimp or a beer. 😂
Would We Go Back?
After eating at Bubba Gump twice during the same Universal trip, I think it’s safe to say we enjoyed the food.
Our first visit was definitely the better experience. My Texas Chicken Sandwich disappeared embarrassingly fast, and Mike got a plate filled with just about every kind of shrimp he could want. The second visit wasn’t quite as impressive service-wise, but the food was still good enough that we didn’t regret circling CityWalk and ending up right back where we’d already eaten.
For us, Bubba Gump became one of those easy CityWalk choices when one person wants seafood and the other one doesn’t.
And with Mike loving seafood, I’m pretty sure I know which one of us is responsible for us ending up there twice.
Jen
Jen is one half of Couples Dining Out. She loves pasta, a great salad, and believes dessert should be eaten first because why risk running out of room? She loves trying new places with Mike, but if something looks good on her plate, order your own. She’s not sharing.