The Park Side

Universal Epic Universe opened to the public on May 22, 2025, bringing Universal Orlando Resort’s total park count to four, and turning all eyes on them in the theme park community. With its opening came a multitude of all new experiences for casual and hardcore theme park visitors alike. Not only are the attractions world class, the dining experiences are turning heads as well. Today I want to highlight my favorite dining experience in this new park, and possibly in any park I have ever visited. Here are five reasons you should dine at Atlantic on your next trip to the impressive Universal Epic Universe.

Views

Atlantic offers some of the best views of the park right from your seat at the dining table. The all glass design on the lagoon facing side of the building puts guests in their own human aquarium of sorts. The floor to ceiling windows offer every guest, no matter which level of the multi tiered seating you’re on, spectacular views of the Celestial Park grounds. You will also see some of the portals calling you in the distance, the Helios Grand hotel and Constellation Carousel anchoring the skyline to the left, the Isle of Berk and Wizarding World Paris anchoring the right, and the fountains jumping right outside those towering windows. Perhaps my favorite site from my seat was watching the Stardust Racers trains dueling over the crest of their track’s top hats, following that first insane double launch. I really couldn’t take my eyes off those views, I found myself staring out in the distance more than a few times, even in the middle of conversations.

With all the windows and natural light flooding in, we were also pleasantly surprised at the A/C felt throughout the building. There were some roller shades drawn down covering a few of the windows to help with that, which did not detract from the views at all as they were high up or to the left, and only covering the necessary windows to keep guests comfortable. We were grateful for this after just half of our park day in the Florida heat.

This venue is truly unique and eye catching in the best ways. The stunning views even continue just outside the restaurant. You can find a path along the water just to the left, or west, of Atlantic. We walked this quiet path after sunset and could not stop taking photos and videos of the restaurant perched out over the water and glowing under the moonlight. These night views are of course aided by the mesmerizing lighting package throughout Celestial Park. You could also try and dine towards the end of operating hours to catch the nighttime light and fountain show from inside the dining room. I have no doubt it would look amazing as the lights and fountains dance just outside the windows. Please do yourself a favor and pay Atlantic a visit, even if it’s just to the bar on the top level, to take in the beautiful design of this space.

Availability

This premium dining location, inside an all new world class theme park, has been able to accommodate walk ups quickly each time I’ve visited. Atlantic has also shown major availability for advance reservations thus far. I think that should be well noted, as it is a much more enjoyable experience to not stress about reservations, or try to plan out exactly when to eat, weeks or months in advance. This availability we’ve seen from Atlantic so far just adds even more to the relaxing atmosphere throughout this restaurant. We showed up quite early for one of our reservations and were sat immediately, much to our delight as we were hungry and looking for a respite from the Florida sun.

On our descent to our table on the first level, we noticed plenty of seating available at the bar, and then plenty of open tables as we passed each of the other dining sections. I still recommend making a reservation if you have your heart set on experiencing Atlantic. I have noticed within 24 hours of dining the reservations may become more limited, but more than a day or two out from your visit you should find plenty of times to pick from. Again, the walk up availability seems to be great so far, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see a reservation time that works for you, pop in and ask the friendly staff if there’s an open table or seat at the bar.

Below are the next 72 hours (as of writing) of availability in order by date. Within 24 hours of dining it shows almost full availability, even for same day booking. These screenshots are an example for a party of two, checked on Monday September 1, 2025, showing availability for Tuesday September 2 through Thursday September 3. Friday and Saturday’s available times looked identical, showing practically full availability. For reservations, visit https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/plan-your-visit/dining-experiences/reservations#theme-park-dining

Flavors

Finding decent seafood in a theme park is sometimes a difficult task. Atlantic has flipped that notion on its head. Not only do they have tasty seafood dishes, even the more selective eaters can find something to enjoy on the menu. I personally recommend the Bucatini alla Adriata, which is bucatini pasta with sauteed shrimp, creamy tomato sauce, arugula, and bacon herb breadcrumbs. This was also recommended to me by our server, Tyson, and I am so glad I went with this dish. It was a hearty portion filled with plenty of well cooked shrimp; it filled me up but was also light enough to still be enjoyable on a busy park day. The sauce was tasty and allocated nicely, not too much to drown the pasta and not too little to leave me wanting more. The breadcrumbs throughout were a nice subtle crunch and actually packed some flavor. I am a sucker for a good pasta and this bucatini was something I would order again in a heartbeat. It was one of the less expensive seafood items on their menu as well, coming in at $28 before tax or any passholder discounts.

If you are looking for more turf than surf, both the Atlantic Filet Mignon ($40) and The Atlantic Burger “Au Poivre” ($21) come highly recommended. The filet is 6 oz of premium Angus beef topped with crispy potato mille-feuille, truffle cream, Atlantic steak sauce, and a watercress salad on the side. Their signature burger comes as a half pound custom blend beef patty topped with Asiago peppercorn cheese, peppercorn sauce, watercress, and shaved red onion, all served on a house made sesame bun, then accompanied by a side of thick cut fries.

Atlantic even serves up some fun dessert options with unique presentations. Their Passion Fruit “Caviar” dessert is passion fruit flavored popping pearls atop chocolate pain de Gênes, hazelnut crunch, and Jivara Mousse. It’s served in an aluminum caviar tin with fish artwork and Atlantic and Celestial Park branding that you can actually take home as a souvenir. The Landlubber’s Snickerdoodle Loot is a fun dessert presentation that can bring out the kid in everyone at the table. This has snickerdoodle cake and cookie butter ganache over Biscoff sand. It even comes with a bucket and pail to play in the sand, then once you’ve had your fun you can use them to enjoy your sweet treat.

No matter what you and your party choose, the flavors are almost sure to deliver. It seems the team is paying attention to details and ensuring every meal offered is unique, while still hitting both familiar and new taste buds.

Details

Speaking of paying attention to details, Atlantic is full of them. From the carpet to the ceiling and everything in between, you’ll find tons of nautical, whimsical, and Victorian influenced creations. Upon entering the welcome area you’ll be greeted by a host stand that resembles a gigantic brass dive helmet stuck in the sand. The polished floor beneath your feet represents that sandy ocean bottom, with seashell accents spread throughout. Looking up you’ll notice hanging light bulbs resembling bubbles, flowing blue partitions representing waves, and even some golden octopi seemingly floating above the bar top. Behind the Aquaria Bar you’ll notice a giant glowing engine order telegraph, set to full speed ahead. Pay close attention and you’ll also see “Finished With Gin” as a nod to the usual “Finished With Engine” setting of an engine order telegraph.

As you walk around the bar and start descending towards the tiered level dining areas, even larger details start to reveal themselves. Perhaps the most striking are the numerous unique fish flowing across the ceiling in carousel fashion. There are 36 of these mechanical creations that “swim” above you as you dine, and they even engage in the synchronized lighting effects at night. The carpet is a deep blue with bubbling accents and the curved staircases and dining tables are dark brown wood, reminiscent of a classic sailing vessel. Seahorse figureheads bookend the winding staircases, and merpeople statuettes await at the bottom. Whether you look up, down, or all around, your eyes will be spoiled with details aplenty. Random bonus tip, stop by the restrooms before you leave, they have to be some of the nicest and well appointed I’ve been in within the walls of a theme park.

Service

We could have spent hours chatting with our amazing server, Tyson. It was like they were an old friend as soon as we were seated. Their recommendations were both honest (not just the priciest items), and delicious. The Bucatini alla Adriata and the Northern Lights Martini were two stellar highlights of our meal, and both were ordered based on the recommendation of Tyson. They even went as far as going all the way to Super Nintendo World to get ranch for us, since Atlantic did not have any at the time. They were well versed in the menu and answered every question we had with detail. We had fun conversations unrelated to our meal too, like how our park day was going so far and what we liked or were looking forward too. When we asked for the manager to give Tyson a shout out, they were also very gracious and continued asking us about our experience. Each time I’ve been back, from the hosts to the servers to the leaders, everyone has done something a little extra to make sure my time at their restaurant is perfect. Overall the experiences have left nothing to be wanted, except of course another chance to dine at the Atlantic ASAP.

All that to say, if you couldn’t tell already, I highly recommend you stop by the Atlantic and let yourself relax with a tasty meal in a brilliant atmosphere. I have no doubts that you will not regret it, and it will just make your Universal Epic Universe trip that much more… epic.

I also need to send a big shout-out to my friends Chase (@DuelingParkNews), who secured this reservation far in advance just in case, Dylan (@ParkObsession), and Jacob (@jdawg1591) all for sharing a meal with me here during opening weekend, it truly was a highlight of my visit.