Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Food & Wine Festival runs until May 18. What are the best and worst food options available at this year’s event?
The Food and Wine Festival serves as the premier festival food event at Busch Gardens. Even though Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town offer some unique food options, Food & Wine stands as the event with more of an emphasis on the food offerings.
Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival is included with regular park admission. It happens on Fridays through Sundays from March 7 through May 18. Guests can expect headlining concerts every Saturday, with additional performances on select Fridays and Sundays. Food & Wine also involves photo opportunities, roaming atmosphere performers, and special activities on non-concert event dates. Guests can also enjoy additional live musical entertainment at the Coke Canopy near many of the festival’s food and beverage cabins.
Still, the highlight for many guests is the food and beverages. We tried all the food options for this year’s event during multiple trips to Busch Gardens. After trying these items, we determined the best and worst options for most guests to enjoy (or not) at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay’s Food & Wine Festival.
Food Options at Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival
The Food & Wine Festival has 24 food offerings, depending on how you count them. We chose not to count the Columbia Cabin in the best and worst lists. This decision was made based on it serving the TOMA products. We are fans of the TOMA empanadas. However, we have enjoyed them at previous Busch Gardens Tampa Bay events, such as Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town. We even attended a media event that specifically offered TOMA products. As a result, we eliminated those from our best and worst lists. Still, we look forward to ordering the TOMA products at a more permanent location at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in the near future.
With that decision, we had 21 different food items to evaluate. Some were returning items we enjoyed last year. In contrast, some were new or reimagined this year.
Before looking at the best and worst lists, we need to make the standard food reporter disclaimer. Based on the nature of theme park festival food, the preparation and quality may vary positively or negatively depending on the day guests visit. That became very apparent during the 2024 Christmas Town event, with some items being changed drastically or even taken off the menus. We also noticed this during the previous food festival, Mardi Gras, with the Crawfish Etouffee and Shrimp Creole.
Our suggestions for the best and worst will bear that issue in mind. Also, the best and worst choices do not necessarily reflect the reviewer’s opinions of what they would order. These lists reflect what we think most guests will find to be the best and worst options.
Food & Wine Sampler Lanyard
A great way to savor the festival is with a festival sampler lanyard, allowing guests to enjoy multiple tastes throughout their visit. Guests can buy a ten-sample lanyard for $70. The 15-sample lanyard makes an even better deal, costing $85. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay annual pass members receive 18 samples when purchasing the 15-sample lanyard.
Best Busch Gardens Food & Wine Food 2025
We found a few options at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that we thought stood out from the rest. For those visiting during the Food & Wine Festival, we recommend giving these a try. Both of our top suggestions come from the Canadian cabin.
Nanaimo Bar
This sweet treat looks average. However, the crispy graham cracker crust layer is an excellent base for this dessert. The creamy custard layer, complimented by a slight amount of coconut, makes this a treat worth getting during your Busch Gardens Tampa Bay visit. Even the person in our group who dislikes coconut found this a satisfying treat.
Hot-Smoked Salmon Sandwich
This item qualifies as one of the best again this year. Though the construction of the sandwich looks different this year, the robust flavors still exist. Though the name may throw guests off, the salmon comes well-prepared and seasoned. The menu description for it reads, “Cherry and oak-smoked salmon served with spicy maple syrup coleslaw on a brioche bun.” The slaw plays a more prominent role in this year’s version of the Salmon Sandwich. Nevertheless, this makes a solid theme park festival item.
Almost the Best Food & Wine Food 2025 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Before moving to the worst list for things we suggest skipping, we wanted to mention a few Food & Wine Festival food items that were close to making the best list. We found three that fit this category. Each one had a minor flaw that dropped them from contention on the best list. They are the Churrassco-Inspired Grilled Beef with Garlic-Cilantro Yucca, the Halifax Donair, and the Lobster Roll.
At the Chile Cabin, the Churrasco-Inspired Grilled Beef with Garlic-Cilantro Yucca features herb-marinated grilled flank steak and mashed yucca tossed with garlic and fresh cilantro. The portion size is solid, and the overall flavors work well. The flavors are also enhanced with the added sauce. However, this theme park festival item costs $14.59 without a sampler lanyard. Also, guests can order a decent Local White Fish Ceviche at this same food and beverage location, which costs $14.99 without a sampler lanyard. These items are an excellent choice for those buying a sampler lanyard. Still, the price point scares us from recommending them fully.
Halifax Donair at the Canadian Cabin
As you can tell, the Canada Cabin offers some great choices. This made our best list last year. However, we found this year that the pita bread and Greek-style beef did not stand up well. According to the menu description, this Canadian version of a gyro consists of Greek-style beef wrapped in pita, sliced onions, and tomato and topped with sweetened condensed milk and garlic sauce. However, we received onions on the side.
We did enjoy the garlic sauce. That shined as the best part. The Halifax Donair deserves consideration. Still, the bread and meat failed to play a significant enough role with this item.
Lobster Roll at the United States of America Cabin
This food festival dish features chilled poached lobster tossed in mayonnaise, dill, and shaved celery on a soft potato roll. Even though the lobster is covered with the sauce, this tastes better than expected for a theme park lobster roll, costing $10.99. Despite that, the portion size is too small for guests to invest that much money for this item. Once again, if purchasing a sampler lanyard, this makes a reasonable option. Also, if you are a Busch Gardens Tampa Bay pass member, the Pass Member Landing is near the United States of America food and beverage location. You can easily take this Lobster Roll inside the lounge and enjoy it.
Worst Food & Wine Festival Food at Busch Gardens 2025
As with all “worst” lists, this does not indicate that these menu items have no value. Also, being on this list suggests that most guests will want to spend their theme park food money on something better, like the five (or six) items we recommend above. We found two items that were the worst for failing in most of the four crucial theme park festival food categories.
Four Criteria for Food Festival Items
Our preferences play a minimal role when evaluating theme park food festival items. We use four criteria that are:
- Did we get the item described on the menu? If it said it had mushrooms or scallops and we found it lacking, that is a strike against it.
- How were the flavors of the components of the item?
- Was it a good use of our money in terms of value?
- How difficult would it be to make this at home for less money and not take too much time? If we could make this in 15 minutes at home for less, then it would not be a good use of your theme park festival food budget.
Both “worst” items failed in at least three of these categories.
Albondigas at the Spain Cabin at Food & Wine Festival 2025
Albondigas are a Spanish version of meatballs. These should not taste like meatballs from Italian cuisine. The menu description for these reads. “Pork and beef meatballs roasted, simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with chipotle peppers, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.”
We ordered these twice. Guests get one large meatball. The meatball is fine. However, it tastes like any other meatball you might make at home. Based on the menu description, guests should expect a more robust flavor with the chipotle peppers. Nevertheless, we failed to experience anything more than a decent meatball with tomato sauce. It is a poor value for $10.99 without a sampler lanyard, so we suggest buying one of the better options at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
Venison Slider with Tomato Jam Chile and Homemade Potato Chips
At the New Zealand food and beverage location, guests can order a Venison Slider. This costs $9.99 without a sampler lanyard. Guests should expect a well-done patty based on our two attempts. The tomato jam chile does not enhance this burger enough to warrant a solid, cohesive flavor. Sadly, the chips lacked enough quality to help. As we determined on the event’s opening night, guests who want a burger should go to one of the everyday quick service places and pass on this $9.99 Venison Slider.
Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay 2025
For more information about the 2025 Food & Wine Festival at Busch Gardens, please visit the official Busch Gardens Tampa Bay website. Also, for more theme park-related news and additional food reviews, please visit MSM News.
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