What to eat at Halloween Horror Nights 2026, from tacos to twisted desserts

How we chose what to eat at Halloween Horror Nights 2026

We approached the HHN 35 food lineup from two different angles. Our team attended opening night at Universal Studios Florida as invited media, sampling items throughout the evening while covering the event. Philip Hernandez also attended Premium Scream Night, where select food is included with admission, giving him the opportunity to work through far more of the menu and rank everything he tried.

What to eat at Halloween Horror Nights 2026

For this guide, we’re combining our own opening-night impressions with Philip’s much broader tasting notes.

Must-eat: Carn “Evil” Smash Tacos

Location: Jack’s Surplus, in Gramercy Park/New York

If there is one item already emerging as the early consensus favorite, it is the Carn “Evil” Smash Tacos.

The $14.99 dish features smashed cheeseburger tacos with American cheese, shredded lettuce, pickles, secret sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Philip ranked them No. 1 out of everything he tried, and Matt Roseboom also came away impressed after tasting them opening night.

This is the kind of HHN food that works because it doesn’t rely entirely on the gimmick: it’s recognizable, filling and easy to eat while moving between houses.

Severed & Smoked Chicken

Location: Evil Dead Burn food booth, in the San Francisco area

The Szechuan-spiced smoked chicken leg stayed moist and was only mildly spicy, though Philip noted that eating it on the go can get messy.

Worth a try eats

Lasagna Burn

Location: Evil Dead Burn food booth, in the San Francisco area

We kept hearing good things about the Lasagna Burn during opening weekend. Served at the Evil Dead Burn booth in San Francisco, the $10.99 dish is a Szechuan pork potsticker lasagna with chili crisp — one of the more unusual savory options on this year’s HHN menu.

Lasagna Burn also landed high in Philip’s ranking at No. 6. He called the Szechuan pork potsticker lasagna the spiciest item at the event and a good one overall, though notably salty.

The Prince of Darkness Cake

Location: San Francisco Pastry, in San Francisco

For an Ozzy-themed dessert, The Prince of Darkness Cake is one our team would call out. The $9.99 dessert is a three-tiered mini carrot cake with cream cheese mousse and a chocolate bat, tied directly to the “Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness” house.

Mikey tried it and enjoyed it. It’s a strong choice for anyone who wants something themed specifically to Ozzy.

Meat Grinder Red Velvet

For dessert, the Meat Grinder Red Velvet stood out to Matt. The $8.99 dessert combines freshly ground red velvet cake, cream cheese icing and puffed-rice “maggots.” The ground cake-and-icing texture gives it an almost cookie-dough-like consistency, which was a big part of the appeal.

You can also read Philip’s complete ranking, including all 33 food items, prices and booth locations.

A “Treehouse of Horror” crossover

Universal Studios Hollywood has a larger “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” menu this season, but two of those items also made their way to Universal Orlando.

At Lard Lad Donuts in Springfield, Orlando guests can find the Pumpkin Spice Cold Boo for $10.99, a lightly sweetened cold brew topped with pumpkin spice cold foam and a donut hole, along with Road Scrapin’s for $11.99, fries loaded with white country gravy, cheese, fried chicken and crispy onions.

Hollywood’s expanded lineup also includes Sloppy D’oh, Wurst. Brat. Ever! and the Mmm… Forbidden Pumpkin Donut.