I Tried The Entire Menu At Super Nintendo World's Power Up Cafe

Can I get a wahoo? Super Nintendo World is expanding with a new eatery that’s guaranteed to make customers reach the next level of fandom. The upcoming Power Up Cafe at Universal Studios Hollywood features Mario-themed snacks that are just as Insta-worthy as the food at Toadstool Cafe. Before the grand opening on Thursday, Feb. 15, I got to try every item on the menu so you can know what’s worth your coin.

Located on the Upper Lot, the new Power Up Cafe is separate from the rest of the Super Nintendo World. It’s near the entrance to the park and offers snacks themed to the power-ups from the Mario video games, like the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower. The menu may be small, but it provides a delicious taste of what you can expect from the Mario-themed land on the Lower Lot.

For snacks, there are two mushroom-shaped calzones — the Super Mushroom Calzone and 1-Up Mushroom Calzone. (FYI, the names are a bit confusing, because only the latter actually has mushrooms inside.) There’s also the Fire Flower Pretzel, which is a soft pretzel shaped like the Fire Flower power up and served with three different dipping sauces; and Super Star Popcorn, which is just regular buttered popcorn with edible glitter sprinkled on top.

The snacks are picture-perfect, but the drinks at the Power Up Cafe are the real must-sees for any Nintendo fan. There are four different Fizz drinks, and each one starts as a lemon lime soda with popping pearls at the bottom. You’re then given a Power Up sugar shape that, when dropped into your beverage, adds fizz, flavor, and color. I’ve never seen anything as cute as these new Power Up Fizz drinks, but as fun as they are, one flavor is a clear winner over the others.

Below, I’ve ranked the menu items from Super Nintendo World’s Power Up Cafe so you know what to order the next time you go to Universal Studios Hollywood.

8. The 1-Up Mushroom Fizz ($13)

When you order the 1-Up Mushroom Fizz, you’re given a lime-flavored 1-Up Mushroom to drop into your drink. These sugar shapes are the cutest, and look like edible mini bath bombs. It’s fun to see the characters dissolve in the lemon lime soda and add color to your drink, but out of all four flavors, this was my least favorite. Adding lime to an already lemon lime-flavored soda doesn’t add much, so I couldn’t really taste a difference from before and after I dropped the sugar shape in.

This drink also comes with green apple popping pearls, which were not great, IMO. Green apple isn’t my first choice for candy fruit flavors, and these pearls were just too artificial tasting and sweet. I would much prefer it without the popping pearls, but then it would just taste like I was drinking Sprite, so nothing too exciting.

Rating: 2/5

7. The Super Star Popcorn Cup ($7)

There’s technically nothing wrong with the Super Star Popcorn at the Power Up Cafe, I just think it’s pretty basic and not worth getting over anything else on the menu. It’s regular theme park popcorn with a sprinkling of edible glitter.

While the glitter is a nice touch, I would have loved to see a special Mario-themed flavor to match. Tokyo Disneyland is known for its variety of flavored popcorns, so I think it’s time U.S. theme parks get on board. It would have been cool for Universal to offer a mushroom or even pineapple-flavored popcorn to match the theme.

Rating: 3/5

6. The Super Star Fizz ($13)

I was excited to try the Super Star Fizz, because it comes with a mango pineapple Super Star Power Up that you drop into the lemon lime soda. I really enjoyed the pineapple flavor, but it was very subtle and I couldn’t really taste the mango at all.

I would order this again, but I was not a fan of the lemon popping pearls at the bottom of the drink. They were just a bit too sour for me.

Rating: 3.5/5

5. The Super Mushroom Fizz ($13)

Before Super Nintendo World opened, Universal Studios had a beverage cart with Mario-themed drinks to give guests a taste of what was coming. There was a drink on that menu similar to the Super Mushroom Fizz that’s now available at the Power Up Cafe. Unlike those preview drinks, all the Fizz ones at the Power Up Cafe come with character sugar shapes that make the experience more interactive and exciting.

You want to make sure your Super Mushroom Power Up completely dissolves before you enjoy your drink, because it not only turns the lemon lime soda red, but it gives it tons of flavor. Unlike the previous two fizz drinks, this one you could really tell was supposed to be fruit-flavored (in this case, it was strawberry). I enjoyed it, but once again, I did not care for the popping pearls at the bottom. They were so artificial tasting that I avoided them.

Rating: 3.5/5

4. The Fire Flower Pretzel ($13)

The Fire Flower Pretzel can be hit or miss, depending on how well they cook it. Universal Studios did a soft opening of the Power Up Cafe, and I saw some people saying the pretzel was overcooked and hard. Luckily, during my trip, the Fire Flower Pretzel was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside — how I like it.

It could still use some butter, but the three dipping sauces that come with the pretzel really helped with any dryness. My favorite was the traditional mustard, but for something different there is also a chipotle cheese and white queso. The chipotle cheese had a spicy kick to it, which fits in with the Fire Flower theme. The white queso was just OK, and needed some spice. I decided to combine both the chipotle and white queso dips, and found they were even better together.

I’m a huge soft pretzel fan, so I’m happy to see an Insta-worthy one available at Universal Studios. However, I just wish the dipping sauces were more exciting, or they offered a stuffed pretzel instead. Something like a jalapeño cheese stuffed Fire Flower Pretzel would be perfect.

Rating: 4/5

3. The 1-Up Mushroom Calzone ($13)

The names of the calzones are a bit confusing, because they both sounds like they should have mushrooms in them. However, the 1-Up Mushroom Calzone is the only one that actually comes with mushrooms, as well as spinach, green pepper, mozzarella cheese, and basil pesto. I absolutely loved this calzone. It was like eating cheesy spinach dip in warm bread.

I do wish there were just a few more mushrooms. I’m a fan of mushrooms and it’s disappointing biting into mushroom-shaped snacks that don’t taste a lot like mushrooms. However, I really loved this, especially since it was so cute. I also appreciate Universal adding a tasty vegetarian snack to its menu that even a meat lover like me can’t wait to order again.

Rating: 4.5/5

2. The Fire Flower Fizz ($13)

The best fizz drink on the menu is the Fire Flower Fizz, which has a mango habanero power-up and orange popping pearls. The mango habanero provides just a subtle spice to the drink to counterbalance all the sweetness. I also found the orange popping pearls actually tasted like oranges and not orange candy.

If you’re a fan of the Super Star Lemon Squash at Toadstool Cafe, you’ll want to try this drink. Out of the four, this is definitely the one I will be ordering again.

Rating: 5/5

1. The Super Mushroom Calzone ($13)

In addition to the Fire Flower Fizz, I can’t wait to go back to Universal Studios Hollywood for the Super Mushroom Calzone. Made to look like the red power-up from the Mario video games, this mushroom-shaped (and adorable) calzone is stuffed with pepperoni, sausage, mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce.

It’s like an adult or elevated version of a pepperoni Hot Pocket. The bread was my favorite part, because it had a nice crunch on the outside but was warm and soft on the inside. While this was tasty on its own, I did try dipping my Super Mushroom Calzone into some of the sauces that you get with the Fire Flower Pretzel and may have found a secret menu hack. On its own, the Super Mushroom Calzone has a slight kick of spice, which you can amp up by dipping into the chipotle cheese.

If you’re a big cheese fan, you’ll appreciate the circular slices on the outside of the mushroom — but you’ll also want to dip your calzone into the white queso. This was also a lovely combination. Of course, if you’re just looking for a tasty snack to power you up on your way to Super Nintendo World on the Lower Lot, you can enjoy sans sauce. It’s delicious either way.

Rating: 5/5